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Sword of Fire

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Sword of Fire by Katherine Kerr
This first novel of an epic fantasy trilogy reintroduces readers to the beloved and bestselling world of Deverry, blending magic, politics, and adventure in an unforgettable setting.
The bards are the people's voice--and their sword.
All over the kingdom of Deverry, the common people are demanding reform of the corrupt law courts. In Aberwyn, the situation catches fire when Gwerbret Ladoic, second in authority only to the High King, allows a bard to starve to death rather than hear their grievances.
Guildwoman Alyssa, a student at the local scholars' collegium, and Lady Dovina, the gwerbret's own daughter, know that evidence exists to overthrow the so-called traditional legal system, if they can only get it into the right hands. The powerful lords will kill anyone who threatens their privileges.
To retrieve the proof, Alyssa must make a dangerous journey that will either change her life forever--or end it.

I’ve been a long time reader of Katherine Kerr, having been introduced to her work in college. I love fantasy but I also love history. What made her work especially intriguing to me was her ability to weave elements of fantasy into alternative history set in a world similar to Wales and Britain. Her ability to create a unique world developed with realism and emotional stories was much appreciated when I was younger and when I heard of this new novel, I wondered if they would hold the same magic for me as they’d done when I was young. I was so happy to see that her work has all that same brilliance and talent that I remembered.
In Sword of Fire, the story revolves around the bards and people wanting a less corrupt justice system. In order to do so, Kerr uses the character of Alyssa, a student at the local scholars' collegium and Lady Dovina, the gwerbret's own daughter as the primary point of view characters. Both women are written as strong characters, each unique in their own way but each integral to the development of the story. This novel is political in nature but Katherine Kerr’s skills as a writer uses the characters to develop empathy and to drive the story. While those politics are the main thrust of the plot, it is the lives of the characters that touch me as a reader and keep me reading.
In addition to vibrant characters, with realistic backgrounds, I love the Celtic elements of the novel. Katherine Kerr has retained her ability to imbue those Celtic overtones into her fantasy novels. Along with bards and warriors,we also have elves, magic, and dragons. That unique worldbuilding makes for a beautiful and compelling story.
The setting is unique, the characters are strong, the action driving the plot, and the story emotionally satisfying. While you would think that you’d need to read the other novels to understand the newest novel, I found that Katherine Kerr does such an excellent job of worldbuilding, that you won’t find yourself missing any of the details. While I recommend reading the other books, you won’t need to to enjoy this narrative.
If you love unusual fantasy, well written plots, realistic characters, and a fresh take on magic, I think readers will love this novel. It compares with any of the great fantasy novels of the last ten years, with female characters that are independent and brave, and intriguing political maneuverings. I loved reading Sword of Fire, loved the characters and can’t wait for further novels from Katherine Kerr.
Rating: 5 out of 5 bards.

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This was a DNF for me. I just could not connect with the story, I tried to read the first ew chapters twice, but unfortunately, there was nothing there to hold onto. So I had to put this one down.

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I have been a fan of Katharine Kerr’s books since I first discovered my love of reading science fiction and fantasy, and while I like all of her books, The Deverry Cycle will always be my favorite series of hers. Since it’s been over 10 years since The Silver Mage released I thought we had seen the end of The Deverry Cycle, so I was pretty excited to find out we were getting a new book this year. I started reading Sword Of Fire the moment I got home from work the day I received my copy in the mail a few weeks ago and don’t think I stopped reading it for more than five minutes until I was finished with it.

Usually, when it’s been this long between releases from one of my favorite authors, I’m always a little bit worried the new book won’t be as good as its predecessors, but I honestly wasn’t worried about this one at all. Sword Of Fire was everything you’d expect in a new Deverry Cycle book and so much more. Katharine Kerr has always been a fantastic author and I feel like she really upped her game with this book and went back to the roots of what makes the Deverry Cycle such a great series.

One of the great things about this book is that even though it’s the 16th book in the series, it takes place around 300 years after the first four acts of the Deverry Cycle and acts as a great place for new readers to jump into the story with, or for us veterans to dive back into the series. It’s been way too long since I’ve read any of the rest of the books in the series and I had no problem at all jumping right in and enjoy it without any sort of refresher. I’m so glad that the author wasn’t done with the Deverry Cycle like many of us thought she was and I can’t wait to see where she takes us with the rest of the books in this series!

I only finished reading Sword Of Fire a couple of days ago and I’m already thinking of buying the audiobook just so I can sit down and enjoy it all over again before jumping into a complete reread of the series. I think anyone who is a fan of Katharine Kerr’s books or of fantasy in general will enjoy this book and I can’t recommend it to people enough!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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This weekend’s abandoned read was, sadly, Sword of Fire by Katharine Kerr.

I read several of the Deverry novels in my early fantasy days, and I enjoyed them for being so unique in the way they played with timelines, reincarnation, and the astral plane while incorporating high fantasy elements of elves, dragons, and magic. It’s been a long time since I last visited, so I was excited to give Sword a read, but it’s not what I remember.

Sword of Fire reads like Deverry-light or Deverry-for- beginners, lacking everything that made it unique, and weighing far too heavily on the boring politics of class struggles and legal reform. I tried to stick with it, but I just wasn’t enjoying it, and even skimming to the halfway mark, I didn’t see anything to draw me in.

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classically written books never go out of style…

Sword of Fire (Deverry) by Katherine Kerr is the first book in a new trilogy set in Kerr’s world of Deverry. In a realm reminiscent of medieval Scotland, women are traditionally uneducated and relegated to domestic positions in society. Because of a special patronage, a women’s collegium was established to educate select women to pursue the training and mastering of the bardic skills. These bards are the “Voice of the People” to the nobility and royalty and hold a special place in society. Alyssa and Lady Dovina are guildswomen and close friends at the school even with their socially different backgrounds, Alyssa’s family are bakers and Lady Dovina is the only daughter of the ruling Gwerbret. When the Gwerbret allows the senior bard to starve at his gates instead of hearing his grievance over judicial unfairness an underlying simmer among the people comes to a boil. Alyssa and Dovina resolve that their bard’s death will not be in vain, even if they must go against convention to spearhead a quest for ancient texts that will support their cause. While Alyssa sets off with an honor-less “silver sword” as protection and Dovina is forced back to the family castle to fulfill a betrothal, they are each determined to navigate those intent on stopping them at any price. In different ways they each face trials that put their lives at risk while weighing choices to give their trust and heart to another.

Katherine’s Sword of Fire is an epic tale written in the classic style of George MacDonald and C.S. Lewis, a few of my all-time favorite authors for family friendly stories of intrigue and adventure. Her characters are authentic and their development individually and relationally with other characters is a solid part of what makes Sword of Fire such a great read! I loved this story so much that I already have my 16 year old daughter hooked on it. I have never read Kerr’s world of Deverry, which has 15 stories, but after experiencing this masterfully written tale I’m motivated to delve into these other books.

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First a bit of a disclaimer: I've been completely in love with the Deverry series since I first discovered it in seventh grade (way back when it was only about half finished), so my five star rating is probably a bit inflated. It's still the main fantasy series I hold up as an example of my favorite fantasies. I never expected to see more from this universe after the primary series was wrapped up several years back, but I was thrilled to find out that this new book was coming.

"Sword of Fire" starts off about three hundred years after the primary action in the Deverry books (although long time readers will of course know that the series jumped in and out of historical periods constantly). From the start it's obvious that Kerr has thought about what these centuries would have done to the social and political development of Deverry. At this point in their history they seem to be getting ready to leave the Middle Ages (to use a real world analogy) and inch closer to the Renaissance. After centuries of unquestioned feudal rule, the people are starting to demand legal checks on the nobles and codified protections for the commoners. It's a good set up for a new trilogy. The Deverry series has always been as much about the development of the people and realms as it is about particular characters, and this is a reasonable progression from what we already knew.

The cast of characters here is entirely new, barring a couple of cameos and historical mentions. Alyssa is a commoner, studying at the women's college in Aberwyn. Dovina is another scholar at the college, who also happens to be the Gwerbret's (the noble who rules the city) daughter, and Cavan is our obligatory silver dagger (a very particular group of mercenaries extensively chronicled in the previous series). All three main characters are likable, and also very different from most of the central characters of the earlier series. Those who have read Deverry will remember that the series relied heavily on reincarnation, and revisiting characters over many lives. There is no mention of this here, and "Sword of Fire" takes place entirely in one linear timeline. Of course I did find myself constantly analyzing the characters and trying to figure out if any of them could be people we already knew.

I think that this book will serve as a good entry point for readers who are interested in Kerr's Deverry books but wary about starting a fifteen book series. Of course it's hard for me to really see how a totally new reader would react to this book since I am already so familiar with the world. For old time readers, this book feels like a new Deverry installment and I'm thrilled that we'll be getting more. For new readers, welcome to Deverry, I hope this prompts some of you to go pick up the original series.

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Sword of Fire by Katharine Kerr, a well-rounded novel that made for a nice read. Set in a time of burgeoning revolution where the common folk want more rights, and those in power fight to keep it.

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