Customer Reviews

Time of Exile (Deverry Cycle Westlands 1)

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Although I've read all of the Deverry series books that were published, this was the first in the series I ever read.

I was raised on C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and later discovered for myself Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I still remember the evening seven years ago when I opened A Time of Exile and read the prologue about the dwarven smith. I knew from the style and the tone that this was a work of some scope and that I had to decide then and there to follow the series or give this book away and forget the whole thing.

I've followed the series through and have not been disappointed. No other modern author of fantasy has had the ability to hold my attention for so long. There is a feeling of authenticity in every concept that is brought to our attention. We feel, truly, the joy and anguish of the main characters. We chortle madly with Rhodry when the berserk rage takes hold of him, and feel Lilli's despair and guilt about Maryn. And yes, we share the tedium of long sea voyages. Other authors have been flayed for less.

I am, admittedly, a very slow reader. I linger over passages and often have to put a book down to let what has transpired in the past few pages sink in. An average paperback novel will take me a few months to finish; it took me about three weeks to finish The Black Wyvern.

One can recognize that certain passages in the Deverry series are borrowed from pop culture; a scene from the movie Lawnmower Man and the Battle of Agincourt to name two. But where others might be accused of plagiarism, Ms. Kerr manages to pull it off and weaves them elegantly into her tapestry and keep us waiting hungrily for more.

This book, and the rest of the series kept me in a daze whilst I read them, for some time. I read this book first, but in fact there are four books that come before this one, and they are all very very good, well worth reading and very readable. It's the sort of series where you finish one book aand rush onto the next - they take you so deeply into the lives of the charaters - I loved it, didn't want to finish reading it, and WANT MORE PLEASE, KATHERINE KERR! (How about a last one to finish - suggested title: A Time Of Peace (Days of peace and plenty) to follow A Time Of War? This got a ten for keeping me involved, entertained and enthralled, in fact I've read the whole series (now 9 books) twice... I can't believe it's out of print at Amazon books, we can still get it in Britain with no problems

The world of Deverry: an intricate tapestry of fate, past lives, and unfathomable magic. With A Time of Exile, Katharine Kerr opens hew territory in the Deverry saga, exploring the history of the Elcyion Lacar, the elves who inhabit the country west of Deverry. It is years since the half-elven Lord Rhodry took the throne of Aberwyn. When Rhodry's lost lover, Jill--now a powerful wizard-- comes to Aberwyn and tells him it's time e accepted his elven heritage, Rhodry faces the most difficult choice of this life.

But with Jill's help and that of a human wizard named Aderyn who has lived for years in the Westlands, Rhodry begins to understand how his life is connected not just to his own people, but to the Elcyion Lacar as well. At last, destiny begins to unravel its secrets, revealing Aderyn's true purpose among the elves--and the gods' deeper design behind Rhodry's dual heritage.

In Deverry the volatile history of humanity continues as a dashing young king journeys to his throne in disguise, fulfilling ancient prophecy. In the Westlands the exiled lord Rhodry travels anonymously as a silver dagger--a mercenary--as he did in his youth, following a destiny that will take him from the grassy plains of the elven peoples to the hills and towns of Deverry, where dark forces are gathering. And from the shadowy land of the Guardians come omens, ill-defined and mysterious, that seem to point the way toward cataclysmic war...

It charts the progress of the Deverry civil wars during the ninth century, and especially focuses on the return of the true king--Maryn--to dun Cerrmor and his marriage to teh young Bellyra; of Rhodry's adventurings as a silver dagger during the wars; and of the strange talisman entrusted to his keeping. And we meet once more the seductive and infuriating Salamander as he searches for and finds a lost love; and witness the beginning of Jill's search for the lost elves of the Southern Isles.

Katherine Kerr's writing takes a bit of getting used to, but it's worth the effort. She approaches her stories with a Celtic storytelling mindset, which means she conveys events according to their significance to the story, as opposed to chronologically. Consequently, while the stories begin in the "present" (which is an elastic concept, anyway, in a fantasy setting), the events unfold, chapter wise, both in the "present" and in the distant past. This can be frustrating, at first, but Kerr's writing is heavily steeped in Pagan and Western Mystery tradition, and the Celtic setting (and mindset) of her characters means that time, or chronological time, is not essentially relevant. To be honest, I found the first book infuriating, as I spent a lot of time trying to adjust to the writing style. However, I found the story engrossing enough that I persevered, and by the second book was so hooked I've read all ten in her three series.

Kerr's story evolves around the concept of reincarnation, and unfinished business, and "karma", and fate. The same souls recur again and again, just in new bodies, over the course of the centuries over which the story unfolds.

Kerr's world is one of High Fantasy, populated by Elves, Men, and Dwarves, as well as faeries/elementals, which she terms the "Wildfolk". However, hers is a slightly more dark, dangerous and less clear cut world than the works of other High Fantasy authors, not the least due to the fact that someone who was your friend in a former life can re-emerge in the story centuries later as a foe, and vice versa. There is a tremendous amount of magic, but it's the magic of the Western Mystery tradition (quite a bit of Golden Dawn and even Enochiana), and that of R.J. Stewarts Faery tradition. There are dragons, and giant beast men.

The Elves are a fallen race, driven out of their magnificent and palatial cities centuries before by invaders, and who now roam the plains as primitives. They possess the potential to be superlative magicians, but the knowledge was lost in the fall of their civilization. Humans, though warlike and shorter lived, have preserved this knowledge, but guard it jealously. The Wildfolk, basically magic incarnate, are unhinged from the effects of "karma", but lack permanence of personality, and cannot grow or develop, cursed to stagnation. The Dwarves are a secretive mystery, entrenched within the earth. Each has something to offer the other, and the story that unfolds is the story of this "technology" exchange, of sorts, between them.

Fans of Marion Zimmer Bradley, who clearly influenced Kerr, will be enraptured by this series, as will fans of Kate Eliott, who Kerr, herself, clearly influenced. It's phenomenal! Devotees of the New Age, Esoteric or Occult will find themselves nodding and smiling as they read, and sincerely hoping Kerr's writing will do for the Western Mystery and Faery traditions what Bradley's has done for Wicca.

I confess that unlike other reviewers, this is my introduction to the Deverry series. That makes no difference--I'm hooked now!

Kerr's writing style is impressive--I love the shifts of time and focus she uses. I found her characters were well-crafted and her storyline well thought-out. And I liked the fact that she doesn't rely on the usual chapter-style divisions in her work, a method which often becomes tedious after awhile.

I'm all for reading the rest of the series now--just let me at it!

I've loved every book I've read of Katherine Kerr in her Deverry series, and this one is no exception. It focuses on new characters and new story lines rather than dragging out the stories from earlier books (which she kindly resolved in a few books). If you like celtic-based fantasy, then you should be reading Kerr!

In contrast to the previous book, "The Dragon Revenant," which took place entirely in the 'present,' "A Time of Exile" takes places almost entirely in the past. Moreover, it skips pretty far back in time, to events we've already seen from Nevyn's perspective, and tells us what was happening in the Westlands at that time. This is the real start of the weaving of timelines; up until now, the flashbacks have been fairly linear. Now we're jumping all over the place, and all over the map, too. I happen to love this; I can understand, however, if some people give up in hopeless confusion.

We open about forty years after the close of "Revenant," which had Rhodry inheriting the powerful title of Gwerbret of Aberwyn and Jill leaving to study dweomer with Nevyn - the culmination of her destiny, and the fulfillment of Nevyn's 400-year-old vow. Now, however, Rhodry's secret half-elven blood threatens to betray him. An aged Jill returns and tells him point blank that he must leave Aberwyn before his semi-eternal youth gives him away. Reluctantly, Rhodry takes up the silver dagger again and follows Jill west to the lands of his father.

There they meet Aderyn, the human dweomermaster who has lived most of his life with the elves. And from there, we jump back to Aderyn's early apprenticeship with Nevyn, his destiny with the elves, his love affair with the powerful elven dweomermaster Dallandra (who will return later), and the birth of his son, Loddlaen, who if you remember started all the trouble that brought Jill and Rhodry together way back in "Daggerspell." See how it all starts to fit together? We also get several more of Rhodry's past lives, in which we see the pattern emerge of an ordinary man whose life seems destined to always become entangled with, and often ruined by, the dweomer.

After the somewhat pale "Revenant," I found this installment in the series to be a bracing, complex breath of fresh air. I love seeing known events from a new perspective; I love the insight we get into the elves and their way of life. (Anyone else notice that they seem to be based heavily on Native American culture? Just curious.) As the start to the second act of the Deverry series, "A Time of Exile" is a wonderful portent of what's to come.

Once you start you will never stop hungering for more of Katharine Kerr' books. I have been hooked ever since I read Daggerspell and now I am making a collection of the whole series. This is excellent reading. Please KK give us all some more, lots more.

Katherine Kerr is tops for this style of writing. Her world is a rich reality of action and magic that comes alive in her writing. Her style and plot devices are excellent and there is a wonderful attention to detail that makes the books easy to get addicted to. A great read, perfect for vacations or long dark nights

This volume is the first of the Westlands group, but Kerr's nonlinear braided storytelling style loops back and forth in time to resolve mysteries left open from volumes 1 (DAGGERSPELL) and 3 (THE BRISTLING WOOD).

Rhodry, being not only half-elven but lucky enough to have lived through his battles, has reached an age where his long-lived elven heritage is beginning to show: he's still in his prime, and people are beginning to talk. Jill, now a dweomermaster in her own right, confronts him with the need to fake his own death and leave Deverry, rather than have the truth about his right to Aberwyn (or rather, lack thereof) come out. (Nevyn, having fulfilled his ancient vow, finally passed on to his next life.) The best place for Rhodry to go is to his father's people out on the grasslands, leading to Kerr's first detailed treatment of the Elcyon Lacar, known as 'elves', and fulfilling the prophecy that he would die twice.

Apart from the 'present', with Rhodry, the main thread follows Aderyn. Naturally enough, when the elven kingdoms of the far west and south were destroyed by the Hordes, driving the elves out into the grasslands, they lost nearly everything, including much of their knowledge of dweomer. Aderyn, as a human apprentice passing his final dweomer test, was given a destiny to travel west and 'make restitution'. (This picks up a thread from THE BRISTLING WOOD).

We finally see the beginnings of things: how Aderyn's son, Loddlaen, began to go wrong, leading much later to the events in DAGGERSPELL (and even how the ruined fortress out on the edge of the grasslands came to be there). We meet the Guardians for the first time, one of whom first got the dwarven silver ring from Rhodry's then-current incarnation, only to give it back a few generations later when it was needed.

Nevyn really wasn't lying about 'a trace of elven blood in the Maelwaedds'; upon his first return to Deverry from Bardek after Maryn's death, he travels to Cannobaen, the Maelwaedds' home, to begin creating what will later be the Great Stone of the West. (For the stone's fate, see DARKSPELL; for where Nevyn got the idea, follow the thread of the Time of Troubles, which begins in THE BRISTLING WOOD).

We also see how matters were finally resolved between Maddyn and Bellyra: not in those incarnations during the Time of Troubles, but after their rebirths and next meeting in Cannobaen. As for Rhodry's current incarnation, now that he's out on the grasslands, some incidents from past lives are beginning to crop up, and Aderyn fears he may think to ask the question nobody should ask about death unless they're ready to face the dweomer...

I've been reading this series since 1998, and love it. Having it available in eBook format is a fantastic plus; I'm on limited space, and need to cut back on the physical volumes.

Unfortunately, this Kindle edition - unlike the physically printed "dead tree" edition - is marred by myriad typos and formatting errors. Some of them are minor (using the wrong apostrophe for abbreviations; hyphenation marks where they don't belong); some are more significant (spelling mistakes, probably from OCR errors that weren't caught on a proof-read; poor text flow - missing paragraph breaks and similar.)

The book itself - indeed, the entire series - is a fantastic read, and well worth the asking price. Sadly, the eBook edition needs more polish before it can be called a properly finished product. The same applies to the other three books in the Westlands cycle of the overall series (I haven't yet bought the other 11 books for my Kindle.)