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The Adept 1 (Adept)

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Authors: Katherine Kurtz, Deborah Turner Harris
Publisher: Ace
Category: Book

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Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

22 reviews
Sales Rank: 151939

Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 321
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9

ISBN: 0441003435
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780441003433
ASIN: 0441003435

Publication Date: March 1, 1991
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More.

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 1-5 of 22

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Knights Templar,Freemasons and Evil Sorcerers. Skullduggery and High Adventure June 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

As a practising 32' Mason and an avid adventure reader as well as an author myself,I enjoyed the entire Adept series immensly.Kurtz has the style and the flow of her adventures is intense.The characters are as though pulled from real life,her accuracy on the subject matter is right on.Absolute fun reading,I highly recommend this series. Especially for Brothers of the Order,but also for those who love a rollicking good story. Jacamo Peterson author of A Hard Place and Blademaster of Norda

2 out of 5 stars

Scotland deserves better October 13, 2007
I dunno - I know I used to like Katherine Kurtz, and must have read The Adept with pleasure, maybe forty years ago. Now I find it faintly ridiculous.

It's not so much the theme of ancient demons being opposed by the forces of "the Light" (ah, that handy shorthand) who are descendants or reincarnations of the Knights Templar. That's actually quite well done. No: what weakens the book is the continual pandering to America's fascination with British aristocracy and the accompanying rather fascistic sense that if you're of "the right sort" (or "duly sworn," in the book) then you are some sort of perfect human who can be trusted 100% and can never do wrong. Especially if you come of a grand old family and live the landed gentleman or dignified scholar life, and have a butler or a "man" to look after your daily needs. Not very realistic, alas. And the "bad guy" is - what else - a Frenchman! (though this was long before the days of Freedom Fries).

It's just infinitely wearisome to keep reading the descriptions of every character's change of clothes! "Like Adam and Janet, the two were attired in evening wear: Peregrine in black tie and dinner jacket, Julia in a full-length frock [frock!] of pale blue silk-crepe with white kid gloves." They are always being "attired" or "clad" or "reclad" - and of course with the Scottish setting, we are treated to a variety of kilts and sporrans.

The concept of a secret, virtuous, powerful and wise group charged with keeping us ignorant peasants out of harm has, for some reason, an enduring attraction. The latest version is BBC America's "Torchwood" - but that's much better!

I'll give a couple of stars, for imagination, and because the writing is quite well crafted, apart from the annoying "attired" and the oh-so-proper scenes like this: ..."a discreet knock at the door heralded the arrival of Linton [the butler] himself, pushing an elegant walnut service trolley on which reposed [reposed!] a fine tea set of translucent bone china. Peregrine, who had started to feel decidedly peckish, was gratified to see that refreshments included a selection of cakes and sandwiches." Oh, the raised-little-finger propriety of "gratified" and "refreshments!"

This book is well-targeted for the uneducated who daydream of an "elegant" world where everything is "classy." In that respect it's rather sad reading. North-east Scotland was my home turf long ago, and I well remember the towns mentioned in the story, and Fyvie Castle, and the down-to earth farmers, and the Doric tongue (incomprehensible to Sassenachs but apparently understood by farmers of the Friesian Islands across the North Sea), and the sometimes rather snobbish "county" folk living in their large, empty, chilly houses. It deserves better usage as a setting.

1 out of 5 stars

Is this Katherine Kurtz or Car and Driver? May 5, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

I love the Deryni series and bought this book thinking it would be another fun Katherine Kurtz novel. While there are elements of Ms. Kurtz style and knowledge throughout, I tend to think that the co-author, Ms. Harris, is, for some reason, absolutely obsessed with cars. For some bizarre reason she spends endless paragraphs throughout this book discussing the features and merits of the cars driven by every character and this peculiar digression completely detracts from the book. The rest of the series is equally as odd and it got to the point as I was reading, that I kept wondering to myself, "so how is she going to get in the details on the car" and it became a self guessing game. (When, in one of the novels, he actually has to BUY a car.... well, you get it!)

Basically, this whole series is total drivel and not worthy of Ms. Kurtz. Dont bother buying it as it will only irritate you.

4 out of 5 stars

Sir Adam Sinclair- Laird of Strathmourne, Baron of Templemor, Master of the Hunt! September 26, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

First of all, I want to point out that this novel starts out VERY slowly. In fact, the first time that I started the book I simply put it aside after three chapters because it bored me so. It seemed like it dealt with nothing but endless details on dress, motorcars, manor houses, and furnishings. I suppose the authors thought that all this was necessary to frame Sir Adam as a member of the gentry, but to those of us who do not worship wealth and the wealthy it is all merely tortuous and tedious. Several years later I tried reading it once again. I forced myself to push through the first 50 or so pages- no matter how boring it was- and it actually finally turned into something interesting.

Sir Adam Sinclair, Baronet, is a man of many facets. To the world he appears to be a wealthy, titled physician and psychiatrist (his mother, also a physician, corresponded with Jung.) However, to the adepts of the Inner Planes he is a magus of awesome accomplishments, a servant of the Light, and Master of the Hunt. He works the highest sort of magic in the service of Light to restore balance and harmony. In his own words, he seeks perfection of the spirit, which is regarded as an ongoing process of pursuing wholeness, with the ultimate goal of reunion with the Divine Light. He has pursued this goal down through the ages, in many reincarnations- all of which he can remember.

This first tale in the series deals with the efforts of dark magicians to raise the spirit of Michael Scot (Scotland's greatest magus) in order to learn his secrets. They do this with crude disregard for all laws both supernatural and man-made. It is the duty of Sir Adam as Master of the Hunt to see to it that justice is done and balance is restored.

Besides being a believable work on the subject of high magic (with many interesting details and ideals), this is also a competent work of detective fiction and a decent atmospheric piece on the history and lore of traditional Scotland.

In any case, if you get past the first 50 pages it is a worthwhile page-turner.

3 out of 5 stars

Quaint Ol' Occult Detective Stuff March 11, 2005
6 out of 11 found this review helpful

THE ADEPT is the first volume in a series of five novels featuring the Scottish Baronet Doctor Sir Adam Sinclair who is a psychiatrist, antiquarian, and occult practitoner.

The plot of this introductory novel is simple: Sir Adam and his associates, Peregrine Lovat and Noel McLeod, each of whom has some type of paranormal ability, set out in search of a magickal artifact stolen by some really, really bad guys who are dedicated to serving the Darkness. Oh my! Can you guess who wins?

THE ADEPT is a fun read, but don't consider taking it seriously even for a moment. The main characters are devotees of a mishmash of Western Mystery Tradition elements that the authors never reduce into a logical system, leaving Sir Adam to utter invocations to Ra, Adonai and Christ all in one breath. If you're a purist about such things, leave THE ADEPT alone.

Theosophy aside, the authors seem dedicated to writing in a style reminiscent of drawing room melodramas of yore. Shades of Bruce Wayne, Sir Adam lives alone at Strathmourne House except for his faithful manservant, Humphrey, who spends an inordinate amount of time pouring tea, lighting fires in the library fireplace, and making absolutely certain that his employer can make the cover of Gentleman's Quarterly at a moment's call. All right, so what's so wrong with that, your mother asks?

The rest of the characters are equally proper with stiff upper lips that can carve the Greenland icecap into a million decorative swans in a trice. Yes, and they do use words like "trice" in this book.

Of course, nobody really lives like Sir Adam anymore (did they ever?), even the rich and unbearably so, so...particularly them, actually.

Dr. Sinclair's real enemies aren't the Satan worshipers of the world, they're the people who make Mr. Blackwell's List; oh yeah, and wealthy celeb wannabes like Paris Hilton and Donald Trump. I say Sir Adam should lay off the Kabbalah and give those two elocution lessons. THAT would be fighting evil.

It's total make believe. Still, THE ADEPT entertains, and is most definitely worth a light read, especially if you want some topnotch men's fashion tips.

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