Katherine Kurtz

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Katherine Irene Kurtz (born October 18, 1944 in Coral Gables , Florida ) is an American writer , scientist and historian . She has a BS in Chemistry and an MA in English Medieval History, studied medicine for one year and is a trained Erikson hypnotist. For several years she worked as a technical writer for the Los Angeles Police Department.

Kurtz made her literary debut in the early 1970s with the Deryni fantasy cycle about a Christian wizarding family . From then on Kurtz worked full-time as a writer. Together with Deborah T. Harris she wrote the Adept cycle , in which elements of detective novel and fantasy mix. In addition to novels , her extensive work also includes short stories , essays and anthologies such as B. the 2002 published anthology of the Deryni series .

Katherine Kurtz has been married to Scott MacMillan since 1983, and the couple has lived in the neo-Gothic villa of Holybrooke Hall in Ireland since 1986 - with a dog, six cats and allegedly at least two ghosts. In 2007 Kurtz and MacMillan returned to the USA. You live in a so-called historic house in the neo-Gothic style in Virginia. Kurtz describes herself as a Christian with a great affinity for the spirituality that she sometimes shows up in the Deryni stories ("Deryni-Tales", p. 25).

Of course Kurtz wants to entertain with her novels and stories, but she hopes for more:

“I've always said that the first job of an author is to entertain, to tell a danged good story; but if I can also catalyze an eagerness to learn things that will help a person grow as an individual, that's even better, it's ic-ing on the cake. When all is said and done, if I could be remembered for one thing, it would be that I made my readers think, and enjoy doing it, and that I left their lives richer than they would have been if they'd not read my work. I don't aim to change peope's minds, but I do try to open them. « (» Deryni-Tales «, p. 6)
“I've always said that the main job of a writer is to entertain, to tell a really good story. But it is better if I can inspire people to learn things that help develop their personalities; That's the cherry on the cake - if, after I've said and done everything, I'm reminded of one thing: that I made my readers think, that they liked this, and that their lives became richer is as if she hadn't read my works. I don't want to change people's thinking, but I want to open it up. « (Translation by Friedhelm Schneidewind )

Deryni cycle

The novels and stories about the magical Deryni are considered the highlights of historical fantasy and their author is one of the inventors of this subgenre and the "queen of historical fantasies" (MBR Bookwatch, MidwestBook Review, Nov. 2003).

First and foremost, the 20 or so books deal with the conflict between church and magic (or at least magical forces) and the problems that can arise for people with "peculiarities" or abnormalities in society. However, many other aspects are also dealt with by way of example using this problem. Although the stories are set in a medieval world where there is such a thing as magic, in many respects they are easily transferable to our world and even our time - and that is what the author intended and makes up part of the appeal. According to her own statements, she dreamed the basic story of the Deryni saga in 1964 and turned it into a story a year later. In 1970 the novel Deryni Rising, based on it, appeared, which immediately became a bestseller. Your enlightenment approach is already clear in the first novels and more recognizable from book to book, more and more subject areas are addressed in the subtext, such as dealing with other religions and lifestyles, and the plea for tolerance is getting stronger. All this without any loss of tension or quality, on the contrary.

»I was brought up to judge people for who they were as individuals, not by their religion or the color of their skin or other superficial characteristics over which they had no control, but I was also aware that blan-ket discrimination was still very much with us. (If discrimination based on sexual preference existed when I was growing up, I was not aware of it, but it had become so by the time I was laying out the background of the Deryni; and thus, the Deryni also became a vehicle for talking about homosexual issues, as well as religious and racial ones.) " (" Deryni-Tales ", p. 25 f)
“I was brought up to judge people as individuals, not by religion or skin color or any other superficial trait they had no control over, but I was aware that there was still a lot of covert discrimination. (If there was discrimination based on sexual orientation in my youth, I did not notice it. But I realized it when I laid the foundation for the Deryni, and so they became a medium for talking about as well as homosexuality Religion and Racial Issues.) « (Translation by Friedhelm Schneidewind )

In this point Kurtz follows the example of the Darkover novels by Marion Zimmer Bradley , which she greatly admires , even if she never makes sexual orientation as explicitly an issue as Bradley. She also follows Bradley in the generous use of fan fiction .

bibliography

Deryni cycle

Early Deryni cycle (The Legends of Camber of Culdi):

The story Des Marluk's Downfall , 1982 ( Sword Against Marluk , 1977) in Ashtaru the Terrible , 1982, E. Ringer and H. Urbanek (eds.) Takes place a few years before the beginning of the late Deryni cycle.

Later Deryni cycle (The Chronicles of the Deryni):

The Histories of King Kelson

All volumes were translated by Horst Pukallus . Even if it is often presented (as mentioned above) that the Collection The Deryni Archives is the 4th volume of the cycle »The Story of King Kelson«, this is wrong. This error results from the false announcement of the Heyne publishing house.

The collection is part of the (superordinate) Deryni cycle, but an anthology with stories and essays. The fourth volume of the "History of King Kelson" is the novel King Kelson's Bride (2000, not published in German).

The Heirs of Saint Camber
  • 1 The Martyrdom of Gwynedd , 2000, ISBN 3-453-16236-6 , ( The Harrowing of Gwynedd , 1989)
  • 2 King Javan year , 2002, ISBN 3-453-16241-2 , ( King Javan's Year , 1992)
  • 3 The Bastard Prince (1994) planned as Sankt Cambers Schatten , but not published in German.
Childe Morgan (not published in German)
  • 1 In the King's Service , 2003
  • 2 Childe Morgan , 2006
  • 3 The King's Deryni , 2014
More works from the Deryni universe
  • Chronicles of the Deryni , 1976 (anthology)
  • Heilerlied , 1987 ( Healer's Song , 1982) in Top Fantasy (edited by Josh Pachter), 1987
  • Deryni Magic (A Grimoire) , 1990 (not published in German)
  • Codex Derynianus , 1998 (with Robert Reginald , not published in German)
  • Deryni Tales. An Anthology , 2002 (not published in German)
  • Codex Derynianus II , 2005 (with Robert Reginald, not published in German)
Adept cycle

with Deborah Turner Harris

  • 1 The Adept , 1999, ISBN 3-453-14929-7 , ( The Adept , 1991)
  • 2 The Lodge of the Lynx , 1999, ISBN 3-453-14930-0 , ( The Lodge of the Lynx , 1992)
  • 3 The Treasure of the Templars , 1999, ISBN 3-453-14934-3 , ( The Templar Treasure , 1993)
  • Dagger Magic , 1995
  • Death of an Adept , 1996
Knights of the Blood (with Scott MacMillan)
  • Knights of the Blood , 1993
  • At Sword's Point , 1994
Knights Templar
  • Tales of the Knights Templar , 1995 (Stories)
  • On Crusade: More Tales of the Knights Templar , 1998 (Stories)
  • The Temple and the Stone , 1998 (with Deborah Turner Harris)
  • The Temple and the Crown , 2001 (with Deborah Turner Harris)
More novels and stories
  • Lammas Night , 1983
  • Lehrs Legacy , 1991, ISBN 3-453-05405-9 , ( The Legacy of Lehr , 1986)
  • Two Crowns for America , 1996
  • St. Patrick's Gargoyle , 2001
As editor
  • Crusade of Fire: Mystical Tales of the Knights Templar , 2002

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ on this also http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/k/katherine-kurtz/
personal data
SURNAME Kurtz, Katherine
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kurtz, Katherine Irene (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American fantasy writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 18, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Coral Gables , Florida