a sweeping tail of romance and sorcery set in the imaginary Kingdom of Gwyneld- where the mysterious forces of magic and the superior power of the church combined to challenge the rule of young Kelson who came to the throne when his father was brutally murdered by the sorceress Charissa. The fate of the Deryni- a quasi-mortal race of sorcerers and indeed the fate of the elven Kingdom rests on kelson's ability to quash the rebellion by fair means or foul... Even by the proscribed use of magic!