Katharine Kerr's Deverry Series

I spent much of the month of January reading all of the 10 book series by Katharine Kerr. I happened upon her in my guilty pleasure section (Fantasy/Science Fiction) of Barnes & Noble and couldn't put the books down. I started with the first four books in the series, Daggerspell, Darkspell, The Bristling Wood, and The Dragon Revenant, and then moved into The Westlands, which included A Time of Exile, A Time of Omens, Days of Blood and Fire, and Days of Air and Darkness.

Usually at this point, I would have been weary of the fantasy world, but Kerr's writing is really great and the stories roll one into the next. She weaves back and forth of a multi century timeline, and does it seamlessly. Honestly, I think if I'd started with this series back in the 80's when it first was written, I wouldn't have been able to follow it. But luckily for me, I'd missed her and so plunged right along with the final set (boo hoo), The Dragon Mage, which included The Red Wyvern, The Black Raven, and The Fire Dragon. Now, I think I am caught up and am awaiting the final installment, The Gold Falcon.

I am pretty voracious reader, and these novels really got under my skin. I highly recommend them to anyone who likes a good fantasy read. The characters are compelling. The politics are not overwhelming. I think she does a terrific job of conveying what it might be like to live for hundreds of years, and watch the warring and such that goes on with that long view. I came to that same reckoning years ago when I read the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, and considered what it might be like to live from the time of the Romans, as did Marius (?) to the present.

I also read, in between times, a couple of Civil War novels and was struck by the similarity in the notions of chivalry and honor that seems completely absent in our modern day wars. Anyways, that was one big set of reading that got me going at the start of the New Year.