Roger Zelazny starts the Merlin Cycle after ending the first five books of the Corwin cycle during which Corwin really struggled to change his fate. His brothers and even his father Oberon proved to be against him. First change is in the narration section, Wil Wheaton was never a bad option to take and the narrators sets everything one fire from the first book.
Merlin who happens to be Corwin’s son becomes the central figure of this section and he takes things from where his father left. Enemies are greater in number and there are no friends around that can be trusted during the missions. Corwin faced such circumstance when he was in trouble during Nine Princes in Amber and The Guns of Avalon now Merlin is trapped but he is different in personality than his father. Merlin is a computer expert who has recently completed the construction of the machine he calls the Ghostwheel.
There are people who want Merlin dead, and that’s why he is going to leave the Earth but his friend Luke tells him that his ex-girlfriend is need of help so he should stay. As Merlin decides to stay the truth is revealed to him just like his father when his best friend deceives him.
Luke traps Merlin and takes control of the gadget that he built after years of hard work. Julia the ex-girlfriend of Merlin also dies at the hands of the same enemy and now entrapped in the blue crystals he thinks of revenge. But in the meantime his enemy i.e the son of Brand has the coolest gadget in hand to change the course of history.
