It appears that my interview with Katherine Kurtz has piqued the curiosity of quite a few people. Which is fantastic, really! As I mentioned, I consider her Deryni saga to be one of the very best fantasy series out there. Hence, I knew that my next Shameless Plug had to be about this book sequence and no other!I've contacted Katherine to see if we could put together a giveaway for the three author's cuts that she's been releasing lately (her first trilogy), so hopefully that contest will see the light. Meanwhile, here's a list of the Deryni titles. As expected, many of them seem to be out of print. And yet, I was shocked to discover that most of them can be purchased from sellers on Amazon for as little as a single penny! Holy crap, I never thought that we had fallen so low that a Deryni book was now worth only a stupid penny. . .:-( On the upside, it means that you can buy the entire saga with little more than the change you have in your pocket.
And believe me, it will be the best investment you've ever made!
The Chronicles of the Deryni
The Legends of Camber of Culdi
The Histories of King Kelson
The Heirs of Saint Camber
Deryni Anthologies
In my opinion, the saga really takes off with the second trilogy, The Legends of Camber of Culdi. After that, it's about as good as it gets if you're into politicking and convoluted plotlines and great characters.
Good reading!;-)
8 commentaires:
I think that most once popular, but now older, SFF books can be found for a penny online at Amazon or Half.com or other such sites. You'll still get bit with more shipping costs than the item needs, though.
Otherwise, I completely agree that the Camber (and Heirs of Camber) books are the best, the ones where the series takes off. Those are the books that get deeper into the intrigue, the religion, the magic, and the history. When Kelson is on the scene most of that knowledge has been lost.
Missing from your list is the odd encyclopedia "Codex Derynianus".
In the King's Service and Childe Morgan are both part of the Childe Morgan trilogy.
I'm happy to see some attention and kind words for Kurtz's Deryni Saga. Some of my best fantasy reading took place here.
I agree that this is a wonderful series, although it can be very grim in places, and highly recommend it to new readers. Stick with the first trilogy and then delve into the world in the later ones.
Thanks for listing all the books in this series! I was very interested in them after reading your interview and wondering about where to start since it seems to be a collection of series instead of one big series.
Lol, it's due to your earlier post that I hunted down Deryni books. I got Heirs of Kelson from a Dutch second hand bookseller, and the first trilogy via Amazon.de Marketplace where I managed to snatch the last complete set on their list. But it cost me a bit more than a penny.
I don't know whom I'm going to blame for one of my own books now sprouting a prequel, but it could have been the structure of the Deryni books. :)
I too am glad this series is getting some attention. I was introduced to it back in the 80s when i picked up the first book in the Histories of King Kelons at a Kmart (of all places). I was one of the first fantasy books i read, and loved the entire trilogy. I hope that contest happens..i have the first 2 trilogies in hardback but they are book club editions and would like a chance to win the new editions
Joe: You're right, I totally forgot about the Codex. Which reminds me that I really have to buy the damned thing!
Kristen and Gabriele: Enjoy the Deryni saga!
Jeff: No word yet as to whether or not a giveaway is within the realm of possibilities...
I read the first two (Rising, Checkmate), and I don't remember a thing other than somebody sticking a knife through his hand. I wasn't tempted to read the third. Not enough perseverance, maybe - interesting comments about the second trilogy.
Before buying as many as one of these notably primitive fantasy stories I would urge you to first check one of them out from your local public library free of charge. The characters are flat, unchanging, and stereotypical (Kelson, the learning, eager, novice who eagerly acquires magical powers; Morgan, the seemingly all-powerful benevolent companion/mage). The plots are wholly formulaic. The magical "duels", if such they can be called, are comprised of parties spouting juvenile poetry at each other, and glorious, deadly, beautiful webs of incredibly powerful magic reach out from one mage to the other. Of course, in this simplistic universe, the evil mage is wholly evil and the virtuous hero is absolutely virtuous, and there is never really any doubt as to which mage is going to go down. Boring and predictable sums up this series!
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