HIGH MAGIC - AND LOW

A sweeping tale of romance and sorcery in the imaginary kingdom of Gwynedd - where the mysterious forces of magic and the superior power of the Church combine to challenge the rule of young Kelson, who came to the throne when his father was brutally murdered by the sorceress Charissa.

The fate of the Seryni - a quasi-mortal race of sorcerers - and, indeed, the fate of the Eleven Kingdoms rests on Kelson's ability to quash the rebellion by fair means of foul... even by the proscribed use of magic!

"IT'S CLEAR THAT KATHERINE KURTZ IS A
GREAT NEW TALENT IN THE FIELD OF FANTASY.
THE BOOKS HAVE THE PROMISE OF
TOLKIEN OR EDDISON..."
- Bestsellers

The number of the Deryni was small, very small - for they had been hounded for generations, their very identity kept secret for so long that many who were of Deryni blood did not know it.  Those who did, those few who had managed to retain their arcane powers, concealed their background - for bitter persecution once again swept the land of Gwynedd, inspired by a raving fanatic sworn to destroy all Deryni in a final bloodbath.

"IT'S CLEAR THAT KATHERINE KURTZ IS A
GREAT NEW TALENT IN THE FIELD OF FANTASY.
THE BOOKS HAVE THE PROMISE OF
TOLKIEN OR EDDISON..."
- Bestsellers

With young King Kelson on the hrone of Gwynedd, the priesthood of the Eleven Kingdoms feels its control deeply threatened, for Kelson is half-Deryni - part of the race of humans gifted with extrasensory powers, a race that ruled two centuries earlier, but was dethroned and driven underground.  So, the battle for final power is about to break into open conflict, led by the Church which equates the supernatural powers of the Deryni with witchcraft and heresy!

Deryni
Kingmaker

Camber was the greatest of the Deryni - that race of men who were gifted with arcane mental powers that set them above normal humans.  In later legends, he was to become a figure of mystery, known as both the patron saint of dark magic and the defender of humanity.  But now he sought only retirement on his family estates.

But it was not to be.

The kingdom of Gwynedd groaned under the tyranny of Imre and his sister and mistress, Ariella.  Normal humans were savagely persecuted by the king, whose Deryni ancestors had seized the throne from the rightful human Haldane line.  Camber could not even save his own son from the murderous treachery of Imre.

Then Camber learned that Cinhil Haldane, a descendant of the previous Kings, still lived, and he realized that the only hope for the kingdom lay in overthrowing Imre and setting Cinhil on the throne.

Grimly Camber set out to locate Cinhil and spirit him away from the only life he ever knew to lead him into a struggle that seemed doomed from the start.

THE FINAL
SACRIFICE

Camber of Culdi, master of arcane Deryni powers, should have been content.  When Imre's evil reign threatened to destroy the Kingdom of Gwynedd, Camber had led the successful revolt against him and had found the last heir of the human kings to replace him.  With the crowning of Cinhil, Camber's work should have been done.

But now Ariella, sister of the dead Imre, was plotting war against Cinhil.  Only Camber could thwart her evil spells.  Only Camber could guide Cinhil to unite human and Deryni forces.

Cinhil, however, was in no mood to heed Camber's advice.  He was bitter and angry with Camber for having snatched him from his monastic cell and thrust him into this struggle for power.

There seemed no hope for Gwynedd unless Camber could end the resentment of the King against him.  And the only way to accomplish that was for Camber of Culdi to die!

A NEW DERYNI NOVEL
FIRST PAPERBACK PUBLICATION

DARK AGE
DESCENDING

Camber of Culdi, most powerful of the magical Deryni race, was worried.  Twelve years before, he had "died" and assumed the form of Bishop Allister Cullen, in order to guide the human king Cinhil and ensure peace between Deryni and humans in Gwynedd.  In most ways, he and the Camberian Council he headed had been successful.

But now Cinhil was dying, leaving the kingdom to his sickly young son Alroy, in whose name a council of regents would govern.  And Camber knew those regents to be evil men, greedy for power and filled with hatred for all Deryni.  Once they ruled, no Deryni would be safe.  Already persecutions were beginning, with terror, rapine and genocide soon to follow.  Even the Church could offer no sure refuge.

The only hope of Camber and the Council lay in a discovery by the Healer Rhys, who had learned - without understanding - to block off all Deryni talents.  So blocked, some few Deryni might go underground, undetectable as other than merely human.

But that meant that the race of Deryni could be saved only by being destroyed as Deryni!

FIRST PAPERBACK PUBL.C ATION

"DEATH TO ALL DERYNI!"

Once again the Kingdom of Gwynedd under young King Kelson found itself facing the horror of war between the Church and the Deryni.  And this time, there was also the threat of revolution.

Caitrin, Pretender Queen of Meara, was plotting to free Meara from its control by Gwynedd and make it an independent kingdom.

And ex-Archbishop Loris was once again free from his prison.  To him and the fanatics of the Church, the strange, magical powers of the Deryni were evil witchcraft.  Now, backed by six of the leading bishops of the land, he was conspiring to exterminate half-Deryni King Kelson and all his Deryni friends.

It looked as if even all the young King's Deryni powers might not be enough to save the peace of Gwynedd.

"AN INCREDIBLE HISTORICAL TAPESTRY OF A WORLD THAT NEVER WAS AND OF IMMENSELY VITAL PEOPLE WHO OUGHT TO BE!"
Anne McCaffrey

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FIRST PAPERBACK PUBLICATION

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A ROYAL TANGLE

In theory, young Kelson Haldane, King of Gwynedd and heir to both royal and Deryni magical powers, should have been the most fortunate man alive.  Instead, he found himself embroiled in the double ugliness of civil and religious war.

Ex-Archbishop Loris sought Kelson's death as a prelude to another long reign of terror, claiming that all Deryni talents were witchcraft from the Devil.  Allied to him, the Pretender Queen Caitrin led a rebellion designed to rip the province of Meara from the control of Gwynedd.

While Kelson led his forces against the armies of Loris and Caitrin, his uncle was facing other enemies bent on assassination and rebellion.  And a member of the mysterious Camberian Council was training one of Kelson's family in potential subversion.

In Gwynedd, being King and Deryni was no sinecure!

FIRST TIME IN PAPERBACK

THE IMPOSSIBLE SAINT

Time after time, the legendary Camber - one-time Saint of the half-magic race of Deryni - had intervened in the affairs of young Kelson, King of Gwynedd.  Yet Camber was known to have died two hundred years before!

Now Kelson set forth with his blood brother Dhugal to search out relics of this mysterious patron of his, leaving his uncle Nigel to rule in his absence.

Then word came that Kelson and Dhugal had fallen from a crumbling cliff during a storm.  No trace of their bodies could be found in the raging waters below.  The king was dead and Nigel must become king.

But to Conall, son of Nigel, the temptation of the throne was too great.  In rage, he struck down his father with secretly gained Deryni power.  Now he would be king!

But Conall had overlooked Saint Camber...

FIRST TIME IN PAPERBACK

THE PERILOUS SPELL

Evil times had come for the Deryni, the humans with strange, magical powers.  The Regents of the boy-king Alroy sought the destruction of all that race.  And now Bishop Mister Cullen was dead, depriving Deryni of their greatest friend, for that was the body that Camber of Culdi had worn for twelve long years.

But neither Camber's daughter Evaine nor his son Father Joram could be sure.  Camber's body lay unchanged and incorruptible.  Was it a sign that he had worked a final spell to hold off death?  Or had Camber really become a saint?

Whatever was true, the effort to save the Deryni had to continue.  There was a way - dangerous and uncertain - to remove the Deryni powers from many so that they could pass as merely human, to scatter into anonymity and survive.

While that great effort went forward, Evaine pursued the most perilous quest of all - to find among ancient forbidden scrolls the spell that might release Camber.  The price to fail - or to succeed - was unthinkable.  But Evaine was prepared to pay it.

FIRST PAPERBACK PUBLICATION

The Princess in
the Tower

The power-hungry former Regents of the three Haldane princes were pleased.  They controlled Gwynedd once more, now that Rhys Michael was king - malleable, wine-loving, and soft.  Or so they thought...

Unbeknownst to the Regents, Rhys Michael was coming into his birthright.  With secret Deryni aid, he struggled to grasp the magic bequeathed to all anointed kings.  And when Marek - heir to Gwynedd's last degenerate deposed Deryni despots - marched into Gwynedd at the head of an army, even the Regents had to admit that Rhys Michael must take to the field himself as king to repel the pretender.

Rhys Michael saw his chance at last.  He swore that the power of the throne - from now on and for all time to come - was to be held by Gwynedd's rightful king.  For this, for his sons, and for his country, the king would risk all...

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FIRST PAPERBACK PUBLICATION

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"At her best Kurtz's love of history lets her do things with her characters and their world that no nonhistorian could hope to do." - CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

This is a tale of an earlier time in the kingdom of Gwynedd, a time before the magical Deryni were persecuted as evil beings, before they were hounded nearly out of existence, before those of Deryni blood feared to let it be known.

"Exquisitely detailed." -PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

In those days, the Deryni Council took a hand in the affairs of state, albeit secretly.  There were Deryni at court and some of the lords of the land claimed Deryni heritage.

"A vital continuation to the saga." -BOOKLIST

But the king, Donal Haldane, ruled over all with a casual ruthlessness.  He expected much of himself, as a ruler, as a warrior, and as the father of future kings.  And he expected the same of those in his service - human and Deryni alike - in spite of the web of royal intrigue that threatened to ensnare them all...

"[A] great Deryni tale." -THE BEST REVIEWS

"TERRIFIC MEDIEVAL REALISM."
-Publishers Weekly

Feared by the populace of Gwynedd and viewed with deep suspicion by the Church, the magical Deryni have no allies, yet they are quick to scorn the half-human, half-Deryni Alaric Morgan.  Under the king's protection, Alaric has a future mapped out for him that should ensure his survival.  For his Deryni blood makes him ideal to safeguard the powers of the Haldane kings and ensure that Prince Brion shall have the protection of his hereditary magic.

But Alaric is only four years old...

"Kurtz's fans will celebrate this continuation of
In the King's Service." - Booklist

"Interesting... a fascinating character."  - Midwest Book Review