''Deryni Rising'' is a

historical fantasy Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Arthur ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-born author

Katherine Kurtz Katherine Irene Kurtz (born October 18. 1944) is an American fantasy writer, author of sixteen historical fantasy novels in the ''Deryni'' series, as well as occult and urban fantasy. Resident in Ireland for over twenty years, she moved to Virgi ...

. It was first published by

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

as the nineteenth volume of the

Ballantine Adult Fantasy series The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of American publisher Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969 (presumably in response to the growing popularity of Tolkien's works), the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature which ...

in August 1970, and was reprinted at least ten times over the next three decades. In 2004, the author released a revised and updated edition of the novel that was published by

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

. ''Deryni Rising'' was the first of Kurtz'

Deryni novels The Deryni novels are a series of historical fantasy novels by the American author Katherine Kurtz. The first novel in the series to be published was ''Deryni Rising'' in 1970, and the most recent, ''The King's Deryni'', was published in 2014. A ...

to be published, though some of her later works served as prequels, detailing events that occurred before the time period of ''Deryni Rising''. As a result, the storyline of the ''Childe Morgan Trilogy'' immediately precedes ''Deryni Rising'', despite the fact that it was published over thirty years after the first novel.

Plot introduction

The novel is set in the land of Gwynedd, one of the fictional Eleven Kingdoms. Gwynedd itself is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

kingdom similar to the British Isles of the 12th century, with a powerful Holy Church (based on the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

), and a

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

government ruled by a hereditary

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...

. The population of Gwynedd includes both humans and

Deryni The Deryni novels are a series of historical fantasy novels by the American author Katherine Kurtz. The first novel in the series to be published was ''Deryni Rising'' in 1970, and the most recent, ''The King's Deryni'', was published in 2014. A ...

, a race of people with inherent psychic and magical abilities who have been shunned and persecuted for centuries. The book takes place almost entirely within Gwynedd's capital city of Rhemuth, and deals primarily with the struggle of young Prince Kelson Haldane to secure his throne from the machinations of a Deryni usurper.

Plot summary

The book covers a two-week period in November 1120, beginning with the death of King Brion Haldane while leading a hunting party outside the city of Rhemuth. Immediately following Brion's death, his son and heir, Prince Kelson sends for his father's closest friend and advisor,

Alaric Morgan The following is a list of characters in the Deryni series of historical fantasy novels by Katherine Kurtz. The 10th century section includes characters from the ''Legends of Saint Camber'' and ''Heirs of Saint Camber'' trilogies, while the 12th ...

, the

Duke of Corwyn. Morgan arrives shortly before Kelson's coronation, but his efforts to assist the prince are interrupted by Kelson's mother, Queen Jehana. However, Kelson manages to thwart Jehana's attempts to imprison Morgan, and the duke resumes his efforts to protect Kelson. Morgan informs Kelson that Brion had wielded magical powers of his own, despite the fact that Brion was not Deryni. Known as " the Haldane potential", it is a trait of the Haldane line to acquire Deryni-like powers once they have been activated in the subject. Morgan believes that Brion designed a magical ritual to awaken those powers in Kelson. Furthermore, Morgan suspects that Kelson will need those powers to defend himself from Princess Charissa Furstána-Festila, a Deryni sorceress who intends to attack Kelson during his coronation and claim the throne of Gwynedd. During the course of the night, Morgan and his cousin, Monsignor

Duncan McLain The following is a list of characters in the Deryni series of historical fantasy novels by Katherine Kurtz. The 10th century section includes characters from the ''Legends of Saint Camber'' and ''Heirs of Saint Camber'' trilogies, while the 12th ...

, attempt to decipher the clues left by Brion. After a bloody encounter in the royal crypt, the cousins discover that they both possess the Deryni talent for Healing, an ability that has been lost for two centuries. They eventually attempt to activate Kelson's magical abilities, but are disappointed when the ritual appears to fail. Later that night, Morgan encounters Charissa in the palace and the sorceress proudly admits to murdering Brion. During Kelson's coronation the following morning, Charissa appears and challenges the prince to a Duel Arcane, an ancient form of magical combat. Morgan attempts to answer the challenge in his role as King's Champion, but Charissa's own champion seriously wounds the Deryni duke before being defeated, leaving Morgan unable to deal with Charissa herself. However, seeing her son's danger, Jehana attacks Charissa with magic, revealing that her fanatical hatred of Deryni has concealed her own Deryni heritage. Nonetheless, Charissa easily defeats Jehana, and Kelson is forced to personally duel with the sorceress. As the combat is about to begin, Kelson suddenly unravels the last of his father's clues and activates his own powers. Using both his Haldane powers and his newly discovered Deryni heritage, Kelson manages to defeat Charissa. With the Pretender now dead, Kelson is crowned as King of Gwynedd.

Characters

*Prince Kelson Haldane: Prince of Gwynedd and heir of King Brion Haldane *Duke

: Duke of Corwyn and Lord General of the Royal Armies, close friend and advisor of King Brion, maternal cousin of Duncan McLain *Monsignor

: Priest of the Holy Church of Gwynedd, tutor to Prince Kelson, maternal cousin of Alaric Morgan *Duchess Charissa Furstána-Festila: Duchess of Tolán and the Festillic Pretender *Earl Ian Howell: Earl of Eastmarch *Queen Jehana: mother of Prince Kelson and widow of King Brion *Archbishop Edmund Loris: Archbishop of Valoret and Primate of All Gwynedd *Earl Sean "Derry" O'Flynn: Earl of Derry and aide to Alaric Morgan *Prince Nigel Haldane: Prince of Gwynedd and Duke of Carthmoor, brother of King Brion and uncle of Prince Kelson

Awards and nominations

''Deryni Rising'' was a finalist for the 1971

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award The Mythopoeic Awards for literature and literary studies are given annually for outstanding works in the fields of myth, fantasy, and the scholarly study of these areas. Established by the Mythopoeic Society in 1971, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Awar ...

for outstanding work in the field of fantasy literature. The other finalists were

Lloyd Alexander Lloyd Chudley Alexander (January 30, 1924 – May 17, 2007) was an American author of more than 40 books, primarily fantasy novels for children and young adults. Over his seven-decade career, Alexander wrote 48 books, and his work has been tran ...

's ''The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian'' and

Roger Zelazny Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...

's ''

Nine Princes in Amber ''Nine Princes in Amber'' is a fantasy novel by American writer Roger Zelazny, the first in the ''Chronicles of Amber'' series. It was first published in 1970, and later spawned a computer game of the same name. The first (Doubleday hardcover) ...

''. However, the award was won by Mary Stewart for her novel, ''

The Crystal Cave ''The Crystal Cave'' is a 1970 fantasy novel by Mary Stewart. The first in a quintet of novels covering the Arthurian legend, it is followed by '' The Hollow Hills''. Plot introduction The protagonist of this story is a boy named Myrddin Emrys ...

''. In 1971, ''Deryni Rising'' ranked 12th in an annual poll of ''

Locus magazine ''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy (genre ...

'' readers, placing it between

Dean Koontz Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as Thriller (genre), suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror fiction, horror, fantasy, science fiction, Mystery fiction, mystery, and satir ...

's ''Beastchild'' and D. G. Compton's ''Chronocules''. (The poll was won by

Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are ''Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, ''The Mote in God's Eye'' ...

's ''

Ringworld ''Ringworld'' is a 1970 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe and considered a classic of science fiction literature. ''Ringworld'' tells the story of Louis Wu and his companions on a mission to the Ringworld, a ...

''.) In a 1987 poll, the readers of ''Locus'' ranked ''Deryni Rising'' as the 29th greatest fantasy novel of all time, placing it in a tie with E. R. Eddison's ''

The Worm Ouroboros ''The Worm Ouroboros'' is a heroic high fantasy novel by English writer E. R. Eddison, first published in 1922. The book describes the protracted war between the domineering King Gorice of Witchland and the Lords of Demonland in an imaginary ...

''. In 1998, ''Locus'' conducted a survey to determine the greatest fantasy novels published before 1990, and ''Deryni Rising'' was ranked 30th by the magazine's readers. Both the 1987 poll and the 1998 poll were won by

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...

's ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

''.

Release details

*1970, USA,

, Paperback *1973, USA,

, Paperback *1974, USA,

, Paperback *1976, USA,

, Pub date 12 March 1976, Paperback *1978, USA,

Del Rey Books Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn, by Penguin Random House. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It ...

, Pub date 12 February 1978, Paperback *1980, USA,

, Pub date 12 May 1980, Paperback *1981, USA,

, Pub date 12 September 1981, Paperback *1984, USA,

, Pub date 12 September 1984, Paperback *1985, USA,

, Pub date 12 December 1985, Paperback *1985, UK, Century Publishing , Paperback *1985, UK, Century Publishing , Pub date 26 September 1985, Hardcover *2004, USA,

, Pub date 6 July 2004, Hardcover

References

{{deryni 1970 fantasy novels 1970 science fiction novels Deryni novels Ballantine Books books