Katherine Kurtz's Deryni books reflect a number of trends which had their roots in the late 1970s: loss of faith in government, a growing distrust of science and technology, an increased sense of isolation and loneliness, and an accompanying feeling that the actions of one person were of little use in a society dominated by giant conglomerates and bureaucratic government. Many young people wished to go "back to the land"—to rediscover unpolluted nature and feelings of self-sufficiency. Some also moved from the Eastern mysticism of the 1960s to nature religions.

In popular literature, interest in science fiction, with its technological orientation and "can-do" spirit, fell off, shifting instead to the genre of fantasy, which presents a potent alternative to the complicated modern world. It is a reaching back for an old, pre-Christian time of mystery, magic, individual worth, and black-andwhite simplicity.

Camber of Culdi...