The Nine Princes of Amber by Roger Zelazny*

The Nine Princes in Amber is the first book in the Amber saga. This starts the series of Corwin. In the series all worlds, including our own, are shades of Amber and those of royal blood have the power to shape these worlds to their own ends. They're basically gods. Corwin has been stranded on earth for centuries with no memory of his royal power or position. All he really knows is that he can't be killed by our mortal weapons. When he wakes up in a hospital and is informed that he was admitted by his sister, he goes out to find her and some answers to his heritage. He meets up with his brother Random, who he can tolerate, and together they reclaim Corwin's memory. They then race back to Amber in an attempt to gain the throne. The book is well written and enjoyed. There are five books in the original series, followed by a series about Corwin's son Merlin that also consists of five books. I could not get into Merlin's series. Another author, John Gregory Betancourt, was authorized to write some prequels to the original two series. I have not read these either.

The Wolf's Children Prologue

This is the prologue to my story The Wolf's Children. I would be interested in any comments that you have.

Prologue

            Orris fluttered over his master in concern, his little blue wings shedding gold pixie dust over the bed where the Earl lay. He turned slightly to face the elf prince that sat next to his nephew, the same concern lacing his fine features that lay in Orris' small face. "He is going to be all right, is he not, Your Highness?" the pixie asked anxiously.

            "I do not know," Prince Tristan said with a sigh. "That vampire's bite was deep. We have done all we can, but I fear that the leg will always be weak even if he does survive the poison."

            "But his lordship is strong; he will survive," Orris said with a determined look on his small face.

            "I certainly hope so. I just lost two of my favorite brothers-in-law, I do not want to lose my favorite nephew as well," Tristan said with another sigh. "Not my best friend."

            The tent flap opened briefly, "Is he awake?" a voice asked softly.

            Tristan turned in surprise to see Aine, the Queen of Summer, standing on the threshold of the room. "Uh, no. He is still trying to fight off the poison," he managed after a moment.

            "Here," she said, thrusting a goblet filled with some kind of warm, red, liquid in it. "According to Khione that will help him."

            Tristan lifted the goblet to his nose and sniffed. His senses were not as keen as his nephew's, but he instantly recognized the metallic smell of blood.

            He looked to the queen in surprise. "Khione said it would help," Aine replied. "If you do not feed it to him, I will."

            She stood and watched as he held Duncan's nose so he was forced to open his mouth and poured the liquid down his throat. The high prince then watched as the Queen of Summer exited the tent as softly as she came. He knew that as long as he lived, he would wonder what this day was all about.

Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tarzan, the story of a boy raised by Apes in the jungle who finds out that he is really an English lord and falls in love with Jane. There are several books in the original series and many movie adaptations and parodies made of the books. For instance, the character George of the Jungle could easily be seen as a parody of Tarzan. In the first book, Tarzan leaves the jungle to be with Jane. Even though he is British, he learned English from a French man so speaks with a French accent. He is a strange combination of primitive Ape and sophisticated British lord and it is no wonder why he has remained a staple in literature for the last hundred years.

Harry Potter by JK Rowling

The first Harry Potter book was published in 1997 in Great Britain. It was titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and told the story about "the boy who lived". An orphan named Harry Potter that didn't know that he was the most famous person in the strange wizard other world existing alongside normal "muggle" London. Here in his first year he meets his two friends that will stick next to him during all the trials that he will face for the next 6 books, Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley. He also learns that the evil wizard that he "defeated" all those years ago did not die completely and is out to regain a full life and kill Harry in the process. In this first book, He Who Shall Not Be Named (Voldermort) is trying to get the Philosopher's Stone. The Philosopher's Stone has shown up in numerous other literature besides Harry Potter. It's main properties seem to be its ability to grant immortality and turn lead into gold.

                When Harry Potter moved to America, American publishers didn't think its audience would know what the Philosopher's Stone was so they changed the name to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone instead.

                The movies are remarkably close to the book because JK Rowling kept tight control of the rights and had a hand in writing all the scripts. Some diehard fans still complain about some of the changes.

                All together both book and movie are great stories and a welcome choice for the fantasy reader. Now enjoy this music video set to the song Skyfall from the James Bond movie of the same name. This video has clips from the last movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and all the other movies in between. 

The Wonderful Land of Oz

The world was first introduced to the land of Oz in 1900 when L. Frank Baum first introduced readers to a little girl from Kansas named Dorothy who was swept into a legendary tornado. This first book was followed by thirteen other books, some of them featuring Dorothy, some not. Once the story entered public domain, many other authors picked up the mantle of Oz to write back stories and continuing stories to the landmark classic. I admit to not reading any of these "non cannon" works, yet, but intend to get to them at some time in the future, but without further ado, what I do know about the wonderful land of Oz.

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

And here, ladies and gentlemen, the book that started it all. The Wizard of Oz tells the story of Dorothy Gale from Kansas and her dog Toto who is magically transported to Oz in a tornado. After she accidentally kills the Wicked Witch of the East with her house, she is set out on a quest to find the Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City by the Good Witch of the North. What I find is interesting tidbit is that in these original stories the Good Witch of the North and Glinda are two separate people. Glinda is actually the Good Witch of the South and doesn't appear until the very end of the novel when she tells Dorothy how she can actually return to Kansas. The Good Witch of the North never seems to make a return appearance at all, at least not in the books I've read.

 The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Perhaps the most memorable movie adaptation of Baum's work the 1939 movie stars Judy Garland as our Dorothy. It has great music and was up for best picture (it lost to Gone with the Wind). I think this is probably one of the first times that Glinda and the Witch of the North became the same person. Less confusion and people running around. They also had a groundbreaking technique, Kansas was all in black and white, Oz in living color so that the audience would know that they had stepped over the border into another world. It still remains one of my all time favorite movies.

 

The Return to Oz (1985)

Although this movie is one year older than me, I had never seen it in its entirety until recently. My parents believed that the idea of Mambi taking off her heads was too graphic for me as a child. The movie takes aspects of both the Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz which is the second and third books in the series. In it Dorothy must save the Princess of Ozma who has been captured by Mambi and restore her to the throne. It was not the commercial success of the original 1939 movie but is a good movie for what it's worth.

Tin Man (2007)

A contemporary view of the story this mini-series tells the story of DG, a lost princess of Oz that returns to her homeland after several years of exile in Kansas. She then has to battle the evil Azkadellia in order to stop her from bring the OZ into eternal darkness. The story is clever and enjoyable even if Zooey Deschanel is a little wooden (she plays DG). The rest of the actors more than make up for her performance. This is probably my favorite live action version outside of the 1939 movie.

 

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

I don't know if it's good or bad when you hate the protagonist for 90% of the movie and actually feel sorry for our main antagonist. One thing about it, they do channel the 1939 movie by having Kansas in black and white and Oz in color. This tells the story of the Wizard and how he came to Oz and managed to set himself up as ruler. His allies accept him for what he is and the movie was wonderfully executed, even if I hated Oz himself and felt eternally sorry for Theodora, the Witch of the West.

 

Dorothy in the Land of Oz (1980)

A cute story where Dorothy returns to Oz in order to save it from Tryone the Terrible Toy Tinker who has turned one of the Wizards turkey balloons into a real giant turkey that he is planning to use to wreck havoc in Oz. This was one of my favorite adaptations as a child.

The Lion of Oz (2000)

In this story the Lion that would become the Cowardly Lion lands in Oz and starts on a quest to regain his courage and find the Flower of Oz before the Wicked Witch of the East does it for him. The movie is amusing even if the songs leave something to be desired.

Legends of Oz: Dorothy's return (2013)

In this version, Dorothy returns to Oz to battle the evil Jester who has turned everyone into puppets as he tries to take over Oz. The movie was adorable for what it's worth and is a worthy part of the Oz cannon.