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The Dalemark Quartet

The Dalemark books are not, strictly speaking, a series. The first three are standalone books which take place in the same universe, one in a vastly different time. The fourth is a story which ties together different threads from those three stories into an unexpected conclusion. They are four very different books; the only two which are written in similar styles are Cart and Cwidder and Crown of Dalemark. Nonetheless, the books hang together very well.

Try these books if you're interested in etymology or the power of words and writing. In every story set in Dalemark, words and names and writing have great power. Though that's not to say they're also not excellent, fun, reads; it's just to say I was brought up a Devout Deconstrucionist, so I notice these things.

family tree and names

I've made up a family tree for the Dalemark universe which I think is complete. Warning: contains major spoilers.

Cart and Cwidder
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US Paperback Great Britain 1975 by Macmillan London Ltd. Juliet Stanwell Smith UK, Trade Paperback by Mandarin, 1993, ISBN 0 7497 1252 X, Cover by Geoff Taylor

published 1975.

A suspense tale. The evil and greedy lords versus the honorable ones, and the folks caught in between.

Drowned Ammet
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UK Paperback 1977 by Macmillan London Ltd. Peter Whiteman

published 1976.

What do you do when God tells you to do something you don't want to do, and your friends are the enemy, and what's Right just isn't right?

Reviews
The Spellcoats
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US Paperback, edition borrowed from my high school boyfriend's mother sometime in the late eighties (Randy Brown, if you're out there, I have your book) 1979 by Macmillan London Ltd. Art by Pamela Goodchild

published 1979.

The First Chapter, permission pending.

A brilliant, convuluted tale of war and family. If you think you know what's going on, you're probably wrong.

Crown of Dalemark
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UK Paperback US Paperback

published 1993.

Awards
Crown of Dalemark
1996: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award

Somehow, DWJ has managed to bring three completely different stories to a coherent conclusion. I'm not sure how she did it, but it's great.

The True State of Affairs

"The True State of Affairs" is a novella in Everard's Ride. It takes place in Dalemark, but none of the characters we know are in it. This is more of an adult story. Throughout there are threads of the power of language.