Pun Salad

This is number six in Roger Zelazny's ten-book series of novels revolving around the denizens of Amber and its associated realities. The first five books (published between 1970 and 1978) concerned Corwin's efforts to (first) rule and (then) save Amber, the "true" world. (The universe you and I know is a mere "shadow" of Amber, one of a great many. Sorry.) Zelazny began the second set of five books with this one, published in 1985.

In it, Corwin's son Merlin becomes the narrator. Corwin is MIA, variously reported to be dead or insane. Merlin is dwelling on Shadow Earth, a recently-graduated Computer Science student. His main problem being that every April 30, his birthday, someone tries to kill him. The perpetrator is unknown, as is the motive.

But this April 30, the victim is Merlin's ex-girlfriend Julie, who's been killed by a wolflike beast from a different shadow. Merlin sets off on a hunt to find out what's going on, which mainly reveals his cluelessness. But also his carelessness in developing "Ghostwheel", an automated gadget that flips through Shadow like Google flips through web pages. Which turns out to be pretty dangerous.

Lots of characters, all of whom lie about their motives and natures without compunction. A universe with a lot of made-up behavior and rules. I can tell I'm going to have a lot of trouble keeping things straight as I march through subsequent books.