Tuesday, December 18, 2018

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr




Daggerspell is the first in Katherine Kerr's long-running (currently 15 books) Deverry Cycle.  This book is something of a genre that I've basically avoided, or at least not sought out, over my return to genre reading - an epic fantasy based upon celtic myths in the classic epic fantasy mold - with humans, elves, dwarves (well one dwarf, but hints of more), and wizards, as well as battles between lords in castles, etc.  Still, when the series was recommended by one of my favorite authors, Kate Elliott, I thought I'd give it a try.

I'm rather glad I did do that - Daggerspell stands out and is clearly distinct from say the works of Tolkien which it definitely called to mind in its tone.  Not only was one of our central protagonists a woman, but the story is in some respects a romance, and this first book merely hints at an epic magical destiny without it actually being the central focus of the plot.  The book is also kind of an anthology of related novellas in the same fantasy world, with it telling three stories in different time periods, but the combination of such works to tell a story that is really interesting and that I enjoyed quite a bit, with the result being that I expect to pick up the second book in the series soon.


Note: I read this as an audiobook, as the first four books in the series (which form their own apparently complete arc) were just released by Tantor Audio and thus are now available as part of the Hoopla Library collection.  I have mixed feelings about reading the book in this way: on one hand, the reader is very good and I enjoyed her, on the other hand without the ability to quickly go back, I got a little lost at first at who was who in the flashbacks until I took out an ebook loan of this same book for reference.  So you might be better off with an ebook version of this book rather than the audiobook to avoid confusion.  Just a thought.  

-------------------------------------------------Plot Summary-----------------------------------------------------
Jill is the bastard child of the best swordsman in Deverry, the disgraced Silver Dagger Cullyn of Cerrmor, and since she was a little girl she has always been able to see things others haven't: whether that be the magical Wild Folk or inklings of the future.  But when her mother dies and Cullyn finally returns for her, Jill accompanies him on the road as he travels searching for lords to fight for in order to obtain coin, with the hope of one day joining her father in her own right as a warrior.

But what Jill doesn't know is that she is the latest reincarnation of a woman at the center of a great story, and that her Wyrd - her destiny - lies with the Dweomer, the mysterious magic thought by some to be a myth and feared by others.  The old Dweomer-Master Nevyn has been searching for her for hundreds of years, in order to help her achieve her Wyrd for the good of all of Deverry and to atone for an ancient mistake.  Now Nevyn knows that she has returned to this world and is searching avidly in order to finally achieve that goal.

But when Jill and Cullyn come into contact with Rhodry Maelwaedd, a noble young man who is the heir to a small part of the Kingdom, their destinies become entwined as they go to war against rebel lords aided by the dark side of Dweomer magic.  For Rhodry is also the latest reincarnation of a man bound to Jill and Cullyn throughout history and for hundreds of years their combination has only ended in tragedies.  Will this time be the same?  Or can the three of them finally break the chains of the past and set forth on a new path, toward the Wyrd that Nevyn has worked toward all these years, for the good of all Deverry?
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Daggerspell is kind of an anthology of stories in the same world set in different time periods - 5 of the book's 6 parts take place in a different time period than the part that preceded it, with the book beginning in the present time period and then jumping back twice to prior time periods to show off what tragic events underline this present.  Only one character recurs in all three timelines, although the main actors in each timeline are different reincarnations of the same souls.

And this works rather well.  The first flashback essentially is a novella version of a tragedy so well written so as to be fitting Shakespeare, and is really heart-wrenching as it plays out - it really could have been its own stand-alone novella.  It's essentially a tragic romance featuring one woman torn between three men, in circumstances that proscribe her own freedom of action.  The second flashback is shorter and less impactful on its own, but provides a strong contrast to the first story as events play out very differently between the same souls in their new reincarnations.

And then there's the main storyline, featuring Jill, Cullen, Rhodry, and Nevyn as its main stars.  The story goes back and forth between them, as well as several other characters, showing the scenes from their own perspectives, especially in the final acts, but begins by following Jill and Nevyn alone.  And they're all fascinating characters - you'd think Jill would be your classic "young woman grows up to try to be a warrior in a fantasy world where that is limited to men," but the story subverts that on numerous occasions, and her attempts to find her own destiny and to be free to find her own path are the centerpiece of much of the final act, and really interesting.  Cullen as a character is a lot more than the typical "disgraced swordsman who is the best" character, especially with his past incarnations' behaviors, and Rhodry is similarly different.  The story is very much a classical epic fantasy mold, but the characters subvert that in very different and interesting ways, from the major four to some minor characters as well.

Still, while I really enjoyed the plot, which took some very different directions to what I expected, and employed some pretty tricky turns (and some fun dialogue, even if this is not a book filled with witty dialogue all over the place), it still suffers a bit from the typical tropes - for example, our two most prominent women characters in the present day fight against the molds their world puts on them, but those molds still exist and might annoy some modern readers especially as compared to newer books (and the stories set in the past feature female characters who never really try to break those molds for better or for worse).  I don't tend to read these types of books these days for a reason, and well, some of those reasons still are present here (in fairness, the book was first published in 1986).

Yet even with those issues, I really enjoyed Daggerspell quite a bit, and will be going on with the sequel soon - as I mentioned above, the first four books are now in audiobook on the Hoopla Library, so I can at least continue the first arc in the series, which I hope to do if they're all as good as this.
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