If we look at the Amber Chronicles cycle, all the books in order, then the first one was written back in 1970, after which Roger Zhelyazny successfully continued to write further, right up to the last book published in 1991. A total of 10 books were created, which are combined in 5 pieces in two volumes. The first volume tells of the adventures of Corwin, Prince Amber, and the second - of his son Merlin. After that, Zhelyazny and other authors created many more smaller stories about events that took place in the same world, and after the death of the founder of the series, five more prequel books were written by John Betancourt, supposedly based on the drafts of Zhelyazny herself.
A bit about Amber
The whole world is parallel realities, which are reflections of the one true world - Amber. Between them, only those people who have the blood of the royal family of this world can travel. And not just travel, but also choose exactly the place where they want to get, just imagining it. This is how Rogers imagined Jelazny "The Chronicles of Amber." Books are arranged in such a way that the reader learns all this as the plot unfolds.
The story of Corvin
The first book, called The Nine Princes of Amber, tells how the protagonist, Corwin, one of Amber’s princes, lost his memory, regained it, tried to take Amber’s throne from his brother Eric, was captured, blinded, and cast into prison . Thanks to the fantastic regeneration inherent in all members of the royal family, after some time Corwin restores his vision and manages to escape from captivity. So ends the first part, which is included in The Chronicles of Amber.
The books are continued in order by the next work of the Avalon Shotgun. In this part, the protagonist in the process of escape finds a powder that can play the role of gunpowder in Amber (the original gunpowder does not work there, since the laws of physics and chemistry are somewhat different in different worlds). Creates an army with firearms and sets off to storm the original world. Having reached the destination, Corwin discovers that Amber is waging a fierce war with certain demons right now. Having made the hardest choice, he still helps Amber’s army destroy the threat. During the battle, Corvin's main enemy, his brother Eric, who currently holds the throne, dies. In fact, this ends the second part of the work of The Chronicles of Amber.
In order, the next book is called The Sign of the Unicorn. In this part, the whole family unites to confront the terrible enemy, but the former differences are not forgotten and only a little moved away in priority.
The fourth book is called The Hand of Oberon. This part explains a lot of previously incomprehensible things, reveals secrets and secrets. At the end of the book, Corwin decides to independently restore the Amber Labyrinth, damaged in the previous part, using the blood of his son Random.
The last book of the first volume is called The Courtyard of Chaos. In it, the father of the Oberon family returns to the throne, who had previously disappeared nowhere, the war begins with the Court of Chaos and an attempt is made to repair the Labyrinth. At the end of the book, Rand becomes the king, and Corwin goes to other worlds to ponder everything that happened to him.
The Story of Merlin
The next volume, also of five books, refers to the series The Chronicles of Amber. Books, in order, begin with the work, "Cards of Fate." Here the story is being conducted on behalf of Corvin's son - Merlin. In Amber, finally, the world, everything is calm, the main character finishes his studies at the university and seeks to find his father, simultaneously experiencing his own new invention. The second book, called Amber’s Blood, begins with Merlin imprisoned in a special cave in which his magic does not work. Nevertheless, he manages to escape from there. Immediately he is faced with a new enemy, of which there are a lot in the series "Chronicles of Amber." The books are continued in order by the third work, The Sign of Chaos. In it, Merlin comes to life in a surreal world, which is a figment of the imagination of his brother Luke, who is under the influence of LSD. Having successfully escaped from there, he captures the magical stronghold “Guardian of the Four Worlds”. The fourth book, “Knight of Shadows,” reveals many puzzles and secrets that were not understood by the reader before. In addition, Merlin faces a choice - Logrus or Labyrinth. The last book of the second volume, entitled The Prince of Chaos, is the end of the entire cycle, although it implies the possibility of continuation.
Other works
In addition to those listed above, there are actually no other books in order in the Amber Chronicles series. Some of them are supposedly a backstory telling about everything that happened in Amber before, while others are generally separate stories that have nothing to do with the main cycle and telling about various events taking place in the same universe.
Summary
In general, only 10 works written by Roger Zhelyazny himself can be considered a cycle. The rest is either the work of other authors, who liked the general idea, which actually allows you to write anything, since the number of worlds and their types are not limited by anything, or the works of Zhelyazny in co-authorship, again not directly related to the events described. Five books of Betancourt can be considered the most controversial, because, despite his own statements that they are written according to the drafts of Roger himself, which he simply did not manage to bring to a readable version and publish, the widow of Zhelyazny claims the opposite.