Post by Taika of Narfell on Jan 6, 2007 5:19:12 GMT 1
Where Daggerspell left off Darkspell picks up. The first few pages, aside from starting off the story, also serve to remind the reader of what took place in the previous book; very handy if it's been a while between the two, but inconsequential if you went straight from one to the other like I did. Only once or twice did the repetition of past events seem a bit tedious, but that's to be expected and I can easily live with it.
In Daggerspell there were two time periods aside from the 'present', in Darkspell there is only one. It once again deals with reincarnation and how one's actions in one life may have grave consequences in the next, it also supplies some much needed history about the century old civil war the effects of which are still felt in the present in political relations.
Towards the end of Daggerspell Rhodry got caught in his own karma and fell for a ploy he had devised in an earlier life. This resulted in his brother the gwerbret exiling him and stripping him of rank and status. Rhodry took of to ride 'the long road' as a silver dagger, indeed he was pledged by Cullyn of Cerrmor who had regained his honour. And Jill, the adventurous lass with the tumultuous Wyrd, went with him. Rhodry's Wyrd is apparently tied to that of Eldidd - a region of the kingdom, though no one really knows what that entails. It was deducted that it was because of his Wyrd that some people tried to kill him in the previous book, and yet in Darkspell the same people of the dark dweomer have changed course and are now doing what they can to meddle with things around him without harming Rhodry. It gets very odd and very mysterious, because those who follow the Light simply trust in said Light and do not try to spy on the future like the dark dweomermen do. Thus the evil sorcerers are always a step ahead of everyone else.
The story from the past is in Darkspell a new aspect of Jill, and we are told more about one of the religions in the kingdom, namely the Priestesses of the Moon Goddess. And we can once more follow the incarnations of the now familiar characters as they play out the same story in a different way. What is significant is clear now that we've seen the third glimpse from the past; every time the story is replayed and the actors reincarnated one tangle of the mess is cleared up. One more thing is solved and removed from great equation, and the more things are sorted the more at peace with themselves can they become in the next incarnation. In the present there is only one character who can probably never be fully 'sorted', because of an inherent wrongness in his soul, it is, of course, Gerraent in the shape of Cullyn, but in the present the hardened warrior has dealt with his flaws and has come to a kind of peace.
I am very much looking forward to what the next books might bring in terms of solved knots in the past, it's really quite fascinating how Kerr manages to keep track of so many threads.
What's different about Darkspell is also that we get more of an insight into the dark. We spend some passages following the dark dweomermen, getting to know them - at least to a degree. What puzzles me, however, is that both of the main actors on the side of the darkness are killed towards the end of the book - don't worry, this is no big spoiler. I wonder if they will come back in reincarnations, since something of the sort was implied in old Nevyn's musings concerning how they died and what they did beforehand. I am quite curious to see how that will turn out.
Theme-wise there is not much changed. There is more battle in Darkspell, mainly because of the nature of the characters in the flashback, but still most of the story is told through the characters, and to her credit, Kerr makes the characters more solid with her second book, it's quite enjoyable to read.
Concerning her language and choices in description of characters I stumbled across something that sort of annoyed me. At least twice has it happened that Nevyn reacts to something in a very specific way, namely by crying and both times is it written that he felt decidedly odd and then finally realised that he was crying; something he hadn't done in a century. Nothing wrong with writing that, of course, it's really quite sad that his life has been so bleak that even being stirred to tears is a rarity, but it happens twice - in two different time periods. I no longer recall which of the 'pasts' it was, but I think both places were in Darkspell and thus must have been in the one flashback period on this book. It simply struck me when I read it that hey, I've read this before. Not good, but it's a tolerable flaw.
All in all, neither of the books are strokes of brilliance, but they are good solid 'epic fairy tales' so to speak. And the characters that were a tad weak in the first books were strengthened in this one - at least the ones that are still actors in the plot. A worthy follow-up and definitely worth reading.
In Daggerspell there were two time periods aside from the 'present', in Darkspell there is only one. It once again deals with reincarnation and how one's actions in one life may have grave consequences in the next, it also supplies some much needed history about the century old civil war the effects of which are still felt in the present in political relations.
Towards the end of Daggerspell Rhodry got caught in his own karma and fell for a ploy he had devised in an earlier life. This resulted in his brother the gwerbret exiling him and stripping him of rank and status. Rhodry took of to ride 'the long road' as a silver dagger, indeed he was pledged by Cullyn of Cerrmor who had regained his honour. And Jill, the adventurous lass with the tumultuous Wyrd, went with him. Rhodry's Wyrd is apparently tied to that of Eldidd - a region of the kingdom, though no one really knows what that entails. It was deducted that it was because of his Wyrd that some people tried to kill him in the previous book, and yet in Darkspell the same people of the dark dweomer have changed course and are now doing what they can to meddle with things around him without harming Rhodry. It gets very odd and very mysterious, because those who follow the Light simply trust in said Light and do not try to spy on the future like the dark dweomermen do. Thus the evil sorcerers are always a step ahead of everyone else.
The story from the past is in Darkspell a new aspect of Jill, and we are told more about one of the religions in the kingdom, namely the Priestesses of the Moon Goddess. And we can once more follow the incarnations of the now familiar characters as they play out the same story in a different way. What is significant is clear now that we've seen the third glimpse from the past; every time the story is replayed and the actors reincarnated one tangle of the mess is cleared up. One more thing is solved and removed from great equation, and the more things are sorted the more at peace with themselves can they become in the next incarnation. In the present there is only one character who can probably never be fully 'sorted', because of an inherent wrongness in his soul, it is, of course, Gerraent in the shape of Cullyn, but in the present the hardened warrior has dealt with his flaws and has come to a kind of peace.
I am very much looking forward to what the next books might bring in terms of solved knots in the past, it's really quite fascinating how Kerr manages to keep track of so many threads.
What's different about Darkspell is also that we get more of an insight into the dark. We spend some passages following the dark dweomermen, getting to know them - at least to a degree. What puzzles me, however, is that both of the main actors on the side of the darkness are killed towards the end of the book - don't worry, this is no big spoiler. I wonder if they will come back in reincarnations, since something of the sort was implied in old Nevyn's musings concerning how they died and what they did beforehand. I am quite curious to see how that will turn out.
Theme-wise there is not much changed. There is more battle in Darkspell, mainly because of the nature of the characters in the flashback, but still most of the story is told through the characters, and to her credit, Kerr makes the characters more solid with her second book, it's quite enjoyable to read.
Concerning her language and choices in description of characters I stumbled across something that sort of annoyed me. At least twice has it happened that Nevyn reacts to something in a very specific way, namely by crying and both times is it written that he felt decidedly odd and then finally realised that he was crying; something he hadn't done in a century. Nothing wrong with writing that, of course, it's really quite sad that his life has been so bleak that even being stirred to tears is a rarity, but it happens twice - in two different time periods. I no longer recall which of the 'pasts' it was, but I think both places were in Darkspell and thus must have been in the one flashback period on this book. It simply struck me when I read it that hey, I've read this before. Not good, but it's a tolerable flaw.
All in all, neither of the books are strokes of brilliance, but they are good solid 'epic fairy tales' so to speak. And the characters that were a tad weak in the first books were strengthened in this one - at least the ones that are still actors in the plot. A worthy follow-up and definitely worth reading.