"Katherine Kerr - Deverry 10 - The Black Raven" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kerr Katherine)

THE BLACK RAVEN

BOOK TWO OF THE DRAGON MAGE



KATHARINE KERR



A NOTE ON THE DEVERRY SEQUENCE

It occurs to me that readers might find it helpful to know something about the
overall structure of the Deverry series. From the beginning of this rather
large enterprise, I have had an actual ending in mind, a set of events that
should wrap up all the books in dramatic conclusion. It's merely taken me much
longer to get there than I ever thought it would.
If you think of Deverry as a stage play, the sets of books make up its acts.
Act One consists of the Deverry books proper, that is, Daggerspell, Darkspell,
Dawnspell, and Dragonspell. The 'Westlands' books, A Time of Exile, A Time of
Omens, A Time of War, and A Time of Justice, make up Act Two, while Act Three
will unfold in the current quintet, 'The Dragon Mage,' that is, The Red
Wyvern, The Black Raven, the volume you now have in hand, and its 'sister',
The Fire Dragon. The Gold Falcon and The Silver Wyrm will bring the sequence
to its end at last.
As for the way that the series alternates between past and present lives,
think of the structure of a line of Celtic interlace, some examples of which
have decorated the various books in this set. Although each knot appears to be
a separate figure, when you look closely you can see that they are actually
formed from one continuous line. Similarly, this line weaves over and under
itself to form the figures. A small section of line seems to run over or under
another line to form a knot.
The past incarnations of the characters in this book and their present tense
story really are one continuous line, but this line interweaves to form the
individual volumes. Eventually - soon, I hope - the pattern will complete
itself, and you will be able to see that the set of books forms a circle of
knots.
Katharine Kerr


PROLOGUE
Winter, 1117 Bardek

Always the sorcerer must prepare for hindrances and set-backs. Before any
working of great length and import, he must spend long nights in study of the
omens, for if the Macrocosm can find a way to defeat him, it will, preferring
in its laziness the natural order over any change wrought by our arts, no
matter how greatly that change will be to its benefit.
The Pseudo-Iamblichus Scroll