Deryni Checkmate by Katherine Kurtz

Okay, it has been a while since I updated, but the semester from hell is over and, not only that, I have finished writing my comprehensives. So maybe I can get this caught up - while we redo the house and have out of town guests and spend most of a week at a retreat - before school starts up again. I expect that most of these "catch up" posts are going to be rather brief.

One of the things that has delayed me here has been trying to remember (short of actually going back down the hall and taking the books off the shelf) where the lines fell between this book and the third in the trilogy. I may not have them exactly right. I have officially decided that it doesn't really matter. If you enjoyed Deryni Rising, you will probably read the other two as well - and you can determine that for yourself.

It is still early days in King Kelson's reign and the fanatical Deryni hater at the head of the church has decided to go after Morgan and Father Duncan.

The church of these novels is nominally Catholic, as the country, Gwenydd, seems to be nominally Wales, but both have deep differences between the familiar and the fantasy setting. This church is organized rather differently from my understanding of the Roman church, and that allows some rather interesting situations - for one thing, the head of the church is subject to correction by his council of bishops. And the bishops are not necessarily assigned to a specific region, there are wandering bishops who do not have the same responsibility to a group. Makes for interesting dynamics when the archbishop tries to force his will on the entire council.

Anyway, Morgan and Duncan are set up and accused of heresy and all sorts of stuff. And survive by the skin of their teeth and the intervention of a surprising ally or two.

In a parallel, but related plot, Morgan's sister, Bronwyn and her fiance are murdered by magic on her wedding day which fuels the anti-Deryni sentiment in the country.