Trumps of Doom

Trumps of Doom
	Dust-jacket illustration from the first edition
Author	Roger Zelazny
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	The Chronicles of Amber
Genre	Fantasy
Publisher	Arbor House
Publication date	May 1985
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	183
Award	Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (1986)
ISBN	0-87795-718-5
OCLC	11621840
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 19
LC Class	PS3576.E43 T7 1985
Preceded by	The Courts of Chaos
Followed by	Blood of Amber

Trumps of Doom is a fantasy novel by American writer Roger Zelazny, the first book in the second Chronicles of Amber series and the sixth book in the Amber series. Whereas the first series was narrated by Corwin, this series is narrated by his son, Merlin. Trumps of Doom won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 1986.^[1]

Plot summary[]

Merlin has spent the last several years on Earth learning computer science while building Ghostwheel, a trump- and pattern-based computer, elsewhere in Shadow. Having completed his project, he wishes to know who has been trying to kill him every April 30, and why some of the better attempts failed, before he leaves. He meets with his friend Lucas Reynard (Luke), a salesman, who tries to convince him to stay, and who tells him that Julia Barnes, Merlin's ex-girlfriend, may be in trouble. Merlin investigates and finds Julia slain by creatures from another shadow.

Merlin investigates through shadow, and is given orders by king Random to shut down Ghostwheel. However, Ghostwheel has become sentient and capable of defending itself. Eventually, Luke - who, it turns out, is Brand's son - imprisons Merlin in a blue crystal cave so he can attempt to take control of Ghostwheel for himself.

Cultural allusions[]

Merlin's landlord "Mr. Mulligan" is an allusion to Buck Mulligan from James Joyce's Ulysses.

Merlin tells Luke that Ghostwheel's operations involve "a lot of theoretical crap involving space and time and some notions of some guys named Everett and Wheeler." The Everett-Wheeler theory of quantum mechanics proposes a "many worlds" interpretation in which the universe instantly fragments into a bundle of alternate histories each time the quantum state of any particle in the universe changes via interaction.

At the conclusion of this volume, Merlin is imprisoned in a crystal cave, just like his namesake from Arthurian legend.

References[]

^ "1986 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-09-27.

External links[]

Trumps of Doom at Worlds Without End

[WWE-1986-1] "1986 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-09-27.

[1]

v t Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber
The Corwin Cycle	Nine Princes in Amber The Guns of Avalon Sign of the Unicorn The Hand of Oberon The Courts of Chaos
The Merlin Cycle	Trumps of Doom Blood of Amber Sign of Chaos Knight of Shadows Prince of Chaos
Amber short stories	Prologue to Trumps of Doom The Salesman's Tale Blue Horse, Dancing Mountains The Shroudling and the Guisel Coming to a Cord Hall of Mirrors
Characters	Dworkin Barimen Corwin Merlin
Other	The Logrus The Pattern Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game AmberMUSH Nine Princes in Amber Lost Souls Zangband Zelazny bibliography

v t Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel
1978–1990	The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien (1978) Harpist in the Wind by Patricia A. McKillip (1980) Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg (1981) The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe (1982) The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe (1983) The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1984) Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A. Heinlein (1985) Trumps of Doom by Roger Zelazny (1986) Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe (1987) Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card (1988) Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card (1989) Prentice Alvin by Orson Scott Card (1990)
1991–2000	Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin (1991) Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper (1992) Last Call by Tim Powers (1993) The Innkeeper's Song by Peter S. Beagle (1994) Brittle Innings by Michael Bishop (1995) Alvin Journeyman by Orson Scott Card (1996) A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (1997) Earthquake Weather by Tim Powers (1998) A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin (1999) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling (2000)
2001–2010	A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin (2001) American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2002) The Scar by China Miéville (2003) Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold (2004) Iron Council by China Miéville (2005) Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (2006) The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner (2007) Making Money by Terry Pratchett (2008) Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin (2009) The City & the City by China Miéville (2010)
2011–2020	Kraken by China Miéville (2011) A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin (2012) The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross (2013) The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (2014) The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (2015) Uprooted by Naomi Novik (2016) All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (2017) The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin (2018) Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (2019) Middlegame by Seanan McGuire (2020)
2021–present	The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin (2021)
Best Novel (1971–1981) Best SF Novel (1980–present) Best Fantasy Novel (1978–present) Best First Novel (1981–present) Best Horror Novel (1989–1997, 1999, 2017–present) Best Young Adult Book (2003–present) Best Novella (1973–2018) Best Novelette (1975–present) Best Short Story (1971–present)