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I do not believe I'm first to notice this, but my google search returned no relevant links. It seems that there is a serious time related error in Chronicles of Amber.

It has been said (in Chronicles of Amber) that time flow is much faster in Courts of Chaos then in Amber. Thats why Courts of Chaos can replenish their armies much faster and Corwin can meet his teenage son in relatively short time (for Corwin) after conception.

On the other hand, when Corwin meets visits Courts of Chaos for the first time (and meets his son) he spends there only few hours, but weeks pass in Amber. This means that time flow difference must be opposite - time must flow much faster in Amber then in Courts.

Has it been noticed before? Did Roger Zelazny addressed this in any way?

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  • Didn't Corwin go back via some other Shadows then? I don't recall exactly.
    – Gnudiff
    Commented Sep 5, 2017 at 10:49
  • The series has far worse chronological problems than that. Consider that Dara's handmaid Jasra seduced Brand to the side of chaos. He then stabbed Martin on the Pattern, causing the breach allowing chaos creatures to come through. One of these fights Benedict but also breeds with him. Generations later giving birth to ... Dara. For example.
    – Francis Davey
    Commented Apr 12, 2021 at 23:00

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I had put it down to there being strong time gradients in the neighborhood of Chaos. When Corwin first meets Merlin he's not actually in the Courts, but near the boundary.

That said, I am aware of no textual basis for this understanding.

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  • Ok, but Corvin-Merlin meeting is a single short event. Merlin would have to live in fast gradients his whole life (up to the moment he left for Earth-shadow), which seems doubtfull given education he recived (and whom he recived it from) in Courts, his personal history, and his position in royal family.
    – Adam Kłobukowski
    Commented Apr 22, 2014 at 7:50
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    You and I may be using the word gradient differently. I mean to say that near chaos there are zones with very fast time flow sitting near to zones with very slow flow. Under that assumption, the destination of the trump Corwin uses takes him to a particularly slow spot, not withstanding that the Courts proper are a very fast place. This is admitted by the discussion consequences of shadowmastering in the second chronicles (Merlin's), but as I say the details are not supported by anything in particular, so you can treat it as pure speculation.
    – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten
    Commented Apr 22, 2014 at 13:04

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