Childe Morgan

Book Description

Alaric Morgan has been pledged to the king's service, for his Dernyi blood makes him ideal to safeguard the Haldane kings and ensure that Prince Brion shall have protection of his hereditary magic. But the Deryni are feared by the populace of Gwynedd and are viewed with deep suspicion by the Church. And the Camberian Council, which secretly oversees the activities of Deryni, scorns Alaric for his half-breed ancestry. Alaric has the king's protection, and a future mapped out for him that in time should ensure his survival as well as that of the king's heir. But Alaric is only four years old-and first he must survive to reach manhood.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly In bestseller Kurtz's morbid second tale of her new Deryni trilogy--following 2003's In the King's Service and set before the King Kelson novels--King Donal Haldane is mourning the loss of his bastard son, Krispin, a boy he thought would be companion and protector to Crown Prince Brion, and hoping that Alyce and Kenneth de Morgan's toddler son, Alaric, heir to Alyce's Deryni magic, can be groomed to take Krispin's place. Bishop Oliver de Nore's brother, Septimus, was put to death by the king after Alyce used her powers to reveal that he orchestrated Krispin's killing; now Oliver is doubly motivated to accelerate the church's campaign to exterminate the Deryni, who are feared by many humans in the land of Gwynedd. Kurtz renders even the most plot-twisting demises more dreary than dramatic, which makes for terrific medieval realism but uninteresting narrative. (Dec.) Copyright ® Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist Alyce de Corwyn, Deryni heiress to two lands, is happy with her human husband and precocious son. Three-year-old Alaric was pledged from birth to serve the royal heirs of Gwynedd, however, and Deryni powers are feared and hated by too many in Gwynedd. The Deryni are divided, too, between loyalty to their kind and loyalty to their lands and kings. Alyce expects to have sufficient time before Alaric must fulfill the pledge, and then unexpected events throw responsibility on Gwynedd's young king; Torenth, the heir of Gwynedd's enemy; and Alaric, who is now four. Kurtz's fans will celebrate this continuation of In the King's Service (2003). Frieda Murray Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved