Customer Reviews

Deryni Checkmate

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The middle piece of a work in a trilogy is usually less satisfying than its bookend pieces simply because you know nothing will be resolved until the third work. In Deryni Checkmate this attribute is not so glaring as it could've been. Kurtz has written a novel that stands alone or as part of the series.

Deryni Checkmate takes up right where Deryni Rising left off as King Kelson tries to organize his kingdom after defeating an evil sorceress. He has many problems working on his mind. First, the powerful Archbishop Loris is using the chaos to further his end of getting rid of all Deryni or at least making them renounce their powers. Similar to Adolph Hitler and the Jews, Loris uses the Deryni as a scapegoat for everything evil in the world. He is also covertly supplying aid to a rebel leader, Warin, who believes he was appointed by God to wipe all Deryni off the face of the earth. So what if Warin believes that he is a messiah? Loris believes he can control him. Also, Wencit of Torenth, a Deryni lord, plans to start a war for the opposite reason, to extend Deryni rule over all humanity for once and for all. Can you blame him? The Deryni have been slaughtered and harassed for 200 years.

The Church's first order of business is to isolate Kelson from his best friend and mentor, Morgan. His offense? Practicing Deryni magic out in the open, a blasphemy against God. In this novel, Kelson is really not the main character. Instead, Kurtz focuses on the adventures of Morgan and his cousin, the priest Duncan as they try desperately to evade the Church and Warin and still be able to help the young king see his way through what is rapidly developing into a civil war.

Deryni Checkmate is a more psychological novel than Deryni Rising, focusing instead on the moral decisions facing the characters than swordfights. What I like about this fantasy world is that it is fantasy without all the magical unicorns and orcs and goblins that fluff most of the genre. It has more to do with the relations between two races. The series is also a cautionary tale about the power of the Church. When the Church serves as a brake for society, a force to hold us back until we are wise enough to use power for good, it's positive. When the Church becomes an Exterminator, a prosecutor, it becomes a servant of evil.

This is a good series. I don't know why it's currently out of print. Well, I guess there is a reason. It doesn't sell. It's too bad. You can always pick them up at used bookstores or here on Amazon. The next book in the series is High Deryni.

Someone once told me "Women can't write good fantasy because they're afraid to kill your favorite characters" ... I then introduced him to Katherine Kurtz and the Deryni. I never heard that statement again.

I have been reading this epic saga over and over again for 20 years, and I will be reading them over and over again for the next 20 years.

Katherine Kurtz's blending of "Magic" with fact based "Church" ritual and her use of real medieval living truly makes you feel that the Kingdom of Gwynedd could truly have existed.

If you are looking for a series of books that you just cannot put down, these will keep you on the edge of your seat turning pages well into the wee hours of the morning. Though I must warn you to never assume what will happen next; and I advise always having a tissue on hand just in case.

With this book, Kurts takes Deryni Rising, and transitions it from stand alone novel to introduction to a series, and she does a good job of it as well. There are many possible threads left over from the first book, and she picked them up adeptly.

Since there exists in Gwynned a race of Sorcerers known as the Deryni, there would exist people who hate and/or fear them. In this world they are found largely in the church. This sets up a conflict between the King and his Archbishop, the two single most powerful individuals in the kingdom. That all of this happens on the eve of war makes it more stressful for King Kelson, and Archbishop Loris would rather go down in flames than compromise.

The allegories that can be made for racism are abundant and clear, as the status of Deryni is inherited, so can one be held responsible for an accident of birth?

I just read this series because I had picked up "The Harrowing of Gwynnedd" in a second-hand store and really enjoyed it. Boy, is it obvious that this was written by a much younger writer. The plot is interesting, the action fast-paced, but the writing is pretty awful. Let's face it, having the villain stand on a hill and shake his fist at the escaping hero is so cliched as to be embarrassing. Read it only to fill in the background for the other books.

I think part of the reason the other people here give it such a low rating is because so many tragic incidents occur and that disagrees with them. It's not as fast-moving as Deryni Rising, and they expected it to be so. I agree, it's not the best book in the series, but there are some very good scenes in it, and it is necessary to read this book to understand what happens in the final book, High Deryni. Now, that book is really worth reading, and you can't appreciate it as well if you haven't read this book. There are some new characters in Deryni Checkmate that become very important later on, and some of the characters from Deryni Rising are elaborated on. I find it very entertaining to read the development of these characters. They can easily become favorites (as they have for me) if you can appreciate the trials they go through in this book.

King Kelson of Gwynedd faces a war on two fronts: a Church led internal rebellion, and an invasion from a neighboring land; while covert forces loom in the background, in volume two of The Chronicles of the Dernyni, Deryni Checkmate. It is an excellent story, with complex plots and subplots. Treachery and intrigue abound, while courage and honor are put to the test. This is the cliffhanger that concludes in High Deryni. A definite must read...

This book focuses on the anceint battle of church versus state, and it's effects on Mrs. Kurtz magical kingdom of Gwynedd. Unfortunately for the characters involved the age old battle hasn't yet been solved, and there doesn't seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

To read this one you would almost have to have read the previous novels in the series. Mrs. Kurtz usually recaps well enough to make it possible for her readers to pick-up the series mid-stream, but the plot thus far must have become too involved. Still, this remains a very well written book, and you will finish it wanting more.

I'm am sitting here wondering if those people who gave this book such a bad review even read it; or perhaps they didn't understand it. I will be the first to admit that it is not her best work ever done, but it is far from the worst book ever written either. This novel has quite a few unpleasant moments in it, but that is part of the story the author is trying to portray. how true to life would it seem if everything in all of the novels was always peaches and cream? I think Mrs. Kurtz is an amazing author because she is willing to write the bad events with the good. This novel is definately worth the read and highly recommended.

A well-done, suspenseful, entertaining book. I must disagree with the reviewers who gave it a low rating. It requires concentration to fully understand the plot with all of its subplots. The conflicts of the persecution of the Deryni and the threat towards Alaric Morgan's duchy are continually entertaining. The end is clearly a cliffhanger (and an excellent, though sad one) leading up to the next book, High Deryni. A must-read.

Kelson is now a young king. It takes pretty much zero time before he has problems with those annoying church wankers.

An archbishop is up in arms, wanting one of the nobles to basically not be Deryni.

Threats of excommunication, conflict, and running around ensue, as well as magical stuffups, executions, and outright battle. Not a good time for all, by any stretch.