Opal

First-novelist Kerr offers a fantasy consisting of an intricate romantic roundelay played out over more than one lifetime and against a background of Celtic mythology. Nevyn had once been a prince, but he abandoned his position to study the powerful sorcery of the dweomer. Now he travels the land in the guise of a raggedy herbal doctor, keeping an eye out for the new forms in which old friends and foes manifest themselves. With its roots in a tangle of clan rivalry, honor besmirched, incest, a rigid double standard and each character's particular Wyrd (fate), this tale of love, lust and reincarnation may appeal to readers of gothic romances. The slow opening and the length of the book are somewhat more than these limited characters can carry. Kerr has talent, however, and the succeeding volumes of this trilogy may establish her audience. (September 5)