3.5 stars. Originally posted at Fantasy Literature. Life's too short to read bad books! http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...High Deryni, originally published in 1973, is the third novel in Katherine Kurtz’s DERYNI CHRONICLES. In the first novel, Deryni Rising, young Prince Kelson, who has inherited some Deryni magic, took his dead father’s throne after fighting an evil sorceress. In the second novel, Deryni Checkmate, tensions rose after the Church (obviously based on the medieval Catholic Church of our world) excommunicated Alaric Morgan and Duncan McLain, two of Kelson’s relatives and advisors.As the third novel starts, the Church has just split over the Deryni issue. Traditionally the clergy has viewed any sort of magic as evil, akin to the witchcraft which their Holy Scriptures clearly forbids. They’re also worried that the Deryni will use their powers to overturn legitimate benevolent governments, undermine the Church, and establish malevolent dictatorships. Looking at the history of Gwynedd, and thinking about our own history, it’s easy to understand their point of view. But, unfortunately, the Church has dealt with their fear by persecuting anyone who has any Deryni blood. Recently a more progressive minority of Church leaders has split off. They recognize that since the Deryni power is inherited, being Deryni is not the problem; rather, it’s how a Deryni chooses to use his or her power that the Church should be concerned with. This ecclesiastical unrest threatens to cause civil war at a time when Gwynedd needs to unite against outside enemies.As I’ve mentioned in a previous review of this trilogy, these days I don’t often find myself in the mood for this sort of heavy-feeling medieval-style epic fantasy, but Kurtz has won me over with her engaging characters and the murky religious, political, and personal issues they have to deal with. In High Deryni we discover that Deryni powers are not as uncommon amongst the clergy as you’d expect based on their talk. We also discover a secret council of Deryni that works behind the scenes and only for its own good. When it’s discovered that some Deryni have the power of healing, something they thought was lost, everyone is forced to deal with fundamental questions about the origins of good and evil.Some readers may feel like a couple of the critical crises were too easily resolved by talking it out, but I appreciated Kurtz’s acknowledgement that intelligent reasonable people can sometimes work things out using logic and persuasion instead of weapons. In fact, I thought these instances seemed more realistic than if Kurtz had staged showy sword fights. This isn’t to suggest that High Deryni lacks weapons and war because there’s plenty of that, too, along with torture, murder, kidnappings, and rescues, but the tensions that have been building up for two books now do seem to fizzle out fairly easily. I think most readers would agree that the promised “final battle” is a dud, and I’m on their side with that complaint. Likewise, the plot twist at the end, which caused the final battle to be a dud, was completely unbelievable (view spoiler)[Why didn’t the imposter just kill the bad guy long ago? He had the power and plenty of opportunity. He could have saved a lot of trouble, not to mention lives, if he had done so. (hide spoiler)]
These comments apply to all 3 books of the original Deryni Trilogy, Deryni Rising, Deryni Checkmate, and High Deryni. I really enjoyed this series. I liked Kurtz's writing style, and she did a great job creating and describing the fantasy world of Gwynnedd. I could see a lot of Welsh influence in the world she created. I think the series teaches a good lesson about tolerance of minorities and overcoming ignorance. However, the story line seemed to have some anti-religious undertones which I wasn't crazy about, not unlike the more-recent novel The Golden Compass by another author, though not as brazen. Though I did like the series, I never went on to read the other novels by Kurtz about the Deryni or the Land of Gwynnedd. I got the impression from what I'd heard about the other novels that they were merely repetitions of the same themes, with different characters. I'd gotten the message the first time with the original trilogy, I didn't need to read more.
What do You think about High Deryni (1976)?
Very good story, but while the climax had great buildup and then a great twist, it became somewhat anticlimactic and ended much too abruptly and on too somber a note for a high fantasy. You just need to make up "what happens next" for yourself to give it a feeling of resolution. Still definitely worth the read; at least unlike the Camber books you can rest assured that the main characters will make it through alive.
—Renee
Commento alla Trilogia: Unico erede di Re Brion, avvelenato dalla maga Charissa durante una battuta di caccia, il Principe Kelson, ormai maggiorenne, si prepara a governare sugli Undici Regni. Ma Charissa, assetata di potere e vendetta, non gli concede tregua, e perché Kelson la possa affrontare in un duello di magia è necessario che un grande potere osteggiato dalla Chiesa - il potere Deryni - gli venga tramandato dal padre defunto la notte che precede l'incoronazione. Ma il rito di trapasso è
—Federica Leva
The Deryni books are great sword and sorcery fantasy. What makes them unique is that they're a blend of historical fantasy and high fantasy. What marks a book out as high fantasy is a completely imaginary world with no links to real history--legend maybe, but the ties are tenuous, even when like Tolkien's Middle Earth, Lackey's Valdemir or Pierce's Tortall, they have a pseudo-medieval feel.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 Monsignor Duncan McLain, a secret Deryni and ordained priest, one of my favorite characters in the series. Which is why, unlike some reviewers, I can't see these books as anti-Christian, anti-Catholic or at all comparable to Pullman. I loved Pullman's His Dark Materials for it's style and imagination, but there's no question his quasi-Catholic Church, the Magisterium, is just plain evil, and at times Pullman's anti-church clanging anvils got to me. The thrust of the Deryni books is different. It isn't the Church or religion that's meant to be seen as evil, as characters such as Duncan prove. And in this book, two Bishops, Thomas Cardiel and Denis Arilan, are good guys as well. And I felt for Jehana, Kelson's mother, who tries to reconcile her religious convictions with her Deryni heritage. I don't think the messages of these books is anti-religion--just anti-intoleration. But I don't see these as books about a message--but good yarns. Well-plotted and with characters you care about, and this book brings the first trilogy of Deryni books to a satisfying conclusion.
—Lisa (Harmonybites)
