Kerr, Katharine
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1944- ) US author, best known for her substantial contributions to modern fantasy in the various segments of the Deverry Cycle [see Checklist; see also her entry in The Encyclopedia of Fantasy]; though her sf is of less inherent interest, the Polar City sequence comprising Polar City Blues (1990) and Polar City Nightmare (2000) with Kate Daniel, competently marries Planetary Romance and the police procedural on a desert world populated by a wide ethnic mix of humans, and boxed in by two conflicting interstellar empires; the first volume is told in a creole combining white and Black English and Spanish (see Linguistics). The main characters, good and ill, have Psi Powers, which allies the tale with Kerr's shaman-dominated fantasies; but there is a genuine hard-edged sf-like feel, and consequentiality, to the sequence. The relatively light Nola O'Grady sequence beginning with Licensed to Ensorcell (2011) is Urban Fantasy [see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below] set in a Parallel World.
Resurrection (1992) is a novella set in a Near-Future (or perhaps Alternate History) San Francisco (see California), where a brain-damaged protagonist, after suffering lengthy rehabilitation after a near-fatal crash, must sort out her distressed perception that something is profoundly awry. The tale is included in Freeze Frames (coll of linked stories 1995). Snare: A Novel of the Far Future (2003) complexly depicts interracial and inter-species conflicts and resolutions on a Planetary Romance planet whose Far Future exorbitances are all founded in the relative hardness of sf explanations. At its best, Kerr's work – like C J Cherryh's – is probingly multifaceted, unexpectedly realistic, and argued. [JC]
Katharine Nancy Brahtin Kerr
born Cleveland, Ohio: 3 October 1944
works
series
Deverry Cycle: Kingdom of Deverry
- Daggerspell (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1986) [Deverry Cycle: Kingdom of Deverry: hb/Kinuko Y Craft]
- Daggerspell (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1993) [rev of the above: Deverry Cycle: Kingdom of Deverry: pb/Keith Parkinson]
- Darkspell (New York: Doubleday, 1987) [Deverry Cycle: Kingdom of Deverry: hb/Kinuko Y Craft]
- The Bristling Wood (New York: Doubleday Foundation, 1989) [Deverry Cycle: Kingdom of Deverry: hb/Keith Parkinson]
- Dawnspell: The Bristling Wood (London: Grafton, 1989) [vt of the above: Deverry Cycle: Kingdom of Deverry: pb/Geoff Taylor]
- The Dragon Revenant (New York: Doubleday Foundation, 1990) [Deverry Cycle: Kingdom of Deverry: hb/Keith Parkinson]
- Dragonspell: The Southern Sea (London: Grafton, 1990) [vt of the above: Deverry Cycle: Kingdom of Deverry: pb/Geoff Taylor]
Deverry Cycle: The Westlands
- A Time of Exile (New York: Doubleday Foundation, 1991) [Deverry Cycle: The Westlands: hb/Keith Parkinson]
- A Time of Omens (London: HarperCollins, 1992) [Deverry Cycle: The Westlands: pb/Geoff Taylor]
- A Time of War: Days of Blood and Fire (London: HarperCollins, 1993) [Deverry Cycle: The Westlands: pb/Geoff Taylor]
- Days of Blood and Fire: A Novel of the Westlands (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1993) [vt of the above: Deverry Cycle: The Westlands: pb/Keith Parkinson]
- A Time of Justice: Days of Air and Darkness (London: HarperCollins, 1994) [Deverry Cycle: The Westlands: pb/Geoff Taylor]
- Days of Air and Darkness (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1994) [vt of the above: Deverry Cycle: The Westlands: pb/Paul Youll]
Deverry Cycle: The Dragon Mage
- The Red Wyvern (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 1997) [Deverry Cycle: The Dragon Mage: pb/Geoff Taylor]
- The Black Raven (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 1998) [Deverry Cycle: The Dragon Mage: pb/Geoff Taylor]
- The Fire Dragon (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2000) [Deverry Cycle: The Dragon Mage: hb/Geoff Taylor]
Deverry Cycle: The Silver Wyrm
- The Gold Falcon (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2006) [Deverry Cycle: The Silver Wyrm: hb/Geoff Taylor]
- The Spirit Stone (New York: DAW Books, 2007) [Deverry Cycle: The Silver Wyrm: hb/Jody A Lee]
- The Shadow Isle (New York: DAW Books, 2008) [Deverry Cycle: The Silver Wyrm: hb/Jody A Lee]
- The Silver Mage (New York: DAW Books, 2009) [Deverry Cycle: The Silver Wyrm: hb/Jody A Lee]
Polar City
- Polar City Blues (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1990) [Polar City: pb/Alan Daniels]
- Polar City Nightmare (London: Victor Gollancz, 2000) with Kate Daniel [Polar City: hb/blacksheep]
Nola O'Grady
- Licensed to Ensorcell (New York: DAW Books, 2011) [Nola O'Grady: pb/Aleta Rafton]
- Water to Burn (New York: DAW Books, 2011) [Nola O'Grady: pb/Aleta Rafton]
- Apocalypse to Go (New York: DAW Books, 2012) [Nola O'Grady: pb/Aleta Rafton]
- Love on the Run (New York: DAW Books, 2011) [Nola O'Grady: pb/Aleta Rafton]
Sorcerer's Luck
- Sorcerer's Luck (no place given: Osel Books, 2013) [Sorcerer's Luck: pb/]
- Sorcerer's Feud (no place given: Osel Books, 2014) [Sorcerer's Luck: pb/]
The Justice War
- Sword of Fire (New York: DAW Books, 2020) [The Justice War: hb/]
individual titles
- Resurrection (Eugene, Oregon: Pulphouse /Axolotl, 1992) [hb/Alan Giana]
- Freeze Frames (London: HarperCollins, 1995) [exp vt of above as coll: pb/Geoff Taylor]
- Palace: A Novel of the Pinch (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1996) with Mark Kreighbaum [later expanded into a series by the co-author, who see: pb/Sanjulian]
- Snare: A Novel of the Far Future (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2003) [pb/Geoff Taylor]
works as editor
- Weird Tales from Shakespeare (New York: DAW Books, 1994) with Martin H Greenberg [anth: William Shakespeare: pb/John Howe]
- Enchanted Forests (New York: DAW Books, 1995) with Martin H Greenberg [anth: pb/Jean-Francois Podevin]
- The Shimmering Door (New York: HarperPrism, 1996) with Martin H Greenberg [anth: pb/]
links
- Katharine Kerr
- Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- The Encyclopedia of Fantasy: Katharine Kerr; Urban Fantasy.
- Picture Gallery
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