Deverry--Whole Series Discussion

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

This topic is for any comments about the series overall. Favorite book? Character? Storyline? Strengths? Weaknesses? and so on...

The books included:
Deverry (4 books): Daggerspell, Darkspell, The Bristling Wood (aka Dawnspell), The Dragon Revenant (aka Dragonspell)

The Westlands (4 books): A Time of Exile, A Time of Omens, Days of Blood and Fire (aka A Time of War), Days of Air and Darkness (aka A Time of Justice)

The Dragon Mage (3 books): The Red Wyvern, The Black Raven, The Fire Dragon

The Silver Wyrm (4 books): The Gold Falcon, The Spirit Stone, The Shadow Isle, The Silver Mage

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

My main gripe--MAPS!! There were some in a few of the early books I read, but they really just showed Deverry and the other "kingdoms" of the humans. I wanted to see how all the places fit together as the story widened to include the elves/People, dwarves/Mountain Folk, Horsekin, refugees from the ancient cities of the People, even the otter-folk.

I could not follow where some of the places were in relation to each other. In some stories, that may not matter, but in this story, where much was made of armies marching, messengers being sent, outposts being defended, and journeys of key characters as well as general migrations of peoples, the location of cities, villages, and outposts was critical.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Favorite: I really loved Arzosah as a character and, just as I did when I read the first 2 arcs years ago, really liked the storylines individuals of the People.

[Chris, Moderator]

I totally agree with your "maps" comment. It would have been much easier to keep things straight in my mind.

[Chris, Moderator]

As I reflect back over the characters, I appreciate their complexity more and more. I admire many of them, but each had something that annoyed me as well. I liked Rhodry for the way he threw his whole self into a situation, but the "My Lady Death" thing was too much. I admired Jill for her dedication, but felt she was a bit callous to Rhodry. Nevyn's vast learning was a help to everyone, but caused a problem for Neb. For Arzosah -- well, I liked her, thought she was a good dragon!

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Chris wrote: "As I reflect back over the characters, I appreciate their complexity more and more. I admire many of them, but each had something that annoyed me as well. I liked Rhodry for the way he threw his wh..."

I guess that is part of what made the character, for the most part, 3 dimensional--they were admirable and annoying. And, of course, with the reincarnations, we have characters who were despicable but had the opportunity to choose a different path, even if they were unaware of it, or only partially aware.

[Shel, Moderator]

Kathi wrote: "with the reincarnations, we have characters who were despicable but had the opportunity to choose a different path, even if they were unaware of it, or only partially aware. "

I loved this aspect of the whole series. It wasn't just Nevyn who had to atone for his mistakes and bring Jill to her dweomer studies. You had Sidro, who had been Raena but is much more likeable in her newer incarnation, Laz, who it is implied is en route to redemption (though I would have liked more of that), even Evandar, who we find out in this last book got himself tangled up with Rhodorix & Gerontos waaaay back in prehistory.

I wish we had learned more about the changelings and their fate in the future.