I acquired this deck through a trade (see? the Deck Exchange does work!) and I was really very happy to get it (thank you DeltaLady!), especially considering this deck is only available from its French publisher, Jeux Descartes, and is not exported for sale in the USA.  The concept of the deck is based upon the Amber Chronicles, a sci-fi fantasy series by Roger Zelaszny.  At this time, the series of books is out-of-print.

Not having read the books, I cannot attest at this time to the quality of the cards' relationship with the books, although I am told that the storyline of the books integrates the concept of the tarot quite well and each of the major characters in the series has their own card in the books' tarot references.

The artwork on the deck is extraordinarily well done for tarot decks, but it is no surprise to fantasy fans, the style of the art is consistent with fantasy artwork.  The Major Arcana all have the traditional names and the designs are very nice, though not tremendously intuitive.  Fans of the classic styled decks like the Marseilles and the Oswald Wirth will recognize many of these elements as the artist did try to render a faithful deck.

The Minor Arcana contain some of the loveliest aces I have ever seen, and the numbered cards, though pips, are also much nicer than the usual.  The court cards feature all of the significant characters from the series of books.  Again, since I haven't read the books yet, I cannot attest to how well the character correlation falls in with the conceptual meanings of the court card figures.

This makes a really nice deck for anyone who is accustomed to reading with a classic Marseilles-type deck but who wants a deck with artwork.  It is also highly recommended for collectors.  Alas, the only place I know to get one from is the website below, which features the deck and lists the ordering information to get it directly from Jeux Descartes, France.

Click here for pictures
 
The deck may be out of print, but you can buy the Amber novels here
 
or here to return

Please use your browser's back button to return from pictures

also see The Amber Trumps

Review Copyright 1998 by Gina M. Pace