Judith Tarr, Kathleen Bryan, Caitlin Brennan

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Judith Tarr
aka Kathleen Bryan, Caitlin Brennan

1955-

Reviewed by
Julie and Rob R.

Judith Tarr earned a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from Yale University and writes mainly mainstream and historical fantasies. She also writes romantic fantasy under the names Caitlin Brennan (Harlequin) and Kathleen Bryan (Tor). You can read about her reasons for using pseudonyms here. Read excerpts of her work as Caitlin Brennan here. And here is Judith Tarr's website.
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The Hound and the Falcon — (1985-1986) Publisher: Alfred of St. Ruan's Abbey is a monk and a scholar, a religious man whose vocation is beyond question. But Alfred is also, without a doubt, one of the fair folk, for though he is more than seventy years old by the Abbey's records, he seems to be only a youth. But Alfred is drawn from the haven of his monastery into the dangerous currents of politics when an ambassador from the kingdom of Rhiyana to Richard Coeur de Leon is wounded and Alfred himself is sent to complete the mission. There he encounters the Hounds of God, who believe that the fair folk have no souls, and must be purged from the Church and from the world.

fantasy book reviews Judith Tarr The Hound and the Falcon 1. The Isle of Glass 2. The Golden Horn 3. The Hounds of God

Omnibus

The Hound and the Falcon Judith Tarr book reviews 1. The Isle of Glass 2. The Golden Horn 3. The Hounds of God

Avaryan — (1986-2002) The first omnibus, Avaryan Rising, contains the first three original novels: The Hall of the Mountain King, The Lady of Han-Gilen, A Fall of Princes. The second omnibus, Avaryan Resplendent, contains the last three: Arrows of the Sun, The Spear of Heaven, The Tides of Darkness. Publisher: He appeared out of the northern mountain fastness, wielding powerful magics and claiming to be the Sun God's own child. His burning desire was to rule the entire world, and he inspired the loyalty of men who would fight for it with him. But conquering an empire, and ruling it, are two very different things. Even for the children of a demi-God.

Judit Tarr Avaryan The Hall of the Mountain King, The Lady of Han-Gilen, A Fall of Princes

Judith Tarr Arrows of the Sun, The Spear of Heaven, The Tides of Darkness

Arrows of the Sun, The Spear of Heaven, The Tides of Darkness

Omnibus editions:

Judith Tarr book reviews Avaryan Rising 1. The Hall of the Mountain King 2. The Lady of Han-Gilen 3. A Fall of Princes

Judith Tarr Avaryan Resplendent 4. Arrows of the Sun 5. Spear of Heaven 6. Tides of Darkness

Judith Tarr book reviews 1. Alamut 2. The Dagger and the Cross

Alamut — (1989-1991) Publisher: Prince Aidan, determined to avenge the murder of his nephew, finds himself falling in love with his nephew's killer, a powerful sorceress, the Lady Morgiana.

Richard the Lionheart — (2001-2003) Publisher: At his corronation as the new king of England, Richard the Lionheart, lured by dreams of glory and driven by faith, makes a fateful choice between a mortal crown and a magical one and embarks on a Crusade to free Jerusalem from the infidels, leaving behind a kingdom threatened by beings wielding the powers of dark magic.

Judith Tarr Richard the Lionheart 1. Pride of Kings 2. Devil's Bargain 3. House of War

Epona — (1998-2001) Publisher: The saga of Sarama, the beautiful, headstrong young priestess of a nomadic warrior band. Her majestic white horse is the earthly incarnation of the goddess Epona; her fateful odyssey to a great city where women still rule, unleashes an epic clash of cultures that changes the course of history.

Judith Tarr Epona book reviews 1. White Mare's Daughter 2. The Shepherd Kings 3. Lady of Horses 4. Daughter of Lir

William the Conqueror — (2004-2005) Publisher: For 500 years the Saxons ruled England, crushing the ancient powers. But a wave of change approaches. Across the Channel in Normandy, William is born-the bastard son of a duke and a magical woman of Druid descent. As he grows to manhood, William's battle skills earn him respect, but his temper and disregard for his innate magical abilities hold him back. He needs a teacher, whether he wants one or not, and finds one in the beautiful French noblewoman Mathilda. But William is resistant to the very idea of magic, and unless he can accept Mathilda's help-and her love-his imperfectly controlled abilities may destroy him. In an epic battle that spans worlds and ages, magical forces and earthbound armies will be drawn together by William as he fights to achieve his destiny-and reign as King of England.

William The Conqueror Judith Tarr book reviews 1. Rite of Conquest

book review Judith Tarr Bring Down the Sun: Alexander the Great

ALexander the Great — (1993-2008)
Historical fantasies about Alexander the Great.

Stand-alone novels:

Ars Magica — (1989) Publisher: Judith Tarr's Ars Magica is wonderful tale of a young monk in the 10th Century who learns the secrets of magic while rising in power and influence within the medieval Church. The mixture of fact (the main characters are almost all versions of real people) and fantasy is well-developed, and the author's essay on the historical basis of her work is informative and fascinating.

A Wind in Cairo — (1989) Publisher: A medieval historical fantasy.

His Majesty's Elephant — (1993) Young adult. Publisher: Charlemagne's daughter must call on her own magic and the power of a young Breton and a special elephant to save her father from a deadly Byzantine spell.

Household Gods — (1999) With Harry Turtledove. Publisher: Nicole Gunther-Perrin is a modern young professional, proud of her legal skills but weary of the daily grind, of childcare, and of sexist coworkers and her deadbeat ex-husband. Then after one exceptionally awful day, she awakens to find herself in a different life, that of a widowed tavernkeeper on the Roman frontier around A.D. 170.Delighted at first, she quickly begins to realize that her new world is as complicated as her old one. Violence, dirt, adn pain are everywhere; slavery is commonplace, gladiators kill for sport, and drunkenness is taken for granted. Yet, somehow, people manage to face life everyday with humor and goodwill.No quitter, Nicole manages to adapt, despite endless worry about the fate of her children "back" in the twentieth century. Then plague sweeps through Carnuntum, followed by brutal war. Amidst pain and loss on a level she had never imagined, Nicole must find reserved of the sort of strength she had never known.

Kingdom of the Grail — (2000) Publisher: Centuries following the fall of Camelot and the disappearance of King Arthur, Roland, a descendant of Merlin, vows to free the imprisoned wizard and resumes the quest for the Holy Grail, taking on one of Arthur's historic enemies in the process.

As Kathleen Bryan:

The War of the Rose — (2007-2009) Publisher: The beautiful Averil is heir to the Duchy of Quitaine, in the Kingdom of Lys. She is a powerful mage, trained by the Ladies of the Isle, but when her father calls her home to take up her duties, she must leave that life behind. In her city of Fontevrai, she meets Gereint, raised as a common villager but greatly gifted in magic, a novice of the magical order of the Knights of the Rose. The Knights and their sister order, the Ladies of the Isle, defend a great secret: the means and location of the Serpents imprisonment a thousand years ago by the Young God in whose name their order was founded. Quitaine is under subtle attack by the King of Lys, who has secretly become an adept of the hidden order of the Serpent, and he will let nothing and no one stand in the way of his quest to discover how to free his God. But the Knights of the Rose and the Ladies of the Isle believe that if the Serpent is freed, the world will be enslaved to chaos: humanity will destroy itself, and all that man has made will be corrupted. The War of the Rose and Serpent has begun again, after a thousand years.

Kathleen Bryan (Judith Tarr) The War of the Rose 1. The Serpent and the Rose 2. The Golden Rose 3. The Last Paladin

fantasy book review Kathleen Bryan Judith Tarr The War of the Rose 1. The Serpent and the Rose The Serpent and the Rose

Averil is the daughter of a duke of Lys, trained from childhood in the magical arts on the Ladies' Isle. Gereint is a fatherless farmboy who possesses a powerful, untamed streak of wild magic. As the sinister king of Lys and his advisor, both practioners of dark magic, unleash a plot to remove the realm's nobles and awaken an ancient evil, Averil is summoned back to the mainland, while Gereint chases after a band of Knights of the Rose, hoping that their Order can train him. In time, Averil and Gereint find themselves together as unlikely allies and, perhaps, the only hope of both their realm and world.

As is obvious from that brief summary (and its faint echoes of Star Wars, among other tales), there is little new in The Serpent and the Rose, the first book of The War of the Rose trilogy by Kathleen Bryan (a penname of Judith Tarr). Still, the author's prose is almost always clean and even elegant, and her creation of an alternate Europe and a magical system centering on the use of glass are deft accomplishments. And even though little — especially the two main characters — was new or surprising in the first half of the book, I enjoyed the tale's unfolding. However, the plot loses focus and momentum in the second half, and the characters' choices make little sense except to prop up the collapsing plot. The ending of the book on a weak anti-climax, in preparation for the next book, was particularly disappointing. Other weaknesses include the lack of characterization of (or motive for) the villains and too many instances where seemingly important events or world-features (e.g. the orders besides the Knights) were glossed over or unexplained. (It is worth noting that one positive for many readers may be the lack of profanity and graphic violence or sex.)

Recommended as a library loan only for fans of high medieval fantasy, many of whom may enjoy this book. Three unremarkable stars. —Rob R. Comments

As Caitlin Brennan:

The White Magic Trilogy — (2004-2006) Publisher: Tales are told of the mysterious, powerful Mountain where the gods — powerful beings in the form of white horses — live. But Valeria knows no woman has ever been called to the Mountain. Until she feels a strange pull and answers the call — as a boy…. When her secret is discovered Valeria loses all that she's won. Her anger and frustration with the Empire might be enough to give the barbarians a way into the Mountain. And so the Empire now depends on the will, the strength and the loyalty of one Rider. A Rider who has been rejected by all but the gods…

The White Magic Trilogy The Mountain's Call, Song of Unmaking, Shattered Dance

fantasy book reviews Caitlin Brennan The White Magic Trilogy Mountain's Call The Mountain's Call

I really thought I would like Caitlin Brennan's White Magic Trilogy, I really did! The Mountain's Call started off so well, very Harry Potter-like with the herioine headed off to this mystical school where she was to learn about the White Horse Gods... but as it went on and on and on... it lost its thrill.

The plot, though intending to become more intense, only became more and more dull. The whole plot is culminating in this "Dance" and though it is obviously important to the story, Caitlin Brennan fails to explain why this "dance" is so important. I guess it can change the course of stuff... but who really cares?

Mostly,The Mountain's Call is made up of lots of sex and torture, two things that in my opinion are not really related, so all and all this book was a stinker. —Julie Comments

Other novels as Caitlin Brennan:

House of the Star — (2010) Young adult. Publisher: Elen is a princess of the kingdom of Ymbria. Her greatest wish is to become a rider of worldrunners: the magical horses that are the only safe way to travel the roads through the worlds of Faerie. Now Elen has the chance to fulfill her dream at last, but the price is much too high. To become a worldrider, Elen must journey to the House of the Star on Earth, the Arizona ranch where the worldrunners live and breed. There, she must try to forge a peace with her people’s worst enemy — a traitor from the world of Caledon — and end the war that has been tearing their worlds apart for centuries. If Elen doesn’t succeed, the Master of the House of the Star will close both Ymbria and Caledon off from the worldroads forever. Can the wisdom of a worldrunner named Blanca help Elen in her quest to save her world? Caitlin Brennan’s first novel for young readers is an enchanting tale of a very special breed of horses, the tribe of horse girls, and faerie magic.

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