Book Review: Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr

Daggerspell

Katharine Kerr

The Deverry Cycle, #1

Publisher: Spectra

Published Date: September 1, 1986

Genres: High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Fiction, Romance

454 Pages / 15 Hours 20 Minutes

Date Read: January 2-16, 2026

Format: 🎧📖📱

Source: Book Haul

As always, if you prefer a spoiler free review please read my quick review instead of the in depth review below.

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About the Book

400 years ago, a selfish prince caused the death of two lovers and made a fateful vow to right the wrong. This laid the foundation for Jill, her father Cullyn, the exiled Rhodry, and the powerful herbman Nevyn. This is a tale of adventure, timeless love, perilous battle, and pure magic.

Quick Review (Spoiler Free)

This is definitely some complex character work. It took a minute to start grasping what was going on but once I did, I was hooked. I’m excited to see what happens in this series because this will be my first LONG series (16 books so far) within the fantasy genre. The story has so much action, world building, romance, adventure, etc. that it kept me entertained from start to finish. It was like a movie unfolding before me.

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Now, let's get into the details!!

This book was recommended to me as my first book of the year for my 12 Books by 12 People Challenge. Hy husband recommended this one to me.

I really enjoyed this story. The beginning few chapters is a little rough going into it but it sets up the rest of the story very nicely. It makes more sense as you read it and I began to understand that you were only meant to get bits and pieces until the story was ready to unfold more to you. I was constantly asking my husband if my assumptions were correct as my brain spiraled to link all the characters from their past selves to their reborn selves.

The pacing in this book started off very quick as it blew through through the past and leveled out pacing when it got to present day. I felt that it made more sense as it went on. The depth to this story is great. My only complaint is the author uses a lot of names that start with the letter 'G' which was confusing in the beginning. But the story definitely makes up for that in its entirety. I think the amount of world building that the author put in to this book makes sense for it to be 16 books long so far.

I will definitely be continuing on through this series as I really need to know how the story ends. I'm invested in Jill's character at the moment because I need to know where her fate takes her.

Ratings