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A review by katyanaish
Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr
4.0
No original review, so on re-read (June 2023) I'm writing one.
I first read this book 30 years ago, and I loved it. Loved the whole series. The paperbacks held a place of honor on my bookshelves for decades. But I never re-read it. I was afraid to, because I've picked up some early favorites to re-read, and it utterly ruined them. Fantasy from the 80s and 90s just doesn't hold up so well now - I've changed, the world has changed, and my "dealbreakers" are much different now than they were in my early teens.
But I've been thinking about this series, and I wanted to revisit it. So, trying to keep my expectations low, I did.
And I loved it. So much so that I'm tempted to bump my rating to 5 stars.
It's a complex series, a group of individuals meeting and re-meeting across many lives, being reincarnated and picking up old baggage - old debts, old vengeance - and trying to find a path clear of all that, to live the lives they were meant for if they could just get out of their own way. Honestly, even as I was wound back up by the story - laughing, crying (a lot of crying, honestly) - I was flabbergasted at the added layers I could see now that I'm older. And also flabbergasted at how I can see how this old beloved series shaped my young self, and my perspective on the world and life.
It's not perfect. There are nits I could pick. Even as a tremendously strong female character, it's frustrating seeing Jill subjugate herself for men she cares about. But none of it really bothers me because, I think, it works with the overall theme of the series: nothing is perfect. But we try, again and again, and we break free of what is holding us back, holding us down, eventually.
Happily moving on to book 2...
I first read this book 30 years ago, and I loved it. Loved the whole series. The paperbacks held a place of honor on my bookshelves for decades. But I never re-read it. I was afraid to, because I've picked up some early favorites to re-read, and it utterly ruined them. Fantasy from the 80s and 90s just doesn't hold up so well now - I've changed, the world has changed, and my "dealbreakers" are much different now than they were in my early teens.
But I've been thinking about this series, and I wanted to revisit it. So, trying to keep my expectations low, I did.
And I loved it. So much so that I'm tempted to bump my rating to 5 stars.
It's a complex series, a group of individuals meeting and re-meeting across many lives, being reincarnated and picking up old baggage - old debts, old vengeance - and trying to find a path clear of all that, to live the lives they were meant for if they could just get out of their own way. Honestly, even as I was wound back up by the story - laughing, crying (a lot of crying, honestly) - I was flabbergasted at the added layers I could see now that I'm older. And also flabbergasted at how I can see how this old beloved series shaped my young self, and my perspective on the world and life.
It's not perfect. There are nits I could pick. Even as a tremendously strong female character, it's frustrating seeing Jill subjugate herself for men she cares about. But none of it really bothers me because, I think, it works with the overall theme of the series: nothing is perfect. But we try, again and again, and we break free of what is holding us back, holding us down, eventually.
Happily moving on to book 2...