Read it while still a teen and remembered it very fondly. Tried reading it again recently but the writing seemed a bit too puerile. Still, I would recommend it if you wanted to ease young readers into the fantasy genre. Katharine Kerr spins an engrossing tale of love gone wrong, jealously, betrayal and revenge, all rendered with poignancy. ( )

Dawnspell is a bridge book: the flashback (which begins one of my favourite sequences within sequences) is all set-up, the modern day is all set-up and nothing gets resolved before the cliffhanger at the end. The narrative is a bit flabby, and hilariously the bad guys literally have a conversation over the fire about how the plot is absurdly convoluted. This killed me when it first came out, but rereading with Dragonspell safely on my shelf I can just sit back and appreciate the good bits - because there are plenty of them.

Dawnspell is where we first glimpse the full sweep of the history of Annwn and a whole lot more insight into the unpleasant and self-interested web of politics that holds Deverry together. It's also the start of the multi-book flashback sequence detailing the end of the Time of Troubles, which gives us one of Rhodry's most interesting incarnations and eventually (although not in Dawnspell) explains why Jill is so scared of dweomer. Last but not least, we get to hang out with Salamander ap Devaberiel, who is the extravagantly iced cinnamon roll of the Deverry saga (I'm sure his elaborate way of speaking and fecklessness irritate some readers, but I adore him).

On the flip side, this is the least feminist of the novels to date: there's a heap of Nevyn having horrors at women who sleep around and/or have sex for money, and Jill is stripped of her agency for Plot Reasons.

Knowing how relevant almost everything will become in the future, I can appreciate Dawnspell more. But it was my least favourite of the first four (six?) for a reason on first reading, and I can see why. That's not a huge criticism, though - it's still an engaging read, and left me (leaves me) desperate to get on to the final volume of this first sequence within the saga. ( )

Nevyn's and the reincarnates parts in finding and placing the one true king of Deverry. Jill and Rhodry face new challenges when Jill is ensorcelled, raped and taken away. Other forces are conspiring to abduct Rhodry.
( )

Still going strong

These books get better and better. This series is definitely one of my favorites. Now on to the next one ( )

Maintains readability and interesting level of new introductions in this very incomplete segment of the history - missing the key to previous incarnations. ( )