Characters
The Machiavellian royal family of Amber is headed by Oberon, the former king, now absent. His five daughters are Florimel, Deirdre, Fiona, Llewella, and Coral (who doesn't come into play until book 9) but the major players of the novel are the nine princes of the title:
- Benedict. The oldest surviving prince; uninvolved in the current struggle for the crown. The master tactician of the family and a man who seldom smiles. Presumed to be dead by the rest of the family.
- Corwin. The protagonist. A cross between a cruel rogue and a reluctant poet, his years on Earth seem to have softened him somewhat. "And remember who it was who gave you your life where another would have taken it."
- Eric. The arrogant yet competent would-be king of Amber; he commands the loyalty of Julian, Caine and Gérard.
- Caine. Calculating and realistic.
- Bleys. Dashing and charming; Corwin's other ally in his fight against Eric.
- Brand. Like Oberon, mysteriously unavailable. "There was a quality of both strength and weakness, questing and abandonment about him."
- Julian. A sinister hunter. "I enjoy slaughtering beasts and I think of my relatives constantly."
- Gérard. Physically strongest of the nine, affable and liked even by his enemies.
- Random. A sneaky rascal albeit Corwin's ally. A gambler and the youngest of Oberon's children.
Read more about this topic: Nine Princes In Amber
Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“It is open to question whether the highly individualized characters we find in Shakespeare are perhaps not detrimental to the dramatic effect. The human being disappears to the same degree as the individual emerges.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)
“To marry a man out of pity is folly; and, if you think you are going to influence the kind of fellow who has “never had a chance, poor devil,” you are profoundly mistaken. One can only influence the strong characters in life, not the weak; and it is the height of vanity to suppose that you can make an honest man of anyone.”
—Margot Asquith (1864–1945)
“Of all the characters I have known, perhaps Walden wears best, and best preserves its purity. Many men have been likened to it, but few deserve that honor. Though the woodchoppers have laid bare first this shore and then that, and the Irish have built their sties by it, and the railroad has infringed on its border, and the ice-men have skimmed it once, it is itself unchanged, the same water which my youthful eyes fell on; all the change is in me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)