Deverry Revisited

I didn’t expect that Deverry Series would grow indifferent to me and that I would be no longer interested in it. But having read five more novels from this universe—three from the second tetralogy, an installment of the third tetralogy, and the brand new Sword of Fire—reassured me of it sadly. Do you see already how many series is in this universe? That’s certainly the part of the problem. Because you need to know and remember so many things to enjoy reading…

It isn’t about worldbuilding or about this series being simply different from your average contemporary fantasy series. Deverry has its problems, such as lame attempts to build a gay romance between Rhodry, the main protagonist, and Evandar, a higher (?) kind of an elf, or tokenistic representation of people of colour.

But if following books failed me, they failed me on the level of the plot. It’s like knowing that you are in an interesting world described in a style which is more than decent—but you don’t know what’s going on. There are so many characters, so many subplots, so many patterns which supposedly are to lead to something… And it’s all but like the complicate plot of ASoIaF or Liveship Traders trilogy. At some level, it just gets boring, and you are no longer curious of what will happen next—no matter that there is something almost tangible in the moors, forrests and wind-swept plains of Deverry and Westlands.

As I’ve mentioned, it’s really sad because there are many intricate elements to Deverry universe. It’s one of the uniquely Celtic settings—with Celtic architecture, ortography, beliefs and social behaviour. It’s beyond bards and mysterious isles, and supposedly Celtic naming which is anglicized anyway. In Deverry, you have nothing of it. You have Gauls as they might have developed in another world. And those elements usually play quite well, especially while merged with the cultures Katharine Kerr has invented on her own, such as Westfolk, Horsekin and dwarves. You can tell them apart from one another easily, and each of them has its unique charasteristics. There are also interesting tropes about them—it seems that dwarves are actually people of colour with their “copper” skin and that Horsekin’s society is deconstructed from the stereotype of beastly barbarians to the more nuanced image of two completely different fractions. And behind it, there’s a bigger history of the whole Deverry universe, the history of old events affecting the world even after centuries. Sadly, when “contemporary” plots are so convoluted, it’s hard to see and savour this intricate pattern.

The culture of Bardek is another thing, and a problematic one. There’s a central orientalism to the descriptions of Bardekians, Black and Brown people cultivating hellenized traditions. They are learned and shrewd, they hold slaves and consider Deverrians barbaric. I must admit, still, that Katharine Kert has avoided the worst stereotype possible on people of colour—the stereotype of sav*ges threatening white people or needing those people as White Saviours. Bardekians are all but this. They resemble more the ancient advanced civilizations than anything else, and they are perceived by Deverrian folk in a clearly pre-racial way. *recalls Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling* It could have been worse, believe me. Especially as for a series started back in the 1980s.

Honestly, I prefer such attempts, sincere and clumsy at once, than series being progressive in one aspect and then failing terribly in all the other ones. I also like the way Katharine Kerr has turned her attention to the commonfolk and its rights. It’s still a rare thing in fantasy genre and her last novel, Sword of Fire, is full of young idealist Social Justice Warriors. And guess what? It’s beautiful! Nevertheless, this last novel suffers from what the previous ones have—its plot is too convoluted and side characters are drawn out not enough well. And as I’ve said, it’s sad because the universe of Deverry is very interesting.

The events taking place there aren’t that thrilling, though.