shelter. They eventually come to the home of
Goody Boyle, a woman of questionable reputation,
although neither traveler is much more highly re-
garded even though they bear the title of lord.
The two men have mixed emotions when they
learn that an old enemy of Crediton’s, Richard
Horne, has died in the house and that his body still
lies in one of its rooms. Horne had been obsessed
with Crediton’s wife, for which insolence he had
been persecuted and bankrupted. The two men
mock the corpse despite Boyle’s insistence that the
dead man was a warlock. Drunker than ever, Cred-
iton and Bateman decide to conceal the corpse in
some hemlock, known locally as kecksies, so that
one of them can hide under the sheet and rise up
during the burial to confound the guests.
Much to Bateman’s surprise, his friend never
sits up. Impatient, he assumes the man has fallen
asleep and tries to rouse him. He discovers instead
the corpse of Horne, mysteriously returned from
the kecksies. There is no sign of either his compan-
ion or the man’s horse. Troubled, he takes his
leave, later encounters Crediton on the road, and
accompanies him home. He is still sitting up when
Crediton joins his wife and is alarmed by the cries
of anguish from their chamber. On the point of in-
terceding, he is interrupted by the arrival of Goody
Boyle and her companions bearing the body of
Crediton, for the corpse they all saw as Horne has
changed back into the lord. They break down the
door and witness the last moments of animation of
Horne’s corpse. That which he had sought after in
life, intimacy with Crediton’s wife, he has achieved
in death. The reader will have anticipated the rev-
elation, but that only increases the sense of horror
and suspense during the last few pages of the story.
Kennealy, Patricia(1946– )
Patricia Kennealy, who sometimes renders her last
name as Kennealy-Morrison, is known exclusively
for her eight-volume Keltiad series, two related
trilogies followed by two independent novels. Al-
though her prose and plotting are undistinguished,
she attracted considerable attention because of
her unorthodox blending of high fantasy with sci-
ence fiction. The Danaans, the inhabitants of At-
lantis, were persecuted by their human neighbors
because of their mastery of magic. When it be-
comes obvious that they can no longer hope to re-
main safe on Earth, they emigrate wholesale to
another planet, Keltia, where their culture be-
comes subtly altered.
The sequence starts with The Copper Crown
(1984), in which an Arthurian figure is invoked
just as a critical war is about to break out. A sor-
ceress travels among the stars in The Throne of
Scone(1986), searching for magical artifacts con-
nected to the heroic figure with which she hopes
to affect the course of events. The Silver Branch
(1988) is actually set prior to the previous two vol-
umes, providing much of the background.
The second trilogy is more obviously a reimag-
ining of Arthur and Camelot. Rivalries among the
displaced population are reaching a fever pitch in
The Hawk’s Gray Feather(1990), a charismatic
leader rises to power in The Oak above the Kings
(1994), and the grail quest is reenacted in The
Hedge above the Mist(1996). The author shifted
emphasis with the seventh volume, Blackmantle
(1997), introducing a space-faring alien race who
add another facet to the ongoing factional strug-
gles. The Deer’s Cry(1998) is another jump back
to the early days of the emigration from Earth and
is by far the weakest in the series. Except for one
interesting short story, “The Last Voyage,” (2002),
Kennealy has not been actively writing for the past
few years. Although her novels were not wildly
successful, they are remarkable for the way in
which she chose to blend magic and technology in
the same culture, a synthesis several writers have
attempted, but usually without much success.Kerr, Katharine(1944– )
Katharine Kerr’s first published novel launched the
Deverry sequence, which has dominated her work
ever since. Deverry is an imaginary European
country in an alternate version of the past where
magic works, where legendary creatures such as
dwarves are real, and where individuals can be re-
peatedly reincarnated. The first title was Dagger-
spell(1986), wherein through thoughtlessness the
protagonist causes the death of the three people
most dear to him, as a result of which he is pun-
ished by the gods and forced to wander the EarthKerr, Katharine 189