#john bentacourt

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I freaking love the "goodbye and hello." endings to both Merlin and Corwin cycles. They're so beautifully melancholy and so hopeful, "hello" easing the pain of parting and promising the hope of a future reunion

/Bentacourt's Oberon cycle peeking out from around the corner/ not that reunion

I do love those prequels but you know in a way that someone loves a well-meaning and kinda harmless absolute infinite dumbass: they're trying their best but oh god they're so damn stupid

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I love how in "Guns of Avalon" Corwin's like "I fear Benedict. (...) Because you see him in a tiny kingdom, commanding a small militia, with a well-pruned orchard in his back yard, do not be deceived. All that there is of military science thunders in his head." and it's kind of... I understand where he's coming from, but frankly? Benedict, to me, seems the least threatening Amberite. Yes you read that right. I'm coming from a detached point of view, not that of someone who has been siblings with Benedict for a hecking long time (and family can be simultaneously more and less insightful in judging someone's character), but anyway, here's just a list of small Benedict things that are absolutely precious

• he was a supportive and healthy dad figure to Martin with no ulterior motive whatsoever

• he taught Corwin (and probably other Amberites too) how to fence

• he g a r d e n s

• he set up a Japanese garden in Amber

• he just naturally ends up ruling and nurturing the Shadows he comes to

• "I wish that some time, long ago, something had not been said that was said, or something done that was not done. Something, had we known, which might have let him grow differently, something which would have seen him become another man than the bitter, bent thing I saw up there. It is best now if he is dead. But it is a waste of something that might have been."

• I don't know if I'm just making it up but ever since I first read the Amber books,, I just couldn't shake the feeling that he and Llewella are connected in some way and very probably friends. When Corwin describes Amberites when they're gathered as a group, in Sign of the Unicorn, in Courts of Chaos, which I'm assuming he does by way of looking around and telling of them in order that he sees them in, he, both times, mentions and describes Benedict and Llewella together, one after the other. In Sign of the Unicorn, it's Benedict's arrival that brings Llewella to start socializing, and he's the one she greets first. Later, in the post-Brand stabbening hubub discussions, she's at his side again. In Courts of Chaos, when Unicorn arrives — same thing. She trusted Benedict enough to let him take Martin to Avalon. They're both detached from Amber as much as they can afford to be, their rooms both are rooms most detached from the culture of Amber... I don't know but I've always sensed something here. I hope someone, anyone lets me know what they think on this matter. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part — both of them are characters I most relate to and probably my favorite characters in the Ambervers (although I love all of them, with Oberon being uhhh probably the exception, controversial feelings, he's complicated. But not the Oberon from Bentacourt prequels. My fucking god this idiot has given me so many laughs that my lifespan was extended by like a century)

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Facts about the Amber Bentacourt prequels that nobody remembers and rightfully so

• Oberon has a girlfriend in the first chapter (and only in the first chapter) whom he supposedly loves so much he'd run into a burning building for her but then he's like. She dead. Omkay. I'll mention her sometime but I'm moving on. I have hot sisters who are the "examples of feminine perfection" and if they weren't my sisters he would have "lusted after them".

• somewhere Corwin with pretty tame "if only she were not my sister" and wholesome butterflies in stomach when Deirdre does him a kis on the forehead is facepalming through time and space

• Her name is Helda and the only line spoken by her is a sleepy sound and the only fact known about her is that she had a house, banged Oberon and is a deep sleeper after partying. Yeah. Also she's my favorite character

• in like the first chapter Dworkin comes over to Oberon like "hippity hoppity your time is my property you're in danger let's get out of here" and Oberon comes down to him after waking up from afterglow with Helda and he like

• he's um

• naked

• and also the afterglow took place in ahem a bED SOAKED WITH INSENCE SWEAT AND PERFUME like fucking do laundry people

• like he gathered his clothes when he was coming down to answer the knock but only put his pants on after talking to Dworkin for some time

• so it's like

• he's standing there talking serious drama with Dworkin and throughout he's just naked

• to quote one of my favorite reviewers , it's nudity that's pointless to the point when it's actually kind of surreal

• he also points out every article of clothing he puts on

• Dworkin comes to get him in a pumpkin-shaped carriage

• Oberon sees it move without horses and is like

• his sis Freda who meets him in the carriage she like

• she's a fashion disaster she wears a round red hat and her "slender fingers are covered in rings"

• "Why was my childhood so lonely and alone?!" ©©©©©

• Oberon's Shadow home country is called Illerium and the town he's residing in is like called Kingstown

• these goddamn prequels

• they've given me so many irks and also laughs and I'm like I didn't actually finish them I'm like at chapter four of this madness I'm gonna try to pull it through cuz like I've never laughed so much in my life but they also make my brain kinda shut off to the point where after some reading I'm rationalizing ',,,maybe this is good' like this book is an abusive partner that I want to see good in just cuz I've spend so much time banging it god damn it there has to be something good in it

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More Bentacourt prequels thoughts

Like Chronicles of Amber are called out for being sexist occasionally and I get it, it is in some places guilty of female stereotyping, but at least Corwin girls (like Bond girls) get you know,,, speaking lines and Corwin is like spends like some *thoughts* on them and remembers them and has you know *emotions* about them and stuff

Bentacourt's prequels however

I already mentioned Helda (she's still my favorite character and I relate to her being a deep sleeper and she's wonderful) not having any lines whatsoever but like,,, Oberon's reaction is like absolutely I even don't know how to.......

When Helda's house exploded he was trying to run into the fire yelling "I LOVE HER" and then he kind of like "my sweet little Helda was ded" which okay not too bad of an epiphany thanks a lot dude, but then he freaking acts like it's been a *year* or several years since her death and only casually mentions her and not anything about her more than her bed or her in bed with him or her house.

Hamlet gave Gertrude shit for marrying after only a month or two passed since her husband's death, but she's not even in this guy's *league*, it's been less than a day since his lover died and he's laying in bed and saying how it's even softer than hers, and right in the next sentence says *all he needs is a woman's warmth beside him to feel at home*. *a* woman's. Doesn't matter who. Just *a* woman's warmth. A warm body is a warm body.

And it can't be pinned on shielding or escapism cuz Bentacourt's not that great of a writer. *Corwin's* avoidance of the fact of Deirdre's death is apparent — his narration grows detached and brief after it happens, he doesn't mention her in the ending characteristic of all his siblings but it's easy to draw the connection between his silence on Deirdre and his hateful recollections about Brand. Merlin *cried overnight* for Julia and embarked on a brief revenge quest, which, he still *bedded* (why does bentacourt loves that word so much can't you just say made love like normal people) other women after but he also very likely had a catharsis on that night of crying in his car (I mean, about ten hours of devoting time to grieving. That's... Actually healthy. So good Merlin didn't take after his dad in the emotional intelligence department)

... okay now I'm thinking that maybe there's more to the prequels and that this is actually a foreshadowing of how Oberon will treat his wives and groundwork for that and oh god am I rationalizing John Bentacourt's Amber prequels to be good did I read them too much AAAAA