Camber the Heretic

The aging human King Cinhil is dying, leaving his young son Alroy under the control of malevolent regents. With anti-Deryni sentiment sweeping the kingdom of Gwynedd, Camber and his allies race to develop a method to block Deryni magic, allowing their people to survive as humans.

In the medieval kingdom of Gwynedd, the human King Cinhil's health failing, malevolent nobles take control, eager to destroy the magical Deryni minority. Camber of Culdi, who previously sacrificed his identity to assume the form of Bishop Alistair Cullen to guide Cinhil, is now reviled as a heretic by the very people he saved.

To save the Deryni race from persecution, torture, and genocide, the Camberian Council pins its hopes on a discovery made by Healer Rhys show more Thuryn. Rhys accidentally discovers an innate ability to completely block a colleague's magical talents. Realizing that stripping Deryni of their magical heritage is the only way to shield them from the inquisition, the group struggles with the tragic necessity of effectively destroying their race in order to save it. show less

Well, by this time, the world is becoming bad, very bad, for our fine and noble Deryni. Many major characters begin to die, the kingdom begins to move away from the good that Camber and his children wanted to give it, and the action moves toward the greed of the young prince's regents. These same regents hate Deryni. Think Salem witch trials, or the Bosnian war, or any other conflict that results in indiscriminate death to others not like us, and you'll start to get the picture. It is realistic in its portrayal of how the good and noble can be defeated; yet I've invested too much in these characters and in caring for this land of Gwynnedd to really want to read description after description of assassinations and horrible deaths ordered show more by the regents. I'll be happy to read mideval histories; if I read escapist literature, then it's to find an alternative in this world of blood and death. show less

The conclusion of the Camber trilogy lives up to the 3 previous books, and possibly outdoes them. As usual, the portrayal of the noble, pious and loyal family of Camber and his allies is very well done. The plot is somewhat straightforward by today's standards, but still excellent.

SO MUCH BETTER THAN SAINT CAMBER. Also so dark and depressing and about fighting for rights in a time with treacherous "leaders" who plunder the land. Soooo, um, there it is.

I now want to read more Deryni stuff

A truly great series, but the original trilogy is still the best.

pb