Kurtz, Katherine

• Series: The Chronicles of the Deryni
  • Deryni Rising (7 r)
  • Deryni Checkmate (6 r)
  • High Deryni (7 r)

    • The first of Kurtz's many series (spaced out over a large number of years) about the Deryni, set in a medieval Europe-ish world. Good plot, and the big gimmick was the neat way the magic in this world is described and performed. The Deryni are a race of magic capable people who can breed with humans, so you can image the kind of racial undertones that pervade these novels. They are dealt with at times simplistically but also at times very well.

• Series: The Legends of Camber of Culdi
  • Camber of Culdi (7 r)
  • Saint Camber (6 r)
  • Camber the Heretic (6 r)

    • Set in an earlier, more repressive time than the first Deryni series, this is actually an improvement over the original, even though we know how all the legends turn out. The magic is there as well as the social undertones, and the plot keeps it all going very well.

• Series: The Histories of King Kelson
  • The Bishop's Heir (7 r)
  • The King's Justice (5 r)
  • The Quest for Saint Camber (4 r)

    • Chronologically follows the Deryni series. This is similar to the others, though I would say that the magic rites and so forth by this time are starting to lose their mileage and just look like repetitive page-fillers. Still, this is the best series, plot-wise, with lots of surprises, and I liked it pretty well. I didn't go out and buy the last series she wrote about this world...I was afraid the slight downhill trend would get pretty steep.

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