stillhq.com : Mikal, a geek from Canberra living in Silicon Valley (no blather posts)

Days of Blood and Fire

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:18:00 GMT

ISBN: 0553290126
Spectra (1994), Paperback, 528 pages
LibraryThing

This is book seven of the extended Deverry series (preceeded by Daggerspell, Darkspell, Dawnspell, The Dragon Revenant, A Time of Exile, and A Time of Omens). The blurb on the back cover of this book implies that it should be safe for a new reader to enter the series here, and I can understand why publishers would want to do such a thing for such a long series. By contrast, Asimov's Extended Foundation Series has many entry points, with most stories being free standing. I think Kerr did a reasonable job of introducing the characters without being overly annoying about it. I've seen reviews from others that say that there is a lot of annoying ground to recover, such as the Etheric travel sequences. I disagree however -- these are just as long winded as in other books in the series, and we're talking about a couple of paragraphs, not hundreds of pages.

The only part of this book which didn't sit well with me was Rori picking up a girlfriend with basically now warning. Perhaps I'm dense, but I didn't see it coming at all, and thought it was rather abrupt. I'm also not sure it did much to further the overall story. On the other had, Jadho is an interesting character, and I'd like to see him explored more.

This book ends mid plot line, so I guess they're expecting me to read the next book soon. That would have been a lot more annoying if I was reading this book fresh off the presses and had to wait for Kerr to write the next one before I could read it.

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A Time of Omens

Fri, 29 May 2009 21:08:00 GMT

ISBN: 0553290118
Spectra (1993), Mass Market Paperback, 432 pages
LibraryThing

This is the sixth book in the not-very-finished Deverry celtic fantasy series. This one is pretty good, especially because it has several subplots, which makes it feel more like a few shorter books in one volume. That means you don't lose your place in a 400 page story line as you go along. I'm a fan of the intermingled plot lines style (Tom Clancy does it quite well too), and it works well in this book. This book follows a subset of the usual characters, although some of the older ones have moved on, so to speak.

Tags for this post: book() Katharine_Kerr()

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A Time of Exile

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:38:00 GMT

ISBN: 0553298135
Spectra (1992), Paperback, 432 pages
LibraryThing

This book is the fifth in the Deverry series, but focusses on a different set of characters than the other books. However, the new plot line is tied in nicely with the previous stories, so there is a nice combination of furthering the overall plot without bogging down in territory which has been covered by the previous books. I liked this book, especially the way it starts out like a sequel to the third book, and then something which feels like an aside becomes the major plot line for the book. Its a great way of introducing a new sub plot without the reader realizing until its well under way, and I enjoyed it a lot. This is a a great book, and probably the best in the series after Daggerspell.

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The Dragon Revenant

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:47:00 GMT

ISBN: 0553289098
Spectra (1991), Mass Market Paperback, 432 pages
LibraryThing

I knew what happens at the end of this book before I read it, and I thought I'd be upset about it. Funnily enough, by the time we got there the progression of the story made it seem kind of natural. This is a good book, and a worthy addition to the series, however Salamander's habit of including three words all meaning the same thing in ever sentence gets really annoying. I think I would have punched him in the face if I was one of the characters in the book.

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Dawnspell: The Bristling Wood

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:26:00 GMT

ISBN: 0586207414
Voyager (1990), Paperback, 464 pages
LibraryThing

This is the third book in the Deverry series, and is very readable. This book is a little different from the previous two because the two plots aren't as strongly linked as they have been in the previous two books. In previous books they've been interleaved, whereas in this book the first half of the book is one plot, and the second half the other.

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Darkspell

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 12:24:00 GMT

ISBN: 0553568884
Spectra (1994), Edition: Revised, Paperback, 432 pages
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This is the second book in the Deverry series, and I liked it. Its a direct continuation of Daggerspell, and deals with Rodrhys and Jill's life on the road.

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Daggerspell

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:01:00 GMT

ISBN: 0553565214
Spectra (1993), Mass Market Paperback, 480 pages
LibraryThing

This is yet another book I read as a kid and liked. I must admit that I find the Celtic names used through out the book to be quite confusing, especially when there are multiple similar names in use at the same time. Despite that, I really enjoyed this book -- even though its a pretty classic formula story.

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Katharine Kerr's Deverry Series

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:06:00 GMT

Year	Title	Notes
	Act one: Deverry
1986	Daggerspell
1987	Darkspell
1989	The Bristling Wood - US title; issued in the UK as Dawnspell: The Bristling Wood
1990	The Southern Sea - US title; issued in the UK as Dragonspell: The Southern Sea
	Act two: The Westlands
1991	A Time of Exile
1992	A Time of Omens
1993	Days of Blood and Fire
1994	Days of Air and Darkness
	Act three: The Dragon Mage
1997	The Red Wyvern
1998	The Black Raven
2000	The Fire Dragon
	Act four: The Silver Wyrm
2006	The Gold Falcon
2007	The Spirit Stone
2008	The Shadow Isle
2009 (not yet released)	The Silver Mage

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