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Sljb has NOW officially been outed:
scam/skæm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[skam] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, verb, scammed, scam‧ming.
–noun
1. a confidence game or other fraudulent scheme, esp. for making a quick profit; swindle.
–verb (used with object)
2. to cheat or defraud with a scam.
[Origin: 1960–65; orig. carnival argot; of obscure orig.]
Posted by: domain311
In reply to: None
Date:11/29/2006 12:48:16 PM
Post #of 196846
My email to Intec and their reply:
Hi,
My name is Anthony and I am a shareholder of Sulja Building Supply...I have a few questions following this news release, if you could please take the time to read them. Below is a news release that came out in The United States, regarding your company, on May 17th, 2006:
LoftWerks/Sulja's Parent Company Consultech Furthers Middle East Growth
WINDSOR, ON -- (MARKET WIRE) -- May 17, 2006 -- LoftWerks (OTC: LFWK) LoftWerks/Sulja Bros. today announces that Consultech's Midwest Operation has signed a new contract in partnership with Intec Industries in Berlin to construct two tire recycling plants in the Middle East. Intec Industries is a world renowned and front runner of tire recycling technology.
The first plant is to be located in Saudi Arabia and the second one is to be constructed in the United Arab Emirates. Consultech Director General, Petar Vucicevich, upon signing the contract in Berlin, stated, "We are pleased to sign another agreement with our friends in the Middle East. We have been doing business in the region for a few years now and this new project solidifies our presence even more. At the same time, we have a new partner in Intec Industries. We plan on furthering our business in the future once our project in the Middle East is a success."
A Consultech spokesperson stated that all necessary fixtures, construction and finishing materials would be provided through Sulja Building Supply. This project is estimated to generate 30 Million Euros; construction on the site will begin in August 2006; completion date is projected in about 8 months.
Can you please confirm or deny whether this news release is accurate?
If it is accurate, has the project commenced as originally planned, in August?
And when is completion date set for?
Do you have any more potential projects with this company...or just the building of the two tire recycling plants?
If this news release is false, have you heard of this company stating they have a contract with you...and if so, please explain.
I greatly appreciate anything you can add to my inquiry's and thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Anthony
INTEC MICRO POWDER AGUHLANDSTRASSE 165 • D-10719 BERLIN INTEC MICRO POWDER AGUHLANDSTRASSE 165-166D-10719 Berlin / GERMANYTel.: (+49) 30 / 88 72 859-0Fax: (+49) 30 / 88 72 859-50E-mail: info@intec-berlin.comwww.Intec-AG-Berlin.dewww.Intec-AG-Berlin.com
Mr Athoney Email:
Ihr SchreibenYour letter Ihre ZeichenYour reference Unsere ZeichenOur referenceschu DatumDate29.November 2006
Dear Mr Anthoney,
Thank you very much for your information, regarding the press release of Sulja Building Supply.
We regret to inform you, that we do not maintain or have maintained any business relations to Sulja Building Supply or any related company, nor do we know one of the acting officers of that company. The content of the published press release is not true and/or it could be expected, it will materialize in future.
We, as INTEC MICRO POWDER AG, have signed a Joint-venture agreement (however with a much higher volume as 30 million) with a major Saudi Group in Rihad (KSA) in March, 2006 to build a Tire Recycling Plant in the Kingdom. This JV has been announced in the local Saudi press in March / April 2006.
We are very concerned that our Company’s name is misused to pretend other positive impressions. We appreciate your information and confirm that we separately will seek legal advice from our lawyers to follow up this matter further.
If you have some more information or any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us again.
Sincerely Yours,
Joachim Schulze
INTEC MICRO POWDER AG
The only thing I deleted was my last name from the email. I still hold shares but this makes me extremely uneasy. I emailed suljas this same information and also left Leslie a voice mail. Hopefully I hear something soon.
Sljb has NOW officially been outed:
scam/skæm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[skam] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, verb, scammed, scam‧ming.
–noun
1. a confidence game or other fraudulent scheme, esp. for making a quick profit; swindle.
–verb (used with object)
2. to cheat or defraud with a scam.
[Origin: 1960–65; orig. carnival argot; of obscure orig.]
Posted by: domain311
In reply to: None
Date:11/29/2006 12:48:16 PM
Post #of 196846
My email to Intec and their reply:
Hi,
My name is Anthony and I am a shareholder of Sulja Building Supply...I have a few questions following this news release, if you could please take the time to read them. Below is a news release that came out in The United States, regarding your company, on May 17th, 2006:
LoftWerks/Sulja's Parent Company Consultech Furthers Middle East Growth
WINDSOR, ON -- (MARKET WIRE) -- May 17, 2006 -- LoftWerks (OTC: LFWK) LoftWerks/Sulja Bros. today announces that Consultech's Midwest Operation has signed a new contract in partnership with Intec Industries in Berlin to construct two tire recycling plants in the Middle East. Intec Industries is a world renowned and front runner of tire recycling technology.
The first plant is to be located in Saudi Arabia and the second one is to be constructed in the United Arab Emirates. Consultech Director General, Petar Vucicevich, upon signing the contract in Berlin, stated, "We are pleased to sign another agreement with our friends in the Middle East. We have been doing business in the region for a few years now and this new project solidifies our presence even more. At the same time, we have a new partner in Intec Industries. We plan on furthering our business in the future once our project in the Middle East is a success."
A Consultech spokesperson stated that all necessary fixtures, construction and finishing materials would be provided through Sulja Building Supply. This project is estimated to generate 30 Million Euros; construction on the site will begin in August 2006; completion date is projected in about 8 months.
Can you please confirm or deny whether this news release is accurate?
If it is accurate, has the project commenced as originally planned, in August?
And when is completion date set for?
Do you have any more potential projects with this company...or just the building of the two tire recycling plants?
If this news release is false, have you heard of this company stating they have a contract with you...and if so, please explain.
I greatly appreciate anything you can add to my inquiry's and thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Anthony
INTEC MICRO POWDER AGUHLANDSTRASSE 165 • D-10719 BERLIN INTEC MICRO POWDER AGUHLANDSTRASSE 165-166D-10719 Berlin / GERMANYTel.: (+49) 30 / 88 72 859-0Fax: (+49) 30 / 88 72 859-50E-mail: info@intec-berlin.comwww.Intec-AG-Berlin.dewww.Intec-AG-Berlin.com
Mr Athoney Email:
Ihr SchreibenYour letter Ihre ZeichenYour reference Unsere ZeichenOur referenceschu DatumDate29.November 2006
Dear Mr Anthoney,
Thank you very much for your information, regarding the press release of Sulja Building Supply.
We regret to inform you, that we do not maintain or have maintained any business relations to Sulja Building Supply or any related company, nor do we know one of the acting officers of that company. The content of the published press release is not true and/or it could be expected, it will materialize in future.
We, as INTEC MICRO POWDER AG, have signed a Joint-venture agreement (however with a much higher volume as 30 million) with a major Saudi Group in Rihad (KSA) in March, 2006 to build a Tire Recycling Plant in the Kingdom. This JV has been announced in the local Saudi press in March / April 2006.
We are very concerned that our Company’s name is misused to pretend other positive impressions. We appreciate your information and confirm that we separately will seek legal advice from our lawyers to follow up this matter further.
If you have some more information or any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us again.
Sincerely Yours,
Joachim Schulze
INTEC MICRO POWDER AG
The only thing I deleted was my last name from the email. I still hold shares but this makes me extremely uneasy. I emailed suljas this same information and also left Leslie a voice mail. Hopefully I hear something soon.
thank god they banned me on the SLJB board, now lets see what's up with this fiasco...
if you sell your shares after DEC 19 do you still get the Opticon next year?
nice post
is it too late to get it?
what's the dividend? TIA
lots of money was made, plenty of places to spend it.... hey check out this poem, it won me ban 49 on the Scamsulja board:
good bye Sulja stock price....
it's time to go....
to subpenny land....
and smoke the Wessal hooka....
and dream of sand.....
good bye Sulja stock price....
it's time to go....
and with our money gone....
we will never know.....
what happened....
because a scam is a scam
and Steve Sulja is the man
and Petar is doing coke off a whore's a$$
with your life savings......
COME ON SING WITH ME!!!!!
is this a good stock? I'm number ban 49 on the Scamsulja board... I thought I would dig up Jim Bishop, and see what he's up to...
TIA
hey, what's a stock I can make money on???
I just got banned from the SLJB board for singing this song:
good bye Sulja stock price....
it's time to go....
to subpenny land....
and smoke the Wessal hooka....
and dream of sand.....
good bye Sulja stock price....
it's time to go....
and with our money gone....
we will never know.....
what happened....
because a scam is a scam
and Steve Sulja is the man
and Petar is doing coke off a whore's a$$
with your life savings......
COME ON SING WITH ME!!!!!
you just showed your true colors, altering my message:
Posted by: KnightofAmber
In reply to: bagsadollars who wrote msg# 196403 Date:11/29/2006 12:05:54 PM
Post #of 196727
I'm a paid basher and I get a pay check from some slimy boiler room scussball.... not.
Knight
you know you love me....
lol well, I'm glad someone around here still has some money!!!
the only place that bullets are relevent here, is when fired towards the scam artists
no, just watching
good bye Sulja stock price....
it's time to go....
to subpenny land....
and smoke the Wessal hooka....
and dream of sand.....
good bye Sulja stock price....
it's time to go....
and with our money gone....
we will never know.....
what happened....
because a scam is a scam
and Steve Sulja is the man
and Petar is doing coke off a whore's a$$
with your life savings......
COME ON SING WITH ME!!!!!
good bye Sulja stock price....
it's time to go....
to subpenny land....
and smoke the Wessal hooka....
and dream of sand.....
good bye Sulja stock price....
it's time to go....
and with our money gone....
we will never know.....
what happened....
because a scam is a scam
and Steve Sulja is the man
and Petar is doing coke off a whore's a$$
with your life savings......
COME ON SING WITH ME!!!!!
and to answer your second question, I want to watch you cry when you lose the rest of your money in this POS scam
I'm a paid basher and I get a pay check from some slimy boiler room scussball.... not.
I'm trying.... believe me.... but this board has too many pumpers... that's how I got sucked in.... so I'm just balancing the powers here.... so far the pumpers have been wrong.... if there is anything gripe, it should be with them and not me.... do you want to make a public bet this stock will be at 1.5 cent in three weeks?
yah, the money I lost didn't bother me either while I was writing that, I felt better also....
laughter is healing
blaming things on a news report? yah right. the stock crash is the fault of SLJB and their market maker/ naked shorting buddies alone.... if this company really had all those deals, it wouldn't have crashed.
no a Wessal is actually a hooka, the kind Steve was smoking when he wrote those financials last summer
this company has run itself down, and is continuing to do so, while stealing our money... sure blame it on me
Steve Jobs is Going To Jail
By Porter Stansberry
They were all in it together…
The corporate big shots, the bankers, the politicians, and the regulators. They were all feeding on you, me, and everyone who bought a mutual fund or deposited funds in a stock-centric 401k…
Accounting rules require options to be granted at the same price of the stock on the day they’re issued. This is to ensure that no grant recipient is given an “in the money option.”
If you grant options that are already in the money, you’re stealing from other shareholders – it’s that simple. Worst of all, these conspiracies involved the corporations’ boards of directors – the very people who are richly paid to guard the hen house. It’s outrageous.
---------- Advertisement ----------
Gov’t Loophole HR 3838 Creates Ultimate Retirement Plan
If you’re looking for low-risk retirement income, it doesn’t get any better than this…
You see, the U.S. government’s Tax Reform Act H.R. 3838 accidentally created a little-known opportunity I call “supplemental retirement income.”
It’s perfect for retirees and people ready to retire. The dividend payments are large… and constantly growing…
Best of all, this investment is much less risky than stocks, and could pay you more than the stock market – a lot more – over the next three years.
Click here for the details.
-----------------------------------
If the public ever wakes up to what was really happening to its investments in the stock market… well, we’ve only seen the beginning of this scandal. In yesterday’s DailyWealth, I predicted the illegal and immoral backdating of options would send Maxim Integrated (MXIM) CEO John Gifford to jail.
I’ve got one more prediction for you: Steve Jobs is going to jail, too.
Few men have enriched themselves more at the expense of their shareholders in recent years – both at Apple and at Jobs’ other creation, Pixar. At Pixar, the entire board of directors (which included Jobs) voted to approve options grants. And friends of Jobs were showered with illegally backdated options.
John Lasseter, the company’s head of creative development, was granted 2 million options on December 6, 2000. That day saw the lowest closing price for Pixar’s stock for the year, $13.25. The grant is doubly peculiar because it was the largest options grant ever made by Pixar and it was part of Lasseter’s employment contract, which wasn’t signed until March 2001.
By the time Pixar bothered to tell its shareholders about the grant (April 2001) its share price had already risen to $16.33.
Don’t you wish you had a friend like Jobs? Well, maybe not. He loves himself a bit too much, as you’ll see…
At Apple, Jobs granted himself (with his handpicked board’s approval) 10 million stock options in 2000! The grant, which was one of the largest ever given by any corporation, was made on Apple’s single-lowest closing price of the month.
This grant was almost certainly fraudulent (backdated). Jobs, because of his experience at Pixar, certainly knew it was a fraudulent grant. So far, Apple admits Jobs knew about fraudulent grants and was awarded a fraudulent grant, but says he did not “benefit” from the practice.
What? He received a 10 million-share, backdated options grant, but he didn’t benefit? Are they kidding? Jobs is going to jail. There’s no difference between what he admits to doing and embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars from shareholders.
He was taking something that didn’t belong to him from the people who entrusted him to safeguard their interests. It’s absolutely despicable.
Good investing,
Porter Stansberry
this was one hell of a scam.... lots of money fell for it
is RPH in prison yet?
I did, and the SLJB pinjatta is already dead..... Steve Sulja and his criminal short selling buddies ate all the candy....
Candy = your money
Steve Jobs is Going To Jail
By Porter Stansberry
They were all in it together…
The corporate big shots, the bankers, the politicians, and the regulators. They were all feeding on you, me, and everyone who bought a mutual fund or deposited funds in a stock-centric 401k…
Accounting rules require options to be granted at the same price of the stock on the day they’re issued. This is to ensure that no grant recipient is given an “in the money option.”
If you grant options that are already in the money, you’re stealing from other shareholders – it’s that simple. Worst of all, these conspiracies involved the corporations’ boards of directors – the very people who are richly paid to guard the hen house. It’s outrageous.
---------- Advertisement ----------
Gov’t Loophole HR 3838 Creates Ultimate Retirement Plan
If you’re looking for low-risk retirement income, it doesn’t get any better than this…
You see, the U.S. government’s Tax Reform Act H.R. 3838 accidentally created a little-known opportunity I call “supplemental retirement income.”
It’s perfect for retirees and people ready to retire. The dividend payments are large… and constantly growing…
Best of all, this investment is much less risky than stocks, and could pay you more than the stock market – a lot more – over the next three years.
Click here for the details.
-----------------------------------
If the public ever wakes up to what was really happening to its investments in the stock market… well, we’ve only seen the beginning of this scandal. In yesterday’s DailyWealth, I predicted the illegal and immoral backdating of options would send Maxim Integrated (MXIM) CEO John Gifford to jail.
I’ve got one more prediction for you: Steve Jobs is going to jail, too.
Few men have enriched themselves more at the expense of their shareholders in recent years – both at Apple and at Jobs’ other creation, Pixar. At Pixar, the entire board of directors (which included Jobs) voted to approve options grants. And friends of Jobs were showered with illegally backdated options.
John Lasseter, the company’s head of creative development, was granted 2 million options on December 6, 2000. That day saw the lowest closing price for Pixar’s stock for the year, $13.25. The grant is doubly peculiar because it was the largest options grant ever made by Pixar and it was part of Lasseter’s employment contract, which wasn’t signed until March 2001.
By the time Pixar bothered to tell its shareholders about the grant (April 2001) its share price had already risen to $16.33.
Don’t you wish you had a friend like Jobs? Well, maybe not. He loves himself a bit too much, as you’ll see…
At Apple, Jobs granted himself (with his handpicked board’s approval) 10 million stock options in 2000! The grant, which was one of the largest ever given by any corporation, was made on Apple’s single-lowest closing price of the month.
This grant was almost certainly fraudulent (backdated). Jobs, because of his experience at Pixar, certainly knew it was a fraudulent grant. So far, Apple admits Jobs knew about fraudulent grants and was awarded a fraudulent grant, but says he did not “benefit” from the practice.
What? He received a 10 million-share, backdated options grant, but he didn’t benefit? Are they kidding? Jobs is going to jail. There’s no difference between what he admits to doing and embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars from shareholders.
He was taking something that didn’t belong to him from the people who entrusted him to safeguard their interests. It’s absolutely despicable.
Good investing,
Porter Stansberry
it seems that this is more about selling paper stock at inflated prices, than anything having to do with shareholder value, or 200 million revs.... excuse me, but I have to puke.... just even hearing about 200 million in revs.... these guys should go to prison
I remember all this, and you could be right, but after watching their last behavior with the AF's, it's hard to believe this is anything but an organized scam... I hope I'm wrong, but the company has yest to prove otherwise.. with that being said... I will assume they have done everything to rake extra money from investors including maxing out shares, but than again, they may have kept it at 500 million just in case of an investigation..... but maybe the shareholders want to get an update
the stock will probably slip down in price over the next week IMO. I don't know whether it will go up or down from there... but I believe 1.5 cents is a good target price to buy, anything more expensive is too risky
lol
The Chronicles of Amber...
The Knights of Amber..
In the Amber stories, Amber and the Courts of Chaos are the only two true worlds; all others, including our Earth, are but "shadows" of the tension between them. Royals of Amber who have negotiated the Pattern, and the equivalent Chaos nobility who have navigated the Logrus, can freely travel through the shadows and alter them, but they cannot alter Amber itself.
The Amber Multiverse
The series is based on the concept of parallel worlds, domination over them being fought between the kingdoms at the extreme ends of Shadow — Amber, the one true world of Order, and the Courts of Chaos. Amberites of royal blood--those descended from Oberon (and ultimately his parents, Dworkin, formerly of the Courts of Chaos, and the Unicorn of Order herself)--are able to "walk in Shadow," mentally willing changes to occur around them. These changes are, in effect, representative of the Shadow-walker passing through different realities. There are apparently infinite realities, either found by the Shadow-walker locating such worlds or by creating them (we're never sure; neither are the characters).
Within this multiverse, Zelazny deals with some interesting philosophical concepts about the nature of existence, compares and contrasts the ideas of Order and Chaos, and plays with the laws of physics — they can differ from Shadow to Shadow; for instance, gunpowder does not ignite in Amber, which is why they all tote swords around. Other Shadows have green skies and blue suns, you can find cities of glass and buy Kentucki Fried Lizzard Partes, and worlds out of our own fiction can come to life.
[edit] The cast of characters
Main article: List of characters in the Chronicles of Amber
Ultimately, Amber focuses on a dysfunctional family that is somehow at the center of a cosmic war between many powers. Nine princes and four princesses of Amber, including Prince Corwin as narrator of the first book series, try to deal with the disappearance of Oberon, their father, and an apparent need for succession of the throne. Nobody trusts anyone, everyone appears to be ready to backstab anyone else (often literally), and everyone seems genuinely interested in only one thing: himself or herself.
In this respect, the Amber series could perhaps be best described as a philosophical, metaphysical, magical, mystical, fantasy soap opera. It has all those things, all wrapped around a cast of characters who are conniving, paranoid, dysfunctional, and often heartless.
All of the princes and princesses of Amber have super-human strength and regenerative capabilities. For example, two of them were able to pick up a car that had gone into a ditch and place it back on the road, and one was able to regenerate his eyes after they had been burned out.
[edit] The Pattern and the Logrus
At the two poles of existence are the symbols of Order and Chaos - The Pattern and The Logrus. Each takes the form of a maze or labyrinth which, when negotiated, gives a person the ability to walk in shadow - across the different possible universes. Whereas the Pattern is a static, two-dimensional maze, the Logrus can be described as a shifting, three-dimensional obstacle course.
[edit] The Trumps
Nearly all of Corwin's relatives carry a deck of Tarot cards, with a key alteration: each family member is on one of the Trumps. Each Trump, when concentrated upon by another family member, allows instant communication across the dimensions, and if both parties are willing, instant travel.
[edit] Order vs. Chaos
In the Merlin cycle, strife continues in Amber and the Courts of Chaos, but the focus seems to be on a timeless battle between the superpowers of Order and Chaos, the Unicorn and the Serpent. All the while, the implication seems to be that there is really little difference between Order and Chaos; both are ways we describe such things. Of further significance is that both Oberon and Dworkin came from the Courts of Chaos, then created the Pattern. Therefore, the foundations of archetypal order (the Pattern) were born of archetypal chaos (the Logrus).
[edit] Inspirations
As inspirations for the Chronicles of Amber go, a compelling argument can be made for the 1946 novel The Dark World by Henry Kuttner (and most likely C. L. Moore, his wife, and unusually symbiotic collaborator). Zelazny himself is quoted as saying:
...the Kuttner story which most impressed me in those most impressionable days was his short novel The Dark World. I returned to it time and time, reading it over and over again, drawn by its colorful, semi-mythic characters and strong action. ...looking back, Kuttner and Moore—and, specifically, The Dark World—were doubtless a general influence on my development as a writer. As for their specific influences—particularly on my Amber series—I never thought about it until Jane Lindskold started digging around and began pointing things out to me.[7]
Reading the hard-to-find Kuttner (and Moore) novel, readers are bound to find similarities in theme and in specific instances: some character names are common to both works, and they share the fantasy literary device of moving a present day, realistic character from the familiar world into a fantastical, alternate reality world, exposing the character to this shift as the reader experiences it.
Some believe the series was inspired by Philip José Farmer's World of Tiers series. The overall theme of both series is the same: an immensely powerful family in a deadly rivalry over the fate of multiple universes. The plot of the first book in each series is nearly identical. Zelazny also wrote an admiring introduction to A Private Cosmos, the third Tiers book.
More generally, the series draws on many inspirations, especially Celtic and Norse mythology. The Merlin Cycle also features the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.
Sometimes the references made by Zelazny could be considered foreshadowing, if one knows the reference. Such as the character Ganelon, whose name is taken from the Matter of France, specifically, it is the name of the man whose moniker is more often "Ganelon the Traitor." This would lead one to believe this name is chosen because of Ganelon purposefully losing a battle to spite Corwin. However, in the Song of Roland, Ganelon is also the stepfather of the main hero, Roland.
[edit] Allusions to Shakespeare
Throughout the Chronicles, Zelazny alludes extensively to plays by William Shakespeare. They include:
Oberon, the King of Amber, is the King of the Fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream.
"Ill-met by moonlight," Deirdre's response to her rescue in Nine Princes in Amber (chapter 4): "Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania," said by Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
"To sleep, perchance to dream... Yeah, there's a thing that rubs," Corwin muses in Nine Princes in Amber (chapter 6). "To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub," from the To be, or not to be soliloquy in Hamlet.
When he receives Eric's offer of peace in The Guns of Avalon, Corwin muses "...I believe you, never doubt it, for we are all of us honorable men" (chapter 8). In Marc Antony's funeral oration in Julius Caesar, he says, "For Brutus is an honourable man; So are they all; all honourable men."
"So Childe Random to the dark tower came," Random recounts in his story of how he tried to rescue Brand. At the end of Act IV of King Lear, Edgar, disguised as the Poor Tom, the crazy beggar, babbles "Child Rowland to the dark tower came," an allusion itself to the fairy tale of Childe Rowland.
"Good night, sweet Prince," Brand says to Benedict in The Hand of Oberon (chapter 13). These are the words that Horatio speaks at the death of Hamlet.
After watching his "dream" from Tir-na Nog'th play out in Amber in The Courts of Chaos (chapter 1), Corwin muses, "I looked back once to the empty place where my dream had come true. Such is the stuff." He alludes to Act IV, scene 1 of The Tempest, where, after causing spirits he has summoned to disappear, Prospero delivers the famous speech that includes the line "We are such stuff / As dreams are made on, and our little life / Is rounded by a sleep."
Corwin, when describing the royal family to Ganelon in Sign of the Unicorn, says that Oberon had two other sons with Benedict's mother Cymnea, the first being Osric, who shares his name with a courtier in Hamlet.
In Nine Princes in Amber Corwin thinks to himself, "In the state of Denmark there was an odor of decay." A reference to "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark," a line in Hamlet.
When Cowin first meets Eric in "Nine Princes in Amber", Eric complains "It's true, that uneasy-lies-the-head bit." "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown" is the final line in a monologe spoken by Henry IV in Act III, Scene i, of Henry IV, part 2 wherein Henry is pondering how sleep comes to even the most humble peasant easier than it does to the great.
In addition, there are greater thematic allusions in the Chronicles, mostly to Hamlet. Corwin describes himself at the beginning of The Courts of Chaos as the "mad prince" of Amber, drawing a clear parallel between himself and the mad prince of Denmark. In addition, Corwin is contacted by the "ghost" of Oberon several times (before realizing that Oberon still lives), an obvious parallel to the plot of Hamlet. When dining with Lorraine, Corwin even refers to the attempted Trump contact by Oberon as a message from his "father's ghost."
The Forest of Arden is the setting of Shakespeare's As You Like It.
The Chronicles
[edit] The Corwin Cycle
The first Chronicles of Amber were written by Zelazny as a series of five novels. The books are narrated by Corwin (though one chapter is told to Corwin by Random), who wakes up in a hospital in New York from a coma with amnesia, escapes, tracks down his sister Florimel, and discovers that he is a scion of the ruling family of Amber. He is taken by Random to walk the Pattern, a labyrinth inscribed in the dungeons of Castle Amber which gives the multiverse its order. Walking the Pattern restores Corwin's memory and his powers to travel through shadow. He attempts to conquer Amber, which is currently ruled by his elder brother Eric, but fails and is blinded and imprisoned. Blindness removes his two possible means of escape; walking through shadow, or using the Trumps (aka "major arcana") of a tarot deck which allows communication between members of his family. He regrows his eyes, and thanks to a chance encounter with Dworkin Barimen, the mad sorceror who created the Pattern, he escapes. He discovers a threat to Amber, a black road which runs across universes from the Courts of Chaos to Amber, created by damage done to the Pattern by his brother, Brand. The chronicles then follow Corwin's attempts to recapture Amber and destroy the Black Road.
The books are:
Nine Princes in Amber (1970)
The Guns of Avalon (1972)
Sign of the Unicorn (1975)
The Hand of Oberon (1976)
The Courts of Chaos (1978)
[edit] The Merlin Cycle
The next five novels focus on Merlin, who has been studying Computer Science while constructing an Artificial Intelligence powered by the Trumps, and wondering what has become of his missing father, Corwin. Before he leaves, he wants to find out who has been trying to kill him every April 30th and why they failed. He discovers his ex-girlfriend killed by beasts from another shadow, then finds that his best friend Luke is in fact the son of Brand and was responsible for the early attempts on his life. After a lot of political maneuvering, Luke persuades Merlin to rescue his mother, Jasra, who (it turns out) has been captured by Merlin's ex-girlfriend, who faked her own death and hooked up with Merlin's younger half-brother Jurt, who has acquired godlike powers and seeks to kill Merlin. This plot is almost resolved, when (in the fourth book) the story changes. It is revealed that the Pattern, and its chaotic counterpart the Logrus, are sentient, and wish Merlin to take sides and tip the balance of the multiverse towards Order or Chaos (respectively).
Trumps of Doom (1985)
Blood of Amber (1986)
Sign of Chaos (1987)
Knight of Shadows (1989)
Prince of Chaos (1991)
These stories are held by some to be of a lower quality than the first five, revolving around the acquisition of ever more powerful artifacts, each of which negates the drawbacks of the last[1].
The first ten novels have also been released in a single volume called The Great Book of Amber.
[edit] Short stories
For the limited 1985 edition of Trumps of Doom, Zelazny wrote a prologue which details Merlin's passage through the Logrus.
After completing the Merlin Cycle, Zelazny wrote five Amber short stories, in which he begins to tease the threads of the story into a new configuration. The author died shortly after completing the fifth short story of this small series. These short stories have been collected in Manna from Heaven (2003), along with the Trumps of Doom prologue and 16 non-Amber stories.
The Salesman's Tale (Ten Tales, edited by John Dunning, 1994)
The Shroudling and the Guisel (Realms of Fantasy, October, 1994)
Blue Horse, Dancing Mountains (Wheel of Fortune, edited by Roger Zelazny, 1995)
Coming to a Cord (Pirate Writings, Number 7, 1995)
Hall of Mirrors (Castle Fantastic, edited by John DeChancie and Martin Greenberg, March 1996)
The five stories are linked, with The Shroudling and the Guisel chronologically the first, followed by Blue Horse, Dancing Mountains, and the others in the sequence they were written. However, suggested reading orders differ, with Manna from Heaven placing The Shroudling and the Guisel last as it explains much of the mysteries in the stories set after it. Shroudling was written after Blue Horse but published before it[2].
[edit] The Dawn of Amber
The Dawn of Amber series by John Gregory Betancourt started to be published in 2002. Betancourt's series tells the story of Corwin's father Oberon. It is set several centuries before Nine Princes in Amber and includes, thus far:
The Dawn of Amber (2002)
Chaos and Amber (2003)
To Rule in Amber (2004)
Shadows of Amber (2005)
Sword of Chaos (forthcoming)
These novels were authorized by the Zelazny estate; however, that decision has been criticized by several acquaintances of Mr. Zelazny, including the writers George R.R. Martin, Walter Jon Williams and Neil Gaiman. These critics assert that Roger Zelazny was quite averse to the idea of a "shared" Amber setting, and that he had explicitly stated, in no uncertain terms, that he did not want any other writers writing about Amber.[3].
That the series focuses on Oberon has disappointed many Amber fans who, after reading the Merlin series and realizing that Zelazny almost certainly was planning another series to wrap up the story that was, in effect, left hanging, were hoping for just that wrap-up. The Dawn of Amber series perhaps wisely did not pick up where the Merlin series left off, given some fans' rather negative response to Betancourt's writing style and lack of characterization.
In addition, the series seems to contradict some ideas in Amber. Shadow existed before the Pattern, for example, which is a direct contradiction to the original ten books. Betancourt answered some of these concerns in an interview[4].
[edit] Other works
There are two guides to Amber:
Roger Zelazny's Visual Guide to Castle Amber by Roger Zelazny and Neil Randall (1988)
The Complete Amber Sourcebook by Theodore Krulik (1996)
There are two books similar in concept to the Choose Your Own Adventure series, for the Combat Command series, by Neil Randall:
Seven No-Trump (1988)
The Black Road War (1988)
The Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game by Erick Wujcik:
Amber Diceless Role-playing (1991)
Shadow Knight (1995)
Two three part comic adpations of Nine Princes in Amber and The Guns of Avalon by Terry Bisson (1996)[5]
Sunset Productions did audio versions of Roger reading the novels (except where noted) and produced them with sound effects. Sunset was bought out by Americana Publishing in 2002.[6]
Nine Princes in Amber (abridged February 1992, unabridged April 1998)
The Guns of Avalon (abridged February 1992, unabridged November 1998)
Sign of the Unicorn (abridged September 1992, unabridged December 1998)
The Hand of Oberon (abridged October 1992, unabridged 1999) (last portion of the unabridged version read by Bob Watson)
The Courts of Chaos (abridged only January 1993, unsure of unabridged date)
Trumps of Doom (abridged April 1993, unsure of unabridged date)
Blood of Amber (abridged only) (July 1993)
Sign of Chaos (abridged only) (November 1994)
Knight of Shadows (abridged only) (October 1996)
Prince of Chaos (abridged only) (read by Bruce Watson) (December 1998)
[1]
aw gee, thanks buddy
why sell at basement prices, when you can sell at graveyard prices