Out of all the Deryni books this is the one that is the hardest for me to reread. I am not disappointed when I do, as the story is perhaps the best of all her books, but it is also the most painful for me to read. It is tragic, and the events in this section of the history of Gwynedd has the most promising of kings and that is the tragedy of the story. King Javan only had a year, and he should have had so much more. As much as I love Kelson as a King, I truly believe Javan had the makings of a great and nobel King.
Javan takes over the throne at Alroy's death despite the desires of the former regents to have Rhys Michael become king. The end is heart-wrenching. While I understand that in the context of the story Javan and his allies had to take steps to defend himself, there were too many times when Javan or his Deryni allies would go into other peoples minds and change their memories. It started to bother me. If I were a human in Gwynedd who knew that this was possible I would certainly be concerned about
