The Deer's Cry

The eighth book of the Keltiad (after Blackmantle) goes back into the earlier days of this fantasy saga, which portrays the Celts as ""gods from outer space."" The novel deals with the destructive impact of the introduction of Christianity to Ireland, which in historical fact forced the Danaan to emigrate and gave rise to the legend of Brendan's Voyage. But in Kennealy-Morrison's telling, the emigrants are not only fleeing religious oppression by Christianity (for which the author, described by the publisher as ""a priestess in a Celtic pagan tradition,"" seems to have no use whatever, at least in the form handed on by St. Paul), but they use starships instead of coracles, and Brendan is not a monk but the son of a Danaan nobleman and a princess of the Sidhe folk. This volume is a notable improvement over Blackmantle, with a less convoluted plot, faster pacing and more passages rich in lyric prose and Celtic folklore. It also doesn't demand that one swallow the portrayal of the late rocker Jim Morrison (the Celtic-rites husband of the author) as a bard of almost godlike gifts, cruelly done to death by treachery. Finally, the introduction and afterword provide a historical perspective on the whole Keltiad and this novel's place in it, marking the book as a useful beginning point for readers new to this megasaga. (Nov.)