The Chronicles of Amber

A few years ago I noticed that being nerdy was beginning to gain popularity.  I'm sure you've noticed it too; and I'm equally sure that we can thank blond, beautiful Penny for befriending the astrophysicists next door.  I've known I had nerd potential since high school.  When I was around 15 or so, I read The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny...

Next on the list

Actually, I read the first four books.  About a year ago I discovered that there were SIX MORE BOOKS in the series.  If you've ever been a stay-at-home-mom of two preschoolers, you'll understand why I had ten-volume collection checked out from the library for nearly that entire year.  But I digress.

When it hit me that those stories were sci-fi/fantasy and I actually loved them, I had a kind of shift in my reality.  I had seen the Star Wars movies and I hadn't liked them (don't take away my nerd card, though) so I assumed that the reputation was correct: that sci-fi nerds were people you wouldn't want to have to talk to, ever. Now, the guy I was seeing at the time was one of those guys, but I just kind of overlooked it.  After a while I kind of found it adorable.  He was even the one who loaned me the Amber books in the first place, so there's that. 

When I read those books I realized that anyone could like them.  Anyone could get into the idea of alternate universes and a supernatural royal family.  Murderous, scheming shape-shifters, a magical untouchable unicorn... written well, these are the things that turn over and over in your head and follow you to sleep.  It's not all cheesy, clumsily animated Muppets that sing songs with David Bowie, you know.

Since the rise in popularity of both The Big Bang Theory and Netflix, I've gained access to all sorts of things I was missing: Cybermen, The Borg, Reavers, Adamantium, Sam and Dean, Sam and Al; The Smoking Man and the man whose silhouette probably started it all: Alfred Hitchcock.  From The Chronicles of Amber to The Martian Chronicles, I've seen a lot and read a lot.  I can't decide if I hope the nerd trend continues so I can have such ready access to all these things awhile longer or if I hope it dies down soon so prices will drop, but one thing is for sure: It's fun seeing all of these new things and meeting new introverts I can momentarily connect with.  It's great to have you along for the ride with me.