Deryni Rising

Chronicles of the Deryni, Book 1

By: Katherine Kurtz

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman

Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

In the kingdom of Gwynedd, the mysterious forces of magic and the superior power of the Church combine to challenge the rule of young Kelson. Now the fate of the Deryni -- a quasi-mortal race of sorcerers -- and, indeed, the fate of all the Eleven Kingdoms, rests on Kelson's ability to quash the rebellion by any means necessary...including the prescribed use of magic!

Listen to another Deryni epic.

©2008 Katherine Kurtz (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• All-Time Best Fantasy Novels (Locus Magazine)

WONDERFUL! Thank you Audible!

Though obviously her first ever novel, Katherine Kurtz captures intrigue and politics brilliantly in this trilogy. The narrator captures the essence of characters one comes to love in this audio adaptation. I have but two words for this series.

MORE PLEASE!!!!!

Disappointed - you could find better

I bought this in one of the Audible sales, I'm a long time fantasy fan and it had been on my list for a while. I was disappointed, I found the charater development thin and the language trite. I love Jeff Woodman as a narrator when he is 'on' (listen to him reading Diana Gabaldon or Chris Grabenstein for example) but here he seemed as bored as I felt...there is not much for him to work with.

If you enjoy this type of fantasy I would highly recommend Lois Mc Master Bujold's "Chalion" series...similar magical millieu but far better written, with richly developed landscape and charaters. Audible doesn't yet have the Queen's Theif series by Meg Whalen Turner available, but seek it out in print - then pester them to release it on audio.

Not as good as I remembered

One of the problems with revisiting old favorites is that they don't always shine as brightly as I remembered. That's definitely the case with Deryni Rising. I read the book for the first time back in '71, and at the time I remember being fascinated by the characters, the pomp of the Church, and the politics of Deryni-Human relations. Listening to the book over 35 years later, I'm struck by how amateurish this novel seems. The characters in this book generally come in three varieties: Really, Really Good; Despicably Nasty and Evil; and Worm Food. The only character with any depth is Jehana, Kelson's mother, and even her internal conflicts are predictable, after a certain point. Otherwise, the main characters are like windup toys.

Another problem for me was the narration. For some reason, the voice Woodman chooses for Morgan sounds to me just like Richard Burton in Becket. I kept expecting to hear Morgan come out with "We judge him damned with the devil and his fallen angels and all the reprobate, to eternal fire and everlasting pain!" and throw a candle on the floor. Now, I love Becket, and I love Richard Burton's acting, but it set the wrong tone for Morgan. It makes him sound an insufferable, pompous prig.

While I'm not totally happy with this book, I'm glad that Audible has released this series. I'm hoping that they will carry on with the Camber series, so I can see whether I'm equally deluded about the quality of that series.

Better for Younger Audiences Maybe

I had high hopes for this book, as I love fantasy and this is the first of a long series of novels in the Deryni series.

I found it predictable and trite, with barely defined characters. Nobody surprises you. The good characters (Morgan, Kelson and Duncan) are always right and good and the evil characters (Charissa and one who won't be named due to the spoiler problem) are totally evil.

The women characters are mostly brainless ninnies, except for the evil but beautiful Charissa. Who would have thought that a woman author would populate her books with women ninnies?

Even Kelson's mother, who is the most complex character in the book, having the capability to perform both good and bad acts (wow!), has the wisdom of a stone.

Altogether disappointing. Perhaps this book would be good for young people who like their characters simple and unendowed with nuance or depth.

Deryni Rising

I have been waiting a long time for any of the Deryni books to be published on audio. Well done and thank you. Looking forward to finding more of Katherine Kurtz' books (Deryni) on audio.

Pretty Good

I enjoyed this book and had great expectations for the rest in the series. However, it started getting real religious, and while I did get through the 2nd and 3rd book I really lost interest in them and listed to them more as background noise. I bought, but will return the last book.

Love this book!

The first time I read this book was in high school back in the 1980’s. I loved it then and still love it and all the sequels. They are all worth reading and listening to. The performance of the narrator wasn’t quite there, but otherwise it was good.

Good read

I read this book as a teen, then picked it up again thirty years later when I found the used books sitting on a bookstore shelf, seemingly abandoned.

It's a great story, but it was more enjoyable for me when I was a kid and teens will likely enjoy it. I guess we change a bit in our tastes—who knew? Still, Kurtz earned her stripes and deserves credit for producing some classic storytelling at a time when YA was in its infancy.

I listened to the audiobook intermittently, switching back and forth between audio (when driving) and the paperback. Jeff Woodman does a great job with the pace and the character voices, and I highly recommend it.

Masterpiece of Fantasy

This book is as good today as when I first read it more than 40 years ago.

The characters are richly drawn, the world is deep and compelling (and the medieval Catholic inspiration is entirely unlike the few other fantasy books of the time). The politics of the setting are believable and threatening. And the action is continuous.

This book is criminally underrated and belongs at the pinnacle of epic fantasy.

A walk down Memory Lane

I read this back I was just a young man, a boy back in the 80’s. I listened to the Audible version to see if I was as good as I Remember. Yes, yes it was. I plan to interweave the subsequent books among my future listens.