The Worlds of Katherine Kurtz

FanFiction => General Information, Question, and/or Ideas => Topic started by: Elkhound on March 30, 2016, 03:57:17 PM

Title: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: Elkhound on March 30, 2016, 03:57:17 PM
Mercedes Lackey just wrote a book in her Valdemar universe in which a large part of the plot was essentially "Romeo & Juliette" re-told in Valdemar (but with Juliette surviving.)   Has anyone tried the same thing in the Deryniverse?  (Not specifically that story, but some other "classic" story from Anglo-American literature.)

What about "Jane Eyre"?  If Jane were half-Deryni, it would explain why her aunt Mrs. Reed was so hard on her, particularly if the Reeds were human and we set it in the post-Ramos era.  If Bertha Mason Rochester were a Deryni whose control was completely gone that would explain why she was locked up in the attic, and if Rochester himself were Deryni and trying to repress or hide it. . . ?

"Northanger Abbey."  IIRC, the heroine thinks she's in a Gothic romance and her imagination is conjuring all sorts of wild ideas about what the family she's staying with is like--but in fact they are all perfectly nice people.  What if they were Deryni, and the girl were full of all sorts of silly ideas about what being Deryni were all about?

Other ideas?
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: revanne on April 01, 2016, 06:44:31 AM
That would work well for Jane Eyre I think and I can just about see it for Northanger Abbey.

In most of Jane Austen's novels it would be played out in love affairs being doomed because one of the parties is/isn't Deryni. I can see it being fine being Deryni in Jane's world just as long as you didn't speak about it or indulge in public displays of one's powers. Maybe Mr Bennett is Deryni and Mrs Bennett isn't - the lack of meeting of minds is what has caused him to withdraw to his books - and by some quirk of genetics of his daughters only Elizabeth has any real Deryni powers.
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: Elkhound on April 01, 2016, 03:31:55 PM
Quote from: revanne on April 01, 2016, 06:44:31 AM
That would work well for Jane Eyre I think and I can just about see it for Northanger Abbey.

In most of Jane Austen's novels it would be played out in love affairs being doomed because one of the parties is/isn't Deryni. I can see it being fine being Deryni in Jane's world just as long as you didn't speak about it or indulge in public displays of one's powers. Maybe Mr Bennett is Deryni and Mrs Bennett isn't - the lack of meeting of minds is what has caused him to withdraw to his books - and by some quirk of genetics of his daughters only Elizabeth has any real Deryni powers.

If you Deryni-ized "Emma", you might have Emma using her powers to 'lean' on her. . .erm. . . patients, which would explain why Knightly was so upset with her setting people up.  (She wouldn't actually use them to force people together--that would make Emma evil, and she isn't that; but a little 'nudge' would only be a little unethical, and she could probably talk herself into thinking that it really wouldn't be so bad. . . .yes it would, Emma!)

In P&P, do you think that Darcy might be Deryni and trying to repress it?  That might explain why for the first part of the novel he has a stick up his you-know-where.

What about some other plays/novels?
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: Elkhound on October 08, 2016, 10:13:22 AM
Lackey's latest is to a large extent a Valdemarization of Dorothy L. Sayers' "Gaudy Night".  Which I could see also being Gweneddized.
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: drakensis on October 09, 2016, 03:20:26 AM
It's been a while since I read that one. Most of Sayers' books (and the Jill Paton Walsh books taking up Lord Peter's later cases) seem fairly era specific so I'm not sure how well they'd fit into Gwynedd.
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: revanne on October 09, 2016, 03:52:24 PM
Having just reread Gaudy Night, it still reads like a plea for women to be taken seriously as academics and I'm sure reflects some of Dorothy Sayers own struggles in the misogynistic world of academia in the 1930's and 40's. I can see how the theme of the right for women to study seriously might work around the figure, for example, of Richenda and there is always dramatic tension to be got from star-crossed lovers, but I don't quite see how you would set a murder mystery in the Deryniverse.
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: Evie on October 09, 2016, 05:58:35 PM
Quote from: revanne on October 09, 2016, 03:52:24 PM
Having just reread Gaudy Night, it still reads like a plea for women to be taken seriously as academics and I'm sure reflects some of Dorothy Sayers own struggles in the misogynistic world of academia in the 1930's and 40's. I can see how the theme of the right for women to study seriously might work around the figure, for example, of Richenda and there is always dramatic tension to be got from star-crossed lovers, but I don't quite see how you would set a murder mystery in the Deryniverse.

Don't see why you couldn't have a murder mystery in any universe where there are people to be murdered and some mystery surrounding it.  Just in my story Visionaries, I've got two murder mysteries going on, although admittedly the second one doesn't remain so much of a mystery to the readers for very long, although it takes a while longer for the characters to figure it out.  :)
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: revanne on October 10, 2016, 06:56:25 AM
I take your point. I suppose I was still thinking in terms of Gaudy Night where everything is fairly high status - Lord Peter Wimsey would surely be a high-ranking Deryni - and Mind See would surely be used.

My brain is mush at the moment so I can't think of the book title ( the one before Childe Morgan) but I was also thinking of the occasion when Donal uses Alyce's Deryni powers to solve the murder of his son.

So yes there could be murder/ detective mysteries but I also think that if the murder/mystery involved anyone of high status (again ruling out the Peter Wimsey connection) a lot of the deductive process could be short-circuited by Deryni powers.
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: Evie on October 10, 2016, 12:31:45 PM
Yes and no. What if the suspect is also Deryni, and there is a need for discretion in exercising one's powers?  Perhaps there might be some reason why Mind-Seeing someone or Truth-Reading them (without being detected) would not be in the best interests of the case?
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: Elkhound on October 10, 2016, 02:51:53 PM
The late Randall Garrett wrote murder mysteries in a universe where magic worked.  The Lord Darcy stories.
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: revanne on October 13, 2016, 02:54:46 PM
Someone mentioned those a few months back and I downloaded them onto my Kindle. Magic in that world is very technological and highly structured and controlled, and indeed seems to play the role of advanced technology in ours.

I enjoyed the stories but mainly for the historical "what if". The stories assume that Richard I didn't die of his wounds in 1199, that he married and had children. By the 20th century the Plantagenets are still rulers of the Anglo-French empire which stretches into the New World, as well as being Holy Roman Emperors. Like the Haldanes the Plantagenet genes seem remarkably resistant to being affected by those who marry into the family.

Good fun though.
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: Jerusha on October 13, 2016, 08:04:17 PM
I read "Too Many Magicians" years ago and enjoyed it but did not realize there were more novels.  I will now be happily searching Amazon to add more Lord Darcy to my kindle.  :)
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: Elkhound on October 15, 2016, 08:44:16 PM
Quote from: Jerusha on October 13, 2016, 08:04:17 PM
I read "Too Many Magicians" years ago and enjoyed it but did not realize there were more novels.  I will now be happily searching Amazon to add more Lord Darcy to my kindle.  :)

TMM is the only novel.  The rest are short stories.  All are based, more-or-less, on well-known mystery stories, worked out in that universe.  He twists names around to give hints.  For example, Lord Darcy goes undercover as a priest once, and calls himself "Fr. Armand Brun."  In one story, set in Paris, there is an incompetent French detective called 'Insp. Cougair.'  A master spy is Sir James deLein.  The head of the Sorcerer's Guild is Sir Lyon Gandolphus Grey.  Etc.
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: Laurna on October 15, 2016, 09:44:40 PM
LOL, Too funny, Now I think I must read these.
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: Elkhound on October 18, 2016, 06:22:15 PM
Quote from: Evie on October 10, 2016, 12:31:45 PM
Yes and no. What if the suspect is also Deryni, and there is a need for discretion in exercising one's powers?  Perhaps there might be some reason why Mind-Seeing someone or Truth-Reading them (without being detected) would not be in the best interests of the case?

I sound like I have a crush on Mercedes Lackey, but her Heralds have powers similar to the Deryni, yet she makes mysteries work.  It isn't a matter of the magician waiving his hand and all the rules are suspended, after al!
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: whitelaughter on October 19, 2016, 06:52:46 AM
Quote from: Elkhound on April 01, 2016, 03:31:55 PM
If you Deryni-ized "Emma", you might have Emma using her powers to 'lean' on her. . .erm. . . patients, which would explain why Knightly was so upset with her setting people up.  (She wouldn't actually use them to force people together--that would make Emma evil, and she isn't that; but a little 'nudge' would only be a little unethical, and she could probably talk herself into thinking that it really wouldn't be so bad. . . .yes it would, Emma!)
A more ethical use (those admittedly still violating privacy) of deryni powers in matchmaking would be to simply read who is holding a flame for whom, and arrange introductions. Truthsaying to detect/remove scoundrels would be better yet.
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: revanne on October 20, 2016, 01:42:15 PM
This conversation get me back into reading the Lord D'Arcy stories and there is a conversation  in one of the stories about how privary spells are what make investugators necessary..
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: Elkhound on October 20, 2016, 10:48:39 PM
Quote from: whitelaughter on October 19, 2016, 06:52:46 AM
Quote from: Elkhound on April 01, 2016, 03:31:55 PM
If you Deryni-ized "Emma", you might have Emma using her powers to 'lean' on her. . .erm. . . patients, which would explain why Knightly was so upset with her setting people up.  (She wouldn't actually use them to force people together--that would make Emma evil, and she isn't that; but a little 'nudge' would only be a little unethical, and she could probably talk herself into thinking that it really wouldn't be so bad. . . .yes it would, Emma!)
A more ethical use (those admittedly still violating privacy) of deryni powers in matchmaking would be to simply read who is holding a flame for whom, and arrange introductions. Truthsaying to detect/remove scoundrels would be better yet.

On another thread I quoted the "Rules for Dating My Daughter" and said that a Gwyneddian version would have something about 'I'm Deryni, and will truth-read you,' or 'I know Deryni, and they will truth-read you.'
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: Elkhound on January 07, 2017, 10:10:58 AM
Quote from: revanne on October 09, 2016, 03:52:24 PM
Having just reread Gaudy Night, it still reads like a plea for women to be taken seriously as academics and I'm sure reflects some of Dorothy Sayers own struggles in the misogynistic world of academia in the 1930's and 40's. I can see how the theme of the right for women to study seriously might work around the figure, for example, of Richenda and there is always dramatic tension to be got from star-crossed lovers, but I don't quite see how you would set a murder mystery in the Deryniverse.

The poison pen aspect would be possible in any society, especially where you have a more-or-less closed community.
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: whitelaughter on March 15, 2017, 10:52:36 PM
Quote from: revanne on October 09, 2016, 03:52:24 PM
but I don't quite see how you would set a murder mystery in the Deryniverse.
The 'weapon' is a mind controlled servant. Yes, you find the "murderer" standing over the body with a bloody weapon, but how do you find the person responsible? Especially if the 'murderer' kills them self immediately afterwards?
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: Elkhound on March 16, 2017, 10:57:53 AM
Quote from: whitelaughter on March 15, 2017, 10:52:36 PM
Quote from: revanne on October 09, 2016, 03:52:24 PM
but I don't quite see how you would set a murder mystery in the Deryniverse.
The 'weapon' is a mind controlled servant. Yes, you find the "murderer" standing over the body with a bloody weapon, but how do you find the person responsible? Especially if the 'murderer' kills them self immediately afterwards?

Unless there is a sufficeintly-skilled Deryni to do a death-reading.  Even absent that, if an investigation discovers that the person had no motive for wanting the victim dead, and you discover that a powerfuld Deryni did. . .
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: lenni on March 18, 2017, 09:46:14 PM
Quote from: revanne on April 01, 2016, 06:44:31 AM
That would work well for Jane Eyre I think and I can just about see it for Northanger Abbey.

In most of Jane Austen's novels it would be played out in love affairs being doomed because one of the parties is/isn't Deryni. I can see it being fine being Deryni in Jane's world just as long as you didn't speak about it or indulge in public displays of one's powers. Maybe Mr Bennett is Deryni and Mrs Bennett isn't - the lack of meeting of minds is what has caused him to withdraw to his books - and by some quirk of genetics of his daughters only Elizabeth has any real Deryni powers.

One of my favorite authors, C. E. Murphy, wrote a book called _Magic & Manners_:
"With apologies to Jane Austen, I present to you MAGIC & MANNERS, which is what happens when I get it into my head to wonder what PRIDE & PREJUDICE would be like if it was not a lack of wealth that beleaguered the Bennet sisters, but rather an excess of magic..."
http://mizkit.com/cemurphy/historical/austen-chronicles/magic-manners/

I have not read this one yet (shame on me!), but I like the rest of her stuff.

Lenni
Title: Re: "Deryni"-izing the classics.
Post by: whitelaughter on March 20, 2017, 04:45:49 AM
Two sci-fi settings immediately lend themselves to meshing with the Deryni:

Babylon 5
A major premise is that the ancient race of Vorlons have genetically engineered psychic abilities into the younger races, including humans. In addition to the Deryni being created in this fashion, given their authoritarian streak, it would be very believable that the Vorlons would 'tweak' the human rulers to grant them a hereditary 'right to rule'. They also have a habit of turning up in people's minds as angels, which has some disturbing implications.

The Vorlon's enemies, the Shadows, would certainly want the Deryni to overthrow the 'weak' humans. The Shadow only turn up every few centuries, so the summoning spells used in the first two books may only work when they are in town.

A major thread in the series is how to cope with people who can read your mind etc; the compulsory conscription of all psis into Psi Corps being an interesting variant on Deryni persecution.

Finally, time travel is possible but unstable in the setting, allowing a possibility of characters from Babylon 5 heading back to the eras of the books to 'prepare' for the next war with the Shadows.

The Saga of the Exiles/Galactic Milieu Series
Again, hereditary psi abilities; again aliens in hands-off overwatch over humanity. Different blood lines have different sets of powers: most Deryni would be strong in Creativity and Coercion while the Healers have a power known as Redaction. 'D-jumping', plus the use of devices to enhance abilities, mesh nicely with the use of portals.
Worldview though is wildly different; the alien's goal of Unity would likely result in their conquest by the Torenthi and others. (Which might not be a bad thing).