She uses a unique style and goes back and forth between her character's numerous lives and makes it all connect quite well. She uses a sort of celtic setting as well. True, the series overall is long but I enjoyed following it. Much better than the Shannara series.
The final book in the Deverry Cycle - The Silver Mage (book 15) has now been released. Has anyone read it yet?
I haven't seen it in any stores here in Adelaide, South Australia yet.
There is a "15 Days of Deverry Celebration" on LiveJournal, with interviews and comments of Katherine Kerr herself. 15 Days of Deverry celebrating 15 Books
Her username is "aberwyn".
I have just finished reading the last of the Deverry books, "the Silver Mage".
I thought it was a good conclusion to the saga, and tied up most of the loose ends.
Started reading Daggerspell and really enjoying the opening chapters. It's good to pick up a book again where the author cares so much about the little details to create that sense of immersion in another place. That's not to say that the story is slow - but there are nice little touches to quick descriptions that make make the world seem more real.
I remember being very impressed by Deverry at the time - and must look them out and re-read. (Its been years).
Polar City Nightmare and Polar City Blues are on my re-read comfort books list because they are good yarns, characters I can sympathise with and original world building.
More recently there is the Nola O'Grady series - urban fantasy - which is nicely done - original touches.
And now the Sorcerer books. I've read Sorcerer's Luck - good, original concept I think, a little too explicit for my taste but can skip over that, doesn't dominate. If you want eBook by the way, then if you buy from Book View Cafe (http://bookviewcafe.com/bookstore/bvc-author/katharine-kerr/) the author gets more money -
Can't call myself an avid fan of Katherine Kerr but I do have a copy of Freeze Frames on my book shelf that I recall thoroughly enjoying and I have no idea where that stands in her portfolio of work but it was a well written tale.
Oh, it's going to be creepy all right, although not because of any relationship between Nevvyn and Jill. However, I read the first edition which had a long sequence that had me constantly cringing. Kit was later allowed to go back and revise the book, bringing it more in line with her original vision (which she had changed in manuscript on the advice of her editor) so I can't say for sure what is in and what is out.
Not in Game of Thrones - it remained very much in the background as the consequences of that were pushed to the fore.
I just felt disappointed by the incest in Daggerspell.
Gerraent's interest was hinted at enough, but Brangwen had no motivation to go through with it - yet she's the one who pushes for it.
It didn't shock, it just felt like poor storytelling - and disengaged me. Was this sexed up in the original?
However, if I was going to have to sit through POV's of 400-year old Nevyn sexually grooming a 7-year old girl, I would think it's probably time to put this book down.
I loved Katherine Kerr's prose - expressive and engaging where you most need it to be. I loved the world-building with the infusion of Celtic names and ideas without slipping into cliche. Her historical research was top-notch and the story was full of those little world-building details that make it authentic. Her take on classic fantasy races was very refreshing, and some of the characterisation I thought was superb - Jill and Cullyn especially.
However, I felt the whole 698 period was irrelevant, superficial, and unnecessary and just dragged out the point. Ironically, Kerr hurries to explain each of the character connections to the 643 characters - but when we get to Jill and Cullyn, she kind of forgets to until late in the story by which time it's obvious.
The real problem for me, though, is that the entire story/series is based on one huge WTF??* movement I just cannot accept, or want to read more about.
Without that, it could have been a superb book. As it is, there's a superb story tacked on to far too much indulgent creepiness. Perhaps if the backstory had been cut we could have had dramatic reveals that may have worked better. But as it is, I'm not tempted to read further into the series as I don't want to read about rapeyness.
* Spoiler:
WTF moment that defines the whole story in glorious detail: "I'm so heart-broken! Oh, my brother just tried to rape me! Oh, well, I may as well have an incestuous affair with him if it makes him feel better, and with any luck I'll die soon so it won't matter."
However, if I was going to have to sit through POV's of 400-year old Nevyn sexually grooming a 7-year old girl, I would think it's probably time to put this book down.
No, no, he's not grooming her for anything like that. The whole idea is that Brangwen was weak and easily led, but she had all that dormant magical power. Down through the ages, she is learning and growing, and Nevyn has been waiting for the right moment. Now he intends to lead Jill toward fulfilling her destiny. He is long past feeling any interest in her sexually.
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