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A review by branch_c
Camber of Culdi by Katherine Kurtz
3.0
This book may well have been innovative for 1976, but having read it for the first time in 2022, it struck me as a fairly straightforward historical-ish fantasy. The standard cast of royals and priests and men-at-arms comes across as rather run-of-the-mill, and even the magic use is a bit superficial, with not much sense of mystery or wonder.
I haven’t read the original Deryni trilogy, to which this book begins a prequel trilogy, but presumably that series had references to historical events, and this book starts to lay out those events. As such, to me it reads a bit as an expansion of an outline, with little room for twists and unexpected occurrences.
There are a few interesting aspects - the relationship between Imre and Ariella surprised me, as did the shockingly tragic occurrence near the end. The conferring of power on Cinhil was the only time when I felt any depth to the supernatural aspect.
The ending feels a bit rushed, again as if Kurtz was just going through the motions to wrap up the story at an appropriate point in the known history. So, not badly written, but just not particularly impressive either.
I haven’t read the original Deryni trilogy, to which this book begins a prequel trilogy, but presumably that series had references to historical events, and this book starts to lay out those events. As such, to me it reads a bit as an expansion of an outline, with little room for twists and unexpected occurrences.
There are a few interesting aspects - the relationship between Imre and Ariella surprised me, as did the shockingly tragic occurrence near the end. The conferring of power on Cinhil was the only time when I felt any depth to the supernatural aspect.
The ending feels a bit rushed, again as if Kurtz was just going through the motions to wrap up the story at an appropriate point in the known history. So, not badly written, but just not particularly impressive either.