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Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr

A restless young warrior crosses paths with a mysterious sorcerer in a land haunted by ancient oaths and tangled destinies. As past lives echo into the present, honor and betrayal set the stage for a sweeping saga of magic, clan feuds, and second chances. Daggerspell opens the door to the beloved Deverry cycle with rich worldbuilding and the thrill of fate catching up.

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In Daggerspell, did you enjoy ...

... an interwoven, time-skipping narrative where past debts and hidden lives shape the present?

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

If the way Nevyn’s centuries-long oath and the flashbacks to Jill’s past life as Brangwen made Deverry’s present feel haunted by older mistakes, you’ll click with the mosaic structure of The Bone Clocks. Mitchell threads Holly Sykes’s life through other perspectives and decades, slowly revealing a secret war of immortals whose past transgressions keep rippling forward—much like how the tangled past lives in Daggerspell steer Rhodry, Jill, and Cullyn toward fated crossroads.

... Celtic-rooted lore, clan feuds, and old-world forest magic bound to oaths and sacrifice?

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

If Deverry’s Celtic textures—the clan politics around Rhodry’s exile as a silver dagger, the old customs, and the eerie weight of wyrd—pulled you in, Daughter of the Forest offers that same ancient-woods atmosphere. Sorcha’s struggle to lift a curse through silence and sacrifice echoes the quiet, fateful burdens that drive Nevyn’s oath and Jill’s hard-won path in the dweomer, with family bonds and honor cutting as sharply as any dagger.

... a rule-bound, ethically fraught magic taught under a watchful mentor?

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

If you loved how Nevyn trains Jill in the dweomer’s strict ethics—and how breaking rules carries consequences as dire as any curse—A Wizard of Earthsea will feel quintessential. Ged’s education in true names and balance mirrors the way the dweomer demands restraint and responsibility; when Ged overreaches, the shadow he unleashes recalls the moral dangers that haunt Daggerspell’s sorcery as much as its power.

... centuries of history, tangled politics, and many lives converging across a vast world?

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

If the sweep of Deverry—the lifetimes of debt behind Nevyn’s vow, the border wars and clan maneuvering, and the braided journeys of Jill, Rhodry, and Cullyn—hooked you, The Way of Kings delivers that grand scale. Kaladin, Dalinar, and Shallan’s arcs unfold against ancient oaths and long-buried catastrophes whose echoes shape the present, much like how past incarnations in Daggerspell keep steering fate toward reckoning.

... a determined young woman forging herself into a warrior within a gritty, honor-bound society?

Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon

If Jill’s resilience—growing from Cullyn’s daughter into a capable wielder of the dweomer while navigating mercenary codes and clan expectations—moved you, you’ll root for Paks. In Sheepfarmer’s Daughter, Paksenarrion leaves home to earn her place by steel and discipline. The campaign life, strict oaths, and hard lessons echo the rough roads and honor-bound choices that shape Jill and Rhodry across Daggerspell.

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