Dawnspell - Katharine Kerr

Dawnspell is my favourite of the series so far! In this book the modern day plot follows Jill and Rhodry as they are forced apart by circumstance, and ends on a real cliffhanger where Rhodry vanishes, and it is up to Jill and Salamander to try and find him. In the past we meet another incarnation of Jill and Rhodry, at a time when the silver daggers are brought into being and Rhodry fights to bring the one true king of Deverry to power.

As I said in a previous review, because the flashbacks tend to be the bulk of the book, it is necessary to find them entertaining if the novel as a whole is to be considered a success. In this novel, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Jill and Rhodry's previous life, especially the novelty of Jill being reborn into a man's body this time around. It was a gripping insert, and I loved to see exactly why the silver daggers came into being.

We saw a great deal more of modern times, and the politics affecting Deverry. Lovyan stepped onto centre stage, and I appreciated the fact that Kerr wrote into the story strong female characters. I got tired of Rhys' stubborn ways concerning Rhodry and was frighteningly indifferent to his plight.

One character I was genuinely curious about and repelled by was Perryn. His treatment of Jill, and the way he was able to entice women, was presented as extremely disturbing, especially because it was so involuntary.

Again, I loved the Wildfolk, and found it particularly amusing when Salamander used them to cow the pirate folk of Slaith.

All in all, a great book. Because of the extreme cliffhanger and the introduction of Taliesyn as a character, I am desperate to read the fourth in this sequence and think that Kerr is doing a fabulous job bringing the world of Deverry alive.