Katharine Kerr (born October 3, 1944) is an American science fiction and fantasy novelist, best known for her series of Celtic-influenced high fantasy novels set in the fictional land of Deverry.

Biography

Katharine Kerr was born in Cleveland, Ohio; her maiden name is Katharine Nancy Brahtin. She describes her family feeling more like "British-in-exile" than American. She describes her inability to spell properly using either the British or American systems as a result of having been taught to read solely with British books. While still a schoolgirl, her family moved to Santa Barbara, California. In 1969, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, eventually moving to San Francisco itself. She spent time studying at Stanford University but dropped out in the mid-1960s. She then worked in some low-paying jobs, including work at a post office. In 1973, she met up with Howard Kerr, an old friend of hers from secondary school; they were married that same year. In 1979, a friend gave Katharine her first fantasy-role playing game. This gift led her to a fascination with the gaming and fantasy field, which in turn led her to write articles for gaming magazines. She spent time as a contributing editor to Dragon magazine and contributed to gaming modules for both TSR, Inc. and Chaosium. She co-authored the adventure Legacy of Blood for Dungeons & Dragons, as well as adventures for the Pendragon role-playing game. Katharine Kerr now dedicates herself exclusively to fiction.

Deverry novels

See Deverry cycle for a synopsis of Deverry. The novels of Deverry are perhaps Kerr's best-known works. Originally envisioned as a short story or novella, the project grew into a series of sixteen full novels. Kerr has a contract for two additional full novels in the series. The series is written in a non-linear style: the principal narrative is frequently interrupted by flashbacks to events that occurred decades, or even centuries, before. These flashbacks concern the prior incarnations of characters in the principal narrative, and provide insight into the relationships of the characters in their current incarnations. Kerr has likened the series to a play, breaking the story into several acts:

Polar City

Nola O'Grady

The Pinch

The Runemaster books

Other novels

Anthologies

Short stories