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Near the end of the first century AD, one Celtic tribe fled their homeland in Gaul to escape Roman rule. Traveling by magical means, they were transported to another universe, where they founded their own kingdom, which they called Deverry.
The main narrative thread starts ten centuries later. Through the use of frequent and extended [[Flash Back|Flashbacks]], the main story is intertwined with the stories of the character's [[Reincarnation|previous incarnations]], revealing how present circumstances stem from events occuring in a previous lifetime. This illustrates the concept of Wyrd, or karma. As the series progresses, the flashbacks become longer, with some of the later books being [[Whole-Episode Flashback|more than half flashback]].
Originally intended by the author to be a short story, the work took on a life of its own, growing longer and longer. The series finally reached its conclusion with the publication of the fifteenth book in 2009. The author likens the series to a play, dividing it into four "acts," each containing three or four books.
The novels use a richly detailed system of magic, called ''dweomer'', which is based upon real-world magical traditions, such as [[wikipedia:Kaballah|Kaballah]], [[wikipedia:Rosicrucianism|Rosicrucianism]] and [[wikipedia:Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn|the Golden Dawn]] Although dweomer is nominally a path to spiritual enlightenment, it produces quite spectacular displays, and can be powerful enough to steer the destiny of nations. Dweomer both an inherent gift as well as long study to use, and is a combination of [[Functional Magic|Theurgy and Force Magic]].
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* ''The Gold Falcon''
* ''The Spirit Stone''
* ''The Shadow Isle''
* ''The Silver Mage''
A few decades later, Jill and Nevyn have both reincarnated, and taken up the problems left from their previous lives, including Rhodry, {{spoiler|whose transformation was never meant to be.}}
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These books provide examples of:
* [[Anachronic Order]] - Flashbacks to previous incarnations and to the youth of long lived characters. Doubly so in that later there is one flashback to what used to be the "current" timeline. The chronologically earliest flashback is in the very last book.
* [[And That Would Be Wrong]] - Rori's suggestion to save Berwynna and Mic when they first meet.
* [[Barbie Doll Anatomy]] - Rhodry notices this about his blue lady, but is too entranced to care.
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* [[Fictional Document]] - ''The Secret Book of Cadwallon the Druid''
* [[Five Races]] - There are five intelligent species, the others associated with one of the four classical [[Elemental Powers]] in the series' magic system: Elves to air, Dwarves to earth, Gel da Thae to fire, and Dwrgi to water. Since [[Humans Are Special]], they get [[Element Number Five]], aethyr.
* [[Flash Back]] - Major parts of most books deal with the past, going beyond any normal use. The characters' current lives [[Visions of Another Self|often echo their previous ones]], though usually with significant differences.
* [[Foreshadowing]] - A lot, with probably the most significant one being "Rhodry's Wyrd is Eldidd's Wyrd".
* [[Forever War]] - Nevyn notes that the civil wars are turning into this.
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* [[Important Haircut]] - Jill, after leaving her home village with her father; Lilli (twice), first when running away from her mother, and later when mourning for {{spoiler|Branoic}}.
* [[Karma]] - Bad actions will have consequences in your next life, [[Call It Karma|if not earlier]]. The elven priests also tried to [[Invoked Trope|invoke]] it to justify their excesses.
* [[Lie to the Beholder]] - The illusion Evandar placed on Dalla. Worked on all humans but not elves.
* [[Literary Agent Hypothesis]] - The narrator of the books is an 18th century Deverrian woman, though this is only made explicit at the end of the final book.
* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] - There are four major time periods and seven minor ones, and over twenty characters who reincarnate in more than one of them. And then there are those characters who are only in one time period.
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* [[Unexpected Successor]] - Pertyc Maelwadd, with a bit of [[Offered the Crown]] mixed in.
** Also a bit of [[My Rule Fu Is Stronger Than Yours]]. The King does not have the authority to arbitrarily appoint Pertyc as the new Gwerbret Aberyn even despite the old one and his entire line having been attainted for treason and rebellion, as by ancient law the selection of a new gwerbret in the absence of an heir is a matter for the Council of Electors, or, the assembled vote of every lord in the gwerbret's demesne. King Aeryc then points out that due to the fact that due to equally ancient law that any lord who raises their banner in rebellion forfeits his vote on the Council, and the fact that Pertyc is the ''one'' lord in the entire province who did ''not'' rebel against the Crown, the Council of Electors for southern Eldidd now consists of exactly two people: Lord Pertyc and King Aeryc. So if Aeryc nominates him for the gwerbret's seat and Pertyc seconds the motion, he gets it free and clear.
* [[Wham! Episode]] - The end of The Fire Dragon, which is also the source of most of the spoiler tags on this page.
* [[The Wise Prince]] - Rhodry, Glyn the First. Rhodry enjoys most of his reign, actually, but we only see him at the beginning and the end when he's not so happy with the job.
* [[Wretched Hive]] - Slaith is a [[Not-So-Safe Harbor]] (type 1) and the Bilge is [[The City Narrows]] for Cerrmor.
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* [[Astral Projection]] - Quite well detailed. The written form is consistent enough to almost qualify as [[Stock Footage]].
* [[Aura Vision]] - Viewing auras is the basic skill, with manipulating them being the advanced form.
* [[
* [[Dream Weaver]] - Dalla, possibly others.
* [[Hermetic Magic]] - The magic system is quite detailed, being based on the Kabbalistic system and then expanded with other sources.
* [[I Know Your True Name]] - Dragons, and the Guardians to a lesser degree.
* [[Magic A Is Magic A]] - Consistent to the degree that there's noticable repetition in different books when the characters build Bodies of Light or create Seals. The limitations of magic are also clearly shown, affect the story and are commented upon by the dweomerworkers.
* [[Mind Manipulation]] - A important part of the Dweomer power set. Often done through the victim's aura.
** [[Brainwashing for the Greater Good]] - Nevyn on Rhodry, Dallandra on Verrarc; in both cases to protect someone.
** [[Charm Person]] - Often described as "spinning" the target's aura.
** [[Deprogram]] - Rhodry is lucky and gets his memories back. Camdel, not so much...
** [[Fake Memories]] - Aderyn to Corbyn's messengers.
** [[Fighting From the Inside]] - Jahdo against Verrarc's suggestion.
** [[Hypnotic Eyes]] - Since eyes are the [[Windows of the Soul]], eye-contact is usually necessary, at least to initiate the manipulation.
** [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]] - Nevyn makes Rhodry forget that Bocc is a thief; many other uses as well.
** [[Mind Rape]] - Alastyr and Sarcyn against Camdel, Baruma against Rhodry. Physical pain, humiliation and physical rape are used in conjuction with magic.
** [[Perception Filter]] - Pulling one's own aura close.
** [[Telepathy]] - Mind-to-mind speech, often through fire but sometimes water or some other element.
*** [[Think in Text]] - Mainly the widest-known italic convention is used to show the above. It has other uses in the series, but this is the most obvious.
** [[Tongue-Tied]] - Jahdo in ''Days of Blood and Fire'' thanks to Verrarc's clever use of ensorcellment.
* [[Mundane Utility]] - The elemental spirits of fire are used a lot to light candles and fires.
* [[Psychic Link]] - Weak, but Jill/Branna and Nevyn/Neb have one, and Perryn could tell what direction Jill was in.
* [[Shapeshifting]] - Much more natural to elven dweomermasters, but at least humans can learn it as well. {{spoiler|The "Water" race, Dwergi, also have some form of shapeshifting.}}
** [[Animorphism]] - Mortal practitioners have the ability to transform into a single animal, which is a reflection of their inner nature.
** [[The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body]] - Jill (Hawk) once almost attacks Dallandra (Linnet.. sorta) when both are shifted.
** [[Shapeshifter Mode Lock]] - In ''The Silver Mage''
** [[Shapeshifter Baggage]] - Averted; most shifters either return to where they shifted, or have a bag to carry clothes in.
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* [[Talking in Your Dreams]] - Used a lot; Dallandra is the most prominent but the Guardians, Nevyn, Nananna and Niffa are also proficient. Considering that Rhodry doesn't have any training in magic, he manages pretty well in this too.
* [[Vision Quest]] - Aderyn at the end of his training.
* [[Weather Control Machine]] - Nevyn, Dallandra and Jill, the first two causing [[Weather Dissonance]] when a [[Personal Raincloud]] appears over only one of the armies present.
* [[Your Mind Makes It Real]] - The Ethereal and other planes.
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[[Category:Long Running Book Series]]
[[Category:Fantasy Literature]]
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