~7 years ago, Oberon disappears.
~5 years ago, Corwin reappears, and storms Amber with Bleys, and gets blinded and tossed in the dungeon, while Bleys becomes possibly dead. Eric is crowned king of Amber.
~1 year ago, Corwin escapes.
~3 weeks ago, Corwin returns to Amber with guns, guts, and Ganelon. Eric dies. Dara walks the Pattern and proclaims that Amber will be destroyed.
~2 weeks ago, Caine dies. With the blessing of the family, Gérard beats Corwin senseless on the way to the temporary grave, where the Unicorn appears to the two of them. Corwin attunes to the Jewel of Judgement. Brand is brought back. Corwin gets stabbed, leaves the Jewel on shadow Earth, and comes back to Amber the next day, where Brand tells him of Fiona and Bleys's evil plot. Corwin goes to Tir that night, and gets Benedict's arm. The next day, the Unicorn leads Random, Corwin, and Ganelon to the Primal Pattern where they learn what has been done to Martin. Benedict and Random leave to try to find Martin. Later that day, Corwin visits Dworkin, then trumps through to Chaos and meets Merlin and loses eight days. In this time, Random attaches the arm to Benedict, gets a lead on Martin in Heerat, and Benedict returns to Amber. Ganelon informs Benedict of everything about Dara.
~2 days ago, Gérard brings Corwin back, and Corwin talks to the agitated Brand. Corwin then talks to Benedict in the camp of Ganelon. Gérard trumps through to Benedict and attacks Corwin, blaming him for the bloody disappearance of Brand (really Caine's work). On his way to get the Jewel back, as per Ganelon's suggestion, Corwin runs into Julian in Arden, and learns that Brand is evil. Corwin finds on shadow Earth that Brand was there before him, and warns Gérard to watch the Amber Pattern and to get Llewella to guard the Rebma Pattern. Gérard reports an hour or so later that Brand did show up at the Amber Pattern. Fiona reports seconds later that Brand has the Jewel. Fiona and Corwin go to the Primal Pattern, where Corwin fights Brand, and Brand escapes with the Jewel, half-attuned. That afternoon Corwin talks to Random, who has just arrived in Amber with Martin. That evening, Benedict and Brand meet at the Pattern in Tir na Nog'th, and the Jewel comes back to the side of the good guys. Then Ganelon reveals himself as Oberon and takes it.
~1 day ago, Oberon hands out his orders (be ready to attack Chaos in three days), and leaves in the morning. Martin trumps Dara in to show her around, and introduces her to Benedict. Then, a little past lunchtime, Benedict loses the arm, and Dara tells Corwin about Merlin. She also tells the family that Oberon has changed their orders, and the attack must go off immediately. Later that afternoon, Corwin sets off to Chaos. Benedict and most of the family trump to Chaos with their forces soon after. Oberon attempts to repair the Pattern, then the Jewel gets delivered to Corwin. The Trumps stop working. The wave of destruction propagates out through Shadow. Corwin despairs of making the trip and draws his own Pattern. Brand steals the Jewel back. Corwin commands his Pattern to send him to Chaos. Bleys appears there at the head of an army. Amber wins the battle. Caine shoots Brand, and Brand and Deirdre fall into the Abyss.
Damn! It's nice to get that off my chest. I've been wandering around blindly for years, walking into things, vaguely confused, in the dark without a proper timeline.
And it raises interesting considerations. Eric's death is fresh and recent in people's memories. Caine's death is so recent there probably hasn't been a funeral yet (unless they decided to hold it without Corwin, as is rather possible). Bleys is the one who's been successfully "dead" for the longest. Many were surprised to learn that Brand was evil... Gerard and Corwin; also (bar conspiracies) Deirdre, Flora, Llewella, and Random; probably Benedict. Some of them might still be shaking their heads in disbelief, though after Deirdre's death Brand's evil is a lot clearer. Imagine the whirl of confusion and emotion with Caine coming back to life so soon, a couple new deaths, a new king...
Or you can E-mail Madeline.