+++
title = "Hand of Oberon (Roger Zelazny, 1976)"
author = ["Michał Sapka"]
date = 2024-09-22T22:42:00+02:00
categories = ["brainrot"]
draft = false
weight = 3004
image_dir = "screenshots"
image_max_width = 765
primary_menu = "brain-rot-fantasy-amber"
abstract = "My short review"
rating = 4
image = "/covers/hand-of-oberon.jpg"
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  [menu.brain-rot-fantasy-amber]
    weight = 3004
    identifier = "hand-of-oberon-roger-zelazny-1976"
+++

The plot thickens!
We end where we left of: turns out that Amber is the home of the original Pattern, which is badly damaged, and we need to fix it.

I think I start to understand why I find _[Chronicles](/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/)_ so particular, yet I can't put it away.
The volumes here are not distinct parts with an an beginning and an end.
It's closer to modern-day TV, where you get an interesting hook at the beginning, the middle is ok-ish, but the end makes you hungry for the next episode.
As much as I hate that _binge-watching_ formula, I have nothing against it here.
Fantasy books rarely make anyone rich, but a man's got to eat.
The length of each volume here also doesn't make it any worse, as they all about 200 pages long.
Brandon Sanderson's signature is longer than that.

{{< rating 4 "hand-of-oberon.jpg" >}}
Cover
{{< /rating >}}

Story wise, _Hand of Oberon_ is more of the same: scheming of Corwin's family and deepening the world.
The world is not redefined again, but we're once again getting something surprising.
However, since it's the 4th book, it comes a bit predictable[^fn:1].
While I was not expecting the Avalon not to be _the real_ Avalon in the _[Sign of the Unicorn](/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/sign-of-the-unicorn-1975/)_, here the surprise came both, less unexpected and a bit and less important.
But we will see in the next book.

All in all, while I had _loads_ of fun, _Hand of Oberon_ is only the 4th book of the series.
If you've read it until this point, you'll have a blast one more time.
I surely had!
Now, this one of the first _fantasy series_ I've read but, I am surprised by the stability of quality.
While Zelazny has made some changes to the formula since _[Nine Princess...](/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/nine-princes-in-amber/)_, they were not significant enough to have any impact on my joy. I like the later volumes more than the first two, mostly due to the slower pace, but I have the same level of satisfaction.

I've got one last chapter of Corwin's story and I can't wait!

[^fn:1]: make that "very" if you read a lot of such stories