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A review by topdragon
Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr
5.0
This is actually a re-read for me. I had read the first two books in this series way back, probably over 25 years ago. At that time I was a neophyte when it comes to reading fantasy fiction and I don't remember liking either book very well. They were more complicated than the easier-to-read Dragonlance-style stuff I was into at that time and I think I had built up a sort of negative attitude towards them. But over the years, through one form or another, I have accumulated the entire series with the idea of one day reading through them all. So this was the week that I finally put aside my previous prejudices and began anew.
Wow, I'm so glad I did. I was intrigued with the central idea of reincarnation mixed in a fantasy realm and but I also found the story and the characters to be very interesting. It certainly kept my interest throughout the novel and while the ending was satisfying it certainly sets up the follow-on novels well.
In the past I've found that novels, particularly fantasy novels that have lots and lots of characters, are a problem for me. I just lose track of who's who. Perhaps my mind isn't what it once was but I think I've always been this way and I simply find keeping track of them all to be a turnoff. I realized with this novel (and the entire series of 15 novels), that I would need a way to keep track of them all, especially given that we're dealing with reincarnations of the same characters over many time periods and mostly with different names. After all, just knowing that Garreant in the year 643 is the same person (in reincarnated form) as Cullyn in the 1060s isn't enough because that character will have 8 other reincarnations over the entire series, all with different names. So I made myself a cheat sheet. I am happy to be living in the age of Wikipedia and so I did a quick search for Deverry characters and found a great table that has been developed and posted there. It cross-tabulates all of the major characters and their timeframes so it's actually pretty easy to keep track of. I printed it, cut it out and will carry it in each book as I read through them. It worked great and I felt much more connected to the story this time around.
This is definitely a keeper and I look forward to my further adventures in the land of Deverry.
Wow, I'm so glad I did. I was intrigued with the central idea of reincarnation mixed in a fantasy realm and but I also found the story and the characters to be very interesting. It certainly kept my interest throughout the novel and while the ending was satisfying it certainly sets up the follow-on novels well.
In the past I've found that novels, particularly fantasy novels that have lots and lots of characters, are a problem for me. I just lose track of who's who. Perhaps my mind isn't what it once was but I think I've always been this way and I simply find keeping track of them all to be a turnoff. I realized with this novel (and the entire series of 15 novels), that I would need a way to keep track of them all, especially given that we're dealing with reincarnations of the same characters over many time periods and mostly with different names. After all, just knowing that Garreant in the year 643 is the same person (in reincarnated form) as Cullyn in the 1060s isn't enough because that character will have 8 other reincarnations over the entire series, all with different names. So I made myself a cheat sheet. I am happy to be living in the age of Wikipedia and so I did a quick search for Deverry characters and found a great table that has been developed and posted there. It cross-tabulates all of the major characters and their timeframes so it's actually pretty easy to keep track of. I printed it, cut it out and will carry it in each book as I read through them. It worked great and I felt much more connected to the story this time around.
This is definitely a keeper and I look forward to my further adventures in the land of Deverry.