In The King's Service

Katherine Kurtz's latest forray into the world of the Deryni is sure to be well-received by her many fans. The book's action takes place some thirty years prior to the events of the series' first trilogy which began with Deryni Rising. It is a time when the gifted Deryni and their powers are still feared by the normal human inhabitants of the Gwynedd who have enacted both secular and ecclesiastical sanctions against them.
Even so, the ruthless King Donal Haldane sees value having those powers at his disposal and protects several well-born Deryni in his court. But little does he suspect just how many Deryni there really are in his court. Because while the king is manipulating everyone to his design, other groups such as the Camberian Council are doing some manipulating of their own.
For long-time fans of this series, the book is a welcome treat as we are introduced to many of the ancestors of favorite characters. Likewise the origins of some later plotlines are revealed. First-time readers, however, will have difficulty following the geneological lines which make up so much of the earlier chapters. All in all, though, a very welcome addition to the Deryni canon.

This is the newest Deryni novel and is the first book in a proposed trilogy (The Childe Morgan trilogy). The Deryni novels have long been one of my favorite series, and I'm always eagerly awaiting a new Deryni novel. Despite what the book jacket suggests, this novel takes place during the era of King Kelson's grandfather King Donal. Kelson's father Brion is only a young child during this novel, and this is more than a hundred years after the Haldane Restoration of 917. This is one of the time periods that when I looked at the genealogy of the Haldanes, I wondered "what was happening then? Who is Donal?" We get an answer in this book.
There is a story here, but there is no true plot, if that makes any sense. We are given a fantastic look at Donal's court and we spend some time with the Camberian Council. Characters mention the Airsid, Orin, and Jodotha (three things I would love to have explored in detail), and there is even a brief mention of my favorite Haldane: Javan (from King Javan's Year). The main story of this novel, spanning several years, however, is that of Alyce de Corwyn and who will be the heir to the duchy of Corwyn. All the while, King Donal needs to have a magical protector for his son, Brion, and he will do anything to get one. To be honest, that's about it. There is plenty of action, several characters are killed off, and I did not want to put the book down, but there is still not a whole lot of plot in this novel. It is more like a series of scenes rather than a story that is truly leading somewhere.
Even so, I began to care for some of the characters. Alyce is a very sympathetic character and looks like she might be one of the stronger female characters since Evaine. There are several interesting supporting characters, but one of the most interesting characters in the novel is Donal himself. He is a conflicted character. On one hand he wants to do what is right for Gwynedd, his subjects, and his family. On the other hand, he is absolutely ruthless and is willing to do anything and everything to get his way (which he thinks is right and proper as King and that it is for the good of the realm). I wish that more time would have been spent dealing with the Camberian Council and I only hope that the next two novels will focus more on the Council. There are a lot of ways for this series to go and despite the lack of plot, I loved every minute of this book and I can't wait for the next one.

The first novel in Katherine Kurtz's long-awaited Childe Morgan trilogy is one of the weakest entries in the Deryni series. Kurtz seems to have lost her zeal for writing about the Deryni universe, having become entangled in a bewildering array of (mostly uninteresting) side projects over the past decade. Die-hard, completist Deryni fans will have to read the book and its sequels regardless, but this is not a book that will attract new readers to the series.
Kurtz practically invented the sub-genre of occult historical fantasy. Her strongest novels are characterized by meticulously detailed magical/religious ceremonies. In the King's Service barely reads like a Deryni novel at all. Deryni powers are talked about a great deal, but are rarely on actual display to the reader. Deryni ritual is completely absent.
Alaric Morgan is almost entirely missing from the book himself, appearing on the scene only as an infant at novel's end. A young Brion appears fleetingly, but the major characters in the novel are a young Alyce De Corwyn (Alaric's mother), King Donal Haldane (the future King Brion's father), and Donal's Deryni mistress, Jessamy McCathan. Alyce is an appealing character, though long-time readers of the series will know better than to get too attached to her.
Donal and Jessamy are despicable people as well as uninteresting characters. Together they commit several appalling deeds and plot one unspeakable one. Distressing things have always occurred in Kurtz's books, but in the past she could be trusted to depict them as ignoble when they were. Here, neither Kurtz nor any of her characters seem to fully realize just how inexcusable Donal's conduct truly is, which makes for a very disconcerting read. Kurtz was never a preachy moralizer, but she used to know evil when she saw it, even in a king.
The Camberian Council of course must continue to disgrace the name of Camber of Culdi. This is, in general, in keeping with how things will stand at the beginning of Deryni Rising. However, it is hard to reconcile Barrett DeLaney's passive acceptance of Donal's plans with what we know of him from the other works. However decadent the rest of the Council may be, he at least would be expected to have something to say about a Deryni woman who plots to use her powers to aid the commission of a vile crime. This is, after all, exactly the sort of abuse of Deryni power that the Council was formed to prevent in the first place!
The novel does not have much of a plot per se, as others have noted. It is true that many plot threads are just rehashes of episodes from other Deryni books. In addition, many details that had to be included to match what we already know of the future do not quite ring true. The forced "adoption" of Alyce's sister Vera to the human Howards is especially unconvincing. So is the casual way in which Donal breaks with long tradition to marry the Deryni Corwyn heiress (Alyce) to the human Kenneth Morgan, a mere baron himself.
A number of Haldanes who will not be on the scene at the opening of Deryni Rising make their appearances here, probably indicating a bloody next few books. The virtual absence of Alaric Morgan from the first third of his trilogy was this book's most serious flaw. The next two books in the series will presumably focus much more on Alaric and Brion, which should serve to give the reader someone to root for.

In the King's Service (2003) is the first novel in the Childe Morgan trilogy of the Deryni series, following [[ASIN:0345332628 The Bastard Prince]]. This is the thirteenth volume in the series, but the seventh volume by internal chronology. The initial volume in this sequence is [[ASIN:044101660X Deryni Rising]].

It takes place during the reign of Donal Blaine Haldane and fits chronologically after The Bastard Prince and before Deryni Rising.

King Donal has provided his son with a guardian by getting a son on Jessamy, the wife of Sief MacAthan, one of his councilors and a member of the Camberian Council. Sief is also a very impulsive and jealous man and, when he discovers the true parentage, Donal finds himself fighting for his life as Sief unleashes the Deryni mind powers against him, but the Haldane powers prove stronger and Donal is left with the still warm body of Jessamy's husband. Donal blames the death on a heart attack and arranges to have the baby raised in the Royal Nursery.

The Camberian Council discovers most of the truth, but cannot determine the motive for the King siring a child on Jessamy. However, they continue to keep an eye on Jessamy, the daughter of Lewis ap Norfal, who had rebelled against the authority of the Camberian Council itself. Meanwhile, Keryell Earl of Lendor has taken a new wife after the passing of Stevana in childbirth and is leaving his two daughters, Alyce and Marie, with the queen until they are to depart for a convent school. Since Jessamy was especially close to Stevana, she takes the girls under her wing and even accompanies them to the convent. There she introduces the girls to her daughter Jessilde, a novice in the order. The next day, Jessamy leaves and the girls are started on their studies and on making new friends.

This story is a study of character and intrigue. The action is minimal and mostly offstage, although battle, accidents and homicide seem to run rampant through the plot. Of course, an approximately equal number of births balance out the deaths, but the turnover is astonishing, although not unrealistic for medieval times.

Nevertheless, this story is unusual in that no major wars, rebellions, invasions or other large-scale violence occurs during the whole tale. Moreover, the church is only modestly destructive against the Deryni. There is only one significant clash between the King and the Church and it is more personal than otherwise.

Overall, this is an unusual novel, more like the shorter works in its plot and consequences. It does occur in a significant period in the evolution of the kingdom, however, less than a decade prior to the birth of Kelson Haldane. Moreover, it concludes with the birth of Alaric Morgan.

The next installment in this sequence is [[ASIN:0441015549 Childe Morgan]].

Highly recommended for Kurtz fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of intrigue and minor magic in a medieval setting.

-Arthur W. Jordin

For fans of Katherine Kurtz's Deryni series and Alaric Morgan fans in particular, this is the start of a long-awaited trilogy dealing with the enigmatic and powerful half-Deryni Duke of Corwyn, who we first met in Deryni Rising. Alas for us, Alaric doesn't make an appearance until the very end of the book, and then only as a babe. Kurtz uses an entire book to delve into, the admittedly, complicated relantionships surrounding the Gwynnedd court, as well as Deryni bloodlines and alliances. Sprinkled with armed incusions and many births, deaths, and weddings, this book reads more like a genealogy than a story. It's a credit to Kurtz's writing that she makes all this as interesting as she does, however, this is a difficult book to like because it's essentially setting the stage for the REAL story we've all been waiting for - Alaric's childhood and youth as King Brion's ally and friend.
She drops some tantalizing hints to lure the reader in - bringing up the heritage and legacy of Lewys ap Norfal's kin, who initially play a fairy big role at the start of the book, only to have them fade into the background. The Camberian Council appears again as well, but prove to be impotent. Considering the consternation they were having over Donal's child (...), I found it intriguing that they acquiesced to the marriage of Alyce to a human, thus ensuring that any of her children would be hated "half-breed" Deryni. Yet none of these intriguing points is ever carried through with, although with two more books to go it could be these dropped plot threads will be resolved down the road. Still, it doesn't leave much meaty story to keep reader's interest engaged.
The majority of the book has to do with Alyce de Corwyn, who is Alaric's mother. She's a fine enough protagonist, but the book lacked a lot of what I loved most about Kurtz's earlier Deryni works - the sense of history come alive, the derring-do of the knights and the secret and magical workings of the Deryni sorcerers. I attribute much of this to the lack of a strong villian. Our heros have to have worthy (and evil) opponents in order to really shine in comparison. Where is this era's frothing Archbishop Loris? The rogue priest, brother to a bishop is meant to be one - but he's a strawman. He's evil without substantial motivation and thus has no true impact on our heros. Much of the book's plot then boils down to two questions: 1. Will Donal Haldane get a magical protector for his heirs? 2. Who will inherit the Duchy of Corwyn? Interesting questions, but not really interesting enough to devote an entire book to.
Overall this was a disappointment. After waiting all this time for a new Deryni adventure, Kurtz seems to have been too busy with diagramming her genealogy trees to remember how to actually write a story. In most cases I would say, unless some of the tangled relantionships are of interest to you, you could safely skip this book and pick up the second (upcoming) one without missing a beat.

I grew up devouring the Deryni and Camber books, so I eagerly awaited the beginning of this new trilogy. I am sorry to say that I was incredibly disappointed. Although this story DID feature a look at the women characters, and Ms. Kurtz DID include a formidable woman abbess, in the tradition of Hilda of Whitby or St. Hildegarde, the book consisted largely of description of Alyce de Corwyn's life and times as she came of age, with virtually no plot.
We meet a plethora of new and interesting characters, many of whom get killed off. We have the appearance of a stock villainness, who appears, commits a heinous sin, and conveniently dies. Over and over, we hear of Alyce's willingness to be married off as part of her dynastic duty, yet that thread is dropped in the most improbable of ways. We get an update on how Deryni are doing at this court, a look at a Haldane King who is ruthless, and basically meet a bunch of stock characters. Unfortunately, Ms. Kurtz still seems unable to write an ambivalent hero (or a likeable villain) unless Donal and Jessamy are supposed to be so, but neither elicited strong emotional reactions one way or another.
Again, beautiful and vivid world-building, an interesting look at the convent, in particular, and I enjoyed learning more about Alyce (who seems rather too perfect for my liking), but I was very disappointed in the lack of plot holding this book together.

Warning: This review contains spoilers. Opening nearly forty years before the events of _Deryni Rising_, _In The King's Service_ introduces many new characters, some of whom have been mentioned in previous novels. We are also introduced to already known characters such as certain members of the Camberian Council, and Jared McLain and Caulay MacArdry, who both appear in younger incarnations.
King Donal Haldane dominates this book, and he is a man and a king of a far different order than his future grandson, Kelson.This, I feel, makes him more historically accurate, since the medieval Kings of our own world could not afford to be pushovers. Donal is not wicked in the same sense that Hubert MacInnis was, but he is ruthless, and not visibly troubled by his conscience for anything he does. What he does, he does to protect his Kingdom and his family, but he demands much of his friends in this cause. Lady Jessamy McAthan bears a child for her King to be a Deryni protector for Prince Brion and his brothers, and when her enraged husband, Sief McAthan, attacks the King, Donal kills him in self-defense. When her son with Donal is brutally killed late in the book, Donal seeks to replace him with a son fathered upon Lady Alyce de Corwyn, but without her knowledge or consent, or that of her husband Kenneth Morgan, a loyal friend to the King. Not until the very end when Donal is caught in a manifestly humiliating situation does he express contrition for what he planned to do.
We are also introduced to the Ducal family of Corwyn most notably Lady Alyce de Corwyn, who will become Alaric Morgan's mother. We also meet her siblings, Marie, Ahern and her twin, Vera who will become Duncan's mother. Since it was made clear in the first Kelson trilogy that Alyce and Vera's being twin sisters was kept a close secret all their lives, allowing Duncan to keep his own Deryni blood secret, Ms. Kurtz had to explain how it all came about in this novel. Having been raised by the close human friends of their parents, the manner of Vera's revelation to her sisters does stretch the reader's credulity, somewhat. However, if Duncan can be Dhugal's father, then I can live with Vera's having been raised by human parents. As Marie and Ahern do not appear in previous books, I was wary of growing too attached to them, as the life expectancy of Deryni characters is often rather short. And sadly, both of them do die in fairly horrible ways. Of the two, I liked Ahern best, and had he lived long enough to inherit his senior title of Duke of Corwyn, he would have made an excellent Duke. Alyce loses her father, sister and brother in terrible ways and in fairly rapid succession in this novel, but is able to recover from her grief for each of them almost too soon. I would have liked her to show more prolonged mourning. Fortunately, she still has Vera, and her friend Zoe Morgan, daughter of her eventual husband, Sir Kenneth Morgan. A modest, self-effacing man who is nonetheless intelligent, capable, and loyal, Kenneth Morgan is a welcome addition to the ranks of "good humans" in the Deryni canon.
_In the King's Service_ is a fast, enjoyable read. If anything, I found it a little _too_ fast, and finished the book without having formed strong emotional attachments to any one character, which I regret. The timespan of earlier Deryni novels covers mere days, or months, or possibly the course of a year, and the plots moved from day to day in a slower, more intimate way, leaving the reader more time to know and love or hate the people involved, and to know more about the reasons for the actions and choices they make. _the King's Service_ spans almost a decade, and the necessary speed with which events are covered may account for a reader's feeling less emotionally involved with the characters. I found that I missed spending more time getting acquainted with the individual people and really learning what made them tick. I felt I "knew" Camber within a chapter or two of Camber of Culdi. To balance this, I enjoyed having a book with more female Deryni characters, something I felt was lacking in the earlier novels. There is the enigmatic Jessamy-can she or can she not be trusted, even though she was a close friend of Alyce's late mother Countess Stevana? There is the Queen Richeldis, who evidently has the maturity and breadth of mind to make a good marriage with the imperfect and much older Donal, and give him several children in the bargain. And most importantly, we meet the demoiselles de Corwyn, Alyce, Marie and Vera. I look forward to seeing more of Lady Alyce in the second novel, and of Vera, as well. I also liked the glimpse of Brion Haldane as a child in this novel, as I've been curious about him for years. I am eager to see him as a King and adult in the next two books, and to find out how his friendship with Alaric will evolve. And of course, I look forward to watching Alaric Morgan's early life.

Katherine Kurtz newest Deryni book is really written for fans of the Deryni series. The first half of the book concentrates on Deryni bloodlines and the marriages of state made in her kingdom of Gwynedd. For Deryni fans, the book gives you an overview of the parents and grandparents of your favorite characters. There are several surprises in the book, but no real major conflicts. By trying to introduce so many characters, Kurtz fails to develop any of them fully(with the exception of Alyce de Corwyn)and she does not provide the same endearing portraits as her previous Deryni books. Interesting details like the story of the renegade Deryni Lewys ap Norfal are mysteriously absent (unless you read her other book Deryni Tales). So the book is a bit tiresome for all but the most dedicated fans. While I think the rest of the series will be better, this book should only be read by dedicated fans.

I loved this book. It has been a while since I read the Deryni series and this was a great refresher. It was very interesting to take a peek into the earlier histories of all the characters. The book delivered exactly what it said it would, a look back. A definite must read.

The book is that it is emotionally dead; characters barely react to events at all, and none of the characters are fleshed out enough that it matters what happens to them. Most notable for the first is Alyce's total non-response to Donal's attempted physical and psychic rape (and the non-response of all the other characters who are aware of it), and for the second the way the murder of a small boy falls completely flat.
The book starts a variety of potentially interesting plots and drops them, never to be seen again. Plot events are largely predictable, and one major plot event is a poorly-done rehash of Kevin and Bronwyn from the first book; it comes out of nowhere, goes nowhere, and is never mentioned again, occuring solely to kill off a character in a rather bizarre and improbable fashion. And the romance between Alyce and Kenneth Morgan is rather peculiar and unbelievable itself.
What's missing, here, is a sense that Kurtz really cares about the Deryni universe any longer or that she really wanted to write this book.