The Shadow Isle

March 31, 2008
With only one installment left in Kerr's popular Deverry cycle, this 14th novel set in her fantasy realm of Annwn sets the stage for a climactic finale that fans have been anticipating since 1986's Daggerspell
. The collective future of the humans, elves, dwarves, dragons and other fantastical inhabitants of Deverry is in jeopardy. Savage Horsekin tribes escalate their bloody assaults on Northlands settlements in the name of their goddess, Alshandra. As apprentice wizard Neb struggles to come to grips with his past life as the powerful sorcerer Nevyn, the magical island of Haen Marn suddenly reappears from nowhere, and few can agree whether this bodes well or ill. With multiple simultaneous plot lines, many of them dealing with relationships in past incarnations, pacing and continuity wallow, and the ending is merely an arrangement of chess pieces for the complex endgame of the final volume (tentatively titled The Silver Mage
).

June 1, 2008
Kerr says this is the penultimate installment of the saga of Deverry, which began in Daggerspell (1986). The story continues the lives and adventures--in most cases, multiple--of characters Deverry devotees will recognize. The wild Horsekin, who worship the goddess Alshandra, are determined to conquer the north and then move into Deverry. They have already weakened the alliance of the norths elves, dwarves, and men by subverting several cities of the Gel daThae. Despite the threat that solidifies, the men of Deverry continue their internecine squabbling, and the wandering elves of the westlands struggle to work out a modus vivendi with their long-lost kin from the southern islands. The elven dweomermasters hope to recover lore that vanished with Haen Marn by recalling that island and to restore warrior turned dragon Rori to his original form, which he now isnt sure he wants to resume. All this plus the adventures of Nevyn and Jill in their current incarnations will keep the pages turning. Utter newcomers, however, should not begin with Deverry here but in Daggerspell. They wont regret it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)