AMBER INSURANCE
Amber Insurance
You are in the offices of the Amber Insurance. On the wall is the heraldic motif of the company - a white unicorn rampant on a field of green.
Amber Insurance is named after the series of books by Roger Zelazny, set in a parallel universe, a kingdom where the brothers and sisters of the late King fight to take the thrown.
The first of the Amber books is Nine Princes in Amber. Corwin wakes up in a hospital unable to remember anything except that he'd been in a car accident - and that it was no accident. When he remembers his name and discovers that he has superhuman strength, he sets out to discover his past. His journey takes him from New York to the fantastic realms of Amber where he turns out to be one of the nine princes fighting for the right to be crowned king.
The rest of the books in the first series are more of the same, not quite as good as the first book, but still worth reading:
The Guns of Avalon - currently out of print although Amazon.com do list it and may be able to find a second-hand copy.
The second Amber series is not a patch on the first one, and I don't really recommend it - although I'm listing the books here for completeness:
Blood of Amber - out of print, but Amazon do list it.
Alan says:
Roger Zelazny has written many other books not about Amber,. These are three which I rate very highly. Unfortunately they are all out of print, but Amazon.com may be able to track them down for you:
This Immortal
Set in a post-apocalyptic world, a mutation makes the hero immortal. Under various guises he leads a struggle to free the world from an alien race who have obtained title to the Earth in order to study its fascinating social problems.
Lord of Light
One of my all time favorite books, and winner of numerous SF awards. An amazing blend of religion backed by high technology keeps the ordinary people of a distant Earth colony at a relatively primitive level. The fight to make technology available to all is led by one of the original colonists, who tries different strategies over time with differing levels of success.
Doorways in the Sand
An alien cop disguised as a kangeroo, a hero who has managed to avoid graduating for thirteen years and who is partial to roof tops. A mysterious alien artifact that has gone missing. Zelazny weaves these strands into the most amazing story I've read for a long time.
