Knight's Wyrd - by Debra Doyle & James D MacDonald (Paperback)

About the Book

"On the eve of his knighting, Will Odosson learns his wyrd, or destiny: He shall meet death before a year has passed. Will rushes north to release his betrothed from their engagement, but on the way he is beset by all manner of horrors--a man-eating troll, carnivorous mermaids, a magic-working dragon . . . and something far worse: an evil unlike anything Will ever imagined."--

Book Synopsis

Ahead of its time on its original publication, Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald's Mythopoeic Fantasy Award-winning dark medieval fantasy Knight's Wyrd is perfect for contemporary tastes.

Tor Essentials presents new editions of science fiction and fantasy titles of proven merit and lasting value, each volume introduced by an appropriate literary figure.

With an introduction written for this edition by Sherwood Smith.

On the eve of his knighting, Will Odosson learns his wyrd, or destiny: He shall meet death before a year has passed. Will rushes north to release his betrothed from their engagement, but on the way he is beset by all manner of horrors--a man-eating troll, carnivorous mermaids, a magic-working dragon . . . and something far worse: an evil unlike anything Will ever imagined.

Knight's Wyrd is an award-winning gem that's perfect for revival as a Tor Essential and will appeal to fans of books like Hild and Spear, and films like The Green Knight--a medieval fantasy with the authentic lived-in strangeness of the real Middle Ages. It was originally published by a pair of YA imprints, but it works equally well as an adult read.

Review Quotes

"Doyle and Macdonald got as close to what delighted our medieval ancestors as a contemporary person can, giving us a tale that might have been shared on snowy winters' evenings during the time when jousting and tourneys were still being fought. Questions of honor and meaning, friendship and enmity, horror and awe, and of course laughter, entertained people a millennium ago, as they do now. Knight's Wyrd shimmers with emotional complexity and liminal engagement with the numinous, evoking the mindset of a thousand years ago in a way that I find essential for a medieval story." --Sherwood Smith

"A complex, beautifully structured medieval wonder tale" --Lilith Saintcrow, New York Times bestselling author

About the Author

The team of Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald are the authors of many popular novels of SF and fantasy, including the bestselling Mageworlds science-fantasy adventure series. Debra Doyle died in 2020. James D. Macdonald lives in New Hampshire.