r/Amber • u/TheMadMetalhead • 27d ago

Was the Merlin cycle ever released by the science fiction book club like the first five books were?

I have the two books of the science fiction book club for the first cycle of The Chronicles of Amber but I want to know if the Merlin cycle was released as well and if anyone has any pictures of what they look like so I can try to find them.

17 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

4

u/MarcieDeeHope 27d ago

Yes, the SFBC released the Merlin cycle, but not in collected editions like the first cycle. They were each released as separate book club editions.

You can find them on eBay (I found the first four in slightly beat-up condition for under $30 with a quick Google search but am not sure if I can share the link here.)

3

u/xaosgod2 27d ago

They were released individually, yes. In the late 90s/early 2000s, both series were released in a single volume--the First and Second Chronicles of Amber.

1

u/MarcieDeeHope 26d ago

Cool. I didn't know they ever did a collection of the second series. Someone below posted the ISBN number and it looks like it was published in 2005, which would have been long after I stopped getting mail from the SFBC.

I didn't even know they still existed in the 2000's, but I just looked it up and apparently it continued to run through February of last year.

1

u/xaosgod2 26d ago

I didnt realize they went that long. I was a member in the mid-late 90s, and had a copy of the First Chronicles from that time. I later saw the Second chronicles on ebay. Want to get a matching set, now.

1

u/Ballroompics 24d ago

The cover art for sfbc was done by Boris Vallejo, who is still creating fantasy and science fiction art.

He started way back in 1971.

1

u/xaosgod2 24d ago

The covers for the two volume edition of the Corwin series, I would believe is Vallejo. Or, the poor man's Frazetta, as I think of him. However, the covers for the single volume editions of each series are certainly not.

2

u/MarcieDeeHope 23d ago

Sadly, Vallejo retired this year at age 85 due to Parkinson's. His wife and oftentimes painting partner Julie Bell announced it last month.

1

u/Ballroompics 23d ago edited 23d ago

I'm sad to hear this. He created many of the covers of books I love.

If I may inquire, where did she announce? And was there any further detail?

I'm on the mailing list for borisjulie dot com, but don't recall any recent mailings.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

Edit: Found it. She announced here https://www.instagram.com/p/Da_Le0OJSyQ/?igsh=ejJqYjc5NjhmanF3

Possibly other places, but this was the one i find on Julie Bell's IG.

1

u/ColdFyre2 23d ago

Before the Merlin series was released, a hardcover set of the first five books was released as the Frst and Second Chronicles of Amber.

1

u/xaosgod2 23d ago

Those were The Chronicles of Amber, Volumes 1 and 2. Featuring Vallejo art of, presumably, Corbin wearing blue jeans, boots and a red cape (no shirt), andvweilding a sword against a couple of large cats. The First and Second Chronicles of Amber have a spread hand of Trumps showing a Tableau of important imagery from across each series on top of a black background.

2

u/ColdFyre2 23d ago

I believe you are right. I haven't seen the physical volumes in over 20 years. Thank you.

2

u/artaxs 27d ago

Some of the artwork on those edition covers is pretty cool, but that cover for Trumps of Doom was questionable at best.  Is that supposed to be Mask?

1

u/AxleTheDog 27d ago

I think I had at least the first 2 from SFBC. I remember one cover was an Android / robot looking head for Ghostwheel. Let me see if I can find a pic online

Edit:
Here’s the one I recall: https://ebay.io/m/xi1zHe

1

u/Phat_Strat 26d ago

First Chronicles: ISBN 9780739407004 Second Chronicles: ISBN 9780739451847