The Hand of Oberon
core novel 1976 Chronicles of Amber
Record
| First published | 1976 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.21 (21,122 ratings, collected 2026-08-06) |
| Page count | 188 |
| First-edition ISBN | 0-385-08541-9 |
| First-edition date | 1976-06 |
| Internal chronology | 4 |
Synopsis
The fourth Chronicles of Amber novel finds Corwin, alongside his brother Random and the loyal Ganelon, discovering that the Primal Pattern, the foundational structure underlying all of reality, has been badly damaged, marked by a dark stain spreading out from its center. At the heart of the Pattern they find a dagger and a trump card left behind, evidence suggesting the sabotage was deliberate. Learning that repairing the damage requires recovering the Jewel of Judgment, which has been hidden away on Earth, Corwin sets out across the shadow worlds to retrieve it before the instability spreads further. Suspicion increasingly falls on his brother Brand as the saboteur behind the attack, and Corwin must investigate a conspiracy within his own family while racing to secure the Jewel and prevent catastrophe.
Where it sits
- Universe: Chronicles of Amber
- Series: The Chronicles of Amber (Corwin Cycle) core; position 4 of 5 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Roger Zelazny
Awards (verified)
- Locus Award (Novel), 1977: finalist; Locus reader-poll placement, ranked 9. Category recorded as generic "Novel" -- the Locus Awards did not yet have a separate "Best Fantasy Novel" category before 1980; sfadb's own historical listing preserves this era-appropriate category name (confirmed via sfadb.com/Roger_Zelazny, human-verification pass 2026-08-07).
- Ditmar Award (International SF), 1977: nominated; Category name ("international sf") per sfadb's historical record of the 1977 Ditmar Awards -- no official standalone Ditmar archive for this year was found; sfadb is the best available record for this claim (human-verification pass, 2026-08-07).
Notes
- From the series record (The Chronicles of Amber (Corwin Cycle)): Narrated by Corwin. Publication order = internal chronological order (OrderOfBooks.com).
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series The Chronicles of Amber (Corwin Cycle): position 4 of 5: previous Sign of the Unicorn (1975) · next The Courts of Chaos (1978)
- Internal chronology, within Chronicles of Amber: position 4 of 10: previous Sign of the Unicorn (1975) · next The Courts of Chaos (1978)
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hand_of_Oberon
- http://books.ofearna.us/zelazny.html
- https://www.isfdb.org
- https://www.sfadb.com/Roger_Zelazny
← Chronicles of Amber dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.