Darkspell is the second in a multiple-book series, and, much like the book itself does, this review will presume some knowledge of the series' first book, Daggerspell. I'll do my best to skirt around spoilers for Darkspell itself.Darkspell continues the interlacing episodes of Daggerspell between the centuries-distant past and the "present" of the story in Deverry of the 11th century. The past segments are set in the 8th century this time around.I'll get the gripes about this particular book in the series out of the way first. A lot of the 11th century sections did nothing for me. It's hard to say if it's just a current frame of mind, or one that will last quite a bit longer, but I don't have a lot of patience for scenes of youthful badasses at battle, or a story's major conflict being between Good and Evil, or the major goal being possession of a magical doodad. The 11th-century sections have all of these elements, such that I was bored through much of the last half of Darkspell.The presentation of the evil characters, the wielders of dark dweomer, was especially over-the-top. It isn't enough that they wield dark magic--they also drink blood, create zombies, and are major players in the opium trade in Deverry. One of the two central characters on the evil side is a pederast. The two psychically and physically rape a captive to add power to their magic. Whose side are we expected to be on, here, and which side will win the mystical battle at the end? I wonder. While I'm normally happy to see LGBT characters in a novel, their only representative being also representative of capital-E Evil in this book wasn't great, to say the least. It was written in the '80s, but still... but still.Moving on. In Darkspell's case, and of the book I read previous to this one, it was important to me that the book have a good ending, that the author stick the landing after long patches of flagging interest. I'm happy to say that Darkspell delivered wonderfully. One of the "evil" characters meets the end he has coming, and that end fits both the setting's value of honor, and a motif or theme that is hugely important to the series as a whole.The 8th century sections were far better for me, overall. At one point, perhaps inspired by my reading of Deverry: Three Tales, I thought to myself that this part of the novel would work just fine on its own, and immediately changed my mind: without the previous tragedies in Daggerspell, and without the ongoing improving hopes of the characters' wyrds in the main body of these novels, this section wouldn't be anywhere near as powerful.Cullyn's previous incarnation, Dannyn, was my favorite character in this section. He's my favorite in the 11th century, and you don't see much of him in the "present," and that could have something to do with Dannyn's appeal for me, but there's also his loyalty to his brother. It's a redemptive streak that prevails even when he is driven to do something unforgivable. (That act is also a point of similarity or resonance with an evil character mentioned previously, in kind if not in degree.) Mael, a new character introduced during this sequence, was another favorite, with a quiet arc and nice ending of his own. Rhodry and Jill go through a cycle here, too, of course, and I'll leave you to discover how that plays out.It takes a lot, and I mean a lot, for me to say I love a series, for my internal critic to sit down and shut up for a minute and let me just enjoy something without its interference. Daggerspell completely broke down these defenses, and while Darkspell didn't have quite the same impact, whether due to its being a second book or to the failings I perceive in it, Deverry's marvelous braid of present and past; of background detail, character and theme; of tragedy and hope, takes me as close as I'll ever get to declaring love. Occasional prickly disagreement and all.
We continue our journey with Nevyn as he comes up against the sinister Old One – a dark dweomer master who has sent his operatives into Deverry to steal a magical jewel and sow dissent. Of course Jill and Rhodry soon find themselves entangled in the plot, and Katherine Kerr also takes us on a secondary journey to examine more of our central characters’ past lives, and how these influence current events.The template of the warrior-maiden seems to be cast for Jill, only in her past life we get to know her as a priestess in service of the Moon Goddess’s dark phase. Events unfold that have definitive repercussions much later, as the souls bound by a shared wyrd seem fated to re-enact certain patterns until they’ve worked out their issues. Of course the outcomes are never quite the same, but there is always an undercurrent of tragedy.New characters include Rhodry’s father, who is one of the Elcyion Lacar, or elvish folk, and also Rhodry’s half-brother, Salamander. We are also introduced to the mysterious McGuffin – a magical ring (surprise, surprise) – that is supposed to be Rhodry’s birthright, though we are yet to discover the full circumstances that suggest Rhodry will be playing a more important role in Saving The Day.Apart from the retrieval of the magical jewel of the West (that’s quite chatty too, thanks to its imbued spirits) that the dark dweomer practitioner Alystyr (shades of Crowley, perhaps?) and his two bumbling acolytes attempt to steal for the Old One, and which Jill, Rhodry and Nevyn then intercept, there really isn’t much else that happens in book #2.Granted, the world-building and characterisation, as well as magical system, is what keeps me turning the pages. I find that this time round I am a bit annoyed with the good/light vs. bad/dark dweomer divisions. Also, the stereotyping of protagonist vs. antagonist in that the evil is portrayed as physically repulsive and some degenerate (and queer, for that matter) was not to my taste. But I must point out that I feel fantasy has evolved over the years to take a less dualistic approach, or at least in my experiences as a reader when showing a preference for protagonists that are not necessarily squeaky clean or particularly nice (um, hello Jorgy-boy a la Mark Lawrence).Villains have, in my opinion, become more ambiguous in their negative and positive traits when it comes to fantasy literature. This is a good thing, because in my opinion, it’s closer to reality, but it must also be kept in mind that I feel Kerr’s earlier writing slips into an era when hard lines between good/evil were still the norm.Yet, these issues considered, this remains an enjoyable story that has stood the test of time, especially since many of the details have remained foggy from the first time that I read this novel when I was a teen.
What do You think about Darkspell (1994)?
The second book in this series is still keeping me engaged. I still enjoy the concepts of going back and forth in time among various incarnations. This one had perhaps less back and forth, but the time frames were developed a bit more. It gives a very engaging past element regarding a female priestess given a special calling to fight in a war to aid the land. We see a glimpse of a time where kings fight to rule. Also, in the present we see more of the evil characters behind the plot in the first book. The onion begins to peal back and we see sinister people. More characters are introduced in this land and we finally see the main characters begin to play more of a role in each other's lives. Perhaps "No One" finally will begin to fulfill his destiny. This book is getting closer to a "four" rating, and I will likely keep reading the series. Some of the language is still unimaginative, but the overall thread is engaging.
—Micah Scelsi
Kerr's storytelling showed a marked improvement in this book over Daggerspell. As a whole, Darkspell is less derivative of prior works and more Kerr's own thing; after reading this book, it seems fairly clear that Kerr pretty much used Daggerspell to get the less creative portions of her story out of her system. She still shows too much of a tendency to wrap things up too neatly by the end, but if I remember correctly, that gets better as the series continues. On the up-side, she spent longer on some of the characters' previous incarnations, which provides more depth to the "past" as well as the "present". All in all a descent follow-up to Daggerspell.
—Broodingferret
This is the second Deverry book and proves to be just as gripping as the first. Here we are dealing with a present time storyline of Jill and Rhodry's life on the road as silver daggers, and the danger they face from masters of dark dweomer. Jill discovers from Nevyn more about dweomer as he tries to gently encourage her to fulfil her Wyrd (destiny). We also go back in time to a previous incarnation of Jill and Rhodry and Cullyn (Jill's father). The three souls (and others) have been twisted together because of vengeance, a miscarriage of destiny and incestuous love. Here Jill is Gweniver - a lady who pledges herself to the Moon Goddess, and therefore will be unable to take to a life of dweomer. Nevyn resigns himself to watching her die in the service of the Goddess and going back to waiting for her soul to be reborn. There is also a quick backstory to the start of the Maelwaedd clan (Rhodry's people).I adored the whole story of Jill and Rhodry, and everything that happens in modern times. I found the masters of dark dweomer genuinely creepy, especially hearing what takes place during their rituals. It is lovely to see more of dweomer at work, including an entertaining piece of jewelry. I particularly like the way that Kerr ensures that there is always a downside to working dweomer.One of my favourite characters right now is highly peripheral - Jill's grey gnome (one of the Wildfolk) is extremely cute and Kerr does well to lend him so much character since he is unable to speak properly. I also like Ebany a great deal, and suspect we shall see much more of him.However, the success of these books depends greatly on how enjoyable the tale set in the past is, since it encompasses a large part of the novel. And I didn't get on with Gweniver - I found her naive and arrogant in turn. Very different from other past incarnations such as Brangwen (the first incarnation) and Lyssa (a gentle bard's wife). This is why I drop it half a star from the first book in the series.The strong Celtic feel again embued the book with a sense of almost historical fiction - the language and the lifestyle is a fantastic part of each novel. Once again, I would recommend highly.
—Amanda
