By J. Stephen Bolhafner
Published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Sunday, December 29, 1991, Page 6D

ROGER ZELAZNY'S new Amber novel, ''Prince of Chaos'' (225 pages, Morrow, $18), is the tenth in this long-running chronicle and the fifth in the current series starring Merlin, the son of the original series narrator, Corwin. As narrators, Merlin and Corwin sound so much alike that most people would have difficulty identifying which is speaking in paragraphs picked at random from the Amber novels.

That is only one of the problems with these books. The latest, supposedly the conclusion to Merlin's adventures, leaves enough loose threads hanging that there will almost certainly be a third series. But like many other Zelazny addicts out there, I probably won't be able to keep from reading it. He's so much fun that his flabby worst is better than many writers' best.

FOOTNOTE: Sadly, my prediction was wrong. Zelazny died before he could write any more Amber books. I'm truly sorry the only book of his I ever got to review was a disappointment - if I'd been reviewing books when the first Amber series, or even the first couple of books of the second, were published, or his collections of short stories, or the marvelous "Lord of Light" (my own introduction to Zelazny), you'd see his name heralded over and over in this section. I don't review books I don't like - I get few enough reviews printed as it is, I don't want to waste precious space on things I can't recommend. So although I must admit it was a lukewarm recommendation, I did like this book. I was feeling exasperated when I wrote this because I'd expected the loose ends to be tied up. As it is, I'd give a lot if we could have Zelazny back to write a third series, even if it was sub-par. He died way too soon.

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