Lord Darcy

Lord Darcy is a fictional character used in a number of stories by Randall Garrett.

Darcy is a detective in an alternate history. The world was contemporary, to date of first publishing, but very different. Magic is an accepted, regulated and scientifically codified part of society, a talented few by the use of words, rituals and materials can achieve a wide range of effects. Magical healing, by the laying of hands, is effective. The Church is powerful and a central component of everyone's lives. The society is stratified — nobles and commoners, all important positions are held by nobles — they dispense justice, still maintain private soldiers etc. Technology and science has suffered with the rise of magic, many elements are early Victorian — horse-drawn carriages, gas jets for lighting. An electric torch, with magical parts, is "a fantastic device, a secret of His Majesty's Government." Magic has not come to replace much technology, there are few magical equivalents for the missing mechanical devices.

The cause of the ossification is the Plantagenets. Richard I, returned to England after being wounded, but recovered and ruled well, John Lackland never had power and died in exile. Richard died in 1219 was succeeded by his nephew Arthur, and 750 years later the current king is "John IV, by the Grace of God, King and Emperor of England, France, Scotland, Ireland [all the Anglo-French Empire], New England [North America], and New France [South America]; Defender of the Faith, et cetera", he is also Holy Roman Emperor over the fragmented duchies of Germany and Italy.

Darcy is Chief Criminal Investigator for Prince Richard, Duke of Normandy — the brother of the king. An Englishman, he lives in Rouen, but spends very little time there. His assistant is Master Sean O'Lochlainn, a sorcerer who undertakes magical forensic work, and is often the Dr. Watson of the stories.

Like much of Garrett's writings he takes every opportunity to insert subtle, or otherwise, allusions to other fiction — in these stories there are many echoes of other classic, or otherwise, detectives. They also, despite the magical trappings, play fair as whodunnits; magic is never used to "cheat" a solution.

Garrett wrote only one Darcy novel, Too Many Magicians, which first appeared in Analog magazine from August to November 1966 and was issued in book form by Doubleday in 1967. This was followed by two short story collections: Murder and Magic (1979), and Lord Darcy Investigates (1981). Both were a gathering of short stories that had appeared in Analog, Fantastic and other magazines. Garrett's extended illness prevented his intention of more Darcy tales.

Two more Darcy novels, Ten Little Wizards (1988), and A Study In Sorcery (1989), were written by Garrett's friend Michael Kurland after Garrett's death.

In 1999, Randall Garrett won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History Special Achievement Award for the Lord Darcy series.

Stories

• Murder and Magic (1979, ISBN 0-441-54541-6) collection containing:
  • "The Eyes Have It" (1964)
  • "A Case of Identity" (1964)
  • "The Muddle of the Woad" (1965)
  • "A Stretch of the Imagination" (1973)
• Too Many Magicians (1967, ISBN 0-441-81698-3) novel
• Lord Darcy Investigates (1981, ISBN 0-441-49142-1) collection containing:
  • "The Ipswich Phial" (1976)
  • "Matter of Gravity" (1974)
  • "The Napoli Express" (1979)
  • "The Sixteen Keys" (1976)
• Ten Little Wizards (1988, ISBN 0-441-80057-2) novel by Michael Kurland
• A Study in Sorcery (1989, ISBN 0-441-79092-5) novel by Michael Kurland
• Lord Darcy (2002, ISBN 0-7434-7184-9) omnibus edition containing:
  • Murder and Magic (see above)
  • Too Many Magicians (see above)
  • Lord Darcy Investigates (see above)
  • "The Bitter End" (1978)
  • "The Spell of War" (1979)

External links

• Template:Isfdb series
• Listing (http://www.scifan.com/series/series.asp?SR_seriesid=1508) on SciFan