What do you think?
Rate this book
The Heirs of Saint Camber #2
King Javan's Year
With young young King Alroy on his deathbed, the power-hungry Regents are plotting to keep the legitimate heir from ascending the thrown. But Prince Javan is a formidable opponent. And the Regents vow to stop at nothing to wrest back control of Gwynedd. To prevail against the Regents, to rule his kingdom justly, and even to live, Javan has to be strong. He has to be clever. And he has to be very lucky indeed...
481 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 10, 1992
86 people are currently reading
675 people want to read
About the author
Katherine Kurtz
92 books742 followersKatherine Kurtz is an American fantasy novel writer. She is best known for her Deryni series. She currently lives in Virginia.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
February 15, 2011
Please note the title of the book: King Javan's YEAR. I love Javan, he is one of my favorite characters of all time.
Bawled for days.
Then recommended it to my sister, whose husband called me in concern because when she got to the end of the book, he found her huddled on the floor of the bathroom, sobbing, and didn't know what was wrong with her . . .
Bawled for days.
Then recommended it to my sister, whose husband called me in concern because when she got to the end of the book, he found her huddled on the floor of the bathroom, sobbing, and didn't know what was wrong with her . . .
January 28, 2018
This is a re-read for me, read it when it first came out and enjoyed it more the second time around.
I love the whole Deryni series, and after The Bishop's Heir (which is my absolute number 1), this is my favourite one.
Javan is such a well drawn character, I really loved him, which made the ending so tragic, and the ending is so brutal and shocking, it leaves the reader stunned.
I have motherly instincts for all three of Cinhil's sons, none of them managed to reach their potential through no fault of their own, and it makes me want to rage at the regents.
I wonder if there are any other Deryni fans out there who would like to see Javan and Kelson in the same room? Or be able to communicate in some way? Or for Kelson to be able to learn about him and his fate? To Kelson, he would just be a name of an obscure Haldane King who reigned barely a year many generations before him.
I love the whole Deryni series, and after The Bishop's Heir (which is my absolute number 1), this is my favourite one.
Javan is such a well drawn character, I really loved him, which made the ending so tragic, and the ending is so brutal and shocking, it leaves the reader stunned.
I have motherly instincts for all three of Cinhil's sons, none of them managed to reach their potential through no fault of their own, and it makes me want to rage at the regents.
I wonder if there are any other Deryni fans out there who would like to see Javan and Kelson in the same room? Or be able to communicate in some way? Or for Kelson to be able to learn about him and his fate? To Kelson, he would just be a name of an obscure Haldane King who reigned barely a year many generations before him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 19, 2021
I love this book and I hate this book. Kurtz is a great storyteller. There are characters to love and hate. Javan has all the makings of a great king. Sadly, the former regents of his brother want to keep their power. This book was released about 30 years ago and still holds up.
April 17, 2014
=== Excellently crafted intense and suspenseful ===
Katherine Kurtz is an author who never shies away from twisted plots that often provide readers with the opposite of what they want or expect. But that doesn’t mean that readers will abandon her. In a fantasy world akin to our world’s tenth century, with the addition of a race having supernatural and magical abilities, a tension of treachery broods like a clammy fog to the landscape. It seems that victory for the righteous can never long be savoured until treason and betrayal festers to precipitate a calamitous vengeance.
This is the second novel of ‘The Heirs of Saint Camber,’ the eleventh of the fifteen Deryni novels* to be published but, confusingly, the fifth if read in chronological order (which I recommend). In the first novel of this trilogy, ‘The Harrowing of Gwynedd,’ the oldest of the late King Cinhil’s young sons, Alroy, had been drugged and manipulated by his self-serving power hungry Regents to do their bidding. Their primary task was to suppress the members of the Deryni race and legislate the removal of their rights to land, liberty and the sustenance of life. Alroy dies, having been weak and sickly for some time. After Alroy reached his age of majority, his Regents had lost some of their ability to act freely. His twin, Prince Javan, sympathetic to the Deryni, had temporarily sequestered himself for three years in a monastery, preparing to emerge to become king at the passing of Alroy. Archbishop Hubert, who sponsored Javan to assume a priestly vocation, had assumed that the youngest, immature and more pliable prince, Rhys Michael, would become king since Javan had chosen a life of religious devotion. But Javan has a surprise for Hubert and his courtly allies, he is determined to become king. Javan also has his allies and his younger brother has no interest in kingship for himself. These events lay the foundation for this novel. It becomes a year of incessant games of brinkmanship between King Javan, his allies and the ‘good’ Deryni and Archbishop Hubert, his allies and the ‘bad’ Deryni—games that frequently end in tortures, murders and battles to win and keep power through treasonous and brutal means.
Kurtz is usually big on rituals and ceremony in her books but in this novel she does not go to extremes. The book has loads of drama and presents both adversarial sides vividly through dialogue and narrative. We get to know the characters intimately, how they think, reason and plot to win power and keep it. This is an excellently crafted intense and suspenseful installment of the tragically heroic Deryni saga.
*a sixteenth novel ‘The King’s Deryni’ is scheduled for publication December, 2014
Katherine Kurtz is an author who never shies away from twisted plots that often provide readers with the opposite of what they want or expect. But that doesn’t mean that readers will abandon her. In a fantasy world akin to our world’s tenth century, with the addition of a race having supernatural and magical abilities, a tension of treachery broods like a clammy fog to the landscape. It seems that victory for the righteous can never long be savoured until treason and betrayal festers to precipitate a calamitous vengeance.
This is the second novel of ‘The Heirs of Saint Camber,’ the eleventh of the fifteen Deryni novels* to be published but, confusingly, the fifth if read in chronological order (which I recommend). In the first novel of this trilogy, ‘The Harrowing of Gwynedd,’ the oldest of the late King Cinhil’s young sons, Alroy, had been drugged and manipulated by his self-serving power hungry Regents to do their bidding. Their primary task was to suppress the members of the Deryni race and legislate the removal of their rights to land, liberty and the sustenance of life. Alroy dies, having been weak and sickly for some time. After Alroy reached his age of majority, his Regents had lost some of their ability to act freely. His twin, Prince Javan, sympathetic to the Deryni, had temporarily sequestered himself for three years in a monastery, preparing to emerge to become king at the passing of Alroy. Archbishop Hubert, who sponsored Javan to assume a priestly vocation, had assumed that the youngest, immature and more pliable prince, Rhys Michael, would become king since Javan had chosen a life of religious devotion. But Javan has a surprise for Hubert and his courtly allies, he is determined to become king. Javan also has his allies and his younger brother has no interest in kingship for himself. These events lay the foundation for this novel. It becomes a year of incessant games of brinkmanship between King Javan, his allies and the ‘good’ Deryni and Archbishop Hubert, his allies and the ‘bad’ Deryni—games that frequently end in tortures, murders and battles to win and keep power through treasonous and brutal means.
Kurtz is usually big on rituals and ceremony in her books but in this novel she does not go to extremes. The book has loads of drama and presents both adversarial sides vividly through dialogue and narrative. We get to know the characters intimately, how they think, reason and plot to win power and keep it. This is an excellently crafted intense and suspenseful installment of the tragically heroic Deryni saga.
*a sixteenth novel ‘The King’s Deryni’ is scheduled for publication December, 2014
September 3, 2016
Just as engrossing as the other Deryni books i've read. I started reading these back in the late 1980s while i was in high school. I lost track of them at some point, read "The Harrowing of Gwynned" probably 8-10 years ago, and just picked this one up. So glad to be back reading these books!
I was somewhat appalled to find that, at least in this book, women play very, very little role. There are almost none in the entire book, one who appears isn't even alive, and the other "main" woman character barely shows up. I don't recall if the other books were quite this bad, although i imagine that they're similar. "King Javan's Year," at least, is a book about men doing things with men, for men, and told from men's point of view. At least based on this, Kurtz is far from a feminist author. And it is this that prevents me from being able to give this book five stars.
One thing that i do find somewhat feminist, though, and which i also found quite compelling in high school (although at the time i didn't have the concepts to express it), is some of the relationships between men in the Deryni novels. While all the characters are assumed to be straight and cisgender, there is an intimacy to some of their relationships that so often seems to be totally lacking in relationships today between straight men, who aren't culturally even allowed friendships outside of going to sports games and/or drinking together. The Deryni men in Kurtz's books have deep respect for each other, put deep trust in each other, either deeply like or love each other, and are allowed some physical contact with each other, albeit because it's required for their magic. It makes me ache for what straight men these days so often lack in their lives -- and it makes me ache all the more that those same straight men don't even realize what they're missing.
I'll be interested to see if the other books i have yet to read are this atrociously horrible for being totally male-centric. Because i do plan to read them. Sexist or not, Deryni books are gripping.
I was somewhat appalled to find that, at least in this book, women play very, very little role. There are almost none in the entire book, one who appears isn't even alive, and the other "main" woman character barely shows up. I don't recall if the other books were quite this bad, although i imagine that they're similar. "King Javan's Year," at least, is a book about men doing things with men, for men, and told from men's point of view. At least based on this, Kurtz is far from a feminist author. And it is this that prevents me from being able to give this book five stars.
One thing that i do find somewhat feminist, though, and which i also found quite compelling in high school (although at the time i didn't have the concepts to express it), is some of the relationships between men in the Deryni novels. While all the characters are assumed to be straight and cisgender, there is an intimacy to some of their relationships that so often seems to be totally lacking in relationships today between straight men, who aren't culturally even allowed friendships outside of going to sports games and/or drinking together. The Deryni men in Kurtz's books have deep respect for each other, put deep trust in each other, either deeply like or love each other, and are allowed some physical contact with each other, albeit because it's required for their magic. It makes me ache for what straight men these days so often lack in their lives -- and it makes me ache all the more that those same straight men don't even realize what they're missing.
I'll be interested to see if the other books i have yet to read are this atrociously horrible for being totally male-centric. Because i do plan to read them. Sexist or not, Deryni books are gripping.
March 4, 2018
Javan takes over the throne at Alroy's death despite the desires of the former regents to have Rhys Michael become king. The end is heart-wrenching.
While I understand that in the context of the story Javan and his allies had to take steps to defend himself, there were too many times when Javan or his Deryni allies would go into other peoples minds and change their memories. It started to bother me. If I were a human in Gwynedd who knew that this was possible I would certainly be concerned about Deryni influence in the rulers. The goal of the Deryni heroes (Camber's family and their allies) in the series has been to build a country where Deryni and human function together, but the almost casual manipulation that Javan does in this book made me second-guess whether that could work.
While I understand that in the context of the story Javan and his allies had to take steps to defend himself, there were too many times when Javan or his Deryni allies would go into other peoples minds and change their memories. It started to bother me. If I were a human in Gwynedd who knew that this was possible I would certainly be concerned about Deryni influence in the rulers. The goal of the Deryni heroes (Camber's family and their allies) in the series has been to build a country where Deryni and human function together, but the almost casual manipulation that Javan does in this book made me second-guess whether that could work.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2008
Out of all the Deryni books this is the one that is the hardest for me to reread. I am not disappointed when I do, as the story is perhaps the best of all her books, but it is also the most painful for me to read. It is tragic, and the events in this section of the history of Gwynedd has the most promising of kings and that is the tragedy of the story. King Javan only had a year, and he should have had so much more. As much as I love Kelson as a King, I truly believe Javan had the makings of a great and nobel King.
November 15, 2017
I am in a love/hate relationship with this book. The book was so well written you quickly become attached to the characters and fall in love with them. You find a continuation of events from previous novels accompanied by new developments. This of course leaves you wanting more. It is for all of these reasons that I loved the book.
I hate this book for only one reason, and it directly corresponds with my fast growing love for the characters and how and when King Javan's Year comes to an end. A must read, but be prepared for tears.
I hate this book for only one reason, and it directly corresponds with my fast growing love for the characters and how and when King Javan's Year comes to an end. A must read, but be prepared for tears.
June 19, 2014
I know the Heirs of Saint Camber is an important historical patch of the whole Deryni story. I found this hard to read because I like Javan, but the grim nature of the novel and his obvious fate defeated me on my first try.
The lack of new fantasy that appeals to me has prompted me to return to Gwynedd. The historical/magical stage continues to appeal, but the totally despicable clerics are almost overwhelming. I prefer the early Kelson novels.
The lack of new fantasy that appeals to me has prompted me to return to Gwynedd. The historical/magical stage continues to appeal, but the totally despicable clerics are almost overwhelming. I prefer the early Kelson novels.
September 24, 2011
This is a story that really sticks with me. Even when it's been awhile since the last time I read it, it only takes hearing the title or seeing the cover to get me to tear up. A good continuation of the trilogy, but a tragic story. Javan is a wonderful character about whom I wish I could read more.
May 25, 2016
This second trilogy keeps getting better. Less involvement with deception and more emphasis placed on political intrigue makes this book a real page-turner. This book focuses almost completely on Javan, who seems to be the first protagonist that makes rational decisions. His character makes for a good read.
December 3, 2016
Slow
As much as I like the series, I had a difficult time finishing this installment. Perhaps that was the author's intention -- to mirror the difficult times experienced by the main character. Dark and brooding, filled with deceit and violence, perhaps signalling the transition to the next entry, The Bastard Prince. Glad to finish and now on to the next.
As much as I like the series, I had a difficult time finishing this installment. Perhaps that was the author's intention -- to mirror the difficult times experienced by the main character. Dark and brooding, filled with deceit and violence, perhaps signalling the transition to the next entry, The Bastard Prince. Glad to finish and now on to the next.
June 25, 2010
This is my least favorite Deryni book. I just don't like the storyline. I don't buy it. If I was King, I'd do it differently. Heh heh. It's still a good story and falls well within the Kurtz style and talent for storytelling, but the entire time I was thinking, Javan, you're the King! Do something!
April 9, 2015
Really enjoyed the book. The entire series has well been worth the read.
January 10, 2017
Much better than the first one.
August 17, 2020
This is the second book of a trilogy that is part of the author's Deryni Chronicles series of books. I assume that most readers of this book will not be using it as the starting point to the Deryni world and the kingdom of Gwynedd. Most will probably have started with the stories of King Kelson Haldane. This trilogy is set about 200 years prior to the time of Kelson, and fills in some needed "back story" to the Kelson books, but is intended to be read after them. As a result, most readers will have already learned the history of Alroy, Javan, and Rhys Michael from Kelson's story, at least in the broad brush strokes. I won't give out spoilers except those that were already told in the Kelson books.
It was already known 200 years later in King Kelson's time that King Alroy died young and childless, and his brother Javin took the throne. Unfortunately, it was also already known that King Javan only ruled for a year, hence the title of this book. Sorry if you thought that was a spoiler, although it is not much of one given that the title pretty much gives that away.
King Javan is not going to have an easy time during his reign. The former regents for his brother, Alroy, have a taste for the power they once had, and don't want a new king to ruin their control. They have kept the Deryni hated by the people, and exiled from society. Javan's efforts to correct this are blocked by the people who banned the Deryni in the first place.
This book was a little bit sad, depressing even, because the whole book leads up to Javan's death when the third brother, Rhys Michael, becomes king. It sort of reads like a tragedy from the classics, like a Hamlet or Othello, or Aedipus Rex. You can see the tragic end looming, but nothing will stave it off.
Still, there is the third book yet to come.
It was already known 200 years later in King Kelson's time that King Alroy died young and childless, and his brother Javin took the throne. Unfortunately, it was also already known that King Javan only ruled for a year, hence the title of this book. Sorry if you thought that was a spoiler, although it is not much of one given that the title pretty much gives that away.
King Javan is not going to have an easy time during his reign. The former regents for his brother, Alroy, have a taste for the power they once had, and don't want a new king to ruin their control. They have kept the Deryni hated by the people, and exiled from society. Javan's efforts to correct this are blocked by the people who banned the Deryni in the first place.
This book was a little bit sad, depressing even, because the whole book leads up to Javan's death when the third brother, Rhys Michael, becomes king. It sort of reads like a tragedy from the classics, like a Hamlet or Othello, or Aedipus Rex. You can see the tragic end looming, but nothing will stave it off.
Still, there is the third book yet to come.
August 29, 2018
This second book in the Heirs of Saint Camber is full of hope and tenacity as Javan becomes King in a way his twin brother never was. Javan refuses to be swayed or controlled by what are now defunct regents in a bid to rule Gwynedd and slowly bring back tolerance, acceptance and safety for the magical Deryni people. As usual Katherine Kurtz makes you love or hate the characters, care about the future of Gywnedd and cheer on a young King.
July 12, 2019
This was extremely difficult for me to get through. A friend told me that the ending was horrible, and I had no idea how bad it was until I looked at the Codex. Prepare yourselves. Javan will die. You will cry. Hubert does horrible things to Rhys Michael and gets away with it. I sure hope the regents get what's coming to them someday and in the most horrific of ways.
July 6, 2020
This is still one of my favorite books in the series. The pace is breathtaking and heartbreaking. Reading the whole series in the order of events rather than by publishing date brings home the beauty of the world building and the strength of characters. Even though this book was written well after the first novel was published, it fits seamlessly.
May 13, 2018
Nearly gave this 4 stars, as I finally felt a connection to the storyline and characters, but it still spends way too much time with scripture and boring details, but the flow is much better and Javan is easy to root for, even though the ending is soooo predictable, especially given the title!
December 11, 2018
Ok a little mad that everything isn't all rainbows and happiness in this book. But then again that makes it more realistic. One more to go in series but going to take a break. Can only handle so much disappointment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 31, 2025
Moved along quite well.
Looking at the family trees at the back of this and previous books gave a bit of a spoiler as to how it was likely to go.
Wonder if the trilogy finishes with a reasonably happy ending or not?
Looking at the family trees at the back of this and previous books gave a bit of a spoiler as to how it was likely to go.
Wonder if the trilogy finishes with a reasonably happy ending or not?
April 13, 2018
Javan assumes the throne in the second book of the Heirs of Saint Camber trilogy. The story is self-contained (and somewhat predictable) despite being a middle volume.
April 14, 2025
Way too many detailed ceremonies.
October 20, 2021
Yeah, so the title kind of tells you how this book will end and as the fifth book in this series I was hoping the Deryni would finally see some light at the tunnel, but alas.
I am taking a break before forging ahead as I need something cheerier. Katherine Kurtz has built a great world. While I don't enjoy the graphic descriptions of death and torture too much and I often skip over the long detailed descriptions of the religious and magical rituals, I can't resist the medieval setting and conflict, politics and intrigue.
I am taking a break before forging ahead as I need something cheerier. Katherine Kurtz has built a great world. While I don't enjoy the graphic descriptions of death and torture too much and I often skip over the long detailed descriptions of the religious and magical rituals, I can't resist the medieval setting and conflict, politics and intrigue.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2020
Possibly one of Kurtz's best books. She layers in courtly intrigue, swashbuckling, and magic to provide a dense, twisted plot with very life-like characters, some of whom have been with the reader for the previous four books. The title alone is spoiler enough, so of course she has to entertain and divert the reader with the manner in which she arrives at the foregone conclusion; naturally, how it exactly plays out leaves open different possibilities for what is to come next.
If I have any complaint about the book, it is one of Kurtz's more common failings. Specifically, although the "good guys" are well aware of the plots and machinations against them, they seem content to passively await the next blow from the "bad guys." Unlike in Camber of Culdi and the beginning of Saint Camber, where the protagonists were the ones taking the initiative to outsmart, outmaneuver, and/or outfight their enemies, the following books have them rather haplessly spectating, even when they become privy to inside information from the other side. Nowhere is that more in evidence than in this otherwise gripping, page-turning book, leading the reader to some level of frustration with the otherwise very likable hero by the end.
That flaw aside, the book is colorful, realistic (more so than most of the fantasy genre), and very entertaining. Kurtz's Deryni books are good fun and well worth reading, offering some different angles from many others in the genre.
If I have any complaint about the book, it is one of Kurtz's more common failings. Specifically, although the "good guys" are well aware of the plots and machinations against them, they seem content to passively await the next blow from the "bad guys." Unlike in Camber of Culdi and the beginning of Saint Camber, where the protagonists were the ones taking the initiative to outsmart, outmaneuver, and/or outfight their enemies, the following books have them rather haplessly spectating, even when they become privy to inside information from the other side. Nowhere is that more in evidence than in this otherwise gripping, page-turning book, leading the reader to some level of frustration with the otherwise very likable hero by the end.
That flaw aside, the book is colorful, realistic (more so than most of the fantasy genre), and very entertaining. Kurtz's Deryni books are good fun and well worth reading, offering some different angles from many others in the genre.
July 11, 2008
As good as the other Deryni books, this one picks up where Camber's story left off. Like all the others, it is a mixture of historical fiction, religion, ESP and fantasy, and plunges the reader into the lighter and darker sides of the human psyche in excruciating detail.
The Deryni are a race of humans that possess unusual talents, most of which could be classified as ESP. Unfortunately, not all humans believe that they will use their powers to benefit others, and sometimes what replaces a corrupt regime can be as bad as what went before, especially when fear of the unknown and lust for revenge combine with religion inside those in power.
The Deryni are a race of humans that possess unusual talents, most of which could be classified as ESP. Unfortunately, not all humans believe that they will use their powers to benefit others, and sometimes what replaces a corrupt regime can be as bad as what went before, especially when fear of the unknown and lust for revenge combine with religion inside those in power.
September 30, 2013
This reread reminded me of why I no longer read the Camber / Deryni series. The overall storyline doesn’t have enough joy in it to balance the sadness and evil. It is a good story and a good read but depressing.
May 23, 2007
never let perceived handicaps get in the way of your dreams.
Read
August 26, 2012Saddest ending EVER.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews