I’m re-reading Katherine Kerr’s A Time of Exile for a somewhat unusual reason. I’ve read the whole series before once or twice, at least up to the most recently published book, but on my last reread someone else had my copy of this book. Since I had read it before, I skipped it and picked up with A Time of Omens. When my copy of Exile returned, I figured I might as well reread it, even though I had finished the original reread quite some time before.
If the first three books were a well-defined trilogy, establishing the characters and placing Rhodry as gwerbret, then this one begins to open the series up to new possibilities. There is a great deal of plot movement, with pieces beginning to fall into place that will not be paid off for quite some time.
In this novel, Rhodry is forced to face the consequences of his elven heritage. Although he has ruled as gwerbret Aberwyn for many years, those around him (and especially his eldest son) are beginning to notice that he has aged not at all throughout that time. Rather than have his son grow to hate him for his longer-than-human life, Rhodry makes the difficult decision to enter into voluntary exile, travelling to the Westlands to meet his elven father. There, he faces the consequences of his long attachment, in prior lives, to the blue-haired pixie of the Wildfolk, and (for the first time, but not the last!) comes close to asking the most dangerous question you can ask any dweomermaster.
The past-life segments deal with the history of the Maelwaed clan in their lighthouse during a time of rebellion against the rightful King.
We are introduced to the elusive Guardians of the Westfolk, including the central trio of Evandar, Elessario, and Alshandra. We witness Evandar’s acquisition of Maddyn’s rose ring, later to return to Rhodry with a mysterious addition. We observe Loddlaen’s birth, Aderyn’s tragedy, and the beginning of Dallandra’s quest.
There’s a lot to chew on, and many new threads of Wyrd are opened. In a very real sense, this novel is the first of a “new Deverry” series, although it is definitely not a good place to start reading (you want DaggerSpell for that).
