Amberzine is a magazine that was published by Phage Press that covered The Chronicles of Amber books, the Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game, and associated material.

Amberzine
Issue #1 cover
PublisherPhage Press
First issueMarch 1992; 32 years ago (1992-03)
Final issue2005; 19 years ago (2005)
LanguageEnglish
OCLC972162233

Publication history

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Phage Press released Amberzine #1 (March 1992) shortly after they published Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game. The digest-sized magazine presented material to inspire role-playing, such as character diaries and detailing elements of the setting. One to three issues per year were published from 1992–1997 and the magazine even included an original Roger Zelazny short story, "The Salesman's Tale," in Amberzine #6 (February 1994).[1]: 112–113  Matt Howarth wrote and illustrated a Bugtown/Amber comic crossover titled "Amber Raves of Pain," which was published in installments from Amberzine #6 (February 1994) through #9 (January 1997).[1]: 113–114  Erick Wujcik kept Amberzine in production until 1997, when he moved into computer games, and then published Amberzine #11 (2003) years later; after he decided not to be a publisher anymore, Phage finished with a final quadruple-sized Amberzine #12–15 (2005) to complete its obligation to subscribers and by publishing the remaining material that Wujcik had left.[1]: 114 

Reception

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In the September 1992 edition of Dragon (Issue #185), Rick Swan reviewed the premiere issue of Amberzine and commented, "As is the case with most fan publications, the writing and graphics range from adequate to amateur, but what the magazine lacks in slickness it more than makes up for in enthusiasm."[2]

Two years later, in the September 1994 edition of Dragon (Issue #209), Lester Smith called the magazine "an entertaining read, and a great source of ideas of Amber campaigns."[3]

Three issues later, in the December 1994 edition of Dragon (Issue #212), although Allen Varney singled out Issue #5 of Amberzine for reprinting The Dark World by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore, he pointed out that the magazine "has become almost entirely game-free... and now serves more as a good but pricey general 'zine for Amber fans."[4]

Reviews

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Shannon Appelcline (2014). Designers & Dragons: The '90s. Evil Hat Productions. ISBN 978-1-61317-084-7.
  2. ^ Swan, Rick (September 1992). "Roleplaying Reviews". Dragon (185). TSR, Inc.: 68.
  3. ^ Smith, Lester (September 1994). "Roleplaying Reviews". Dragon (209). TSR, Inc.: 30.
  4. ^ Varney, Allen (December 1992). "Roleplaying Reviews". Dragon (212). TSR, Inc.: 94.