Well, I am now done with this series, having finished the last volume that I purchased. I'm amazed that I have persevered through eleven volumes of a series that I okay, but don't love. But I am grateful that I didn't find more volumes when I was buying up second hand books for my reading project.

The best part of this book was the dragon, Arzosah. Her grumbling and rumbling was very entertaining. In order to get her, I was willing to put up with Rhodry and Dallandra. I think there were only two references to pig's farts, an improvement! And there was another good feature: many fewer pages devoted to Evander and the otherworld. That whole plot line seems to have been put to bed in the last pages here (and none too soon). I never did see the sense of that aspect. Kerr also does a Shakespearean story arc with King-to-be Maryn back in Deverry. [Spoiler alert, there is a lot of dying, largely because the prince is a selfish, selfish man.]

Nevyn is still hanging in there, but he is disgusted with the king that he has helped to establish. I assume he will carry out his plans to vamoose in the next book. However, I am thrilled to say that this is none of my concern. I am free of Deverry, the Westfolk, the Guardians, Cerr Cawnen, the Horsekin, the whole lumpy lot of them!

I think there's a glass of wine in my future to celebrate!

Book number 420 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.

fantasy female-authors historical-fantasy ...more19 s Benjamin Thomas1,979 349

This 11th book in the Deverry Cycle concludes “The Dragon Mage” trilogy (Act III of the four acts that make up the entire cycle). As such, it serves well to wrap up some major plot lines as well as certain primary characters’ personal stories. We spend about half of our time in the past, finishing up the story line concerning young Lillorigga, princess Bellyra, the bard Maddyn, Prince Maryn and Nevin, the dweomer master that lives through many lifetimes. The second half of the book shifts the plot forward in time and deals with Rhodry, Dallandra, Niffa, Raena and the fire dragon Arzosah.

Potentially, building a fantasy world that revolves around reincarnation of characters, risks readers becoming numb to major character’s deaths. After all, they will simply come back in a later time, good as new, right? But the author does a fine job of avoiding that trap, building each reincarnation as a separate life and, trust me, when a character does die, it is a very emotional experience. It’s also really interesting to see how a very minor character in one time frame turns out to be a major player in another, and vice versa.

This is what I call character-driven epic fantasy. The world building, the plot and subplots, the writing itself is all very good but it is the characters that move this series into the top tier of fantasy fiction.

Another fine entry in the overall series and a good setup for the final Act, consisting of the final four books in the entire series.fantasy-epic5 s Megan423 56

This book just became my favorite (so far) of the series. I'm serious folks. For a long time I've had an idolized vision of Prince Maryn, completely forgetting all the crappy things he did. I realized that while he was the right king at the right time, he was a pretty crappy human being, at least to his women. I've loved Bellyra and Lillorigga fiercly, but never as much as this time through, and with more clarity on their situations than I had before. And while I mourned over the losses of Jill and Nevyn in earlier books, the last few pages before the book moves to Bardek at the very end really had my heart feeling it was going to fall out of my chest. Other readers have said they felt tired and dragging through the last few books, and while there may have been some slow bits I've never found that to be a fault. But this one, it felt new life had been breathed into the series for me. While I was dreading (only slightly, and only for emotional reasons) getting to the "end" of the series in a few more books, I feel more motivated now as well.fantastic-fantasy favorites highly-recommended4 s Amanda707 98

The third book in the Dragon Mage sequence. In this book we spend about half of our time in the past, concluding the storyline concerning Lillorigga, princess Bellyra, Maddyn the bard and the prince Maryn. The second half of the book shifts the plot forwards concerning Rhodry, Dallandra, Niffa, Raena and the dragon Arzosah.

In my opinion this is by far the best book written by Katharine Kerr in the whole Deverry series. I was gripped throughout. Of necessity considering the curse of the dweomer tablet, the first half of the story was bleak and heartbreaking. A number of my very favourite characters from this particular timeline came to fairly dire ends, which left me close to tears. Each of the various characters was treated with respect, except for Maryn and Oggyn - by the end of this section, it became very easy to hate both of them.

I was mightily relieved that Rhodry's story pushed forwards - but the ending to the book also left me near weeping with how sad, and yet how appropriate it was. Rhodry truly stepped forward to save the people he both cared for and had grown apart from. He and Arzosah became true soul mates in terms of how they viewed each other.

The other character that came into her own in this novel was Dallandra. I made no secret in my of the previous Deverry books that I held a great dis for this Elven dweomer master. Her treatment of Aderyn and the way she pandered to Evandar's every whim annoyed me intensely, and every part of her journey seemed particularly boring in comparison to the other threads of the story that were occurring. However, here she became a compassionate and wise teacher, someone who put others before herself and sought only to do what is right - including trying at the very end to redeem Raena.

This novel left a very powerful impact, and I sense that Kerr is starting to unwind the real crux of the Deverry tale. I look forward eagerly to more. bought-copy fantasy series3 s Sophie (RedheadReading)471 72

This is a real highlight of the series for me! We get a lot of strands tied up, but new ones beginning to develop to. Thoroughly enjoying this third arc of the series.1 Brita234 1 follower

Det märks att det här var slutet på flera böcker som hängde ihop. Fler finns det men det blev ett avslut på några trådar. Kan inte riktigt minnas att jag läst hela boken. En till finns det översatt, sen får man fortsätta på engelska. Så då fortsätter jag väl med nästa bok...1 Mark42 4

It has been 16 years since I first picked up the first Deverry novel, DaggerSpell, and here in am, 16 years later, about to finish the fifteenth and final one.

Has the journey been worth it? Yes. Was the wait too long? Yes.

I would not recommend anyone starts reading the Deverry cycle unless they intend to read them all, as the macroscopic story is at least as important as the microscopic ones, and as such I am reviewing the books as a set.

I almost give them 4 stars (excellent) but in the end I am not enjoying them quite as much as I did in my early 20's and so I settled on 3 stars (good). As fantasy novels go the concepts and the writing are really excellent but for me the last couple of books haven't been as enjoyable as the early ones and it's a lot to expect people to read fifteen novels. That said I don't regret a single minute of the time I spent in Deverry. I even used to own a 'deverry' domain and use the handle of 'Rhodry' when t'internet was young.

Highly recommended IF you have the stomach for a lot of reading.1 Kathi909 62

The author spends about a third of this book in what we have came to think of as the "past"--the end of the Civil Wars--and the other two thirds in the "present" with Dallandra, Rhodry, Jahdo, Niffa, Evandar, Raena, and Arzosah. Several long-running plot threads come together, a fitting end to this arc in the Deverry Cycle. One 4 book arc remains to follow Rhodry to his Wyrd and discover how the Westfolk fare after momentous discoveries rock their world.

Kerr is not afraid to write bittersweet episodes, and they typically involve love--shared, fulfilled, offered, unrequited, spurned, doomed. The world building and race building are imaginative, but the strength of the story-telling is in the individual characters and the intricacies of the various strands of this centuries-spanning tapestry. fantasy1 Charlotte Burt460 31

Another comfort re-read and the end of the series. (there are a few books that come after but this is the climax imo).1 Ben544 11

Yes! This was really good. First off, I think it must have been at The Black Raven that I lost track of this sprawling series and could not figure out where I was to pick it back up again. Reading it across decades is bad enough, but spinning back and forth in time and with multiple characters with similar names, or single characters with multiple incarnations, certainly did not help me keep the details straight in my head. Going back and starting again at the beginning has been a generally pleasurable experience, while on the other hand reading so many of Kerr's books back to back has shown some of the flaws in her writing.

However, this is really why I started re-reading them. To get to the point where I would be reading something I did not have a half hazy memory of and be able to enjoy the story in thoroughly fresh fashion. By now the fact that so many of the characters have similar mannerisms in speech and action, and Kerr's pet choices of phrase bother me less than they did probably a couple of books back because there is also excitement and action and tension and resolution. While there is clearly more to be told in this whole mega-series, The Fire Dragon wraps up all sorts of story lines and leaves us feeling largely fulfilled. Both main story lines are wrapped up well, and there is a a definite feeling of tragedy from one of them, while the other has another note and plenty of promise.

And finally, right when I thought it was all over... there was an epilogue which got me right in the feels. I very nearly gave this five stars just for that raw visceral feeling, but in the end while any book which makes me feel things - and this did, all the way through, several different things at different times - it took a whole long time time getting here and I cannot ignore the winding journey. In many ways that it the strength of this series, and it is the beauty of it as well... but at times, I felt the path wandered... and wandered severely. I don't know if that is totally fair, but I feel that if Kerr were to take another look at this series one day and given a magic editing wand, she would rearrange a lot of these parts into somewhat different orders and maybe cut out a few parts and add in a few others. I guess I may feel differently when I finally get to the end of the series over the last four books... and I am excited to be jumping into virgin territory.

I am still not entirely sure why this series is called The Dragon Mage though... Yes, there is a dragon. Yes, there is a mage. They are not the same though... and to be honest, they don't really have the biggest link. epic-fantasy Sarah-Jayne BriggsAuthor 1 book47

(This review may contain spoilers).

It's been quite a while since I returned to the world of Deverry, but when I started reading this book, it was really nice to return to a world I had spent a lot of time in when I was much younger.

I really d being able to see the contrast between the past and the present. I couldn't help but feel a lot of sympathy for some of the characters, especially at the beginning. The cycle of rebirth was really interesting to read about and I especially felt that this book did a good job of showing the differences in the characters from one life to another.

I really didn't Maryn in the first part of the book. I felt a lot of empathy for Bellyra, but I really thought that she was trapped in a loveless marriage. I very much preferred her relationship with Maddyn, even though they didn't really have much hope. And even though I knew no good could come from their feelings for each other, I did want them to have a happy ending.

I really didn't Lilli, even though I did seeing her relationship with Branoic and it was quite a strange thing to see Jill's soul as a male, considering every other appearance she's been female. I did think it was quite nice to see such a difference in that life.

I was somewhat unsure of what to make of Rhodry in the second half of the book. In the previous volumes, I really d him, but I felt he was flirting with madness in this book. At the same time, it came across quite strongly that he'd lived too long and was at the point where death would be a welcome comfort. I did enjoy seeing him interact with the dragon, who I developed a particular fondness for.

I did feel sympathy for Varrac, even though I didn't really him when he was interacting with Raena. I was disappointed that the blurb wasn't entirely accurate, as I didn't feel there was a huge amount of hostility between Rhodry and Raena. Certainly not enough to stretch over at least two lifetimes.

There was a lot of action and fantasy in this book and it made me want to re-read the other books in this series at some point in the future. Kes2,064 48

We see how Raena/Merodda and Niffa/Lilli's histories intersect.

Lilli's, Maryn's, and Bellyra's deaths were awful. The ending of that narrative was a tragedy. I'm not yet sure how their timelines work out - Lilli doesn't meet Maryn again in present-day, and the present-day Bellyra/Maryn worked out well enough - they did their duty. It's nice to see that present-day Bellyra/Carra retains so much of her personality/love for history.

I realise that there are so many synonyms for laughing in battle - which almost every character does. Is it deliberate on the part of the author? - is laughing in battle the only socially acceptable manner of showing emotion? Or a socially-praised one (i.e. to feel that lust for battle), meaning that only people who laugh in battle get recorded? But it does get a little boring to read about.

I did not see Rhodry becoming a dragon. Is that the end of his narrative? That resolution was satisfying though - we see Evander tying up lose ends in the Bright Court, and I d that the mysterious old man turned out to be Aderyn (I thought it would be Nevyn). Dallendra appears to tie herself to the material world again - to look after Eliss.

I d the Cerr Cawnen "resolution". At least there's another city - although there's going to be a long way to travel for it.

I d the resolution of the Salamander arc - with him heading back to Deverry. It was awful that he forgot to bid farewell to his children though. :(

It's a good ending-place for the series, but the knowledge that there's more is going to drive me to finish this series.fiction read-2017 Patrickderaaff403 12

Het eerste deel van Elfenkracht leest als een soap, maar dan in een fantasy setting. Het even onvermijdelijke als tragische einde van Prins Maryn en zijn geliefden is een bittere pil voor de magiër Nevyn, die in deze tijd nog leefde. Dit deel leest wel als trein.

Het tweede deel gaat een stuk trager, maar heeft een bevredigend einde als de gehate Raena ter verantwoording wordt geroepen voor de wandaden die ze in naam van een valse Godin die niet eens meer leeft heeft begaan.

Katharine Kerr sluit op een ferme manier dit bedrijf van de Deverrycyclus af, maar gooit meteen weer genoeg lijntjes op voor de volgende en beslissende reeks van de laatste 4 boeken waarin alles samen zal komen. Ik ben benieuwd!deverry Alicia3,245 34

https://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2022/0...

Well, this wraps up several storylines in a satisfying way and hints at some interesting ones coming up in the next series, but also does something toward the end that I did NOT see coming and I applaud Kerr and her ridiculous Evander wholeheartedly. Still really enjoy her characters (she has a fascinating array of women; I of course am partial to the one that keeps recurring who is interested in HISTORY and of course to all the ones learning magic) and I d that the plots in this one centered more on politics than on sieges. A-. Kate591 7

I enjoyed this last installment of their cycle. It was very rewarding. I'm mean Lilli's story so tragic. Lilla and Bellyra, both made me cry and made Maryn seem so ... pathetic.

I love Jadho. I'm so glad to see him make it back home.

Rhodry? Who doesn't love Rhodry and to see this end to his story is so strange.

There are so many loose ends tied up here and they are all tied up so well. Evander has always been a favorite of mine, and to see his world dying ... it was so sad, but also so hopeful.

I have definitely d this cycle brings.fantasy fiction Gordon315

This book closes out the story arc of Rhoddry, though I am sure he will be in future books. What a close to that story it was with sacrifice and magic both playing a part classic fantasy at it's best.

Lets face it if you've made it this far you love the characters and world and want to know where it goes next so onto the next one but I will miss Rori the Dragon Rider. KarenAuthor 2 books56 Read

Of course you have to read the previous 10 books of this series to really get the full impact of this one. I loved The Fire Dragon. It really tied up a lot of the loose ends that had been hanging and continued the story in a satisfying (if at time surprising) manner. This series deals greatly with reincarnation and the weaving of patterns within each life. Books_n_critters302 13

Just fantastic! This book kept me hungry all the way to the end...and what an ending!!
Now, just the four books of the last act - The Silver Wyrm. While I can't wait to read them, I hate that I'm so close to the end of the series. Catu91 1 follower

And with that, we conclude the saga of Maryn, Lilli, Bellyra, Madden, Branoic and all the other players caught up in this sad as fuck tale. The way Katherine Kerr killed off all the characters mentioned except for Maryn in the span of a couple chapters….
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