King Javan's Year
Encyclopedia
King Javan's Year is a historical fantasy
novel
by American
-born author Katherine Kurtz
. It was first published by Del Rey Books
in 1992. It was the eleventh of Kurtz' Deryni novels
to be published, and the second book in her fourth Deryni trilogy, The Heirs of Saint Camber. Although the Heirs trilogy was the fourth Deryni series to be published, it is a direct sequel to the second trilogy, The Legends of Camber of Culdi.
, one of the fictional Eleven Kingdoms
. Gwynedd itself is a medieval
kingdom similar to the British Isles of the 10th century, with a powerful Holy Church (based on the Roman Catholic Church
), and a feudal
government ruled by a hereditary monarchy
. The population of Gwynedd includes both humans and Deryni
, a race of people with inherent physic and magical abilities who are being systematically persecuted by both the Crown and the Church. The novel begins almost three years after the conclusion of The Harrowing of Gwynedd, as the continuously poor health of young King Alroy Haldane has brought him to his deathbed. To claim his rightful place as the next King of Gwynedd, Alroy's twin brother and heir, Prince Javan Haldane, must find a way to survive the political and religious machinations of Alroy's former Regents.
The lords of state immediately attempt to pass over Javan in favor of Rhys Michael, believing the younger brother will be a more biddable king. However, Javan succeeds in disproving their claim that he took permanent religious vows, and he is proclaimed the legal heir during an Accession Council that afternoon. Javan is surprised to discover that several young knights and nobles at Court have already allied themselves with him, including his former squire, Sir Charlan Morgan, and two secret Deryni, Etienne de Courcy and his son Guiscard. The following night, Guiscard sneaks Javan out of Rhemuth to meet with Father Joram MacRorie
and several other Deryni
allies. Shortly thereafter, Javan's Haldane potential is fully activated by Joram, Dom Queron Kinevan, and Javan's old friend, Tavis O'Neill.
Over the next month, Javan attempts to secure his position and establish his strength without revealing his magical abilities or overtly provoking the lords of state. By the end of June, Javan and Joram succeed in creating a new Transfer Portal in the castle. Javan's official coronation occurs on July 31, but the ensuing celebration is marred by an old rivalry between two powerful lords. Earl Hrorik II of Eastmarch accuses Earl Murdoch of Carthane of murdering his brother, an event that occurred three years earlier at Alroy's and Javan's thirteenth birthday. The two nobles engage in a duel to death the following day, and Hrorik mortally wounds Murdoch. Before his death, Murdoch urges his allies to move against Javan, believing the king is becoming too powerful to control.
Several weeks later, Javan discovers his brother dallying with Lady Michaela Drummond in the castle garden. Javan orders Rhys Michael to stay away from Michaela, fearing that any child of Rhys Michael's will only weaken his own position on the throne since the lords of state will be more willing to attack him if the royal line is secured for another generation. Although Rhys Michael dislikes the great lords, he refuses to believe they present as great a threat as Javan believes. Nonetheless, he agrees to stay away from Michaela.
At the end of October, while traveling as a deputy with one of Javan's legal commissions, Rhys Michael is attacked and abducted. Although the culprits are publicly identified as Ansel MacRorie and other Deryni bandits, the prince has actually been kidnapped by knights under the command of the great lords. After being "rescued" several days later, Rhys Michael is taken to Culdi to recover from his wounds. As planned by the great lords, the prince is reunited with Michaela, and the two are soon married by the end of November. By the time Javan discovers the plan by reading Archbishop Hubert's mind, he is far too late to prevent the marriage. When Rhys Michael and his new wife return to Rhemuth in early December, Javan can do nothing but acknowledge his new sister-in-law and welcome her to the family.
Over the following months, Javan continues his potentially lethal dance of power with the great lords. In March, the former Regents command one of their Deryni collaborators to murder Oriel. Oriel survives the attack, but both Javan and Guiscard are forced to employ their arcane powers to defend the Healer. As the incident is investigated further, the great lords become increasingly suspicious of the king. Although he repeatedly attempts to free former Deryni Ursin O'Carroll, Ursin is murdered before Javan can succeed. The king decides to take the families of the deceased Deryni collaborators to Master Revan, hoping that the secret Deryni working with Revan will block the families' Deryni powers and they will be allowed to go free.
Javan departs Rhemuth in early May, leaving his brother in command of the royal castle. The king's party arrives at the river several days later, but tragedy quickly erupts as the great lords make their final move against Javan. Episcopal soldiers disguised as renegade Michaelines attack both the cult and the king's party. When Tavis uses his powers to protect a young girl, the surviving Willimites realize that Revan's baptismal ceremony has been a fraud, and they quickly turn on their former leader. Revan and Tavis are slain almost immediately, but the Willimites themselves are struck down by the false Michaelines. Javan and his party fight bravely, but they are soon outnumbered by both the false Michaelines and the great lords who have betrayed the king. Guiscard falls first in the battle, but both Javan and Charlan are eventually killed.
At the same time in Rhemuth, the remaining great lords launch a coup against Rhys Michael. Several lords and knights are quickly slain as Rhys Michael is captured, and special care is taken to ensure Oriel's death. The prince is informed that he will do as he is told and follow orders or he and his wife will be killed. The shock of the coup causes Michaela to go into premature labor, but their first son is stillborn. Over the next several months, Rhys Michael is constantly drugged to ensure his compliance with the wishes of the great lords. Javan's body is returned to Rhemuth, and Rhys Michael is formally crowned as King of Gwynedd. Eventually, the new king is reunited with his wife and informed that he must soon provide a royal heir or someone else will perform the action for him. Resigned to their fate, Rhys Michael and Michaela agree to start having children, but they secretly maintain the desperate hope of one day being free of the great lords.
Historical fantasy
Historical fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy and related to historical fiction, which makes use of specific elements of real world history. It is used as an umbrella term for the sword and sorcery genre and sometimes, if fantasy is involved, the sword-and-sandal genre too...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-born author Katherine Kurtz
Katherine Kurtz
Katherine Kurtz is the author of numerous fantasy novels, most notably the Deryni novels. Although born in America, for the past several years, up until just recently, she has lived in a castle in Ireland...
. It was first published by Del Rey Books
Del Rey Books
Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn since 1998, by Bertelsmann AG. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It specializes in science fiction and fantasy...
in 1992. It was the eleventh of Kurtz' Deryni novels
Deryni novels
The Deryni novels are a series of historical fantasy books written by American-born author Katherine Kurtz. The first novel in the series to be published was Deryni Rising in 1970, and the most recent novel in the series, Childe Morgan, was published on December 5, 2006...
to be published, and the second book in her fourth Deryni trilogy, The Heirs of Saint Camber. Although the Heirs trilogy was the fourth Deryni series to be published, it is a direct sequel to the second trilogy, The Legends of Camber of Culdi.
Plot introduction
The novel is set in the land of GwyneddGwynedd (Fictional)
The fictional Kingdom of Gwynedd is the primary setting of the Deryni series of historical fantasy novels by Katherine Kurtz.There had been a historical Kingdom of Gwynedd, an important part of Wales with a long history of its own...
, one of the fictional Eleven Kingdoms
Eleven Kingdoms (Fictional)
The Eleven Kingdoms is a fictional collection of nations that serve as the primary setting of the Deryni novels of Katherine Kurtz. Although the exact number of sovereign kingdoms varies through the literary history of the novels, the term remains in use throughout the series.-Bremagne:The Kingdom...
. Gwynedd itself is a medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
kingdom similar to the British Isles of the 10th century, with a powerful Holy Church (based on the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
), and a feudal
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
government ruled by a hereditary monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
. The population of Gwynedd includes both humans and Deryni
Deryni
The Deryni are a fictional race of humans who possess a variety of psychic and magical abilities in the Deryni series of historical fantasy novels by Katherine Kurtz...
, a race of people with inherent physic and magical abilities who are being systematically persecuted by both the Crown and the Church. The novel begins almost three years after the conclusion of The Harrowing of Gwynedd, as the continuously poor health of young King Alroy Haldane has brought him to his deathbed. To claim his rightful place as the next King of Gwynedd, Alroy's twin brother and heir, Prince Javan Haldane, must find a way to survive the political and religious machinations of Alroy's former Regents.
Plot summary
The events of King Javan's Year span a period of approximately sixteen months, from June 921 to October 922. As the novel begins, the dying King Alroy Haldane commands that his twin brother, Prince Javan Haldane, be summoned to Rhemuth immediately. Although Alroy's former Regents seek to prevent the king from talking with his heir before his death, Alroy's youngest brother, Prince Rhys Michael Haldane, risks their wrath by sending a small party of knights to retrieve Javan from the abbey where he has spent the past three years. The Healer Oriel manages to keep Alroy alive until Javan's arrival, and the two brothers share a final conversation before the young king finally dies.The lords of state immediately attempt to pass over Javan in favor of Rhys Michael, believing the younger brother will be a more biddable king. However, Javan succeeds in disproving their claim that he took permanent religious vows, and he is proclaimed the legal heir during an Accession Council that afternoon. Javan is surprised to discover that several young knights and nobles at Court have already allied themselves with him, including his former squire, Sir Charlan Morgan, and two secret Deryni, Etienne de Courcy and his son Guiscard. The following night, Guiscard sneaks Javan out of Rhemuth to meet with Father Joram MacRorie
Joram MacRorie
Joram MacRorie is a fictional character in the Deryni series of historical fantasy novels by Katherine Kurtz.-Character introduction:Joram Angus MacRorie is the son of Earl Camber MacRorie, and a priest and knight of the Order of Saint Michael...
and several other Deryni
Deryni
The Deryni are a fictional race of humans who possess a variety of psychic and magical abilities in the Deryni series of historical fantasy novels by Katherine Kurtz...
allies. Shortly thereafter, Javan's Haldane potential is fully activated by Joram, Dom Queron Kinevan, and Javan's old friend, Tavis O'Neill.
Over the next month, Javan attempts to secure his position and establish his strength without revealing his magical abilities or overtly provoking the lords of state. By the end of June, Javan and Joram succeed in creating a new Transfer Portal in the castle. Javan's official coronation occurs on July 31, but the ensuing celebration is marred by an old rivalry between two powerful lords. Earl Hrorik II of Eastmarch accuses Earl Murdoch of Carthane of murdering his brother, an event that occurred three years earlier at Alroy's and Javan's thirteenth birthday. The two nobles engage in a duel to death the following day, and Hrorik mortally wounds Murdoch. Before his death, Murdoch urges his allies to move against Javan, believing the king is becoming too powerful to control.
Several weeks later, Javan discovers his brother dallying with Lady Michaela Drummond in the castle garden. Javan orders Rhys Michael to stay away from Michaela, fearing that any child of Rhys Michael's will only weaken his own position on the throne since the lords of state will be more willing to attack him if the royal line is secured for another generation. Although Rhys Michael dislikes the great lords, he refuses to believe they present as great a threat as Javan believes. Nonetheless, he agrees to stay away from Michaela.
At the end of October, while traveling as a deputy with one of Javan's legal commissions, Rhys Michael is attacked and abducted. Although the culprits are publicly identified as Ansel MacRorie and other Deryni bandits, the prince has actually been kidnapped by knights under the command of the great lords. After being "rescued" several days later, Rhys Michael is taken to Culdi to recover from his wounds. As planned by the great lords, the prince is reunited with Michaela, and the two are soon married by the end of November. By the time Javan discovers the plan by reading Archbishop Hubert's mind, he is far too late to prevent the marriage. When Rhys Michael and his new wife return to Rhemuth in early December, Javan can do nothing but acknowledge his new sister-in-law and welcome her to the family.
Over the following months, Javan continues his potentially lethal dance of power with the great lords. In March, the former Regents command one of their Deryni collaborators to murder Oriel. Oriel survives the attack, but both Javan and Guiscard are forced to employ their arcane powers to defend the Healer. As the incident is investigated further, the great lords become increasingly suspicious of the king. Although he repeatedly attempts to free former Deryni Ursin O'Carroll, Ursin is murdered before Javan can succeed. The king decides to take the families of the deceased Deryni collaborators to Master Revan, hoping that the secret Deryni working with Revan will block the families' Deryni powers and they will be allowed to go free.
Javan departs Rhemuth in early May, leaving his brother in command of the royal castle. The king's party arrives at the river several days later, but tragedy quickly erupts as the great lords make their final move against Javan. Episcopal soldiers disguised as renegade Michaelines attack both the cult and the king's party. When Tavis uses his powers to protect a young girl, the surviving Willimites realize that Revan's baptismal ceremony has been a fraud, and they quickly turn on their former leader. Revan and Tavis are slain almost immediately, but the Willimites themselves are struck down by the false Michaelines. Javan and his party fight bravely, but they are soon outnumbered by both the false Michaelines and the great lords who have betrayed the king. Guiscard falls first in the battle, but both Javan and Charlan are eventually killed.
At the same time in Rhemuth, the remaining great lords launch a coup against Rhys Michael. Several lords and knights are quickly slain as Rhys Michael is captured, and special care is taken to ensure Oriel's death. The prince is informed that he will do as he is told and follow orders or he and his wife will be killed. The shock of the coup causes Michaela to go into premature labor, but their first son is stillborn. Over the next several months, Rhys Michael is constantly drugged to ensure his compliance with the wishes of the great lords. Javan's body is returned to Rhemuth, and Rhys Michael is formally crowned as King of Gwynedd. Eventually, the new king is reunited with his wife and informed that he must soon provide a royal heir or someone else will perform the action for him. Resigned to their fate, Rhys Michael and Michaela agree to start having children, but they secretly maintain the desperate hope of one day being free of the great lords.
Characters in King Javan's Year
- King Javan Haldane: King of GwyneddGwynedd (Fictional)The fictional Kingdom of Gwynedd is the primary setting of the Deryni series of historical fantasy novels by Katherine Kurtz.There had been a historical Kingdom of Gwynedd, an important part of Wales with a long history of its own...
, twin brother and heir of King Alroy, elder brother of Prince Rhys Michael - Prince Rhys Michael Haldane: Prince of Gwynedd, Duke of Carthmoor, younger brother and heir of King Javan
- King Alroy Haldane: King of Gwynedd, twin brother of King Javan, eldest brother of Prince Rhys Michael
- Father Joram MacRorieJoram MacRorieJoram MacRorie is a fictional character in the Deryni series of historical fantasy novels by Katherine Kurtz.-Character introduction:Joram Angus MacRorie is the son of Earl Camber MacRorie, and a priest and knight of the Order of Saint Michael...
: former Michaeline priest and knight, son of Saint Camber, member of the Camberian CouncilCamberian CouncilThe Camberian Council is a secretive group of highly-trained Deryni adepts in the historical fantasy novels of Katherine Kurtz. Originally formed in the early tenth century to maintain peace between the races by controlling the actions of disaffected Deryni nobles, the Council's goals soon expand... - Dom Queron Kinevan: former Gabrilite priest and Healer, founder of the Servants of Saint Camber, member of the Camberian Council
- Lord Tavis O'Neill: former personal Healer to King Javan, member of the Camberian Council
- Lord Ansel MacRorie: grandson of Saint Camber, nephew of Joram MacRorie, member of the Camberian Council
- Lord Jesse MacGregor: eldest son and heir of Earl Gregory, member of the Camberian Council
- Lord Oriel de Bourg: Healer in the forced service of Archbishop Hubert
- Baron Etienne de Courcy: Confidential Secretary of King Javan, father of Sir Guiscard
- Sir Guiscard de Courcy: aide to King Javan, son of Baron Etienne de Courcy
- Sir Charlan Morgan: aide to King Javan
- Father Faelan: Confessor to King Javan
- Lady Michaela Drummond: ward of Earl Manfred, half-sister of Ansel MacRorie
- Archbishop Hubert MacInnis: Archbishop of Valoret and Primate of All Gwynedd
- Earl Manfred MacInnis: Earl of Culdi
- Earl Rhun von Horthy: Earl of Sheele
- Earl Murdoch: Earl of Carthane
- Earl Tammaron Fitz-Arthur: Lord Chancellor of Gwynedd
- Father Paulin Sinclair: Vicar General of the Custodes Fidei, brother of Albertus
- Lord Albertus: Grand Master of the Equites Custodum Fidei, Earl Marshal of Gwynedd
- Master Dimitri: Deryni collaborator working for Father Paulin
- Master Revan: leader of a pseudo-religious baptizer cult created by the Camberian Council
Release details
- 1992, USA, Del Rey BooksDel Rey BooksDel Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn since 1998, by Bertelsmann AG. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It specializes in science fiction and fantasy...
ISBN 0-345-33260-1, Pub date 10 November 1992, Hardcover (first edition) - 1993, USA, Del Rey BooksDel Rey BooksDel Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn since 1998, by Bertelsmann AG. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It specializes in science fiction and fantasy...
ISBN 0-345-38478-4, Paperback