Knight's Wyrd

by Debra Doyle, James D. Macdonald

On the evening before he is knighted, young Will Odosson is told his wyrd-his He will not inherit his father’s barony; he will meet Death before the year is out. “Strong main characters and a smoothly written plot make this a hard book to put down. Like many fantasies this one is full of magic which keeps the characters and plot moving.”-VOYA

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult, Medieval, Science Fiction, Research, Magic

308 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 1992

About the author

aka Nicholas Adams (with James D. Macdonald), Martin Delrio, Robyn Tallis (with James D. Macdonald)

Debra Doyle has a doctorate in English literature. Together, she and James Macdonald have written numerous sf/f books. They live in Colebrook, New Hampshire.

Series:
* Mageworlds
* Circle of Magic
* Bad Blood

Series contributed to:
* Tom Swift IV
* Robert Silverberg's Time Tours
* Daniel M Pinkwater's Melvinge of the Megaverse
* Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict

Reviews

[Spencer Orey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not for everybody, and it could have been a bit weirder? But it’s in interesting company today (like with the film The Green Knight). Death gets raised as a looming figure very early on, and so what could have been a pretty straightforward knight story instead has a lot of questions to it.

Anyway I’ve been enjoying these Tor Essentials re-releases overall.

[🇵🇸🇵🇸 hasfia 🇵🇸🇵🇸 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars ✨

I wish I’d invested more in this book it was such a treat since it follows the road map of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, an absolute favourite of mine.

I know I’ll definitely pick this one back up in a couple of months.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

if I had read this at age 12 I would have been simply obsessed

[sassafrass · Rating 5 out of 5]

i had incredibly high expectations going into this because the blurb sounds exactly like the sort of thing i would adore, and i am so delighted to say i was not disappointed. i devoured this in one sitting on the train to london, and this is clearly written by people who are verY confident in not only the narrative they are building but also the medieval tropes and concepts they are playing with. an absolute banger

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is slim, fast-paced, and full of medieval weirdness (or should I say wyrdness?) that makes it compelling and well worth a read. For me, it was the perfect combination of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R. R. Martin and a Hayao Miyazaki movie.

When the story starts, it appears to be a typical pseudo-England fantasy tale. If your edition has a map, you’ll see it’s all just the United Kingdom but slightly renamed, with some mentions of trolls and mermaids thrown in. As our main character Will prepares for his knighting and has a few adventures along the way with his friends, we get just a touch of courtly political intrigue and some magical happenings.

Things really start to go off the rails, however, when Will is kneeling in a church, only to find that there is a ghost on either side of him – ghosts that only he can see. From there the magic begins to ramp up, until Will is in a web of politics, trolls, cannibalistic mermaids, riddles, wizards, and more. His journey then really takes the form of something akin to Spirited Away, because he needs to solve all his interconnected problems the best way he can.

Knight’s Wyrd is short, so there are some story beats that might make you roll your eyes, but it all adds to the charm and precision of the story. By the time it all wraps up, you’ll be sad that there are no sequels to follow, but happy you went along for the ride.

[etherealacademia · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was honestly strong for the first 70% and then devolved into pure silliness. what

[Jeremy Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect story. A destiny misunderstood that drove a knight to be even braver than he always was. Supported by an apprentice wizard and some loyal friends. I loved this story.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The day before his knighting, Will has joined the hunt. Chasing a white deer until it vanishes results in losing himself in the forest. As he hunts for his way back, he finds two outlaws harassing an old woman for her pig, and in the resultant fight, he kills them.

She can direct him back, and he makes it in time for his vigil. Which their wizard visits to alert him to his wyrd: he will face death before the year is out, and his younger brother will inherit the estate. On top of his reaction, he is reminded the next day that he should visit the Baron and meet Isobel, since their marriage was arranged when they were three, and his reaction is to wonder whether it's fair to leave her a childless young widow. He puts off the matter with a suggestion that he will do the round of tournaments, as befits a new knight, and stop on the way.

He sets out with friends. Even before the first tourney, they have to deal with a troll, and Will does very well at the tourney, even winning the prize, except that a freak accident kills the first knight he defeated. (Both, of course, overshadowed by the thoughts that this might be the time.)

The rest of the tale involves meeting Isobel, a hunt that's led by Death himself, an accusation of treachery, Will's falling asleep in the woods and waking up without his sword only to learn later what happened to it, hearing news for the king, a woman staked out for bait, and three questions for which only two of the answers are true. And discovering exactly what his wyrd means.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of Will Odosson, who is about to be knighted when he meets a mysterious man who tells him his wyrd, or destiny: he will meet death before he succeeds to his father's title. Naturally, Will is appalled, but he bravely rides off to visit the girl to whom he's betrothed, to tell her that he can't marry her after all, because it would be unfair to marry her knowing that he's going to die. What begins as a simple quest turns into something much more complicated, full of politics, monsters, and battles, as Will follows his destiny. Knight's Wyrd is full of action, and Will is a sympathetic character whose confrontation with honor, magic, and death makes an excellent and gripping read.

[Book Club of One · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will Odosson, is a about to become a full knight and is conflicted in pursuing his prophesied future in this fast paced story set in a medieval Europe inspired setting. Knight's Wyrd is a hero's journey that at first seems to follow the traditional knight's story of going forth to abide honor, loyalty and find love, but Doyle and Macdonald wonderfully subvert these tropes taking Will on a journey that doesn't end quite happily ever after.

At the opening of the story, Will is a squire, due shortly be knighted. As he joins a hunt the day before this event, he gives chase to a white stag that brings him to a woman and her pig who are facing off against two bandits. Thanks to his training, Will is able to kill these two brigands with minimal injury and on returning home, spends the night in vigil preparing for his life as a sworn knight. During this vigil, he is visited by a wizard who provides his wyrd (prophecy/destiny) saying he will never inherit his father's title. Following the knighting ceremony he travels with a fellow knight taking part in a tournament where he does well. Then he goes North to visit the kingdom where his betrothed is, and it is here that Will gets caught up in local troubles with great implications that shape the rest of the books narrative.

While inspired by historic Europe, this is a world with magic and fantastical creatures. Travel is by foot, cart, boat or horse. But below bridges, trolls might lurk or one can hunt a unicorn. It still feels like a very lived in world, however Doyle and MacDonald are expedient in their plotting, often simplifying lengthy journeys in a sentence, noting that nothing of importance happened in those day(s) or week(s) of travel.

Will Odosson as a character is a young innocent. Quick to trust, but has trouble seeing beyond the appearance of things. He holds to the honor of knighthood and acts within his understanding of these values. At many points he is given advice that only takes on greater dimension later.

Knight's Wyrd is short but well considered life changing journey for Will. It is a welcome addition to the Tor Essentials series, where Tor "presents science fiction and fantasy from recent decades, reintroduced for readers of today." Not is all that it seems, but the cautious and attentive may survive.

I received a free digital version of this eBook via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.

[Amrit J · Rating 3 out of 5]

TOR, a lighthouse when it comes to publishing Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre, rolls out TOR Essentials, and since it says "essentials" how can it not be one. With that being the motivating factor, I set out to explore this book - Knight's Wyrd. Now that I am done, there are somethings about the book which are great, and some which are as bad as making no sense at all.

The Good's first its a warm fantasy. The kinds that you makes you roll-up under blankets on a laden noon sky in winter, next to fireplace, with a steaming coffee/tea cup handy nearby. And you allow the book to transport you to that landscape which constitutes the book. A make belief land which in all essence is Britain, down to religion and feudal system. But since the book has already mentioned that it has "borrowed" Britain, you don't raise your eyebrows at the magic and the turn of events. Writing isn't bad, pacing isn't bad and thankfully back in 1992, writing 800 pages for an idea worth 50 wasn't fashionable, so it is an honest work as well.

Heading over to the not so good bits - it's all over the place. It is not a complicated plot line, but felt as if it was trying to - in order to address the different themes it was trying to subtly communicate. The belief in fate, effects of believing in fate, how to live and not live with fear of death, the virtues of being true to your word and courage etc etc etc. Till mid-way into the book, I was actually engrossed in finding out how it pans out. But as the book progresses, the imagination is forced to stretch so much, that I didn't find the need to be invested in a tale which kept spinning into every pocket on the pool table, but won't pot in any and will keep coming back to the center, to start the whole process again with another pocket.

It can be read once, but is it really "essential" - don't think so. To me an essential is a flag-bearer, or a work of art which is so distinct and singular that nothing like it existed. In my opinion the book wasn't either.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reissue of a book from the 90s which falls outside the usual lines. One of the co-authors had a strong background in early English literature, which shows through but without being constantly thrust in your face. It's not, as Sherwood Smith says in the introduction, one of those books with thin characters who speak forsoothly in a world of Look At My Research (I think I'm paraphrasing slightly). The third-person POV protagonist is the only really rounded character, but that's to be expected in a relatively short book, and the others at least have believable motivations.

The potential romance is averted, the prophecy turns out otherwise than expected, and in general it's the opposite of cliched. It also feels relatively authentic to a story of the era of, say, Gawain and the Green Knight, while also working as a modern piece of fiction. All of this is difficult to achieve, hence its place in the Silver tier of my Best of the Year list.

Returning to that Sherwood Smith intro, I was enjoying it up to the point where Smith started telling me the entire plot of the book I was about to read, which I preferred to discover by actually reading it. I skipped the rest of the introduction for that reason.

The book itself steers a careful middle course between depicting the realities of being a medieval knight (such as the dangers of riding through a forest in a closed helm) and retaining the feel of a chivalric tale, in which there's inevitably a lot of idealization and abstraction. Not every nobleman in it is noble, and not every knight is chivalrous, but some of them are, notably the protagonist. It also features wizards, and monsters such as ogres, so it's definitely fantasy, but they are much more like their medieval versions than what you would tend to encounter in most contemporary fantasy written after the advent of Dungeons & Dragons.

Recommended if you want something a bit different from standard fantasy that's also well-executed.

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Summary:

Will Odosson has spent much of his life working toward becoming a knight. Now, on the eve of his knighting, everything will change. After saving an old woman, he is warned that not only will he never inherit his father's title, but he won't even live out the year.

My Review:

Knight's Wyrd is a different sort of historical fantasy. It's been on my TBR list for ages, and when I saw that Tor Books was re-releasing it, I knew that now was the time to give it a go. (It seems like this is a trend for Tor this year, and I love it).

Overall, I enjoyed Knight's Wyrd. It had several different elements to help it stand out among the knight/historical fantasy genre. It also had a surprise twist for the conclusion, which I adored.

Highlights:
Fantasy
Knights
Destiny

Thanks to Magic Carpet Books and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Knight's Wyrd is a subtly mutli-layered fantasy by Dr. Debra Doyle and her husband James D. Macdonald. Originally released in 1992, this reformat and re-release as part of the Tor Essentials (Macmillan), is a compact 208 pages, and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

It's not derivative of anything, but it reminds me of a trippy mashup of Spirited Away, Gawain & the Green Knight, and a smidgen of A Series of Unfortunate Events. It's a short book, and sometimes moves at whiplash speed. Readers who keep their hands inside the vehicle at all times and enjoy the scenery without too much analysis, will undoubtedly enjoy the ride more.

Historically significant and worthy of inclusion in this series. The publishers have included some useful erudite analysis in this volume and the other entries in the series. The commentary in this edition is provided by Sherwood Smith.

Four stars. Worth acquisition for public library collections, as well as fans of medieval tales and semi-Arthurian-legend.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Chuck Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boy howdy does Will Odosson get himself into lots of trouble!

I picked this book up in the mid-nineties as a kid and started reading it and never got a chance to finish it before I lost my copy. So glad to finally be able to finish it all these years later! I was worried that the "hype" built up over all these years would be too much and the novel would fall short, but it was a very entertaining read full of action, magic, and mythical beast aplenty. The novel starts off fast and doesn't let its foot off the pedal until the very end.

[em :P · Rating 5 out of 5]

predictably unpredictable and beautiful in its simplicity. this book was delightfully short and impactful nonetheless. it felt so refreshing to buy a book and sit down and read the whole thing in one sitting without pause. i feel like someone’s done a hard reset on me. this book fixed me.

knight’s wyrd by Debra Doyle was comforting like an old Disney movie. our hero, Will, is a classic lawful character—smart, strong, and brave enough to both save the day and admit when he’s scared to. although his actions are predictable, i never felt bored. this is the kind of story where good always prevails and our troupe of heroes always wants to do the right thing.

i thought the prose was wonderfully simple but lyrical enough to stay interesting. no purple prose to be found here.

that’s all.

[Gillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This should have been a lot weirder than it ended up being.

It had all the trappings of a medieval tale, but it didn't really go above and beyond that all that much. It was too short and cut things off too quickly and didn't allow things to breathe at all. It also ended super abruptly?

It's not a long book, and it did have its moments of fun and adventure, especially in the second half, but it's not a new favourite of mine.

[redacted :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a very tight story where all the storybeats / details build satisfyingly on each other in order to reach the conclusion. There was basically no waffling about, even when Will's uncertain. I'm not a huge fan of Arthurian legends (just haven't read enough of them), but even when inexplicable things happened I didn't feel like I was missing any context.

[Charlie Dossett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book 10 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it as a young teen. Has all the magical old England-y feel required to whisk you away to Camelot. Reminded of it reading The Once and Future King (bit more of a commitment). Get this for your kids if they like magic or knights!

[Bryn Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable tale that in its latter stages kept me glued to the page. Deceptively simple. About knighthood, yes, and the medieval weird. A young lad, his friends and squires, naive gallantry neither upturned by the story nor simplistically upheld. A girl who doesn't want to marry and manages not to, hey. Tight plot.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic classical medieval fantasy story without frills or overly complicated world building or plot. If you want something short and enjoyable about a knight errant going on a quest, give it a read. Felt in a similar vein to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of arthurian like but not enough that I felt it was a cheap knock off

[Themightyx · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book in fifth grade and finally got around to it. Not bad.

[toya · Rating 2 out of 5]

It should have been great. Historical fantasy and magic.

[Tracy Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great twist. Ends with a bang.
I've read it 3 times.

[takeeveryshot · Rating 5 out of 5]

while not actively an arthuriana this IS what arthuriana is about!

[BO0OK · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Not quite sure when exactly I finished reading this book, but it was definitely within this month <3

[Alise Brueggemeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't stop thinking about this book and the last third of it. The vibes were impeccable and delightfully weird. It was both surreal and classic and I loved it.

[Acaer · Rating 1 out of 5]

terribly arthurian, terribly rote, terribly boring

[Mitry Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

They did a great job creating a midieval & mythic atmosphere. Sometimes it’s nice to read a fantasy story where the fate of the entire world isn’t at stake.