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A review by pine_wulf
Deryni Rising by Katherine Kurtz
Did not finish book. Stopped at 62%.
I'm just not into this book. The only justification I have is that I have a little over 100 pages left. Not that much longer. But why should I? I'm getting bored and I can't imagine the ending doing anything that will compel me to continue the series. This is a first novel, so I believe the series does get better, but I have so much else to read on my kindle already, that I won't bother.
What I liked: I liked the dynamic of the church. The queen is a fanatic, and while I find her distasteful, I also find it realistic. Duncan, a priest, is a much more mellow representative of the church, showing they're not all crazy. I also can't fault people for being afraid of the Deryni. We see them mind-wipe people a bunch. Even the "good guys" do it without apparent hesitation. Because it's in pursuit of good, I'm sure.
What I disliked: The pacing and loose motivations. It seems things happen just for the tension. Or so the chapter can end with a cliffhanger. With a ! in a few cases. *eye roll* I'm told that they need to hurry to get the ritual done, so Kelson can have Deryni powers, but then they just hang out in a hedge-maze to talk for awhile. Where a strange creature suddenly shows up to attack the prince! But don't worry, it's promptly killed. There is also a scene in the crypt later where there is a problem, but that is solved almost immediately in the next chapter.
The big bad evil sorceress is out to kill the prince, but she just walks around without being bothered. She seems to need to hide, but then just shows up randomly and the only thing I can think is she must be busy with the mind-wiping. But while she's doing this, the prince also just goes around nearly completely unguarded. Uh-huh.
There is one scene I thought had decent tension. Morgan is on trial for the murder of the king. (I don't quite understand why everyone is so convinced it's him when he wasn't there. Just because he's Deryni? They should know Charissa (evil sorceress) is too, because her dad was, but no one thinks it's her even after it's suggested. -.-) But despite it being obvious that he'll get off, I thought the how was well done.
What I hated: The women. They aren't bad characterizations by themselves, but together, it's really bad representation. There are only two of any note. One is evil sorceress, and the other is religious fanatic mother. They're both frustrating obstacles for the fantastic male heroes. I know this was written in the 70's but still I hoped that with a female author, there'd at least be one decent female character.
What I'm indifferent towards: The male characters are fine. I think they solve things too quickly. And their plans seem to always succeed with little hindrance. But I could see that if things went just slightly differently, with more difficulty, I'd be really into them. Considering that they're working to get Kelson to be king, I wish he'd played a more active role. (And I really did like his most active scene. Morgan's trial.) He is just led around by Morgan for most of it. Morgan and Duncan try to figure out the ritual and just tell him what to do. I suppose that it's realistic considering it's two adults versus a 14-year-old, but I found it unenjoyable how easily Morgan solves things.
I don't think this book ages well. If all you're looking for is a fun, uncomplicated story, this might be your thing. In the foreword, the author admits that it isn't up to par with her current works. (And that she's retconned a bit of the lore since.) So if you're interested in this piece of classic fantasy, maybe starting with a different trilogy would be better to get you invested and then coming back here to fill in the gaps.
What I liked: I liked the dynamic of the church. The queen is a fanatic, and while I find her distasteful, I also find it realistic. Duncan, a priest, is a much more mellow representative of the church, showing they're not all crazy. I also can't fault people for being afraid of the Deryni. We see them mind-wipe people a bunch. Even the "good guys" do it without apparent hesitation. Because it's in pursuit of good, I'm sure.
What I disliked: The pacing and loose motivations. It seems things happen just for the tension. Or so the chapter can end with a cliffhanger. With a ! in a few cases. *eye roll* I'm told that they need to hurry to get the ritual done, so Kelson can have Deryni powers, but then they just hang out in a hedge-maze to talk for awhile. Where a strange creature suddenly shows up to attack the prince! But don't worry, it's promptly killed. There is also a scene in the crypt later where there is a problem, but that is solved almost immediately in the next chapter.
The big bad evil sorceress is out to kill the prince, but she just walks around without being bothered. She seems to need to hide, but then just shows up randomly and the only thing I can think is she must be busy with the mind-wiping. But while she's doing this, the prince also just goes around nearly completely unguarded. Uh-huh.
There is one scene I thought had decent tension. Morgan is on trial for the murder of the king. (I don't quite understand why everyone is so convinced it's him when he wasn't there. Just because he's Deryni? They should know Charissa (evil sorceress) is too, because her dad was, but no one thinks it's her even after it's suggested. -.-) But despite it being obvious that he'll get off, I thought the how was well done.
What I hated: The women. They aren't bad characterizations by themselves, but together, it's really bad representation. There are only two of any note. One is evil sorceress, and the other is religious fanatic mother. They're both frustrating obstacles for the fantastic male heroes. I know this was written in the 70's but still I hoped that with a female author, there'd at least be one decent female character.
What I'm indifferent towards: The male characters are fine. I think they solve things too quickly. And their plans seem to always succeed with little hindrance. But I could see that if things went just slightly differently, with more difficulty, I'd be really into them. Considering that they're working to get Kelson to be king, I wish he'd played a more active role. (And I really did like his most active scene. Morgan's trial.) He is just led around by Morgan for most of it. Morgan and Duncan try to figure out the ritual and just tell him what to do. I suppose that it's realistic considering it's two adults versus a 14-year-old, but I found it unenjoyable how easily Morgan solves things.
I don't think this book ages well. If all you're looking for is a fun, uncomplicated story, this might be your thing. In the foreword, the author admits that it isn't up to par with her current works. (And that she's retconned a bit of the lore since.) So if you're interested in this piece of classic fantasy, maybe starting with a different trilogy would be better to get you invested and then coming back here to fill in the gaps.