One of the tough things about working for an imprint that’s been around for 25 years is that, well, there’s a huge backlist of books that I want to read but haven’t had a chance to yet. Couple that with the fact that we keep putting out new books, and I feel I’m sometimes woefully behind.
But I’m not really complaining. In fact, I’m not complaining at all. It just means that the pile for when I retire will make Burgess Meredith jealous.
Unfortunately, though, that means I haven’t yet read Katherine Kerr’s The Red Wyvern. Again, it’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that I haven’t yet had the pleasure. I will say this, though: it’s close to the top of the pile!
Fortunately, someone who has read it (or, more accurately, written it!) can tell you why you should read it. More from the author, Katherine Kerr, below!
“When I started writing what became the Deverry series, back in the early 1980s, I knew in that strange way authors know things that the long civil wars would be part of the saga. I fondly supposed, however, that I could write the entire story in a single book. My unconscious mind had other plans, and the civil war thread became one of the ongoing strands of the braided narrative, appearing in seven of the fifteen books
The Red Wyvern marks the beginning of the end of that troubled period in Deverry’s history. Way back in 1984 I saw the character of Lady Bevyan standing at her window and wishing the wars would end. Once I started working on the book full-time, toward the end of the 1990s, I realized how her wish would come true. By then other characters had made an appearance, in particular Bevyan’s one time friend and then enemy, Lady Merodda, and Merodda’s unfortunate daughter, Lillorigga. As usual, they arrived carrying their history of incarnations with them.
Equally important, of course, are the male characters, the creators of the conflicts that engulf the women’s lives. Prince Maryn, who believes that his god-touched destiny marks him for the high kingship, comes to realize that despite some early victories, the wars are far from over. Nevyn, the sorceror who’s actually created the prince’s destiny out of whole cloth, finds himself longing for nothing more than peace. And the bard attached to the prince’s personal guard, Maddyn, makes a decision that will mark his next several lives with sorrow and ultimately, hundreds of years after his death, threaten the peace of the kingdom itself.
Both Lilli and Merodda became important characters as the saga unfolded in the “present time,” the lives of the elven Westfolk and the half-breed Rhodry Maelwaedd, with deep and abiding consequences. The second half of Red Wyvern picks up that part of the story again. Both strands, the Civil Wars and Rhodry’s Wyrd, will finally meet in The Fire Dragon, but at the same time, they braid backwards, as so many tales in this series, do, to explain events in earlier books.
In some sense, then, Red Wyvern is the tipping point, if you will, of the entire saga, even though it’s not the numerical midpoint. From this book on, the braid begins to weave backward upon itself as well as forward to the conclusion of the series. Just why the saga took this complicated form, I do not know. I’m half-inclined to believe in the Muses, or at least in their Welsh sister, the Awen. Perhaps they took a hand in the weaving.”
–Katherine Kerr, June 2010
To see the complete list, click here
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The Deverry series is absolutely engrossing, just really good stuff. You don’t want to start with Red Wyvern, actually, go back and start with Daggerspell, the first book. You won’t be sorry.
Now I’m itching to re-read it again. I’ve got all the books at home, just have to wait for the work day to be over.
*taps foot*