Sign of the Unicorn Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Lew Wolkoff

Critical Essay by Lew Wolkoff

Zelazny is writing a novel about Prince Corwin of Amber. But he's releasing each division as he finishes it, [The Hand of Oberon] being fourth in the series. It begins with the next paragraph after the end of Sign of the Unicorn, its predecessor, and concludes with a cliff-hanger that will be resolved in the next.

This creates some problems for the reader. Much dialog is background-as-conversation, never an easy trick, though Zelazny usually keeps one's interest. Even with a chapter-long flashback written to summarize past events, there is sometimes the feeling of having missed something important. Names are thrown at the reader, who may only learn some pages after the fact why the characters reacted as they did, the full explanation being in an earlier book.

Zelazny is inventive and knows how to use language. His description of Corwin's hellride from Amber to Earth is practically a cinematic montage….