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A young liege goes to battle in a medieval land teetering on the brink of civil war and church-sanctioned genocide in the second chronicle of the reign of King Kelson In troubled Gwynedd, the crown sits heavy on the head of King Kelson Haldane. In a realm historically torn asunder by deep-seated suspicion and fear of the magical Deryni who live among them, young Kelson is both beloved for his humanity and abhorred for his Deryni blood. Now, the traitorous cleric, Bishop Loris, has joined forces with Queen Caitrin, the Pretender of Meara, in her attempts to rip her homeland away from Gwyneddan rule. But Loris has even darker intentions. His scheme to reignite the terrible flames of holy civil war against the Deryni, coupled with Caitrin's campaign of violent secession, draw Kelson and his army away from the royal court--where, in the king's absence, an assassination plot is brewing. An extraordinary world-builder, acclaimed fantasist Katherine Kurtz returns readers to the Middle Ages of an alternate Earth in her continuing chronicles of the Deryni. Kurtz's second history of the troubled reign of King Kelson is a breathtaking tale of majesty, magic, war, treachery, faith, and intolerance that once again brings a fascinating world and its diverse peoples to glorious life.… (more)
User reviews
This on, the other hand, is Christian Europe--yet not quite. Gwynedd is recognizably Britain--more so than what you see usually see in high fantasy, even if there aren't any real historical parallels to the Haldane dynasty--or the Deryni for that matter, magically talented people who are persecuted by the Church. But more unusually, their "Holy Church" is quite recognizable as the Roman Catholic Church, and the church's beliefs are important to the characters, particularly Bishop Duncan McLain, a Deryni and priest, one of my favorite characters in the series. This isn't like Pullman's His Dark Materials. Kurtz's Holy Church isn't evil, and there are good people within in--and yes, evil ones such as Archbishop Loris. I felt for Jehana, King Kelson's mother, who tries to reconcile her religious convictions with her Deryni heritage.
One thing that also makes this series different is that instead of standalone books with a common backdrop, or closely connected books that proceed chronologically, they tend to be grouped into trilogies. The first, The Deryni Chronicles, focused more on Kelson's supporters, Duke Morgan and Bishop McLain. The focus on the "Histories of King Kelson" are naturally on the young king who came to the throne in that first trilogy. I do like how Kelson is developed here. He's an admirable character by and large, but Kurtz doesn't pull her punches about the more ruthless qualities and actions his position brings out in him. I find this a very enjoyable series with characters I cared about.