The Guns of Avalon
Encyclopedia
The Guns of Avalon is the second book in the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny
. The book continues straight from the previous volume, Nine Princes in Amber
, although it soon includes a recap.
has escaped the dungeons of Amber, where he was imprisoned by his hated brother Eric, who has seized the throne. All of Corwin's siblings believe that guns can never be brought to the medieval world of Amber, as all gunpowders seem inert there. But Corwin has secret knowledge: in the shadow world of Avalon, where he once ruled, there exists a jeweler's rouge
that will function as gunpowder
in Amber. Corwin plans to raise a legion of shadow soldiers, and arm them with automatic rifle
s from the shadow world Earth.
, his one-time home. As Corwin nears Avalon, he passes through a land called Lorraine. As it is near to Avalon in Shadow, some aspects of it are similar — it is a medieval kingdom, ruled once by a shadow version of Corwin, more recently by a king named Uther. Corwin comes across a wounded man, whom he recognizes as a shadow of Lance
, a knight of Avalon. Corwin carries Lance back to a nearby fortress, the Keep of Ganelon. Along the way, Corwin slays two giant hellcats — feline demon
s who call him the "opener", confirming his fears that he is responsible for the corruption of the vale of Garnath.
Corwin meets with Ganelon, whom he also knows, though Ganelon does not recognize him. Ganelon had once been Corwin's right-hand man in Avalon, until Ganelon betrayed him (alluding to Ganelon
the Traitor, of medieval literature), for which crime Corwin banished him into an unfamiliar shadow — this one, apparently — and left him to die. But Ganelon lived and, as he tells Corwin, rose from leading an outlaw
band to become leader of all the forces of Lorraine fighting against a strange evil: a constantly-expanding dark circle of toadstools
from which demonic creatures and soulless men emerge. Suspecting that this relates to the blood curse he pronounced against Amber (at the end of the previous volume), Corwin agrees to help.
While in Lorraine, training soldiers and recuperating from his imprisonment, Corwin meets a local camp follower, also named Lorraine. Corwin senses that someone is trying to speak to him by means of the Trumps (magical tarot cards), and blocks the attempt; Lorraine describes seeing a vision of a man whom Corwin recognizes as his father. She also reveals that her daughter — whom she had conceived by witchcraft — was the first person to die in the dark circle. A winged demon, Strygalldwir, arrives at the window to challenge Corwin; Corwin, after demonstrating a little-seen spellcasting
capability, kills Strygalldwir with his Pattern
-sword Grayswandir.
Corwin, Ganelon, and Lance lead an army against the dark circle. On the top floor of a tower, Corwin slays the enemy leader, a goat-headed creature. The enemy is revealed to come from the Courts of Chaos, a place far across Shadow from Amber, past where the shadows cease to follow ordinary rules of reality. Though he is now technically a hero, the men fear Corwin because of his relation to the shadow Corwin that once ruled Lorraine, who is remembered as a demonic tyrant. Lorraine runs off with her abusive boyfriend Melkin. Corwin pursues them; finding that Melkin has murdered and robbed Lorraine, he kills Melkin.
Corwin and Ganelon journey on toward Avalon. A young deserter tells them that the forces of Avalon, led by a man known as the Protector, have recently been battling a horde of demonic, cave-dwelling hellmaids — a force of evil somehow similar to the dark circle in Lorraine. Corwin and Ganelon journey on and meet the Protector, who turns out to be Corwin's long-lost brother Benedict, the most formidable swordsman and military strategist in existence. Benedict's forces have defeated the hellmaids, but he has lost his arm in the battle. Benedict greets Corwin cordially, but refuses to support his claim to the throne. Benedict also reveals that their father, King Oberon, did not abdicate, as Corwin had believed, but simply vanished.
Benedict sends Corwin and Ganelon on to his country house. There, Corwin meets a young woman named Dara, who tells him that she is Benedict's great-granddaughter. Because of her bloodline, she is anxious to learn more about the Pattern of Amber
. Walking the Pattern gives the royalty of Amber the ability to walk in Shadow. Trading information with her, Corwin learns that Benedict has been visited there by brothers Julian, Gérard, and Brand. In Avalon, Corwin arranges to purchase large amounts of jeweler's rouge, obtaining capital by journeying through Shadow to a parallel Earth where he harvests diamond
s from an African coast that has never seen human habitation. Returning to Benedict's house, he encounters Ganelon, who jokingly tells him that several fresh human bodies are buried in the garden. Corwin is reluctant to get involved in the local intrigue. Later, Dara finds him, and they become lovers.
Corwin sets off into Shadow with his jeweler's rouge. He and Ganelon notice a strange phenomenon: a black road, similar to the dark circle in Lorraine, cuts through Shadow, apparently stretching from Amber to all the Shadows. The grass along the black road encircles the ankles of Ganelon, and Corwin has to free him. Corwin is able to destroy a section of the black road by focusing his mind on the Pattern, then Corwin receives a Trump contact, which he assumes to be from Benedict. Corwin believes Benedict to be angry at having discovered either that Corwin has been using Avalon to arm himself for an attempt on the throne (compromising Benedict's neutrality) or that Corwin has slept with Dara. Corwin tries to escape further into Shadow, but Benedict pursues and eventually catches him. Benedict accuses Corwin of being a murderer, to Corwin's surprise, and a duel ensues. Completely outmatched, Corwin tricks Benedict into moving into a patch of the strange black grass, allowing Corwin to knock him unconscious. Corwin summons Gérard via Trump to care for Benedict.
Corwin journeys to our Earth, and has an assembly line set up to produce the ammunition he needs to assault Amber. While that is happening, he visits his old house in New York, where he finds a message from Eric, pleading for peace. Corwin rejects this. He recruits his army from a similar Shadow to the one home to the army he recruited for his assault with Bleys, and trains them in the use of firearms. Then he leads them through shadow to attack Amber. However, upon reaching Amber, Corwin finds a desperate battle against wyvern
riders from the Courts of Chaos. He also finds Dara wandering about the battlefield, and orders some men to guard her. After assisting in the battle and dispatching the threat, he confronts Eric, who has been wounded during the battle. Before he dies, Eric passes the Jewel of Judgement to Corwin and pronounces his death curse on the enemies of Amber.
Dara, having disposed of her guards, rides past Corwin on horseback, toward Amber. Corwin, suddenly apprehensive, contacts his brother Random via trump, and has Random teleport him into Amber. They reach the chamber of the Pattern to find that Dara is already walking it, shifting into all manner of strange and grotesque shapes as she does. Completing her Pattern walk, she announces to Corwin in a low, inhuman voice that "Amber will be destroyed", then vanishes.
art. For example, when Ganelon ties the golden-haired youth by one ankle to a tree branch, this mimics the Tarot card "The Hanged Man". The wheel that Corwin dreams about is inspired by the Tarot card "Wheel of Fortune
".
In addition to being a character in French medieval literature
, Ganelon is also the name of the main character in The Dark World by Henry Kuttner
— one of the chronicles' main inspirations.
The poem about Avalon that Corwin quotes to Ganelon alludes to both Psalm 137
("By the rivers of Babylon
, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion
") as well as to a classic nursery rhyme
("How many miles to Babylon? Threescore miles and ten").
.
A three-part comic adaptation was done by Terry Bisson
in 1996.
Roger Zelazny
Roger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for his The Chronicles of Amber series...
. The book continues straight from the previous volume, Nine Princes in Amber
Nine Princes in Amber
Nine Princes in Amber is a new wave fantasy novel and the first in the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. It was first published in 1970. The book has also spawned a computer game of the same name...
, although it soon includes a recap.
Setting
CorwinCorwin (The Chronicles of Amber)
Corwin, a Prince of Amber, is the main character in the first five books of Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber. He is the second son of Oberon and Faiella, and the father of Merlin...
has escaped the dungeons of Amber, where he was imprisoned by his hated brother Eric, who has seized the throne. All of Corwin's siblings believe that guns can never be brought to the medieval world of Amber, as all gunpowders seem inert there. But Corwin has secret knowledge: in the shadow world of Avalon, where he once ruled, there exists a jeweler's rouge
Iron(III) oxide
Iron oxide or ferric oxide is the inorganic compound with the formula Fe2O3. It is one of the three main oxides of iron, the other two being iron oxide , which is rare, and iron oxide , which also occurs naturally as the mineral magnetite. As the mineral known as hematite, Fe2O3 is the main...
that will function as gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
in Amber. Corwin plans to raise a legion of shadow soldiers, and arm them with automatic rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
s from the shadow world Earth.
Plot summary
Corwin sets out through the endless worlds of shadow in search of AvalonAvalon
Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae as the place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later where Arthur was...
, his one-time home. As Corwin nears Avalon, he passes through a land called Lorraine. As it is near to Avalon in Shadow, some aspects of it are similar — it is a medieval kingdom, ruled once by a shadow version of Corwin, more recently by a king named Uther. Corwin comes across a wounded man, whom he recognizes as a shadow of Lance
Lancelot
Sir Lancelot du Lac is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is the most trusted of King Arthur's knights and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories...
, a knight of Avalon. Corwin carries Lance back to a nearby fortress, the Keep of Ganelon. Along the way, Corwin slays two giant hellcats — feline demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
s who call him the "opener", confirming his fears that he is responsible for the corruption of the vale of Garnath.
Corwin meets with Ganelon, whom he also knows, though Ganelon does not recognize him. Ganelon had once been Corwin's right-hand man in Avalon, until Ganelon betrayed him (alluding to Ganelon
Ganelon
In the Matter of France, Ganelon is the knight who betrayed Charlemagne's army to the Muslims, leading to the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. His name is said to derive from the Italian word inganno, meaning fraud or deception....
the Traitor, of medieval literature), for which crime Corwin banished him into an unfamiliar shadow — this one, apparently — and left him to die. But Ganelon lived and, as he tells Corwin, rose from leading an outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
band to become leader of all the forces of Lorraine fighting against a strange evil: a constantly-expanding dark circle of toadstools
Fairy ring
A fairy ring, also known as fairy circle, elf circle, elf ring or pixie ring, is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms. The rings may grow to over in diameter, and they become stable over time as the fungus grows and seeks food underground. They are found mainly in forested areas, but...
from which demonic creatures and soulless men emerge. Suspecting that this relates to the blood curse he pronounced against Amber (at the end of the previous volume), Corwin agrees to help.
While in Lorraine, training soldiers and recuperating from his imprisonment, Corwin meets a local camp follower, also named Lorraine. Corwin senses that someone is trying to speak to him by means of the Trumps (magical tarot cards), and blocks the attempt; Lorraine describes seeing a vision of a man whom Corwin recognizes as his father. She also reveals that her daughter — whom she had conceived by witchcraft — was the first person to die in the dark circle. A winged demon, Strygalldwir, arrives at the window to challenge Corwin; Corwin, after demonstrating a little-seen spellcasting
Spellcasting
Spellcasting is the act of casting spells and is most often found in a variety of communities. Within the Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy roleplaying gaming communities, spellcasting is a skill often used by druids, clerics, and wizards. Spellcasting is also associated with occult communities,...
capability, kills Strygalldwir with his Pattern
The Pattern
In The Chronicles of Amber series of fantasy novels, The Pattern is an inscribed labyrinth which gives the multiverse its order.-The Pattern:The Pattern exists in a huge cavern, in the caves beneath the mountain Kolvir, deep under Amber Castle...
-sword Grayswandir.
Corwin, Ganelon, and Lance lead an army against the dark circle. On the top floor of a tower, Corwin slays the enemy leader, a goat-headed creature. The enemy is revealed to come from the Courts of Chaos, a place far across Shadow from Amber, past where the shadows cease to follow ordinary rules of reality. Though he is now technically a hero, the men fear Corwin because of his relation to the shadow Corwin that once ruled Lorraine, who is remembered as a demonic tyrant. Lorraine runs off with her abusive boyfriend Melkin. Corwin pursues them; finding that Melkin has murdered and robbed Lorraine, he kills Melkin.
Corwin and Ganelon journey on toward Avalon. A young deserter tells them that the forces of Avalon, led by a man known as the Protector, have recently been battling a horde of demonic, cave-dwelling hellmaids — a force of evil somehow similar to the dark circle in Lorraine. Corwin and Ganelon journey on and meet the Protector, who turns out to be Corwin's long-lost brother Benedict, the most formidable swordsman and military strategist in existence. Benedict's forces have defeated the hellmaids, but he has lost his arm in the battle. Benedict greets Corwin cordially, but refuses to support his claim to the throne. Benedict also reveals that their father, King Oberon, did not abdicate, as Corwin had believed, but simply vanished.
Benedict sends Corwin and Ganelon on to his country house. There, Corwin meets a young woman named Dara, who tells him that she is Benedict's great-granddaughter. Because of her bloodline, she is anxious to learn more about the Pattern of Amber
The Pattern
In The Chronicles of Amber series of fantasy novels, The Pattern is an inscribed labyrinth which gives the multiverse its order.-The Pattern:The Pattern exists in a huge cavern, in the caves beneath the mountain Kolvir, deep under Amber Castle...
. Walking the Pattern gives the royalty of Amber the ability to walk in Shadow. Trading information with her, Corwin learns that Benedict has been visited there by brothers Julian, Gérard, and Brand. In Avalon, Corwin arranges to purchase large amounts of jeweler's rouge, obtaining capital by journeying through Shadow to a parallel Earth where he harvests diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s from an African coast that has never seen human habitation. Returning to Benedict's house, he encounters Ganelon, who jokingly tells him that several fresh human bodies are buried in the garden. Corwin is reluctant to get involved in the local intrigue. Later, Dara finds him, and they become lovers.
Corwin sets off into Shadow with his jeweler's rouge. He and Ganelon notice a strange phenomenon: a black road, similar to the dark circle in Lorraine, cuts through Shadow, apparently stretching from Amber to all the Shadows. The grass along the black road encircles the ankles of Ganelon, and Corwin has to free him. Corwin is able to destroy a section of the black road by focusing his mind on the Pattern, then Corwin receives a Trump contact, which he assumes to be from Benedict. Corwin believes Benedict to be angry at having discovered either that Corwin has been using Avalon to arm himself for an attempt on the throne (compromising Benedict's neutrality) or that Corwin has slept with Dara. Corwin tries to escape further into Shadow, but Benedict pursues and eventually catches him. Benedict accuses Corwin of being a murderer, to Corwin's surprise, and a duel ensues. Completely outmatched, Corwin tricks Benedict into moving into a patch of the strange black grass, allowing Corwin to knock him unconscious. Corwin summons Gérard via Trump to care for Benedict.
Corwin journeys to our Earth, and has an assembly line set up to produce the ammunition he needs to assault Amber. While that is happening, he visits his old house in New York, where he finds a message from Eric, pleading for peace. Corwin rejects this. He recruits his army from a similar Shadow to the one home to the army he recruited for his assault with Bleys, and trains them in the use of firearms. Then he leads them through shadow to attack Amber. However, upon reaching Amber, Corwin finds a desperate battle against wyvern
Wyvern
A wyvern or wivern is a legendary winged reptilian creature with a dragon's head, two legs , and a barbed tail. The wyvern is found in heraldry. There exists a purely sea-dwelling variant, termed the Sea-Wyvern which has a fish tail in place of a barbed dragon's tail...
riders from the Courts of Chaos. He also finds Dara wandering about the battlefield, and orders some men to guard her. After assisting in the battle and dispatching the threat, he confronts Eric, who has been wounded during the battle. Before he dies, Eric passes the Jewel of Judgement to Corwin and pronounces his death curse on the enemies of Amber.
Dara, having disposed of her guards, rides past Corwin on horseback, toward Amber. Corwin, suddenly apprehensive, contacts his brother Random via trump, and has Random teleport him into Amber. They reach the chamber of the Pattern to find that Dara is already walking it, shifting into all manner of strange and grotesque shapes as she does. Completing her Pattern walk, she announces to Corwin in a low, inhuman voice that "Amber will be destroyed", then vanishes.
Cultural allusions
Some of the imagery in the book is inspired by TarotTarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
art. For example, when Ganelon ties the golden-haired youth by one ankle to a tree branch, this mimics the Tarot card "The Hanged Man". The wheel that Corwin dreams about is inspired by the Tarot card "Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (Tarot card)
Wheel of Fortune is the tenth trump or Major Arcana card in most Tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination.-Description:To the right is the Wheel Of Fortune card from the A. E. Waite tarot deck. A. E...
".
In addition to being a character in French medieval literature
Ganelon
In the Matter of France, Ganelon is the knight who betrayed Charlemagne's army to the Muslims, leading to the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. His name is said to derive from the Italian word inganno, meaning fraud or deception....
, Ganelon is also the name of the main character in The Dark World by Henry Kuttner
Henry Kuttner
Henry Kuttner was an American author of science fiction, fantasy and horror.-Early life:Henry Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California in 1915...
— one of the chronicles' main inspirations.
The poem about Avalon that Corwin quotes to Ganelon alludes to both Psalm 137
Psalm 137
Psalm 137 is one of the best known of the Biblical psalms. Its opening lines, "By the rivers of Babylon..." have been set to music on several occasions....
("By the rivers of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion
Zion
Zion is a place name often used as a synonym for Jerusalem. The word is first found in Samuel II, 5:7 dating to c.630-540 BCE...
") as well as to a classic nursery rhyme
Nursery rhyme
The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...
("How many miles to Babylon? Threescore miles and ten").
History
Roger Zelazny wrote an explicit sex scene (by nineteen-seventies standards) between Corwin and Dara and was amused when the book's editor asked him to remove it so that sales to libraries wouldn't be jeopardized. That deleted scene has never appeared with the novel but has been printed for the first time in The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volume 3: This Mortal Mountain.In other sources
Dara appears as one of the illustrated characters in the 1996 collection Barlowe's Guide to FantasyBarlowe's Guide to Fantasy
Barlowe's Guide to Fantasy is a 1996 fantasy book by artist Wayne Barlowe. It contains his visualizations of different beings from various works of fantasy. The foreword is by John Silbersack, then editor-in-chief at HarperPrism. Interior text is by Neil Duskis.-Species & source:*Alzabo - Gene...
.
A three-part comic adaptation was done by Terry Bisson
Terry Bisson
Terry Ballantine Bisson is an American science fiction and fantasy author best known for his short stories...
in 1996.