vampire who draws his sustenance from the
dreams of women, giving them an ecstatic experi-
ence in exchange and not hurting them at all. Un-
fortunately, he has an evil brother who callously
takes human lives, adding conflict to their sudden
romance. Prince of Shadowsreturns to the world of
werewolves, reprising the first story.
Twice a Hero(1997) is a time travel romance
involving a family curse, a considerable change
from her previous books both in tone and subject
matter and is not as successful, and Body and Soul
(1998) is a Regency-era ghost romance that is
equally slight. She returned to werewolves with the
much more interesting Touch of the Wolf(1999), a
historical novel in which a half-breed werewolf-
human woman finds her true love. The heroine of
Once a Wolf(2000) tries to deny her shape-shifting
heritage but eventually learns to welcome her dif-
ferences. Secret of the Wolf (2001) completes the
loose trilogy, this time describing the reaction of a
psychiatrist to a patient who believes himself to be
a werewolf. To Catch a Wolf(2003) is her most re-
cent werewolf romance, another tale of an individ-
ual tormented by his secret nature but who
eventually finds love.
The Forest Lord(2002) is a more mainstream
fantasy, although still with strong romantic ele-
ments. In Regency England fairies are faced with
the extinction of their race unless they can find
human lovers. Some of the characters in Shield of
the Sky(2004) are also shape shifters, but the novel
is more about the quest to destroy an evil creature
than an exploration of their culture. Krinard, who
has also written some science fiction romances, ap-
pears to be broadening her range of settings and
plots and may be on the verge of gaining a follow-
ing outside the borders of romance fiction.
Kurtz, Katherine(1944– )
With her first published fantasy, Deryni Rising
(1970), Katherine Kurtz introduced the imaginary
world that would dominate her career as an au-
thor. Deryni is a typical fantasy land, although bet-
ter realized than most, in which kings, nobles,
wizards, and other magical elements combine and
conflict. Kurtz was clearly influenced by J. R. R.
TOLKIENand became one of the earliest fantasy
writers to create a similar world over the course of
many books. Humans share this world with the
Deryni, who look very similar to humans but who
possess various magical powers that are the source
of considerable tension between the two races.
Over the course of the series, which did not appear
in chronological order, the Deryni are eventually
driven into hiding, although they remain secretly
powerful and influential.
In the opening volume the influence that one
of the Deryni has over the current king leads to
plots and counterplots. The opposition grows
more heated in Deryni Checkmate(1972), as an
entrenched human church decides to neutralize
the power of the nonhumans. When they discover
that the new king is half Deryni himself in High
Deryni(1973), the church leadership transfers its
allegiance to a challenger, leading to civil war. Al-
though it initially appeared that the series would
conclude as a trilogy, Kurtz started work on a sec-
ond sequence consisting of Camber of Culdi
(1976), Saint Camber (1978), and Camber the
Heretic(1980), which is set much earlier in time.
The current king is a corrupt and cruel Deryni
sorcerer. Camber is another of his kind with more
benevolent intentions who secretly plots to re-
place the tyrant. He succeeds, but in the second
volume the new king is in danger of being simi-
larly supplanted. The situation worsens, human
resentment becomes uncontrollable, and Camber,
recognizing that persecution is inevitable, begins
to teach other Deryni how to pass for human and
live in secret.
A third trilogy comprises The Bishop’s Heir
(1984), The King’s Justice(1985), and The Quest for
Saint Camber(1986). The church hierarchy was
defeated but has not resigned itself to the situa-
tion. A new plot involves seceding from the king’s
lands and forming a separate state where the
Deryni can be outlawed. Another round of civil
war follows, ending with the apparent death of the
king and a reappearance by a legendary Deryni.
The Deryni Archives(1986) is a set of interwoven
stories set in the same world, and Deryni Magic
(1990) is mostly nonfiction about the author’s cre-
ation, with some narrative sections.
The fourth trilogy began with The Harrowing
of Gwynedd (1989) and continued with King198 Kurtz, Katherine