Katherine Kurtz

This is the first of Kurtz's NUMEROUS books set in the Deryni world. High fantasy of an earlier era, this focuses on the death of the current king and the difficulties surrounding the inheriting of the throne. Interesting and somewhat unique (especially at the time) in fantasy, we have the Catholic Church itself as a major player in this fantasy world, separate and distinct from magic which is generally inherited by blood or rite from a race called the Deryni. Religious fanaticism and racism both play ongoing roles in this world. There are some strong female characters, including the primary antagonist.
I think one of the most interesting things about this first book is that the entire thing (minus the prologue) essentially takes place over the course of 24 hours. It was a good way to keep the pacing moving along, and not fall victim to a lot of detailed world-building in the first book by keeping the story so small and tight (less than a dozen truly important characters) despite the scale of its impact on the world.
I'm glad this was the next in the stack of inherited old fantasy and science fiction. I've been working through them, mostly from the 60s-80. At least as far as the fantasy was concerned I was growing worried that I had grown too old, too sophisticated as a reader, and/or just gotten to accustomed to newer (and often more grimdark) ways of telling these stories that I wasn't able to really enjoy work from the era during which I first fell in love with fantasy.
While this definitely hearkens back to a style of story-telling in fantasy that is definitively different than today, I still really enjoyed it. Whether it truly is or not, it *feels* slower paced, less grim. The magic was a little all over the place, but I know later on Kurtz pins down the system in a much more detailed way (there's a book just about how the magic works), but that feels normal for time period of fantasy during which this was written. I think this is readily accessible to adults, teens, and advanced young readers, just the kind of cross-demographic appeal fantasy was supposed to have.… (més)

I've been going back to classic fantasy books. I missed this one when it came out, but it's the first of the Deryni series, first published in 1970.
It occurs in Gwynedd, where King Brion rules as leader of one of the Eleven Kingdoms. Brion is human but has powers bequeathed to him by the Deryni, a race of people with magic and psychic powers now persecuted by the Church. His general is Alaric Morgan, a half-Deryni who has been training the heir, Prince Kelson. A Deryni sorceress named Charissa assassinates Brion, but rumors paint Morgan as the killer.
This is epic high fantasy roughly based on Welsh legends and history. This book has spawned fifteen books that take place in this world, though this one can be read as a complete story. The world-building is fascinating and involved, with political machinations in both the court and church taking place among murders and magic. It's more YA fantasy than Game of Thrones, but a very satisfying introduction to a spellbinding world and characters that I will be reading more about.… (més)