title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hill climb and other events, held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England, in late June or early July; the event is scheduled to avoid clashing with the Formula One season, enabling fans to see F1 machines as well as cars and motorbikes from motor racing history climb the hill.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: In the early years of the Festival, tens of thousands attended over the weekend. As of 2014 it attracted crowds of around 100,000 on each of the three days it was held. A record crowd of 158,000 attended in 2003, before an advance-ticket-only admission policy came into force; attendance was subsequently capped at 150,000.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: The Goodwood Festival of Speed was founded in 1993 by Lord March in order to bring motor racing back to the Goodwood estate — a location steeped in British motor racing history. Shortly after taking over the estate in the early 1990s, Lord March (who later became Duke of Richmond) wanted to bring back motor racing to Goodwood Circuit, but did not have the necessary permit to host a race there. Therefore, he instead hosted it on his own grounds.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: With a small selection of entrants made up of invited historic vehicles, the first event that took place on Sunday 20 June proved to be a success, taking in a crowd of 25,000 despite a date clash with the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year. After the second event also clashed with Le Mans, Lord March would ensure that the event would never be allowed to clash with either Le Mans or Formula One races.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: In 1994, Saturday was added, making it a weekend event. In 1996, Friday was added, making it a three-day event. In 2010, the Moving Motor Show was added on the Thursday. The 2020 event was cancelled then later run in October combined with events at Goodwood Motor Circuit, without spectators, but streamed online and shown on terrestrial TV. The event was modified to incorporate historic cars from the Revival, rally/sprint cars from the Member's Meeting, and an attempt to set a new track record.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: The event is classified as a hill climb and visitors are accorded close access to that part of the track. The 1890 m track climbs 92.7 metres (has average gradient of 4.9%). Its record time was set in 2022 by Max Chilton in an electric McMurtry Automotive car at 39.081 seconds. The record time for a Formula 1 car is 41.6 seconds by Nick Heidfeld in 1999 in a McLaren MP4/13. For safety reasons Formula 1 cars can no longer do official timed runs so instead perform demonstrations.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: In 2016 to commemorate 40 years since James Hunt won the F1 World Championship, McLaren invited Bruno Senna to speed a P1 GTR up the course.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: From 2000 to 2004 the Soapbox Challenge was a downhill race for gravity-powered cars. Starting from just below the hill-climb finish line, to a finish line in front of the house. It included entries from Cosworth, Prodrive, and other top companies. With some famous riders/drivers piloting them, including Barry Sheene. However, there were frequent accidents. Despite an official cap on the cost of cars, the unofficial costs were becoming too high, so it did not return in 2005. However, it did return in 2013. Companies such as Bentley and McLaren competed.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: Initially, in 2005, the track through the forest was widened, and the rally cars ran down through the forest, turned on the tarmac section just outside the wood, and returned up the same track. This meant that the cars could only run one-at-a-time.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: In 2006, a full forest stage was introduced, designed by Hannu Mikkola this was a complete circuit, with a separate start and finish line at the top of the wood. This allowed the cars to start at timed intervals, allowing many more cars to run. Ever since its inception Southern Car Club have been entrusted with the organization of the rally stage, held under an MSA permit.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: Since 2000, there has been a supercar paddock (formerly sponsored by Microsoft Windows and The Times), for road-going supercars. Since 2014 cars could opt to do a timed run. It is now common for specialty car manufacturers to show off their latest sports model, including newly released mass-produced sports models and working concept models.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: The Arena is a new for 2019 attraction that showcases drifting and stunt driving. It is a large tarmac area that used to contain the Michelin Supercar Paddock, with 2 barrel donuts and 2 wall rides with a large viewing area just above the drift paddock. Spectators can watch stunt shows throughout the course of the day, the drift competition, and the hillclimb shootout on the big screen.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: Officially the future science and technology pavilion at the Festival since 2017. Several major global reveals have debuted as part of this exhibition, including autonomous trucks by Einride, prototype flying cars like Airspeeder and autonomous delivery vehicle kar-go.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: Since 1995 this is an auto show which takes place to the west of the house. It is a similar format to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Entry is usually by invitation, and this provides some leeway as to which type of vehicle can enter, usually resulting in a more varied event than usual Concours d'Elegance. Unlike most concours shows, the "Cartier Style et Luxe" is judged by a panel of selected judges consisting of celebrities from all around the world to car designers.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: From 2010 until 2018, the Moving Motor Show, was added. Mainly in response to the cancellation of the British International Motor Show aimed exclusively for buyers of new cars, allowing them a chance to test the cars on the course. Following its success, it was announced the MMS would return in 2011.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: The official website listed the Festival of speed dates as the Friday to Sunday, but the weekend tickets for the Festival included a moving motor show ticket.From 2019 the Festival of Speed has been a four day event with no moving motor show. So it's not strictly part of the Festival of Speed, but it is a part of the Festival of Speed weekend.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: Other popular attractions at the event are the real life replicas of the Wacky Races cars (Thursday was known as Press preview day, then incorporated The Moving Motor Show), which serves to provide lunchtime entertainment for the crowds, and the airshows, which usually include the RAF Tornado and Red Arrows, and in 2004 and 2005 a low-flying Boeing 747; a low-flying Airbus A380 appeared at the 2008 event.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: From the festival's beginning, poster art had been illustrated by renowned motor racing artist Peter Hearsey until his retirement in 2015. In 2016, the poster art was designed by Klaus Wagger, who rose to prominence as a racing artist when he won a competition to design the official poster for Mille Miglia in 2000.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: In recent years, they have also put on the GAS Arena (Goodwood Action Sports) who showcase extreme stunts such as Freestyle Motorcross, BMX and Trial bike Riding


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: In 2018, for the first time at the Festival - as part of the Future Lab exhibition - a driverless Roborace racing car negotiated the course, and a virtual passenger seat experience was made available online. In 2019, the car made an official run in 66.96 seconds.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: The Festival of Speed has a sister event, the Goodwood Revival Meeting. This event, normally held in early September, relives the glory days of motor racing at the Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: The first was during its inaugural meeting in 1993, when vintage racing motorcyclist Chas Guy was killed in practice following the completion of the course when his Vincent motorcycle developed a steering wobble known as a tank slapper, throwing the rider into a tree. Since then, motorcycles are not timed for their run.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: In 2000, driver John Dawson-Damer lost control of his Lotus 63, and crashed into the finish line gantry, killing himself and marshal Andrew Carpenter. Another marshal, Steve Tarrant, survived but sustained serious injuries to the lower part of his right leg.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: Aston Martin set up a central display for the first FOS in 1993. Since 1997, the display erected on the lawn in front of Goodwood House has been designed by the sculptor Gerry Judah. The displays honoured car marques until 2017, when for the first time it honoured a career, that of Bernie Ecclestone. This is a list of the temporary monuments:


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: The Hill Climb Shootout or The Sunday Shootout, is an event during the Goodwood Festival of Speed in which a selection of drivers with the fastest Hillclimb times of the weekend compete to get to the finish line the fastest.


title: Goodwood Festival of Speed

text: Goodwood Festival of Speed event is available in "Gran Turismo 6" and the track is available in "Gran Turismo Sport" and "Gran Turismo 7." Sky Sports gives live coverage throughout the weekend and ITV show the highlights. it is also streamed on YouTube.


title: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Universal Orlando Resort)

text: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a themed area spanning two theme parks—Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida—at the Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida. The area is themed to the "Harry Potter" media franchise, adapting elements from the film series and novels by J. K. Rowling. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was designed by Universal Creative from an exclusive license with Warner Bros. Entertainment.


text: The first phase was officially announced for Islands of Adventure on May 31, 2007, and after a two-and-a-half-year construction period, the area officially opened to the public on June 18, 2010. The area's flagship ride is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which exists within a re-creation of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It takes riders on a journey through Harry Potter's wizarding world. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter also contains Flight of the Hippogriff, a family roller coaster, and formerly included Dragon Challenge, a pair of inverted roller coasters, which was replaced in 2019 by a new roller coaster, Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. The area also features a re-creation of Hogsmeade containing many gift shops and restaurants from the novels including Dervish and Banges, Honeydukes, Ollivanders, Zonko's Joke Shop (though it houses Honeydukes), the Three Broomsticks, and the Hog's Head.


text: The second phase was initially announced on December 6, 2011, as a significant expansion of the existing Wizarding World of Harry Potter. On May 8, 2013, it was officially announced that a substantial portion of phase two would be constructed in the adjacent Universal Studios Florida theme park with a full scale working replica of the Hogwarts Express taking guests between the two lands. This phase's flagship ride is Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, a 3D dark ride/simulator based on Gringotts Bank, the wizarding bank that appears in the book and film series. Its design is similar to and the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man rides but built on a roller coaster track. The remaining features are themed around London and Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley officially opened on July 8, 2014.


text: Rumors of a "Harry Potter"-themed area at a Universal Studios park or a Disney park started to circulate in 2003. However, the rights to the "Harry Potter" franchise had been acquired by Warner Bros., who denied all the rumors. In 2001, Time Warner used this license to construct and operate the Harry Potter Movie Magic Experience at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast, Australia; it was a small indoor walkthrough featuring many re-creations of locations in the first two movies. After two years of operation, it was removed.


text: The Walt Disney Company and Universal entered bidding negotiations with Warner Bros. and Rowling for the theme park rights to "Harry Potter" in the United States. In 2004, Rowling signed a letter-of-intent with Disney, with the company intending to develop a "Harry Potter" section in a corner of Fantasyland, within the Magic Kingdom park at Walt Disney World. Ultimately, Disney pulled out of negotiations, citing that Rowling's creative influence and the terms established by Warner Bros. were too stringent.


text: In January 2007, About.com reported a rumor from a "highly credible source" that the Lost Continent area within Universal's Islands of Adventure park was to be re-themed "to the stories and characters of one of the most popular children's franchises". Other sources followed up in the next few days with unofficial confirmation the new area would involve "Harry Potter", and was being developed under the name "Project Strong Arm" in reference to the KUKA robotic arm technology it would utilise. Nikki Finke reported her own confirmation of the "Potter" park plans in April, followed shortly by a story in "The Scotsman"; both reports were widely relayed by other media sources. On May 31, 2007, Universal (in partnership with Warner Bros.) officially announced the addition recreating Hogwarts, the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade, with a planned opening in 2009.


text: Construction of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter began seven months after the official announcement, in January 2008. By July, the Flying Unicorn and Enchanted Oak Tavern were closed. The Flying Unicorn then began an almost two-year refurbishment which transformed it into the Flight of the Hippogriff. The Enchanted Oak Tavern was later demolished. A bridge was built to connect The Lost Continent with allowing guests to avoid the construction zone that was to become the Wizarding World. Construction progressed with the Hogwarts Castle slowly taking shape. By September 2008, the Dueling Dragons entrance was moved to Jurassic Park to make room for construction of Hogsmeade. One month later, the old entrance was demolished. By September 2009, the top shell of Hogwarts Castle was completed. On September 15, an announcement was made detailing what was going to be included in the Wizarding World. In early 2010, Universal increased its marketing of the area, which included newspaper advertisements, billboards and television commercials. The Dueling Dragons were closed for some maintenance before being transformed into the Dragon Challenge. Construction was completed by June 1, 2010, when the area began soft openings.


text: A soft opening weekend was held for the media and reserved guests, starting on May 28, 2010. The park had two opening ceremonies that took place on June 16 and on June 18, 2010. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter's grand opening ceremony took place on June 16 with book series author J. K. Rowling and film series actors Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Robbie Coltrane, Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis, James and Oliver Phelps, and Bonnie Wright, as well as Universal Orlando Resort officials and representatives from the media. The ceremony, which was produced by Universal Orlando Events Production in conjunction with Thinkwell Group, concluded with a fireworks display and a performance by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by original series' composer John Williams. On June 18, the second ceremony took place, which officially opened the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to the public. NBC's "Today Show" and The Weather Channel broadcast segments live from the park.


text: The opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter saw attendance at Islands of Adventure rise by as much as 36% in 2010. According to Jason Garcia of the "Orlando Sentinel", this had resort executives pondering "when to expand Wizarding World and how to keep business balanced between Islands and Universal Studios Florida". In April 2011, Brady MacDonald of the "Los Angeles Times" mentioned that rapid attendance growth led to speculation that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter would see a significant expansion, which would include Diagon Alley and a Gringotts-themed dark ride possibly replacing the Lost Continent themed area in Islands of Adventure.


text: On December 6, 2011, Universal Parks & Resorts confirmed expansion plans but did not reveal specific details. The announcement was made just four days after Universal revealed plans to permanently close the Jaws attraction. Following its closure the following month, the "Los Angeles Times" stated that the site of the former Jaws ride in Universal Studios Florida would be used for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion, despite what previous speculation suggested. These rides would be complemented by a replica of the Hogwarts Express to move guests between the two parks. Demolition of the Jaws ride and the Amity area began almost immediately after their closure. After the site was leveled, work began on land reclamation in the area's former lagoon, as well as construction of a series of buildings including a large show building.


text: Further details about the expansion of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter were announced on May 8, 2013. Officials confirmed that the expansion would be set predominantly in the adjacent Universal Studios Florida theme park, and would feature areas themed after Diagon Alley and London. The rumored Hogwarts Express connection between the two parks was also confirmed. Officials stated the expansion should open in 2014.


text: On January 23, 2014, officials announced the name of the flagship roller coaster would be Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. They also indicated that a two-park pass would be necessary to ride the Hogwarts Express, which was set to connect Universal Studios Florida with the existing Harry Potter area at Universal's Islands of Adventure.


text: The official opening date of the Diagon Alley phase was announced at an exclusive and private press conference on June 17, 2014, for July 8, 2014. On June 18, 2014, the Diagon Alley red carpet premiere took place with Domhnall Gleeson, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Matthew Lewis, James and Oliver Phelps, Tom Felton, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis and Helena Bonham Carter attending. New photos of Diagon Alley were later released the same night and the official opening date was announced publicly by Universal Orlando's president, Bill Davis. King's Cross station opened on July 1, 2014, as well as the Hogwarts Express Hogsmeade Station at Islands of Adventure and soft openings of Diagon Alley began on July 3, 2014. Diagon Alley officially opened on July 8, 2014.


text: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has four rides. Three rides opened in 2010 as part of phase one, while two additional rides opened in phase two in 2014. Dragon Challenge, one of the rides from the first phase, was closed permanently in 2017.


text: Dragon Challenge was an inverted roller coaster featuring two distinct tracks that overlapped and intertwined with each other. The coaster predated the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, having operated under the name Dueling Dragons since the park's 1999 opening. The tracks remained the same, but were renamed in homage to the first task of the Triwizard Tournament where Harry and the other contestants are each to duel with a dragon, depicted in chapter 20 of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". The two sides of the coaster were renamed "Hungarian Horntail" and "Chinese Fireball", after two of the dragon breeds which appear in the book. It was the only chasing inverted roller coaster in the world. The queue for this ride featured many Harry Potter relics, including the Goblet of Fire and the Triwizard Cup. In addition, the hike to the ride featured Ron Weasley's flying Ford Anglia from in the second film, as well as Hagrid's hut. Dragon Challenge closed on September 4, 2017 to make way for Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, which opened on June 13, 2019.


text: "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" is a dark ride inside the replica of Hogwarts Castle, simulating a tour of the castle and its surrounding grounds. Visitors initially walk through the castle, interacting with various characters and props from the "Potter" series, including a speech from Dumbledore, and directions from Harry, Hermione and Ron, before boarding a "magical bench" (controlled with a KUKA robotic arm system). Throughout the ride, guests are taken around the outside of the castle, using a combination of simulated flight as well as encountering realistic animatronic versions of the Whomping Willow, a horde of dementors, giant spiders, the Hungarian Horntail Dragon, and a Quidditch match.


text: Flight of the Hippogriff is a steel roller coaster designed for families, located adjacent to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The ride opened in 2000 as the Flying Unicorn. Similar to the Dragon Challenge, this ride was re-themed prior to the opening of the Wizarding World. The roller coaster's back-story is that Hogwarts's Care of Magical Creatures professor, Hagrid, is teaching young wizards to fly on a hippogriff (as Harry does in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban") by using a wicker replica of the creature. A recreation of Hagrid's Hut is passed on the way for a lesson from Hagrid himself on how to properly approach a hippogriff.


text: Diagon Alley's flagship ride is "Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts", a 3-D motion-based steel roller coaster dark ride based around Gringotts Bank, the wizarding bank in Diagon Alley. Riders enter the bank into the queue area where Blordak greets visitors and instructs them to continue past him to travel deep into the vaults of the bank to open an account. Unlike "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey", this ride is hosted by Bill Weasley, played by Domhnall Gleeson, reprising his role from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1" and "Part 2".


text: A completely functioning full-scale replica of the Hogwarts Express was created for the Diagon Alley expansion, connecting King's Cross Station at Universal Studios to the Hogsmeade station at Islands of Adventure, manufactured by Doppelmayr Garaventa Group in the form of a funicular railway people mover. The Hogwarts Express King's Cross Station features a wall between Platforms 9 and 10, where guests can "walk through" to get to Platform , like in the first film.


text: Other than the main rides, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is also home to gift shops and restaurants. Several of these are recreations of locations in the Harry Potter books while others have been created specifically for the park. A recreation of Hogsmeade is housed at Islands of Adventure while a recreation of Diagon Alley is housed at Universal Studios Florida.


text: In the book series, Ollivanders wand shop is located in Diagon Alley, not Hogsmeade; however, installations of the shop are present in both areas of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The Hogsmeade area recreated the shop as "Ollivanders", portraying it as a branch of the original where Harry purchases his wand in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (known in the United States as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"). Unlike other shops at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, visitors are admitted in groups of 20 to experience the premise of the "Potter" series, that "the wand chooses the wizard". Similar to the first film, the wand keeper and a selected guest test a variety of wands until the right one is found. Effects include flowers drying out or a thunderstorm erupting inside the shop. Shoppers can then purchase souvenir wands.


text: A recreation of the "Hogwarts Express" lies at the entry to Hogsmeade. The recreation features "billowing steam and an iconic whistle" and is accompanied by the conductor of the train. In the "Harry Potter" series the Hogwarts Express is the train used to transport students from London to Hogwarts. The "Owl Post" is a working post office (where postcards and letters will be delivered with an authentic Hogsmeade postmark) that also sells stationery, writing implements, stamps, and owl-related gifts.


text: "The Three Broomsticks", based on the inn and pub from the "Harry Potter" series, offers a variety of food and beverage items from the Harry Potter universe, including Butterbeer, pumpkin juice, strawberry-peanut butter ice cream (as seen in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"), and chocolate Cauldron Cakes, in addition to a menu composed of traditional British fare (Shepherd's pie, fish and chips, etc.). The pub features many hidden references to the book, namely house elves and ghosts that roam the rafters. Butterbeer, which can be purchased with a souvenir mug, is offered as a non-alcoholic beverage and comes in both regular and frozen forms, found at the beginning of Hogsmeade fresh off the tap from the butterbeer cart. Similarly, "The Hog's Head" is based on the pub from the "Harry Potter" series owned by Aberforth Dumbledore. "Honeydukes" is a sweet shop, based on Honeydukes Sweetshop in the "Harry Potter" series. The shop sells many items from the Harry Potter universe including Chocolate Frogs, Acid Pops, exploding bonbons, Cauldron Cakes, treacle fudge, Fizzing Whizzbees, Pepper Imps, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.


text: Various Harry Potter merchandise items can be purchased from two different gift shops in Hogsmeade. Dervish and Banges is a store selling magical items, as well as Quidditch supplies, Hogwarts clothing, and other merchandise. The store is based on Dervish and Banges in the "Harry Potter" series. The second shop is Filch's Emporium of Confiscated Goods. It is a general gift shop (named for Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch) offering Hogwarts souvenirs (such as clothing and stationery), replicas of props from the "Harry Potter" films, and other toys and souvenirs. The shop is at the exit to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, and is where guests can obtain photos of their ride experience.


text: Live events at Diagon Alley include the Knight Bus interactive show at the London waterfront; "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" and "The Tale of The Three Brothers," which are puppet shows enacting stories from "The Tales of Beedle the Bard;" and live performances from musical group Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees (mentioned briefly by Molly Weasley in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets").


text: Gringotts Money Exchange is able to exchange American currency for Wizarding bank notes. Diagon Alley features The Leaky Cauldron restaurant, The Hopping Pot, and Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, which specializes in Butterbeer-flavored ice cream. The Fountain of Fair Fortune is also a bar. Ollivander's Wand Shop sells interactive wands that activate features all around Diagon Alley, Quality Quidditch Supplies, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes joke shop, Magical Menagerie, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment. Borgin and Burkes is the only shop located in Knockturn Alley.


text: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has been well received by Harry Potter fans. Matt Blum of "Wired" stated "every detail is finely crafted to enhance the experience". An "Orlando Sentinel" article stated "muggles will love their Harry Potter adventure" but identifies the need for the park to offer Universal Express Passes due to large crowds. It also stated Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is a truly one-of-a-kind experience that cannot easily be described. Leigh Caldwell from Traveling Mamas noted that although the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is ideal for the whole family, it's not designed for anyone under 3 years old. She went on to consolidate others' comments about the area: "there is no doubt that fans of the Harry Potter books and movies are going to enjoy the heck out of a visit to the Wizarding World". Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, criticized the fact that the park was chosen to be in Orlando, rather than in London, stating that it was "utterly mad" to leave it to the Americans "to make money from a great British invention."


title: Bundelkhand Expressway

text: Bundelkhand Expressway is a , four-lane wide (expandable to six) access-controlled expressway in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It connects Gonda village on NH-35 in Chitrakoot district with Kudrail village on Agra–Lucknow Expressway in Etawah district. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid down the foundation stone of Bundelkhand Expressway on 29 February 2020 in Gonda village, Chitrakoot, and the expressway was inaugurated on 16 July 2022. The expressway will boost tourism to Chitrakoot Dham.


title: Bundelkhand Expressway

text: The project was launched in April 2017 by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath. It is being developed by the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) with a total project value of ₹14,716 crores.


title: Bundelkhand Expressway

text: Bundelkhand Expressway will connect Kudrail village on Agra–Lucknow Expressway in Etawah district with Gonda village on NH-35 in Chitrakoot district. It will pass through 7 districts of Uttar Pradesh i.e. (from north to south) Etawah, Auraiya, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Banda and Chitrakoot.


title: Bundelkhand Expressway

text: The construction work of the Bundelkhand Expressway is divided into six packages and awarded to four different contractors. A total of four railway-over-bridges (ROB), 14 major bridges, 268 minor bridges, 18 flyovers, six toll plazas, seven ramp plazas and 214 underpasses will be constructed on this expressway. Its construction cost is around crores (excluding the cost of Land). The list of contractors is as follows:


title: Bundelkhand Expressway

text: Just within five days of inauguration of the expressway, stretches of road caved deep in at different locations during the first rain on 20 July 2022, resulting in accident of some vehicles. Several videos went viral on social media, with people blaming and questioning the Government for the poor quality and extent of corruption in construction of the expressway.


title: Bundelkhand Expressway

text: Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and SP president Akhilesh Yadav also raised issues, sharing a video showing incomplete, under construction parts of the expressway and stating that the hasty inauguration of the half complete expressway gives rise to ‘Chaltaau’ (passable/sub standard) developmental culture.


title: Urethral intercourse

text: Urethral intercourse or "coitus per urethram" is sexual penetration of the female urethra by an object such as a penis or a finger. It is not the same thing as urethral sounding, the act of inserting a specialized medical tool into the urethra as a form of sexual or fetishistic activity.


title: Urethral intercourse

text: The untrained insertion of foreign bodies into the urethra carries a significant risk that subsequent medical attention may be required. Documented cases of urethral intercourse appear to have occurred between heterosexual couples; a survey of the global medical literature available in 1965 reported accounts of thirteen separate cases. By 2014, 26 cases had been documented in the medical literature, many in people with Müllerian dysgenesis who were engaging in urethral intercourse unknowingly. However, the stretching of the urethra required by this form of intercourse has also reportedly resulted in a complete and permanent loss of urethral sphincter control (urinary incontinence); furthermore such intercourse presents a very high risk of bladder infection to the receptive partner. It can also lead to permanent dilation of the urethra and incontinence during intercourse. Presenting symptoms of unintentional urethral intercourse include primary infertility, dyspareunia (pain during intercourse), and incontinence. More serious consequences include evisceration via the urethra and bladder rupture.


title: Nick Massi

text: Nick Massi (born Nicholas E. Macioci, September 19, 1927 – December 24, 2000) was an American bass singer, songwriter, and bass guitarist for The Four Seasons.


title: Nick Massi

text: Born in Newark, New Jersey, Nicholas "Massi" Macioci was first taught to play the bass fiddle by Newark native and musician Anthony Gaeta. As a bass singer, Massi had been playing with several bands before he joined The Four Lovers in 1958, including some groups that featured future Four Lovers and Four Seasons members Frankie Valli and Tommy DeVito. After the group evolved into the Four Seasons, they performed such hits as "Sherry," "Dawn (Go Away)," and "Rag Doll." He was responsible for most of the group's vocal arrangements. Massi left the Four Seasons in September 1965, and was replaced temporarily by Charles Calello who, in turn, was replaced by Joe Long.


title: Nick Massi

text: Massi, Tommy DeVito, Frankie Valli, and Bob Gaudio—the original members of The Four Seasons—were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.


title: Anandamayi Ma

text: Anandamayi Ma ("née" Nirmala Sundari; 30 April 1896 – 27 August 1982) was an Indian saint and yoga guru, described by Sivananda Saraswati (of the Divine Life Society) as [the most perfect flower the Indian soil has produced]. Precognition, faith healing and miracles were attributed to her by her followers. Paramahansa Yogananda translates the Sanskrit epithet "Anandamayi" as "Joy-permeated" in English. This name was given to her by her devotees in the 1920s to describe her perpetual state of divine joy.


title: Anandamayi Ma

text: Anandamayi was born Nirmala Sundari Devi on 30 April 1896 to the orthodox Vaishnavite Brahmin couple Bipinbihari Bhattacharya and Mokshada Sundari Devi in the village of Kheora, Tipperah District (now Brahmanbaria District), in present-day Bangladesh. Her father, originally from Vidyakut in Tripura, was a Vaishnavite singer known for his intense devotion. Both parents were from well regarded lineages, though the family lived in poverty. Nirmala attended village schools of Sultanpur and Kheora for approximately 2–4 months. Although her teachers were pleased with her ability, her mother worried about her daughter's mental development because of her constantly indifferent and happy demeanour. When her mother once fell seriously ill, relatives too remarked with puzzlement about the child remaining apparently unaffected.


title: Anandamayi Ma

text: In 1908 at the age of twelve years, 10 months, in keeping with the rural custom at the time, she was married to Ramani Mohan Chakrabarti of Bikrampur (now Munshiganj District) whom she would later rename "Bholanath". She spent five years after her marriage at her brother-in-law's home, attending to housework in a withdrawn meditative state much of the time. It was at Ashtagram that a devout neighbour, Harakumar, recognised and announced her spiritual eminence, developed a habit of addressing her as "Ma", and prostrated before her morning and evening in reverence.


title: Anandamayi Ma

text: When Nirmala was about seventeen, she went to live with her husband who was working in the town of Ashtagram. In 1918, they moved to Bajitpur, where she stayed until 1924. It was a celibate marriage—whenever thoughts of lust occurred to Ramani, Nirmala's body would take on the qualities of death.


title: Anandamayi Ma

text: On the full moon night of August 1922, at midnight, twenty-six-year-old Nirmala enacted her own spiritual initiation. She explained that the ceremony and its rites were being revealed to her spontaneously as and when they were called for. Although she was uneducated in the matter, the complex rites corresponded to those of traditional, ancient Hinduism, including the offerings of flowers, the mystical diagrams (yantra) and the fire ceremony (yajna). She later stated, "As the master (guru) I revealed the mantra; as the disciple. I accepted it and started to recite it."


title: Anandamayi Ma

text: Nirmala moved to Shahbag with her husband in 1924, where he had been appointed as the caretaker of the gardens of the Nawab of Dhaka. During this period Nirmala went into ecstasies at public "kirtans". Jyotiscandra Ray, known as "Bhaiji", was an early and close disciple. He was the first to suggest that Nirmala be called Anandamayi Ma, meaning "Joy Permeated Mother", or "Bliss Permeated Mother". He was chiefly responsible for the first ashram built for Anandamayi Ma in 1929 at Ramna, within the precinct of the Ramna Kali Mandir. In 1926, she reinstated a formerly abandoned ancient Kali temple in the Siddheshwari area. During the time in Shahbag, more and more people began to be drawn to what they saw to be a living embodiment of the divine.


title: Anandamayi Ma

text: From her shift Dehradun onwards various scholars were drawn to Anandamayi Ma's light, gift, power and message of love, though she continued to describe herself as "a little unlettered child". Prangopal Mukerjee Mahamahopadhyay Gopinath Kaviraj, Sanskrit scholar, philosopher, and principal of Government Sanskrit College in Varanasi and Triguna Sen were among her followers. Uday Shankar, the famous dance artist, was impressed by Anandamayi Ma's analysis of dance, which she used as a metaphor for the relationship between people and God. She was a contemporary of the well known Hindu saints like Udiya Baba, Sri Aurobindo, Ramana Maharshi, Swami Ramdas, Neem Karoli Baba, and Paramahansa Yogananda.


title: Anandamayi Ma

text: Ma died on 27 August 1982 in Dehradun, and subsequently on 29 August 1982 a Samadhi (shrine) was built in the courtyard of her Kankhal ashram, situated in Haridwar in North India.


title: Anandamayi Ma

text: Anandamayi Ma never prepared discourses, wrote down, or revised what she had said. People had difficulty transcribing her often informal talks because of their conversational speed. Further, the Bengali manner of alliterative wordplay was often lost in translation. However, her personal attendant Gurupriya Devi, and a devotee, Brahmachari Kamal Bhattacharjee, made attempts to transcribe her speech before audio recording equipment became widely available in India.


title: Anandamayi Ma

text: A central theme of her teaching is "the supreme calling of every human being is to aspire to self realization. All other obligations are secondary" and "only actions that kindle man's divine nature are worthy of the name of actions". However, she did not advise everyone to become a renunciate. She would dismiss spiritual arguments and controversies by stating that "Everyone is right from his own standpoint,". She did not give formal initiations and refused to be called a guru, as she maintained that "all paths are my paths" and "I have no particular path".


title: Anandamayi Ma

text: She did not advocate the same spiritual methods for all: "How can one impose limitations on the infinite by declaring "this is the only path"—and, why should there be so many different religions and sects? Because through every one of them He gives Himself to Himself, so that each person may advance according to his inborn nature." She herself has said (ref. Mother Reveals Herself), all forms of sadhana, known and unknown, just occurred to her in the form of a lila (play) without any conscious effort on her part. Thus her Sadhana can not be slotted into a specific area, for to do so would mean that she was somehow limited to that area and her mastery was also limited. She welcomed and conversed with devotees of different paths and religions from Shaivaite, Vaishnavite, Tantric, or from Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism. Everyone was welcome and she was equally at ease while giving guidance to all practitioners of different faiths. Even now, the Muslim population of Kheora still refer to her as "our own Ma".


title: Anandamayi Ma

text: She taught how to live a God-centered life in the world and provided the living inspiration to enable thousands to aspire to this most noble ideal. She also advocated spiritual equality for women; for example, she opened up to women the sacred thread ritual, which had been performed by men only for centuries, but only those who met the moral and personal requirements. Her style of teaching included jokes, songs and instructions on everyday life along with long discourses, silent meditation and recommended reading of scriptures.


title: Anandamayi Ma

text: She frequently referred to herself in the third person as either "this body" or "this little girl", which is a common spiritual practice in Hinduism in order to detach oneself from Ego. Paramhansa Yogananda wrote about her in his book "Autobiography of a Yogi". His meeting with her is recounted in the chapter titled "The Bengali 'Joy-Permeated Mother'", where she explains her background:


title: Anandamayi Ma

text: The Publication Department of the "Shree Shree Anandamayee Sangha" in Varanasi regularly publishes her teaching in the periodical "Amrit Varta" quarterly in English, Hindi, Gujarati and Bengali. The Sri Sri Anandamayi Sangha in Haridwar organizes the annual "Samyam Mahavrata" congregation to devote a week to collective meditation, religious discourse and devotional music.


title: Dawah

text: Dawah (, ) is the act of inviting or calling people to embrace Islam. The plural is "da‘wāt" (دَعْوات) or "da‘awāt" (دَعَوات).


title: Dawah

text: The English term "Dawah" derives from the Arabic word , which comes from the root variously meaning 'to invite' or 'to pray'. "Da‘wah" literally means "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation". Grammatically, the word represents a gerund of a verb with the triconsonantal root "d-ʕ-w" meaning variously "to summon" or "to invite". A Muslim who practices "da‘wah", either as a religious worker or in a volunteer community effort, is called a ' (, plural ' ). A "dā‘ī", is a person who invites people to understand and accept Islam through dialogue and other techniques, may be regarded as a missionary inviting people to the faith, prayer and manner of Islamic life.


title: Dawah

text: The term "da'wah" has other senses in the Qur'an. In "sura" (chapter) 30:25, for example, it denotes the call to the dead to rise on the Day of Judgment. When used in the Qur'an, it generally refers to Allah's invitation to live according to his will. Thus, when used in the first centuries of Islam, it usually referred to that message and was sometimes used interchangeably with "sharī‘a" and "dīn".


title: Dawah

text: "Da‘wah" is also described as the duty to "actively encourage fellow Muslims in the pursuance of greater piety in all aspects of their lives", a definition which has become central to contemporary Islamic thought. Dawah is also spelt "dâvah", "daawa", "dawah", "daawah" or "dakwah."


title: Dawah

text: For certain groups within Islam like the Salafis and Jamaat-e-Islami, Dawah is also considered as a political activity. For these groups, the aim of Dawah outreach is also to engineer a reversal of what they perceive as the decline of Islam in the modern era, through the systematic propagation of Islamist ideology and ultimately enable the establishment of an Islamic state.


title: Dawah

text: During the Expedition of Al Raji in 625, Muhammad sent some men as missionaries to various different tribes. Some men came to Muhammad and requested that Muhammad send instructors to teach them Islam, but the men were bribed by the two tribes of Khuzaymah, who wanted revenge for the assassination of Khalid bin Sufyan (Chief of the Banu Lahyan tribe) by Muhammad's followers. A number of missionaries were killed in this expedition, either eight or, according to another account, ten.


title: Dawah

text: Then during the Expedition of Bir Maona in July 625 Muhammad sent some missionaries at the request of some men from the Banu Amir tribe, but the Muslims were again killed in revenge for the assassination of Khalid bin Sufyan by Muhammad's followers. 70 Muslims were killed during this expedition.


title: Dawah

text: During the Expedition of Khalid ibn al-Walid (Banu Jadhimah) in January 630, Muhammad sent Khalid ibn Walid to invite the Banu Jadhimah tribe to Islam. This is mentioned in the Sunni Hadith .


title: Dawah

text: Mus'ab ibn 'Umair was the first Muslim envoy in September 621. He was sent to Yathrib (now Medina) to teach the people the doctrines of Islam and give them guidance.


title: Dawah

text: After Muhammad's death in 632, from the available historical evidence, it appears that after Muhammad's death Muslims did not immediately embark upon da'wa activities—during and after the rapid conquests of the Byzantine and Persian lands, they ventured little if at all to preach to local non-Muslims. Da'wa came into wider usage almost a hundred years after Muhammad's death, in the wake of 'Abbasid propaganda against the then ruling Umayyad clan in the 720s. However, the 'Abbasid da'wa ceased as soon as the 'Abbasids were in power—a fact that attests to its political nature. Da'wa as a truly missionary activity, albeit still within the Muslim Umma, appeared in the form of the Isma'ili da'wa of the 9th through 13th centuries. Isma'ilis, in many ways, can be seen as the pioneers of the organized Muslim missionary activities: their highly institutionalized and sophisticated da'wa structure has hardly been repeated until today. Moreover, for the Isma'ilis, da'wa was a state priority. The Isma'ili da'wa encompassed extra- and intra-ummatic forms and blended both theology and politics.


title: Dawah

text: In Islamic theology, the purpose of "da‘wah" is to invite people, Muslims and non-Muslims, to understand the worship of God as expressed in the Qur'an and the "sunnah" of Muhammad and to inform them about Muhammad.


title: Dawah

text: "Da'wah" as the "Call towards God" is the means by which Muhammad began spreading the message of the Qur'an to mankind. After Muhammad, his followers and the "Ummah" (Muslim community) assumed responsibility for it. They convey the message of the Qur'an by providing information on why and how the Qur'an preaches monotheism. Muhammad saw Islam as the true religion and mission of all earlier prophets. He believed that their call had been limited to their own people but that his was universal. His mission as the final prophet was to repeat to the whole world this call and invitation (dawa) to Islam. Muhammad wrote to various non-Muslim rulers, inviting them to convert.


title: Dawah

text: Muhammad sent Muadh ibn Jabal to Yemen and told him “You will be going to Christians and Jews, so the first thing you should invite them to is the assertion of the oneness of Allah, Most High. If they realize that, then inform them that Allah has made five daily prayers obligatory on them. If they pray them, then inform them that Allah has made the payment of charity from their wealth obligatory on their rich to be given to their poor. If they accept that, then take it from them and avoid the best part of people's property.”


title: Dawah

text: And by the mercy of Allah you dealt with them gently. If you were harsh and hardhearted, they would have fled from around you. ().


title: Dawah

text: Muhammad was reported by his wife, Aisha to have said “Whenever gentleness is in a thing, it beautifies it, and whenever it is withdrawn from something, it defaces.”


title: Dawah

text: Muslims made it a part of their political theory (through relating da'wa to jihad) and life (using the concept of da'wa in their political agendas). Taken in general, the intertwining of da'wa and politics, then, has been a feature throughout the Muslim history, though practical implications of this have been different in different ages.


title: Dawah

text: A classical example of diversion in "dawah" can be seen in the case of Yusuf in prison when two prisoners asked him to interpret their dreams. One of them said: “I saw myself pressing wine.” The other said: “I saw myself carrying bread on my head and birds were eating from it.” They asked: “Inform us of the interpretation of these things. Indeed, we believe you are one of the righteous.” He replied: “Whenever food came to you as your provision, I informed you about it before it came. That is from what my Lord has taught me... As for one of you, he will pour wine for his lord to drink, and as for the other, he will be crucified and birds will eat from his head. This is the case judged concerning which you both inquire.” ()


title: Dawah

text: Doing "dawah" in the right location. For example, Mount Safa in the time of Muhammad was used for announcements. So Muhammad went there to make his point. He chose that particular location because he knew the people who he was inviting to Islam. He knew their nature and characteristics, so he chose Mount Safa. He climbed up to its summit and addressed his people saying: “O people of Quraysh, if I were to tell you there was an army behind this hill would you listen to me?”


title: Dawah

text: Various Islamic institutions provide elaborate manuals, trainings and workshops to "da‘i" to prepare them for successful dawah.


title: Dawah

text: Dawah manuals, booklets or guides are training material that give a framework and methodology for a "da‘i" to invite non-Muslims to accept and convert to Islam. The manuals present detailed guidance on how to carry out dialogue, various techniques and detailed steps of implementing dawah for non-muslim individual or collective audiences as well as socio-religious groups like atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus etc.


title: Dawah

text: "Da‘i" are given trainings in the form of physical workshops and training sessions. Dawah trainings are also provided in the form of online video lessons, webinars, online discussion forums, handouts and quizzes.


title: Dawah

text: Methods may also depend upon specific creeds. For instance, among Ismailis, al-Naysaburi's Code of Conduct depicts the values in which dais should spread the word of Islam to Muslims and non-Muslims. Idris Imad al-Din's work presents us with an indigenous account of the traditions of the da'wa in Yaman. His account of the Nizari–Musta'li succession dispute reflects the official view of the Tayyibis. Similarly, modern-day platforms designated for open-air public speaking in the western world also provide platforms for debate between different denominations in Islam, with documented instances of dialogue being reported between demographics such as Quranists and Mahdi'ist based creeds such as Mahdavia.


title: Goodie Mob

text: Goodie Mob is an American hip hop group based in Atlanta, Georgia, consisting of CeeLo Green, Khujo, T-Mo, and Big Gipp.


title: Goodie Mob

text: The group was formed in 1991 by Cameron "Big Gipp" Gipp, Willie "Khujo" Knighton Jr., CeeLo Green (born Thomas Callaway), and Robert "T-Mo" Barnett in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1995, Goodie Mob released their debut album, "Soul Food", which was critically acclaimed and certified Gold. The album aired social and political issues such as racism, discrimination, geopolitics, and gentrification. Their debut single "Cell Therapy" reached number 39 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and also topped the "Billboard" Hot Rap Singles chart. Goodie Mob is part of the hip hop/R&B musical collective, Dungeon Family, also based in Atlanta.


title: Goodie Mob

text: In 1998, Goodie Mob released their second album, "Still Standing". The album continued the group's style of social commentary, and CeeLo's singing talents were used more frequently. The group's third album, "World Party", veered away from their gritty style and instead incorporated lighter beats and party related subject matter. During its production, CeeLo left the group to pursue a solo career when he was unhappy with the project's direction. Goodie Mob's fourth album, "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show", was released in 2004 and suffered a poor reception, resulting in Big Gipp also leaving the group. T-Mo and Khujo formed the duo Lumberjacks, which they released the album "Livin' Life as Lumberjacks" in 2005. Big Gipp, as part of the duo Ali & Gipp, released their album Kinfolk in 2006.


title: Goodie Mob

text: Also in 2006, all four members of Goodie Mob performed together following a Gnarls Barkley concert, marking the group's reunion. In 2011, Goodie Mob signed with Elektra Records and worked on a new album, which would eventually become "Age Against the Machine", released in 2013.


title: Goodie Mob

text: On August 19, 2008, Goodie Mob performed on stage together unannounced at the Tabernacle in Atlanta during a free Nelly concert.


title: Goodie Mob

text: On September 19, 2009, Goodie Mob performed for the first official reunion concert at the Masquerade in Atlanta, Georgia. The band also played with all the original members at the Smoke Out festival in San Bernardino, California, on October 23, 2009.


title: Goodie Mob

text: On March 12, 2010, Goodie Mob performed "Get Rich to This" in Las Vegas, Nevada, for part of the Red Bull Soundclash concert that featured CeeLo.


title: Goodie Mob

text: On April 28, 2011, CeeLo brought out Goodie Mob during his performance at Sunfest in West Palm Beach, Florida. The group performed four songs together, including "Black Ice (Sky High)", "Cell Therapy", and "Soul Food".


title: Goodie Mob

text: On July 25, 2011, CeeLo announced via his Twitter that Goodie Mob's reunion album would be titled "We Sell Drugs Too." However, in February 2012 CeeLo tweeted that the name has been changed to "Age Against the Machine."


title: Goodie Mob

text: After "Survival Kit" was released on November 13, 2020, the group planned to start touring in December 2020.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: The Chronicles of Amber is a series of fantasy novels by American writer Roger Zelazny. The main series consists of two story arcs, each five novels in length. Additionally, there are a number of Amber short stories and other works. Four additional prequel books, authorized by the Zelazny estate following his death, were authored by John Gregory Betancourt.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: The Amber stories take place in two contrasting "true" worlds, Amber and Chaos, and in shadow worlds (Shadows) that lie between the two. These shadows, including our Earth, are parallel worlds that exist in — and were created from — the tension between the opposing magical forces of Amber and Chaos. The Courts of Chaos are situated at the very edge of an abyss. Members of the royal family of Amber, after walking in a Pattern that is central to Amber, can travel freely through the Shadows. While traveling (shifting) between Shadows, they can alter reality or create a new reality by choosing which elements of which Shadows to keep or add, and which to subtract. Nobles of the Courts of Chaos who have traversed the Logrus are similarly able to travel through Shadows.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Ten Amber novels were written by Roger Zelazny. The series of books was published over the years from 1970 to 1991. Portions of the first novel, "Nine Princes in Amber", had previously been published in "Kallikanzaros" (No. 1, June 1967, and No. 3, December 1967). The novels "Sign of the Unicorn", "The Hand of Oberon", and "The Courts of Chaos" first appeared in abridged, serialized versions in "Galaxy Science Fiction". "The Guns of Avalon" and five later "Merlin Cycle" Amber novels were not serialized or excerpted.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Several "Chronicles of Amber" omnibus volumes have also been published, collecting the five novels of the original "Corwin Cycle" in one volume, the five novels of the "Merlin Cycle" in another volume, and later (in "The Great Book of Amber") all ten novels in a single volume.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: The first five novels are narrated in the first person by Corwin, a prince of Amber, as he describes his adventures and life upon re-encountering his family after a loss of memory and an absence of centuries.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Corwin wakes up from a coma in a hospital in New York with amnesia. He soon discovers that he's part of a superhuman royal family who can wander among infinite parallel worlds (called "shadows"), and who rule over the one true world, Amber. He meets members of this newly rediscovered family, and then later is shown and walks in the Pattern, a labyrinth inscribed in the dungeons of Castle Amber which gives the multiverse its order. Walking in the Pattern of Rebma (a city in Shadows that mirrors the true city of Amber, down to the smallest detail, including the pattern) restores Corwin's memory and his abilities to travel through Shadows. In alliance with his brother Bleys, he attempts to conquer Amber, which is ruled by his elder brother Eric. Eric took power after the disappearance of their father, Oberon. Their attempt fails. Bleys falls from the side of the Kolvir mountain and Corwin is captured, blinded and imprisoned. Thanks to his genetic regenerative ability, his eyes regrow, and he regains his vision. Dworkin Barimen, the mad sorcerer who created the pattern, enters Corwin's prison through the walls of Corwin's prison cell, and eventually draws on the wall the door through which Corwin escapes.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Corwin has escaped the dungeons of Amber, where he was imprisoned by his hated brother Eric, who had seized the throne of Amber. All of Corwin's siblings believe that guns cannot function in Amber, as gunpowder is inert there. But Corwin has secret knowledge: in the shadow world of Avalon, where he once ruled, there exists a jeweler's rouge that will function in Amber as gunpowder should. Corwin plans to raise a legion of shadow soldiers and arm them with automatic rifles from the shadow world Earth. While gathering these forces Corwin discovers a more sinister problem growing among the shadows. He meets Dara, a woman claiming to be his great-grandniece, and later discovers a threat to Amber: a black road which runs across universes from the Courts of Chaos to Amber. With his newly trained army, Corwin marches on Castle Amber only to find it already under siege. Eric is mortally wounded and passes the Jewel of Judgment to Corwin, making Corwin Regent. The immediate danger passes, but Dara threatens greater peril after walking the Pattern and revealing herself to be a creature of the Courts of Chaos, intent on destroying both Amber and the Shadows.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Eric is dead, and Corwin now rules Amber as Regent. But someone has murdered their brother Caine and framed Corwin. This leads to questions about other missing members of the royal family. Corwin's brother, Random, tells of his attempts to rescue their brother, Brand, and Corwin decides to find out what happened to the latter. After many intrafamily exchanges, Brand is rescued but is stabbed by one of the family in the attempt. In the midst of the ensuing intrigue, an assassination attempt is made on Corwin, and he finds himself incapacitated on Earth. Before returning to Amber, he hides the Jewel of Judgment on Earth. After Brand recovers, he tells Corwin of several incidents leading up to his capture. Corwin travels to Tir-na Nóg'th, the mysterious, moonlit Amber-in-the-sky where he hopes to gain insight into the situation, and upon his return finds himself at the Primal Pattern rather than Amber.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Corwin finds the Primal Pattern damaged, with a dark stain obscuring part of it. On further investigation, it is found that the blood of one of the members of his family has created the stain. Corwin descends back to the dungeons and meets with Dworkin, who explains how the Pattern might be repaired. After being chased from the Pattern, Corwin eventually discovers that Brand is responsible for the damage and that he now has the Jewel of Judgment. Corwin must now prevent Brand from attuning himself to the jewel, or Brand's plot to destroy the Pattern will succeed. Corwin and his family band together to prevent this, eventually recover the jewel, and discover that their father Oberon, the true King of Amber, still lives.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Roger Zelazny makes a brief cameo appearance in the book as a guard in a dungeon, smoking a pipe and working on a novel which may or may not be "The Chronicles of Amber" itself.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Oberon, having resumed the throne, organizes an assault on the Courts of Chaos. Oberon plans to repair the Primal Pattern at the cost of his life and offers the throne to Corwin with Dara as his Queen. Corwin refuses and is tasked to bring the Jewel of Judgment across the shadows to the battle that will ensue after the Pattern is redrawn. He sets off along the black road and is soon pursued by Brand and a great storm. Through the storm and across the multiverse he comes to doubt his father's success. As he approaches the Courts of Chaos, he is assailed by fantastic beings who try to dissuade him, and he finally decides that his father must have failed. Corwin then creates a new Pattern and uses it to get to the courts but has not the strength to prevent Brand stealing the Jewel from him in the process. In a final confrontation with Brand, the Jewel of Judgment is stolen and lost. Brand is killed - by Caine, revealed to have faked his own death earlier by murdering a "shadow" version of himself and leaving the body to be found shot through the heart and throat, Brand falls off a precipice into the Abyss, taking Deirdre with him in the process. The Jewel is recovered by the unicorn who bestows it on Random, who is then accepted as the new King. The Trumps and multiverse are restored, and Corwin relates the story of the first five novels to his son Merlin. Corwin speculates that his own Pattern remains and may lead to its own series of Shadows.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: The next five novels focus on Merlin, Corwin's son. These stories are held by some fans to be less of a fantasy classic than the first five due to the difference in writing style, direction and setting. One criticism of the sequence is that it revolved around the dealing with and acquisition of ever more powerful artifacts and entities, in a kind of technological/magical arms race.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Whereas Corwin of the first series was a product of the late 1960s and 1970s and was more of a cross between a hardboiled detective in the vein of Raymond Chandler and a Highlander-like immortal with centuries of experience fighting his way through the stories, Merlin (a product of the late 1980s and early 1990s when computers had become commonplace) is a youthful hacker / magician finding himself in increasingly complex situations in the vein of modern hacker protagonists. The series is a coming of age for Merlin with his heritage as a Prince of Chaos and Amber.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Merlin has been studying computer science on Earth while constructing a secret project called Ghostwheel, a sentient computer based on the Trumps, which Merlin hopes will be able to locate Corwin, who vanished after visiting the Courts of Chaos in the previous novel. Merlin discovers the body of his ex-girlfriend Julia, apparently killed by beasts from another shadow, and subsequently finds himself in sorcerous combat with a lady named Jasra, who has a poisonous sting in her bite. More unnerving is that his best friend Luke apparently knows about both Ghostwheel and Merlin's connection to Amber. He eventually returns to Amber, which is in mourning: the news has just come that Caine has been murdered, and Bleys injured, by a mystery assassin with a rifle – an assassin who demonstrates (with a thrown bomb at Caine's funeral, which misses any other family members) that he has access to something with explosive properties in Amber (which had previously been thought impossible). After the funeral, King Random orders Merlin to shut down Ghostwheel, but the artifact shows it is capable of self-defense, even against its creator, who is saved by the unexpected appearance of Luke – who thus proves, with the ability to traverse Shadow, that he too is no ordinary human. He soon finds that Luke is in fact Rinaldo, son of Brand of Amber, and has been responsible for yearly attempts on his life, on the anniversary of Luke's discovery of Brand's death. Luke imprisons Merlin in a cave of blue crystal which negates his magic abilities and from which he cannot escape.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Merlin escapes from the blue crystal cave, meets and confronts Jasra, nearly taking her prisoner, but is forced to retreat when she calls in reinforcements using the Trumps. Further mystery ensues back on Earth when several people who apparently knew a lot more about Merlin than they should, turn out to have no memory of previous meetings. Merlin traces his way back to his first confrontation with Jasra, where he finds himself at a magical fort, the Keep of the Four Worlds, a nexus of magical energies which has recently fallen under the control of a mysterious, blue-masked sorcerer calling himself "Mask", who seems to have a vendetta against Merlin. However, the Keep is also currently under siege by Dalt the Mercenary, a known enemy of Amber and friend of Luke/Rinaldo. A meeting with a deserter reveals that Jasra (the previous owner of the Keep – now presumably deposed) is Luke/Rinaldo's mother. Merlin returns to Amber, ventures out into Amber City, escapes an assassination attempt, and is saved by Caine's mistress, Vinta Bayle – who, also, appears to know more than she ought about him. Merlin then finds himself having to rescue Luke from Dalt, the two having apparently come to blows. Luke reveals that Jasra has indeed lost power and is now a prisoner – and has the cheek to ask for Merlin's help. "Vinta" reveals that she is not what she seems but is a being that has apparently appeared to Merlin in "possession" of several different bodies. Luke ends up in the crystal cave himself – and Merlin, after yet another uncanny encounter with a shape-shifting werewolf (which escapes, minus an ear and with severe burns) and that appears to be backed by Mask. Merlin decides to gain leverage over Luke by "rescuing" Jasra without Luke's help, and then taking Jasra as a prisoner in Amber. He confronts Mask, escapes with the now-petrified Jasra, and returns to Amber, where an unusual Trump summoning imprisons him in the Mad Hatter's tea party from .


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Merlin realises that Wonderland, where he and Luke are trapped, is an LSD-induced hallucination made real by Luke's powers overshadow. It is Luke who has dropped the acid – he, too, having been taken prisoner in an independent attempt to rescue Jasra, and having apparently been given it as an experiment. He is ambushed by a creature from Chaos, a Fire Angel, but defeats it with the help of a Jabberwock and a vorpal sword. He leaves Luke to sober up and seeks his stepbrother Mandor, who thinks that their half-brother Jurt may be at least one of the assassins trying to kill Merlin – right now, most likely, for headship of the House of Sawall once its current lord dies, since Mandor (the eldest son) has stepped aside, leaving that office to be disputed between Merlin and Jurt (who was indeed the werewolf from earlier). They meet up with Fiona and discover that the Logrus is making an attempt to damage Corwin's Pattern. But Merlin refuses to help Mandor and Fiona learn more, and returns to Amber, only to be embroiled in diplomatic controversy: in order to avoid Luke's possible accession to the throne of the Shadow kingdom Kashfa, Random is playing politics to put his own candidate on the throne, and the neighbouring kingdom of Begma objects to that particular candidate's territorial ambitions. The Begman duke's elder daughter Coral and Luke's old friend Dalt the Mercenary are both revealed to be bastard Amberites, sired by Oberon out of wedlock: Coral walks the Pattern and disappears completely, apparently held prisoner by it. Dalt challenges Amber with an armed force, demanding Luke be surrendered to him as prisoner, but Luke has sworn off his vendetta and is under Queen Vialle's protection. Negotiations result in an arranged fistfight between Dalt and Luke, which Dalt wins and captures Luke. Coral's younger sister Nayda is revealed to be possessed by the mysterious body-possessing "t'yiga" demon which had previously been Vinta Bayle (and, for a short while, several other people on Earth, in "Trumps of Doom"): but since the real Nayda actually died of a long-standing heart condition just as the t'yiga possessed her (possession is normally harmless), it is now trapped in her form permanently. Merlin calls in Mandor to imprison the t'yiga, which turns out (a) to have been sent with orders to act as a bodyguard to Merlin, by an unknown sponsor, and (b) reveals that Jurt is in league with Mask and is trying to gain power from the Keep of the Four Worlds in the same way that Brand did, and become a Living Trump. Merlin and Mandor free Jasra, since Jasra is Mask's enemy, and together they wrest the Keep of the Four Worlds from Jurt and Mask. Mask is wounded by Merlin, but then is revealed that "he" is in fact Merlin's ex-girlfriend Julia, whom he had thought dead.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Jasra is left in charge of the Keep of the Four Worlds, where she had ruled before – as Julia's teacher, before Julia decided to outwit her and take over. She turns out to be exactly the right person to leave in charge there, as she does not wish for the power of the Fount of the Four Worlds herself, but is quite happy to prevent others using it, since gaining its power destroyed the last of Brand's humanity, and she appears to have genuinely loved him, and lost him to his power-lust. Merlin tries to use Trump magic to locate Coral – with the help of Mandor, Jasra and even his own creation Ghostwheel, with whom he is back on good terms – but is ambushed by various ghostly constructs of people that have walked the Pattern and Logrus, and even by Corwin's most recent Pattern-ghost (from his own Pattern, not the Pattern of Amber), and finds himself drawn into a struggle between the Logrus, the fundamental power of chaos, and the Pattern, the fundamental power of order.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: It is revealed that the Pattern, and its chaotic counterpart the Logrus, are sentient, and wish Merlin to choose a side to tip the balance of the multiverse towards one or the other – with other Pattern- and Logrus-ghosts also taking part in the "trial" to influence him one way or the other. He attempts to refuse the "test" but is confronted by the Powers That Be themselves, the Unicorn of Order and Serpent of Chaos. They try to make him choose between them using ghosts of family members who have traversed their two paths. He attempts to walk the route of neutrality to avoid choosing sides, but ends up being tricked into taking sides twice – firstly by having a Chaos dagger planted on him as he sleeps before attempting to take the middle path in a three-way choice between the extremes of Order and Chaos (this is rather appropriate: he would rather aid neither side, but his chosen method is usually the magic of Chaos), and secondly he is coerced into aiding the Pattern to strengthen its position in Shadows, while rescuing Coral from her imprisonment.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: During the trial he somehow obtains possession of the Jewel of Judgement: the attempt to return it to Castle Amber provokes a confrontation between the Pattern and Logrus themselves, causing a mighty explosion in which Mandor suffers a broken arm and Coral loses an eye. The ty'iga demon in Nayda's body escapes and tries to return the Jewel to the Logrus, but is captured by Ghostwheel – which, after removing both Nayda and the Jewel, passes its own synthetic "consciousness" through the Jewel, thus traversing the Pattern. Coral's damaged eye is operated on by Dworkin, who replaces it with the Jewel of Judgement. Merlin investigates Brand's old quarters, and finds his old sword Werewindle, and a mysterious and powerful "spikard" ring, which he keeps. Random sends him to the kingdom of Kashfa as the Amberite representative at a coronation ... that of none other than Luke, who is crowned as "King Rinaldo I", having overthrown Random's candidate Duke Arkans, in a largely bloodless coup. Since he has a fairly legitimate claim on the throne himself, is on better terms with his neighbours (Begma, who objected to Duke Arkans), and has given up his vendetta on Amber, Random is letting things stand. Further complications ensue when it turns out that Coral – now Merlin's lover – is actually Luke's long-forgotten wife following a diplomatic arranged marriage in childhood (although Luke seems willing enough to have it annulled in the future). Merlin goes to present Luke with Werewindle as a memento of his father, but they are ambushed by Jurt (again). Jurt is defeated but steals Werewindle as he flees.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Merlin returns to his birthplace in the Courts of Chaos in order to solve the existential riddle in which he is involved – to find that he is suddenly a lot closer to the throne of Chaos itself than he thought, King Swayvill having finally died of a long-standing illness (aggravated, it is said, by the death curse of Eric of Amber), and many other candidates having either been assassinated or dropped out, which pushes his own house of Sawall unexpectedly to the forefront. Of course, besides there being two other candidates from rival houses, this pushes Jurt very close to the succession too. In a conversation with his mother Dara – mistress of Corwin once, and a descendant of Benedict, also from the royal house of Chaos – he finds that she was the one who sent the ty'iga demon which is now Coral's sister Nayda (and appears to be developing something of an affection for Luke). Merlin realizes he is but a pawn in the hands of the powerful and cynical superpowers that rule the universe, that neither the Pattern nor the Logrus (or their manifestations as Unicorn and Serpent) care much about their "minions", and that someone or something wants him to rule Chaos – and that others will try to manipulate him when he is.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Merlin – and a Pattern-ghost of Luke – are both adopted by Corwin's Pattern (which has previously rejected Fiona), at the insistence of a Pattern-ghost of Corwin himself, as it appears that his own Pattern is also sentient and resisting incursions from both the Logrus and Amber's Pattern – and taking a hand in the conflict between the two. It becomes apparent that the real Corwin is held prisoner by Dara herself – ironically, in a chapel devoted to Corwin (chapels devoted to Amberites having apparently become a popular cult in Chaos after the Patternfall War: Jurt worshipped Brand, House Hendrake idolised Benedict, and Mandor's patron was Fiona). Jurt, frightened by the power politics, declares a truce with Merlin, and calls off his own vendetta – suggesting that Dara and Mandor intend, themselves, to manipulate Merlin when becomes King, after first putting him on the throne. The assassination of the two remaining candidates throws things into confusion: Coral is kidnapped by agents of Chaos (who want her because the Jewel of Judgement is her eye), and pursued by Merlin and Jurt, who call on the assistance of Luke, Dalt and Nayda: they find themselves having to fight agents of the Pattern as well as the Logrus to rescue her, and finally confront the Pattern itself and threaten to damage it by spilling their Amberite blood on it, if it does not back off from their conflict (the four others are sent safely away while Luke remains: contact is lost just after he says "Shit, I spilled it!").


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Merlin rescues his father, Corwin, and hides him in Jurt's quarters, and also discovers that the Spikard Ring he found in Brand's quarters was a trap, meant to bring him under Mandor and Dara's influence – except the plan was anticipated by Bleys (who was thought to be in hiding, recovering from his injury four books ago), who replaced it with another identical spikard which Dara and Mandor did not control (previously held by an estranged Amberite, a son of Oberon called Delwin). In the Courts of Chaos, Merlin uses Ghostwheel (which has by now traversed the Logrus as well as the Pattern), his own Spikard, and all his magical powers in the final fight for survival: finally declaring – and forcing Dara and Mandor to accept – that although he did not want to rule, if forced to do so, it will not be as anyone's puppet. Thus, both the Pattern and Logrus are forestalled for a time, in their attempts to escalate their conflict: while Corwin begins the journey back to Amber, Merlin – who wants peace with Amber – returns to Chaos to await his coronation.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: For the limited 1985 edition of "Trumps of Doom", Zelazny wrote a prologue that details Merlin's passage through the Logrus.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: After completing the Merlin Cycle, Zelazny wrote five Amber short stories, in which he began to tease the threads of the story into a new configuration. Zelazny died shortly after completing the last of these short stories, which were collected in "Manna from Heaven" (2003), along with the "Trumps of Doom" prologue and 16 non-Amber stories.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: A separate and unfinished sixth short story, "A Secret of Amber", was an informal collaboration, co-written in alternating sections by Zelazny and Ed Greenwood over a period of years. It was published in "Amberzine" in 2005, and later anthologized in "The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volume 6: The Road to Amber", published by NESFA Press in 2009.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Although several orders for these stories have been proposed by fans, Zelazny himself commented that the correct order for the stories is the order in which they were written:


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: The latter five stories told a linked tale from several viewpoints. Zelazny had planned to write more, and to eventually publish a collection of Amber short stories.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Several years after Zelazny's death, his estate authorized a new series of Amber novels, and John Gregory Betancourt was selected as the writer. Betancourt's "Dawn of Amber" series, which took its name from the title of the first volume, is a prequel to Zelazny's work, taking place centuries or millennia before "Nine Princes in Amber". It is told from the point of view of Corwin's father Oberon, and like Zelazny's novels, the series was narrated in first person.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Having ended the fourth book on a cliffhanger, Betancourt never wrote the planned and scheduled fifth volume, "Sword of Chaos". After Byron Preiss, the owner of ibooks, died, the publishing company filed for bankruptcy, and Betancourt announced in February 2006 that the series had been canceled. After a meeting with the publisher's new owner, Betancourt had brief hopes of renewed interest in the series from ibooks, but in August 2007 he announced his conclusion that the project was dead.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Betancourt stated that one of his primary motivations for agreeing to write the new books was to keep Zelazny's books and stories alive and in print, and to prevent them from fading into obscurity. He cited Robert E. Howard's Conan, Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes as examples of how later authors had successfully continued and extended the stories of iconic characters long after their creators had died. In response to concerns that the "Dawn of Amber" series seemed to contradict some ideas or rules of the Amber universe as stated in Zelazny's original ten books, Betancourt stated in an interview that some of those contradictions would not prove valid by the end of his series.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: The decision by Zelazny's literary executor to authorize a continuation of the Amber series was criticized by several acquaintances of Zelazny, including writers George R. R. Martin, Walter Jon Williams, and Neil Gaiman. They asserted that Zelazny had been quite averse to the idea of a "shared" Amber setting, and that he had clearly stated he did not want any others writing Amber stories. Gaiman wrote:


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: The series received a critical response from some Zelazny fans, who responded negatively to Betancourt's writing style and perceived lack of characterization, and considered his work to be fan fiction. The focus on Oberon also disappointed those who, after reading Zelazny's Merlin cycle and Amber short stories, believed that Zelazny had instead been planning another series of books to wrap up matters that he had left hanging. Zelazny's short stories, while tying up some of the loose ends, at the same time had opened doors to potential new stories going forward in the Amber universe, rather than a prequel.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Sunset Productions did audio versions of Roger Zelazny reading the novels (except where noted), and produced them with sound effects. Sunset was bought out by Americana Publishing in 2002.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped also created unabridged recorded versions of "The Chronicles of Amber" novels, including a 1979 recording of "Nine Princes in Amber", read by Michael Moodie, and a later recording of "Prince of Chaos", read by John Stratton.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Unabridged recordings created for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind included a 2001 recording of "Nine Princes in Amber" read by Richard Nazarewich.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: In 2012, Audible released brand new recordings of "The Chronicles of Amber", with Alessandro Juliani reading the first five books (the Corwin cycle) and Wil Wheaton reading the last five books (the Merlin cycle).


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: The first two Amber books, "Nine Princes in Amber" and "The Guns of Avalon", were adapted by Terry Bisson into graphic novels. They were published in 1996, each in three parts.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: In 1985, Telarium published the interactive fiction computer game "Nine Princes in Amber", based on the first two books of the series.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Two authorized adventure books based on Amber, similar in concept to Neil Randall's "Choose Your Own Adventure" series, were published in 1988:


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: "Lost Souls" is a multiplayer medieval fantasy MUD in which Amber is the center of the cosmos and the Courts of Chaos is the outermost of the outer planes; Amberite and Chaosborn are among the playable races.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: "Zangband" is a single-player roguelike computer game with a setting, magic system, and race options that are loosely derived from Zelazny's Amber multiverse, with the Serpent of Chaos as its final adversary.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: The series is based on the concept of parallel worlds, domination over them being fought between the kingdoms at the extreme ends of Shadow—Amber, the one true world of Order, and the Courts of Chaos. Amberites of royal blood - those descended from Oberon (and ultimately his parents: Dworkin, formerly of the Courts of Chaos, and the Unicorn of Order herself) — are able to "walk in Shadow", mentally willing changes to occur around them. These changes are, in effect, representative of the Shadow-walker passing through different realities. There are apparently infinite realities, and the characters in the novels are not sure if these different universes are created as one walks through Shadow, or if they already exist and a Shadow-walker is able to slip from one to another. In the Merlin cycle there are references to the Wheeler–Everett interpretation of quantum-mechanics and the Ghostwheel created by Merlin is said to "shuffle" through Shadows, suggesting that the multiverse exists independently, although this is never explicitly stated.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Within this multiverse, Zelazny deals with some interesting philosophical concepts about the nature of existence, compares and contrasts the ideas of Order and Chaos, and plays with the laws of physics—they can differ from Shadow to Shadow; for instance, gunpowder does not ignite in Amber, which is why the characters all carry swords. Other Shadows have green skies and blue suns, cities of glass, and worlds out of our own fiction can come to life.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: The Castle and City of Amber rest upon a shoulder of Kolvir, a mountain which dominates the land and sea around it. The city lies below the castle and extends down the mountain's slopes to a seaport. Part of the eastern face of Kolvir is a cliff, thousands of feet high, which can be climbed using stone steps. These form a switchback stair, a path that is broad enough for two men abreast at the bottom, but soon narrows, wide enough for only for a single person. There are no railings. Below the stairs are a tiger-striped beach and the sea, and the cliff face is riddled with sea caves. Out to sea and to the southeast of Amber lies first the City of Rebma, and then the Isle of Cabra, noted for its lighthouse.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: To the north of Amber lie various estates, farms, and small villages and communities, as well as a small port (Balyesport). The great forest of Arden lies to the north, west and south of Kolvir. Also to the south is The Vale of Garnath. This is a lush forest, but "not so thickly or massively wooded as the Arden", and is where the River Oisen travels to the sea. It is also through Garnath that the forces of Chaos eventually come to attack Amber, using their Black Road. Another important southern location, within the Forest of Arden, is the Grove of the Unicorn.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Prince Julian is generally responsible for patrolling the land approaches to Amber, especially through the Arden, while Princes Caine and Gérard initially shared responsibility for the fleets protecting Amber's seas. Since Amber "casts Shadow but is not of it", walking in Shadow was not possible in the immediate environs of the City or Kolvir. It was necessary to gain some distance from these locations in order to walk in Shadow, traveling to or from other worlds. This usually meant traveling by sea, or through the Forest of Arden. This is why the sea patrols and Julian's force in Arden were effective.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Amber has two reflections or counterparts. The city of Rebma (Amber spelled backwards) lies under the sea off the coast. Markers on the beach point the way to an underwater stairway (named Faiella-Bionin) which descends to the city. The stairway and city are magical, allowing normal breathing, talking, etc. -- but also allowing one to swim if desired. Leaving the areas of magic returns one to normal water, with the potential of drowning or being crushed by water pressure. Rebma is ruled by Queen Moire. Most inhabitants are a sea people, not shadows of Amberites, and are slightly different in form from humans. They can be resentful of Amber, particularly when strife in Amber causes ripples of trouble in their own home. In times of peace Amberites may visit freely. It was during one such time that Random seduced and abandoned Moire's daughter Morganthe, leading her to commit suicide after she bore his son, Martin. Rebma contains a copy of the Pattern, a mirror image of the one in Amber.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: On moonlit nights, the ghostly city of Tir-na Nog'th (cf. Tír na nÓg) appears in the sky above Kolvir. It is an imperfect reflection of Amber, with inhabitants that are shadows and ghosts of people, including those who once, might have, or never existed. Like Rebma, Tir-na Nog'th is reached by a stair, the bottom three steps of which are of stone rooted on Kolvir, with the rest of the stairs being of the same nature as the city itself. As long as the moon is not obscured, the stairway and the city are solid enough to stand on. Amberites visit the ghost city to seek insights and portents of the future. The passage of time and spatial distances differ in Tir-na Nog'th, versus the world below. When visiting there, safety suggests staying in contact with someone via a Trump, since the city may disappear without warning if a cloud passes across the moon. Again like Rebma, Tir-na Nog'th also contains a complete copy of the Pattern (but this copy isn't reversed, as is Rebma's). Tir-na Nog'th is visited by Corwin in a crucial development of his story.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Ultimately, Amber focuses on a dysfunctional family that is at the center of a cosmic war between many powers. Nine princes and four princesses of Amber, including Prince Corwin as narrator of the first book series, try to deal with the disappearance of Oberon, their father, and an apparent need for succession of the throne. No one trusts anyone, everyone appears to be ready to backstab anyone else (often figuratively), and everyone seems genuinely interested in only one thing: himself or herself.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: In this respect, the Amber series could perhaps be best described as a philosophical, metaphysical, magical, mystical, fantasy political thriller. It has all those things, all wrapped around a cast of characters who are conniving, paranoid, dysfunctional, self-involved, and often heartless.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: All of the princes and princesses of Amber have super-human strength and regenerative capabilities. For example, Random and Corwin are able to pick up a car that had become stuck on a soft shoulder and place it back on the road, and Corwin is able to regenerate his eyes after they are burned out, although it takes him almost five years. Corwin seems to have the fastest regenerative capabilities in the royal family, something he contemplates after his escape from the dungeons of Amber.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: At the two poles of existence are the symbols of Order and Chaos—The Pattern and The Logrus, respectively. Each, when negotiated, gives a person the ability to walk in shadow—across the different possible universes. The Pattern is a single, intertwined curve, laid out in a twisting labyrinth-like design, in size larger than a football field. The Logrus is described as a shifting, three-dimensional obstacle course. Amber's Pattern is located in caverns deep underneath the royal palace.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Initially, readers learn there is the Pattern in Amber, and copies in Rebma and Tir-na Nog'th. Later, more become evident: e.g., there are imperfect or "broken" copies in other Shadows, and that Amber's Pattern itself is a close shadow of a hidden Primal Pattern. These imperfect copies exist in shadows close to Amber, with the first three being the least dangerous to use, but with the danger increasing the further one is from the original. Navigating Broken Patterns can give an individual some access to magical energies, but it is "foolish" to attempt to use for such purposes any Broken Pattern further than the ninth one from Amber.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: The Logrus is not introduced until the sixth book of the Amber series ("The Trumps of Doom"). Merlin's walking of the Logrus appears in a prologue to the initial hardcover edition of the book. We do not see any other instances of a character negotiating the Logrus. The Prologue has Merlin bleeding and experiencing odd sensory inputs. Later we learn that walking the Logrus can leave one mentally unstable for a while afterwards, but this "usually" passes. The Logrus is also described as containing the skeletal remains of those who tried to walk it, but failed.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: In the Amber universe, the word "trump" is used as both a noun and a verb. As a noun, it properly refers to a specialized type of hand-drawn tarot card depicting a person or a place. As a verb, it refers to using such a card for teleportation.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: The original tarot decks used by Amberites had some or all of their Major Arcana cards replaced (or possibly augmented) with images of the royal family, and of at least one location, Castle Amber. These original decks were created by Dworkin, and a deck was given to each family member after they first walked the Pattern. Physically, these cards are cool to the touch. The decks may be used like normal tarots for divination, as Corwin does shortly after meeting one of his brothers.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: The Trumps have the magical attribute of facilitating a psychic link to the person or place depicted on the card, enabling instant communication, travel, and even attack. If the card depicts a location, the user is able to teleport to that location. If the card depicts a person, the user concentrates on the image and attempts to reach out to the person to initiate contact. The recipient of a Trump contact does not need to have a card in their possession. An attempted contact may be blocked or declined by the receiving party, by an act of concentration. A variety of other circumstances can also impede or prevent Trump contact from being made, including distance and time-flow differences across Shadows, as well as unconsciousness, amnesia, and magical characteristics of a particular location.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: If contact through a Trump is successful, both parties are able to talk to each other, and even see some of each other's surroundings. Either party may end a Trump communication, either by passing their hand over the card, or by an effort of will. During the contact, each person has the option of reaching through the link to make physical contact, generally for the purpose of pulling the other person voluntarily to their own physical location. This is sometimes called "trumping" a person to the other location. In some cases, one can also travel via Trump to the other person's location without the other's consent or assistance, as long as the contact remains open (e.g., Dalt's attempt in "Blood of Amber" to come through a Trump held by Merlin, which failed only after Merlin summoned the Logrus to sever the contact). A Trump contact also creates a potential opening for an attack by either party on the other, either with a weapon, or by using the link in an attempt to dominate the other by sheer force of ego and will. This can result in immobilization or worse for the victim of the attack.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: To an observer who witnesses a person trumping to another location, the person becomes two-dimensional before disappearing, and there is a prismatic aftereffect. In "Trumps of Doom", Merlin also mentions sensing a kind of electrical charge as Jasra trumps into a room where he waits.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Further details about the nature of Trumps were revealed as the tale progressed; for example, Trumps are not limited to playing cards, but can be drawn on any surface. Corwin escaped from his dungeon cell after Dworkin materialized in it, by persuading Dworkin, who was mentally unbalanced at the time, to draw him a picture of the lighthouse at Cabra, a location on the edge of Amber. After Dworkin draws another picture to return to his hideout, Corwin uses the lighthouse picture to escape. In "The Hand of Oberon" Corwin returns to his cell and uses the other picture to follow Dworkin to his lair, finding that it is in located near the Primal Pattern that created Amber and all its Shadows.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Dworkin taught several of his descendants to create Trumps, and other initiates of the Pattern or Logrus can be trained in that skill. If one looks "closely enough" at a Trump, one can see parts of the Pattern or Logrus within its design, which may provide a source of power.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: Anyone may use a Trump – the user does not need to be an Amberite, a Pattern initiate, or of royal blood. Similarly, no special characteristics are required in the person depicted on a Trump – for example, in "Blood of Amber", several initiates of the Logrus were depicted on Trump cards drawn by Brand or Rinaldo, and Merlin considered drawing a Trump depicting Bill Roth, a trusted advisor with no apparent magical aptitude. Provided the artist is sufficiently familiar with the subject, a Trump can be drawn for any person or place desired, unless the place is in constant motion and change (such as portions of Chaos). Under certain circumstances and extreme conditions, the technique for creating a Trump can be used to make contact without drawing on any surface at all. Indeed, Corwin's brother Brand is described as becoming a "Living Trump", who can move through Shadow by will alone.


title: The Chronicles of Amber

text: A large red gem in a pendant, this is initially thought to be one of Oberon's tools that can be used to control the weather in Amber. In "The Guns of Avalon", Eric uses it to summon storms against the dark forces attacking Amber, but is mortally injured. After Corwin's forces annihilate the attackers, Eric reveals that he became attuned to the Jewel by walking the Pattern in Amber and then projecting himself into its core. Corwin does this, and discovers other effects, such as a sapping of his energies and a tendency for time to slow down. The Jewel saves his life when he is stabbed in Amber, projecting him back to his old home on Earth where he lived as Carl Corey. Dworkin finally reveals that the Jewel contains within it the original Pattern from which he created Amber. Corwin, fearing that Amber has been destroyed in "The Courts of Chaos", repeats this process in Shadow to create his own Pattern, using its power to project him to the Courts where he witnesses the final battle against Chaos and Brand, who took the Jewel while he was incapacitated after creating his Pattern. Apparently lost during the battle when Brand falls into the abyss, the Jewel is returned by the Unicorn and given to Random, making him the new King in Amber.