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Darkover (Publication Order) #6
The World Wreckers
Arrow Books, 1979. British paperback reprint. First published in 1971, a "Darkover" tale.
215 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
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About the author
Marion Zimmer Bradley
800 books4,873 followersMarion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley was an American author of fantasy novels such as The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover series, often with a feminist outlook.
Bradley's first published novel-length work was Falcons of Narabedla, first published in the May 1957 issue of Other Worlds. When she was a child, Bradley stated that she enjoyed reading adventure fantasy authors such as Henry Kuttner, Edmond Hamilton, and Leigh Brackett, especially when they wrote about "the glint of strange suns on worlds that never were and never would be." Her first novel and much of her subsequent work show their influence strongly.
Early in her career, writing as Morgan Ives, Miriam Gardner, John Dexter, and Lee Chapman, Marion Zimmer Bradley produced several works outside the speculative fiction genre, including some gay and lesbian pulp fiction novels. For example, I Am a Lesbian was published in 1962. Though relatively tame by today's standards, they were considered pornographic when published, and for a long time she refused to disclose the titles she wrote under these pseudonyms.
Her 1958 story The Planet Savers introduced the planet of Darkover, which became the setting of a popular series by Bradley and other authors. The Darkover milieu may be considered as either fantasy with science fiction overtones or as science fiction with fantasy overtones, as Darkover is a lost earth colony where psi powers developed to an unusual degree. Bradley wrote many Darkover novels by herself, but in her later years collaborated with other authors for publication; her literary collaborators have continued the series since her death.
Bradley took an active role in science-fiction and fantasy fandom, promoting interaction with professional authors and publishers and making several important contributions to the subculture.
For many years, Bradley actively encouraged Darkover fan fiction and reprinted some of it in commercial Darkover anthologies, continuing to encourage submissions from unpublished authors, but this ended after a dispute with a fan over an unpublished Darkover novel of Bradley's that had similarities to some of the fan's stories. As a result, the novel remained unpublished, and Bradley demanded the cessation of all Darkover fan fiction.
Bradley was also the editor of the long-running Sword and Sorceress anthology series, which encouraged submissions of fantasy stories featuring original and non-traditional heroines from young and upcoming authors. Although she particularly encouraged young female authors, she was not averse to including male authors in her anthologies. Mercedes Lackey was just one of many authors who first appeared in the anthologies. She also maintained a large family of writers at her home in Berkeley. Ms Bradley was editing the final Sword and Sorceress manuscript up until the week of her death in September of 1999.
Probably her most famous single novel is The Mists of Avalon. A retelling of the Camelot legend from the point of view of Morgaine and Gwenhwyfar, it grew into a series of books; like the Darkover series, the later novels are written with or by other authors and have continued to appear after Bradley's death.
Her reputation has been posthumously marred by multiple accusations of child sexual abuse by her daughter Moira Greyland, and for allegedly assisting her second husband, convicted child abuser Walter Breen, in sexually abusing multiple unrelated children.
(from Wikipedia)
Bradley's first published novel-length work was Falcons of Narabedla, first published in the May 1957 issue of Other Worlds. When she was a child, Bradley stated that she enjoyed reading adventure fantasy authors such as Henry Kuttner, Edmond Hamilton, and Leigh Brackett, especially when they wrote about "the glint of strange suns on worlds that never were and never would be." Her first novel and much of her subsequent work show their influence strongly.
Early in her career, writing as Morgan Ives, Miriam Gardner, John Dexter, and Lee Chapman, Marion Zimmer Bradley produced several works outside the speculative fiction genre, including some gay and lesbian pulp fiction novels. For example, I Am a Lesbian was published in 1962. Though relatively tame by today's standards, they were considered pornographic when published, and for a long time she refused to disclose the titles she wrote under these pseudonyms.
Her 1958 story The Planet Savers introduced the planet of Darkover, which became the setting of a popular series by Bradley and other authors. The Darkover milieu may be considered as either fantasy with science fiction overtones or as science fiction with fantasy overtones, as Darkover is a lost earth colony where psi powers developed to an unusual degree. Bradley wrote many Darkover novels by herself, but in her later years collaborated with other authors for publication; her literary collaborators have continued the series since her death.
Bradley took an active role in science-fiction and fantasy fandom, promoting interaction with professional authors and publishers and making several important contributions to the subculture.
For many years, Bradley actively encouraged Darkover fan fiction and reprinted some of it in commercial Darkover anthologies, continuing to encourage submissions from unpublished authors, but this ended after a dispute with a fan over an unpublished Darkover novel of Bradley's that had similarities to some of the fan's stories. As a result, the novel remained unpublished, and Bradley demanded the cessation of all Darkover fan fiction.
Bradley was also the editor of the long-running Sword and Sorceress anthology series, which encouraged submissions of fantasy stories featuring original and non-traditional heroines from young and upcoming authors. Although she particularly encouraged young female authors, she was not averse to including male authors in her anthologies. Mercedes Lackey was just one of many authors who first appeared in the anthologies. She also maintained a large family of writers at her home in Berkeley. Ms Bradley was editing the final Sword and Sorceress manuscript up until the week of her death in September of 1999.
Probably her most famous single novel is The Mists of Avalon. A retelling of the Camelot legend from the point of view of Morgaine and Gwenhwyfar, it grew into a series of books; like the Darkover series, the later novels are written with or by other authors and have continued to appear after Bradley's death.
Her reputation has been posthumously marred by multiple accusations of child sexual abuse by her daughter Moira Greyland, and for allegedly assisting her second husband, convicted child abuser Walter Breen, in sexually abusing multiple unrelated children.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
May 1, 2008
I've been reading Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels in order of publication, and if you've seen my fairly negative reviews of the last few, you may be wondering why I keep reading them. Well, before The World Wreckers, Marion Zimmer Bradley was wondering why she kept writing them. They hadn't sold well. She felt like she was repeating the same stories. She was ready to call it quits -- and then she found inspiration. (So she says in her introduction to this book.)
That inspiration shows here, and I am glad I kept on. This one is much better than its predecessors -- yes, I enjoyed reading it! Sure, I still get annoyed at the oddities that should have been caught in editing. And if you're a Darkover die-hard, well, take heed that the really harsh reviews over at Amazon contain bitter complaints about inconsistencies with other stories of the, uh, Darkover-verse. But none of that came at the expense of my enjoyment of this book.
The World Wreckers takes place as Andrea Closson, representing a shady interplanetary business interest, plots to destroy the fabric of Darkovan society. See, Darkovans have been resisting outsiders' attempts to exploit its resources for profit. Andrea wants to destroy Darkover's unique civilizations, so that those who seek profit can move in and build it up again as they desire.
Closson is close to succeeding in her destructive scheme. The old ways, the old peoples, are dying out, the sabotaged environment is killing the planet's population, and those who remain are scattered, unorganized and unable to fight back. This book is the story of a few who come together, from far and wide, to fight for Darkover's survival. The crisis is planetary, but the stories are intensely personal for our protagnoists. And even if the culmination of their struggle is -- well, rather sudden and most definitely orgy-tastic -- I was entertained from beginning to end.
That inspiration shows here, and I am glad I kept on. This one is much better than its predecessors -- yes, I enjoyed reading it! Sure, I still get annoyed at the oddities that should have been caught in editing. And if you're a Darkover die-hard, well, take heed that the really harsh reviews over at Amazon contain bitter complaints about inconsistencies with other stories of the, uh, Darkover-verse. But none of that came at the expense of my enjoyment of this book.
The World Wreckers takes place as Andrea Closson, representing a shady interplanetary business interest, plots to destroy the fabric of Darkovan society. See, Darkovans have been resisting outsiders' attempts to exploit its resources for profit. Andrea wants to destroy Darkover's unique civilizations, so that those who seek profit can move in and build it up again as they desire.
Closson is close to succeeding in her destructive scheme. The old ways, the old peoples, are dying out, the sabotaged environment is killing the planet's population, and those who remain are scattered, unorganized and unable to fight back. This book is the story of a few who come together, from far and wide, to fight for Darkover's survival. The crisis is planetary, but the stories are intensely personal for our protagnoists. And even if the culmination of their struggle is -- well, rather sudden and most definitely orgy-tastic -- I was entertained from beginning to end.
May 10, 2022
There's one Darkover book that I read as a teen that I really loved and that captured my imagination. I thought it would be fun to read through the series (in publication order) and see if there was another that caught me in the same ways. But, honestly it seems like the best thing that can be said of these books is that they're usually pretty short.
Zimmer Bradley is so close to some cool ideas here, but it really bums me out that it was easier for her to imagine LGB characters than a woman who didn't have a natural urge to bear children. And don't get me started on the T characters. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who feels weird or sensitive about their gender.
And it ends in an orgy.
Look, there were notes of something here. I liked the idea of a team sent in to wreck a world with environmental and cultural damage so that corporations can swoop in to exploit what's left. But the plot is lurching, and the characterization is weird and not super subtle. I think I'm going to re-read the one I liked so much and just leave the rest of these. They keep disappointing me.
Zimmer Bradley is so close to some cool ideas here, but it really bums me out that it was easier for her to imagine LGB characters than a woman who didn't have a natural urge to bear children. And don't get me started on the T characters. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who feels weird or sensitive about their gender.
And it ends in an orgy.
Look, there were notes of something here. I liked the idea of a team sent in to wreck a world with environmental and cultural damage so that corporations can swoop in to exploit what's left. But the plot is lurching, and the characterization is weird and not super subtle. I think I'm going to re-read the one I liked so much and just leave the rest of these. They keep disappointing me.
April 1, 2009
Continuing my Marmion Zimmer Bradley kick. She, by the way, created the0s world of Darkover while living in Abilene, Texas, a place where I also lived for 15 years. She is reputed to have maintained that living in Abilene was enough to make nearly anyone make up a preferable world to live in.
This is another of the early 70s books that's half SF half fantasy; a mysterious woman named Andrea has been hired to "world wreck," a highly illegal activity that involves creating instability on a planet so that it will be open to acquisition/takeover by the corporate interests that hired Andrea in the first place.
Darkover, a sort of F/SF version of the Amish, has modern technology and lives in a feudal/medieval state. The reason for this seems to be that a certain class of Darkovians have phenomenal psychic power, and these powers, in conjunction with modern technology, created incredibly destructive wars that nearly destroyed Darkover. Central to the culture is the idea that one cannot wield any weapon that can kill anyone more than an arm's length away. Technology has been limited to limit warfare. Although psychic powers are still present among the Comyn (the telepath class)but, after centuries of no real war, psi powers are not what they once were.
Like other early 70s Darkover novels, this novel has a half Earth, half Darkover cast; Regis Hastur, the head of the Comyn, is the last of the Hasturs, a powerful and influential family of telepaths. He senses that the string of deaths of telepath children, crop failures, and forest fires that are causing society to crumble are not accidental, and the novel traces his attempts to thwart Andrea and her attempts to thwart him. Pretty good book, actually. Interesting exploration of sexuality and what gender means . . .
This is another of the early 70s books that's half SF half fantasy; a mysterious woman named Andrea has been hired to "world wreck," a highly illegal activity that involves creating instability on a planet so that it will be open to acquisition/takeover by the corporate interests that hired Andrea in the first place.
Darkover, a sort of F/SF version of the Amish, has modern technology and lives in a feudal/medieval state. The reason for this seems to be that a certain class of Darkovians have phenomenal psychic power, and these powers, in conjunction with modern technology, created incredibly destructive wars that nearly destroyed Darkover. Central to the culture is the idea that one cannot wield any weapon that can kill anyone more than an arm's length away. Technology has been limited to limit warfare. Although psychic powers are still present among the Comyn (the telepath class)but, after centuries of no real war, psi powers are not what they once were.
Like other early 70s Darkover novels, this novel has a half Earth, half Darkover cast; Regis Hastur, the head of the Comyn, is the last of the Hasturs, a powerful and influential family of telepaths. He senses that the string of deaths of telepath children, crop failures, and forest fires that are causing society to crumble are not accidental, and the novel traces his attempts to thwart Andrea and her attempts to thwart him. Pretty good book, actually. Interesting exploration of sexuality and what gender means . . .
July 5, 2015
The World Wreckers (pub. 1971) is, in terms of internal chronology, the last book set in post-Contact Darkover written by Bradley alone, without a collaborator. It is a story of catastrophic endings and unlooked-for new beginnings, and is the book that gives us the most information about the original non-human inhabitants of Darkover, the chieri.
Andrea Closson is a world wrecker. For a fee, her company will destroy the economy of a planet, making it easier for her clients to step in and take it over. And she has been hired to damage Darkover so badly that the planet will have to give up its protected status and beg for Terran assistance. Her methods are ruthless. She targets three key resources - forests, soil, and the Darkovan telepaths - with arson, poison and assassination. The irony is that Andrea Closson is a chieri, and the world she is destroying is her home, the telepaths, her distant cousins.
Regis Hastur knows that something is wrong. The Comyn are dying, through illness and assassination, and the people are starving as forest fires and other disasters wreak havoc on Darkover's fragile ecology. Desperate to keep the knowledge of Darkovan matrix sciences alive, Regis offers to teach these sciences to Terran telepaths. The pilot project brings together Darkovans - Regis, his paxman and lover Danilo Syrtis, the elderly Desideria (from Winds of Darkover) and her granddaughter Linnea - and Terrans - David Hamilton, David Connor, and Rondo - and most unexpectedly, two chieri - Keral, one of the last fertile members of a dying race, and Missy, a foundling with no knowledge of her background who has wandered the Terran Empire for centuries, living by her ability to project a powerful femininity but so psychically damaged that she is barren. Supervising the project, which seeks to understand what makes a telepath, is Jason Allison (whom we met in the very first Darkover novel, The Planet Savers).
As matters grow worse, Regis puts out a call to bring together all the telepaths of Darkover - not just those of known Comyn heritage, but anyone with a trace of laran - to form a new Telepath's Council to replace the Comyn Council. Closson sees this as her chance to put an end to all the telepaths of Darkover, and plants a bomb to explode during the Festival of the Four Moons, when her spy within the project, Rondo, has reported that all the telepaths will be celebrating at Comyn Castle.
When the Festival begins, Closson conceals herself nearby, to see the end of the those she thinks of as the usurpers of the place her own people once held. When the remaining chieri teleport into the festival, called by the newly pregnant Keral's joy, Closson's shock allows Rondo, to read her mind and discover her plan. A powerful telekinetic, he calls the bomb to himself and in a desperate attempt to save the others, hurls himself upward, still holding it; the bomb detonates high above the city, and Closson comes out of hiding to face her long-lost kin.
Now knowing that the Darkovans carry the heritage of her own people, Closson puts her knowledge and fortune to work saving Darkover; finally at peace, she dies holding the child of Keral and David Hamilton in her arms.
Andrea Closson is a world wrecker. For a fee, her company will destroy the economy of a planet, making it easier for her clients to step in and take it over. And she has been hired to damage Darkover so badly that the planet will have to give up its protected status and beg for Terran assistance. Her methods are ruthless. She targets three key resources - forests, soil, and the Darkovan telepaths - with arson, poison and assassination. The irony is that Andrea Closson is a chieri, and the world she is destroying is her home, the telepaths, her distant cousins.
Regis Hastur knows that something is wrong. The Comyn are dying, through illness and assassination, and the people are starving as forest fires and other disasters wreak havoc on Darkover's fragile ecology. Desperate to keep the knowledge of Darkovan matrix sciences alive, Regis offers to teach these sciences to Terran telepaths. The pilot project brings together Darkovans - Regis, his paxman and lover Danilo Syrtis, the elderly Desideria (from Winds of Darkover) and her granddaughter Linnea - and Terrans - David Hamilton, David Connor, and Rondo - and most unexpectedly, two chieri - Keral, one of the last fertile members of a dying race, and Missy, a foundling with no knowledge of her background who has wandered the Terran Empire for centuries, living by her ability to project a powerful femininity but so psychically damaged that she is barren. Supervising the project, which seeks to understand what makes a telepath, is Jason Allison (whom we met in the very first Darkover novel, The Planet Savers).
As matters grow worse, Regis puts out a call to bring together all the telepaths of Darkover - not just those of known Comyn heritage, but anyone with a trace of laran - to form a new Telepath's Council to replace the Comyn Council. Closson sees this as her chance to put an end to all the telepaths of Darkover, and plants a bomb to explode during the Festival of the Four Moons, when her spy within the project, Rondo, has reported that all the telepaths will be celebrating at Comyn Castle.
When the Festival begins, Closson conceals herself nearby, to see the end of the those she thinks of as the usurpers of the place her own people once held. When the remaining chieri teleport into the festival, called by the newly pregnant Keral's joy, Closson's shock allows Rondo, to read her mind and discover her plan. A powerful telekinetic, he calls the bomb to himself and in a desperate attempt to save the others, hurls himself upward, still holding it; the bomb detonates high above the city, and Closson comes out of hiding to face her long-lost kin.
Now knowing that the Darkovans carry the heritage of her own people, Closson puts her knowledge and fortune to work saving Darkover; finally at peace, she dies holding the child of Keral and David Hamilton in her arms.
December 26, 2017
The World Wreckers is a book about gender and sexuality that's trying to tell you it's a book about someone trying to destroy a planet.
There were several elements of style that I disliked in this book. There were strange switches from mostly third person to the ocasional paragraph in first. The tense also changed oddly a few times. I dislike the distant third person and the weird head hopping that may be a function of the time the book was written in as much as anything. Also, the race living on a planet other than earth ocasionally refers to themselves as human. I believe it's a bigger this in the wider book series that there's some kind of common ancestry thing going on here but found it confusing as a reader. There's also a strong tendency towards characters discussing what's happening at great length instead of, you know, the thing happening to them and them reacting to it.
That aside, the main plot is almost invisible in this novel which is weird. But good at the meat is in what is nominaly the subplot, the romantic relationships. This was written in 1971 and in a lot of ways it predates the conversations we're having today about gender and sexuality. It's also painfully sexist to read at times but it does a little to relieve that at the end and is very much a product of its time. So, dated but interesting. There's a race in the book who have the capacity to be both male and female. The book doesn't seem to have the langauge yet to deal with them in a neutral state and instead has the human protagonists assign gender. There's a lot of talk about the person 'switching from active to passive' as they move from neutral-assigned-male to female and a lot of other shit about female passivity (as well as some ideas about how being barren makes a woman a man) but this is somewhat subverted in that the human man fucking the alien eventually concludes that instead of trying to force gender roles onto this non-gender conforming relationship, he has to accept it as it is and he cries in his partner's arms and lets himself express fear and vulnerability to them. So there's a breakthrough there that I might have liked more heavily foreshadowed throughout but it's there. There's also quite a nice bit where someone presumed female human turns out to be one of these aliens and has moved into a neutral state and their male lover states he doesn't care, he loved them for who they are. That was sweet, though there was still some macho posturing. So, basically, this is very macho guys with ideas about men and women learn that the content of a person's character is more important than the content of their pants and that gender roles are bullshit, but you've got to wade through a hell of a lot of sexism to get there. I'm glad I read it, I don't think I'll read it again.
There were several elements of style that I disliked in this book. There were strange switches from mostly third person to the ocasional paragraph in first. The tense also changed oddly a few times. I dislike the distant third person and the weird head hopping that may be a function of the time the book was written in as much as anything. Also, the race living on a planet other than earth ocasionally refers to themselves as human. I believe it's a bigger this in the wider book series that there's some kind of common ancestry thing going on here but found it confusing as a reader. There's also a strong tendency towards characters discussing what's happening at great length instead of, you know, the thing happening to them and them reacting to it.
That aside, the main plot is almost invisible in this novel which is weird. But good at the meat is in what is nominaly the subplot, the romantic relationships. This was written in 1971 and in a lot of ways it predates the conversations we're having today about gender and sexuality. It's also painfully sexist to read at times but it does a little to relieve that at the end and is very much a product of its time. So, dated but interesting. There's a race in the book who have the capacity to be both male and female. The book doesn't seem to have the langauge yet to deal with them in a neutral state and instead has the human protagonists assign gender. There's a lot of talk about the person 'switching from active to passive' as they move from neutral-assigned-male to female and a lot of other shit about female passivity (as well as some ideas about how being barren makes a woman a man) but this is somewhat subverted in that the human man fucking the alien eventually concludes that instead of trying to force gender roles onto this non-gender conforming relationship, he has to accept it as it is and he cries in his partner's arms and lets himself express fear and vulnerability to them. So there's a breakthrough there that I might have liked more heavily foreshadowed throughout but it's there. There's also quite a nice bit where someone presumed female human turns out to be one of these aliens and has moved into a neutral state and their male lover states he doesn't care, he loved them for who they are. That was sweet, though there was still some macho posturing. So, basically, this is very macho guys with ideas about men and women learn that the content of a person's character is more important than the content of their pants and that gender roles are bullshit, but you've got to wade through a hell of a lot of sexism to get there. I'm glad I read it, I don't think I'll read it again.
May 30, 2010
[These notes were made in 1984:]. I have mixed feelings about this one. The last, chronologically, of the Darkover series, it comes about in the middle of the sequence of composition, and reflects Bradley's growing courage about and fascination with the implications of the telepathic mental union she has posited. And dealing with the implications of mental union involves, essentially, the nearest thing we mere humans have to it - that is, sex. This is a novel about sex, specifically about sex between a human and an alien, and, particularly, about sex between a male human and hermaphroditic alien who is in the male cycle. It is a short book, but we do get to know David and Keral reasonably well as emotional beings before they are flung into bed together - a rehearsal, it seems, for the monumental taboo-breaking orgy which takes place several chapters later. Now, there is some literary justification to all this. The clash of cultures and values, the problems of alienation from one's own kind (Andrea, the ecology-destroying "chieri", and Missy, her daughter) - these are all here and being worked upon, expanded, even through the sex scenes. But one has the feeling that Zimmer Bradley is more interested in working through her own taboos - homosexuality, adultery, sexuality of the old. And so there is a hint of that same breathless, guilty brazenness as one finds in the ST homo-fiction, although the general quality of the writing is much higher. The book wanders so close to pornography (and effective pornography!) that one hesitates about literary judgment.
August 8, 2020
In Darkover habe ich ja so meine Lieblinge - und die Werke, die ich rasch wieder vergesse. Systematisch von #1 bis Ende habe ich die Reihe noch nie gelesen und obwohl ich dachte, dass ich "Die Weltenzerstörer" schon irgendwann mal gelesen habe, muss ich sagen, das war falsch: dies war das erste Mal. Ansonsten hätte ich mich daran erinnert.
Die Weltenzerstörer ist eine Vereinigung in der Förderation, die illegalerweise sich anheuern lässt, um eine Welt, die sich bislang weigert, ein offener Planet zu werden, soweit zu zerstören, dass er keine andere Wahl hat. Diesmal trifft es das geliebte Darkover und so ist von Anfang an eine Grundstimmung im Buch, die ich als sehr viel dramatischer empfand als in manch anderen. Darkover darf nicht zerstört werden! Die Einzigartigkeit der Gesellschaft, des Planeten, muss so bleiben! Zudem werden die Personen, die mit Weltenzerstörer zu tun haben, auch sehr negativ gezeichnet, so dass man darauf hinfiebert, dass ihre Machenschaften entdeckt werden und ihnen das Handwerk gelegt wird.
Regis Hastur ist hier nicht mehr ganz jung, aber noch nicht verheiratet und sein Leben ziemlich anstrengend. Es gibt keinen Rat der Comyn mehr und die Beziehungen mit den Terranern ein Balance-Akt. Da so viel verloren gegangen ist, wird in diesem Roman ein Telepathen-Projekt aufgezogen: im ganzen Universum wird nach Telepathen gesucht, die nach Darkover geholt werden, wo man auf terranische Art über Laran forschen will. Während bei den Findlingen einige echt unsympathische Gestalten dabei sind (die sich teilweise etwas wandeln, teilweise nicht), tritt David Hamilton schließlich als Protagonist hervor, ein Terraner, der auf Darkover und der Telepathen-Gesellschaft endlich heimisch wird.
Ich mag Darkover, aber gerade die Geschichten, wo jemand von den Terranern auf den Planeten kommt und die Gesellschaft kennenlernt und sich anpassen muss, ganz besonders, so dass ich auch mit David meine große Freude hatte.
Was die Geschichte aber für mich richtig besonders macht und auf eine Ebene mit den Entsagenden-Romanen stellt, die ansonsten unangefochten meine Nr. 1 aus Darkover sind: das Chieri/ die Chieri, die im Roman vorkommen.
Das Buch ist nun fast 50 Jahre alt und hier gibt es eine Liebesgeschichte und ausführlich beschriebene Sexszene zwischen den Rassen (und zwar meine ich wirklich Rassen, Mensch und Chieri, auch wenn die Übersetzung ganz am Anfang mal den Schnitzer macht und verschiedene Hautfarben der Menschen mit verschiedenen Rassen gleichsetzt). Es ist unglaublich einfühlsam und gut durchdacht. Nicht ganz gefallen hat mir, dass hier männlich mit aktiv und weiblich mit passiv, nachgiebig gleichgesetzt wurde, aber ansonsten fand ich auch das Geschlechtskonzept der Chieri sehr interessant und wie beide Seiten Vorurteile bemerken und ablegen müssen, um zueinander zu kommen. Dadurch, dass die Liebesgeschichte mit dem Chieri nicht mit einem Darkovaner beschrieben wird, sondern einem Terraner auf Darkover, kommt auch noch die Komponente der Homophobie mit rein, da die Terraner große Vorbehalte haben diesbezüglich und der Terraner erst lernen muss, dass dies auf Darkover nicht so verpönt ist.
Egal, was man sonst so über Marion Zimmer Bradley sagt, da muss ich einfach sagen, Hut ab! Wir feiern heute noch moderne Bücher mit ähnlichen Paar-Konstellationen als außergewöhnlich und sie schrieb diese Liebesgeschichte einfach schon 1971.
Die Weltenzerstörer ist eine Vereinigung in der Förderation, die illegalerweise sich anheuern lässt, um eine Welt, die sich bislang weigert, ein offener Planet zu werden, soweit zu zerstören, dass er keine andere Wahl hat. Diesmal trifft es das geliebte Darkover und so ist von Anfang an eine Grundstimmung im Buch, die ich als sehr viel dramatischer empfand als in manch anderen. Darkover darf nicht zerstört werden! Die Einzigartigkeit der Gesellschaft, des Planeten, muss so bleiben! Zudem werden die Personen, die mit Weltenzerstörer zu tun haben, auch sehr negativ gezeichnet, so dass man darauf hinfiebert, dass ihre Machenschaften entdeckt werden und ihnen das Handwerk gelegt wird.
Regis Hastur ist hier nicht mehr ganz jung, aber noch nicht verheiratet und sein Leben ziemlich anstrengend. Es gibt keinen Rat der Comyn mehr und die Beziehungen mit den Terranern ein Balance-Akt. Da so viel verloren gegangen ist, wird in diesem Roman ein Telepathen-Projekt aufgezogen: im ganzen Universum wird nach Telepathen gesucht, die nach Darkover geholt werden, wo man auf terranische Art über Laran forschen will. Während bei den Findlingen einige echt unsympathische Gestalten dabei sind (die sich teilweise etwas wandeln, teilweise nicht), tritt David Hamilton schließlich als Protagonist hervor, ein Terraner, der auf Darkover und der Telepathen-Gesellschaft endlich heimisch wird.
Ich mag Darkover, aber gerade die Geschichten, wo jemand von den Terranern auf den Planeten kommt und die Gesellschaft kennenlernt und sich anpassen muss, ganz besonders, so dass ich auch mit David meine große Freude hatte.
Was die Geschichte aber für mich richtig besonders macht und auf eine Ebene mit den Entsagenden-Romanen stellt, die ansonsten unangefochten meine Nr. 1 aus Darkover sind: das Chieri/ die Chieri, die im Roman vorkommen.
Das Buch ist nun fast 50 Jahre alt und hier gibt es eine Liebesgeschichte und ausführlich beschriebene Sexszene zwischen den Rassen (und zwar meine ich wirklich Rassen, Mensch und Chieri, auch wenn die Übersetzung ganz am Anfang mal den Schnitzer macht und verschiedene Hautfarben der Menschen mit verschiedenen Rassen gleichsetzt). Es ist unglaublich einfühlsam und gut durchdacht. Nicht ganz gefallen hat mir, dass hier männlich mit aktiv und weiblich mit passiv, nachgiebig gleichgesetzt wurde, aber ansonsten fand ich auch das Geschlechtskonzept der Chieri sehr interessant und wie beide Seiten Vorurteile bemerken und ablegen müssen, um zueinander zu kommen. Dadurch, dass die Liebesgeschichte mit dem Chieri nicht mit einem Darkovaner beschrieben wird, sondern einem Terraner auf Darkover, kommt auch noch die Komponente der Homophobie mit rein, da die Terraner große Vorbehalte haben diesbezüglich und der Terraner erst lernen muss, dass dies auf Darkover nicht so verpönt ist.
Egal, was man sonst so über Marion Zimmer Bradley sagt, da muss ich einfach sagen, Hut ab! Wir feiern heute noch moderne Bücher mit ähnlichen Paar-Konstellationen als außergewöhnlich und sie schrieb diese Liebesgeschichte einfach schon 1971.
September 22, 2019
I did not like this book. It wasn't terrible, though; it just repeatedly failed to catch my interest throughout, despite the fact that I kept thinking it would, and continued reading for some reason. I do weird things sometimes.
The World Wreckers is the sixth or so in a series known as the Darkover series, but all the reviews I read through said it was fairly standalone. I'm inclined to agree with them, because although I'm sure there were things I did not pick up on, I didn't really feel left behind on any of it--there were very few things that I scratched my head over and felt the need to consult Google on. More than anything I just couldn't be bothered to care about most of the political crap that was going on it the background.
Anyway for the synopsis, this book takes place on a planet quite on the edges of known space, known as Darkover presumably because it is so far away from its sun that it receives very little warmth and sunlight and most of its year is covered in snow. Obsessed as I am with survival stories and settings, this really appealed to me, and I was prepared to read about the unique struggles that would accompany living on such a planet. Unfortunately, there's not really much of that here, and in fact there are so many cultures there that live outside and/or are nomads/forest people/lo-tech societies etc. that I probably would have forgotten about the temperature if I hadn't been reminded. The beginning of the book starts off with the hiring of a company called World Wreckers, Inc., which specializes in ruining the economies of planets outside the Galactic Empire (or whatever it’s called in this book. I forget which name they use--the concept is the same), so that interested investors can swoop in and take over. This is an interesting idea, and could have been utilized much more than it was. There’s a lot of political intrigue that could have taken place as the inhabitants of the planet try to figure out what is going on. In fact, though, it only serves as a background. It seems that the author got bored with this plot and universe about a fourth of the way through and decided to make the rest of the story center around ideas about gender.
The bulk of the story centers around a hermaphroditic race which is very long-lived and changes its gender periodically throughout their lifetimes to facilitate breeding. Again, this could have been interesting, but for some reason it just wasn’t--it read like two boring romances in a pulp novel, and none of it was particularly interesting or insightful. In fact, due to its age I suppose, there is a bit of sexism here and there, which I don’t think the author was aware of.
At any rate, I don’t think I’ll remember this one much and I won’t be picking up any others in the series.
The World Wreckers is the sixth or so in a series known as the Darkover series, but all the reviews I read through said it was fairly standalone. I'm inclined to agree with them, because although I'm sure there were things I did not pick up on, I didn't really feel left behind on any of it--there were very few things that I scratched my head over and felt the need to consult Google on. More than anything I just couldn't be bothered to care about most of the political crap that was going on it the background.
Anyway for the synopsis, this book takes place on a planet quite on the edges of known space, known as Darkover presumably because it is so far away from its sun that it receives very little warmth and sunlight and most of its year is covered in snow. Obsessed as I am with survival stories and settings, this really appealed to me, and I was prepared to read about the unique struggles that would accompany living on such a planet. Unfortunately, there's not really much of that here, and in fact there are so many cultures there that live outside and/or are nomads/forest people/lo-tech societies etc. that I probably would have forgotten about the temperature if I hadn't been reminded. The beginning of the book starts off with the hiring of a company called World Wreckers, Inc., which specializes in ruining the economies of planets outside the Galactic Empire (or whatever it’s called in this book. I forget which name they use--the concept is the same), so that interested investors can swoop in and take over. This is an interesting idea, and could have been utilized much more than it was. There’s a lot of political intrigue that could have taken place as the inhabitants of the planet try to figure out what is going on. In fact, though, it only serves as a background. It seems that the author got bored with this plot and universe about a fourth of the way through and decided to make the rest of the story center around ideas about gender.
The bulk of the story centers around a hermaphroditic race which is very long-lived and changes its gender periodically throughout their lifetimes to facilitate breeding. Again, this could have been interesting, but for some reason it just wasn’t--it read like two boring romances in a pulp novel, and none of it was particularly interesting or insightful. In fact, due to its age I suppose, there is a bit of sexism here and there, which I don’t think the author was aware of.
At any rate, I don’t think I’ll remember this one much and I won’t be picking up any others in the series.
March 18, 2021
Darkover is in danger; intent on bringing the planet fully into the Empire unnamed interests employ Andrea Closson of World Wreckers Inc to bring the plant to the point of destruction. Unusually Ms Closson decides to lead this mission herself. With Darkover already in a time of turmoil with its age old structure of government gone, Regis Hastur now finds himself the frequent target of would be assassins. Fearing the permanent loss of his peoples’ telepathic powers Regis has sent out a universal call for all know telepaths in the hopes of regenerating these powers. But even if Regis becomes aware of the plot against his planet, will it be possible to undo all the damage Darkover has already suffered?
In The World Wreckers, in Darkover history it follows on shortly after Sharra’s Exile, we find the young Regis now leading his world with faithful Danilo at his side. This story is relatively short by comparison with its two chronological predecessors, and the real centre of focus is the first small group if telepaths who come to Darkover, a mixed bunch of Terrans and those, initially, of uncertain origins. Of these it is David, a Terran medic, and Keral, a youngster of the fabled ancient and long-lived Chieri, the alien natives of Darkover.
Young David and Keral, young by his own standards, form a bond, although the indeterminate gender of Keral initially proves a problem; but their relationship leads to interesting developments. Their relationship, and that enjoyed by others in the group, is touching and heart-warming. I would have liked to have seen much more of Regis and Danilo in the story, and especially their relationship, but they do not feature too greatly in the story.
It is a good tale, the main emphasis is on the characters, the plot to destroy the planet playing a relatively minor role on the whole. It is a story of love, betrayal and ultimate redemption.
In The World Wreckers, in Darkover history it follows on shortly after Sharra’s Exile, we find the young Regis now leading his world with faithful Danilo at his side. This story is relatively short by comparison with its two chronological predecessors, and the real centre of focus is the first small group if telepaths who come to Darkover, a mixed bunch of Terrans and those, initially, of uncertain origins. Of these it is David, a Terran medic, and Keral, a youngster of the fabled ancient and long-lived Chieri, the alien natives of Darkover.
Young David and Keral, young by his own standards, form a bond, although the indeterminate gender of Keral initially proves a problem; but their relationship leads to interesting developments. Their relationship, and that enjoyed by others in the group, is touching and heart-warming. I would have liked to have seen much more of Regis and Danilo in the story, and especially their relationship, but they do not feature too greatly in the story.
It is a good tale, the main emphasis is on the characters, the plot to destroy the planet playing a relatively minor role on the whole. It is a story of love, betrayal and ultimate redemption.
February 10, 2021
This Darkover book tells a complete story and could stand alone. Many of the characters are in earlier and later books in terms of chronology. In terms of publication order this book is one of the earlier ones coming even before Heritage of Hastur (HoH) and there are inconsistencies that result from it. For instance, Lerrys Ridenow appears briefly as a friend to Regis even though in the later published but earlier chronologically, HoH, he deserted Darkover forever as a traitor.
The plot is thin. Instead MZB gives us a lot of sex and discussion about sex. It includes what would have been pairings outside the norm at the time she wrote it. These things take up a major portion of the book to the point where the book seems to be a propaganda piece about what she might consider outdated sexual mores. I don't have a big problem with fiction presenting alternatives to accepted norms but in a novel it would have been nice if there was more story than propaganda.
I couldn't accept the ending.
What's up with Linea?
Mature themes: there is a very long sex scene which is mildly explicit. See comment above about sexual discussions. There is an orgy described in nonexplicit terms. There are a lot of murder. There is attempted genocide.
The plot is thin. Instead MZB gives us a lot of sex and discussion about sex. It includes what would have been pairings outside the norm at the time she wrote it. These things take up a major portion of the book to the point where the book seems to be a propaganda piece about what she might consider outdated sexual mores. I don't have a big problem with fiction presenting alternatives to accepted norms but in a novel it would have been nice if there was more story than propaganda.
I couldn't accept the ending.
What's up with Linea?
Mature themes: there is a very long sex scene which is mildly explicit. See comment above about sexual discussions. There is an orgy described in nonexplicit terms. There are a lot of murder. There is attempted genocide.
October 22, 2019
Had wildly mixed feelings re-reading this. On the one hand, the premise of eco-destruction as a capitalist plot resonates a good deal with today's situation. I admire in abstract the idea of the Cheiri and the plot line of bringing them back into the human world of Darkover. (When I was researching androgyny in SF in the 80's, this was the only book I cd find with a positive, natural androgyne character -- all others were artificially constructed and/or evil or destructive). In an intellectual vein, this novel succeeds as a culminating integration of the opposition btw Terra and Darkover that shapes the initial books of the series. However, I also found it in many ways overly melodramtic. Emotional bonding seemed exaggerated, the sex-scenes cringingly adolescent. It reeks of early 70's "summer of love" idealism, while at the same time preserving a number of essentialist assumptions abt the "natural" passivity of the feminine, even in a different species.
November 20, 2025
Marion Zimmer Bradley, and her literary work, must be viewed through two, often competing, lenses.
First, she was writing stories with strong, relatable female protagonists battling male oppression at a time when very few other authors were prepared to do so. Many modern readers cannot conceive of a time when women were not allowed to have a credit card in their own name, which was but one of the policies Bradley was dealing with in her time. She was a feminist long before it became fashionable. She was one of a very few voices that spoke powerfully to young women about their own worth. Much of her writing, read today, can be seen as trite, obvious, or overbearing, but it must be remembered that it was none of those things at the time it was written. This was a woman who co-founded, and named, the Society for Creative Anachronism, who championed pagan rights when the mainstream saw them as satanic, and who encouraged and published unknown female authors like Mercedes Lackey. Viewed through this lens, Bradley was a progressive woman to be lauded, as she was, posthumously, when she received the World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement in 2000.
Second, and hideously, Bradley was a pedophile, who molested her own children. She also procured and groomed children for her husband, Walter Breen, to assault. She admitted to knowing what he was doing to these children, but refused to stop helping him, much less report him or interfere with his desires. Her own daughter was her accuser, so we can be assured this is not a "he said, she said" situation. Viewed through this lens, then, her life and work become irredeemably tainted.
We are, perhaps, used to evaluating art for art's sake, commenting on Ender's Game, or Harry Potter, as though their authors' views, hateful as they are, should not condemn the output of their minds and hands. Perhaps we are right to do so; after all, these views are only beliefs and words, no matter how widespread a bully pulpit their famous speakers are able to command. However, when beliefs and words turn into actions, we must draw the line. Since 2014, when definitive proof finally came to light, I have found myself unable to recommend anything written by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I remain so appalled by her actions that I can never give more than one star to anything she has written, no matter how groundbreaking, how heartfelt, how astounding it may be. I urge everyone reading this to join me in boycotting her work forever.
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* (extremely rare) There is something very wrong with this book &/or this author; never again.
** (seldom) Has flaws, or I just couldn’t get into it; no thanks.
*** (usual) Not great, not bad; no need to return to it.
**** (often) Better than average; I’d read it again.
***** (rare) A superb example of the genre, &/or an incredible piece of art; I re-read it often.
First, she was writing stories with strong, relatable female protagonists battling male oppression at a time when very few other authors were prepared to do so. Many modern readers cannot conceive of a time when women were not allowed to have a credit card in their own name, which was but one of the policies Bradley was dealing with in her time. She was a feminist long before it became fashionable. She was one of a very few voices that spoke powerfully to young women about their own worth. Much of her writing, read today, can be seen as trite, obvious, or overbearing, but it must be remembered that it was none of those things at the time it was written. This was a woman who co-founded, and named, the Society for Creative Anachronism, who championed pagan rights when the mainstream saw them as satanic, and who encouraged and published unknown female authors like Mercedes Lackey. Viewed through this lens, Bradley was a progressive woman to be lauded, as she was, posthumously, when she received the World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement in 2000.
Second, and hideously, Bradley was a pedophile, who molested her own children. She also procured and groomed children for her husband, Walter Breen, to assault. She admitted to knowing what he was doing to these children, but refused to stop helping him, much less report him or interfere with his desires. Her own daughter was her accuser, so we can be assured this is not a "he said, she said" situation. Viewed through this lens, then, her life and work become irredeemably tainted.
We are, perhaps, used to evaluating art for art's sake, commenting on Ender's Game, or Harry Potter, as though their authors' views, hateful as they are, should not condemn the output of their minds and hands. Perhaps we are right to do so; after all, these views are only beliefs and words, no matter how widespread a bully pulpit their famous speakers are able to command. However, when beliefs and words turn into actions, we must draw the line. Since 2014, when definitive proof finally came to light, I have found myself unable to recommend anything written by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I remain so appalled by her actions that I can never give more than one star to anything she has written, no matter how groundbreaking, how heartfelt, how astounding it may be. I urge everyone reading this to join me in boycotting her work forever.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* (extremely rare) There is something very wrong with this book &/or this author; never again.
** (seldom) Has flaws, or I just couldn’t get into it; no thanks.
*** (usual) Not great, not bad; no need to return to it.
**** (often) Better than average; I’d read it again.
***** (rare) A superb example of the genre, &/or an incredible piece of art; I re-read it often.
Read
August 13, 2014I have the 1971 edition. It's of course not sensible to rebuke it for not incorporating the elements of later books. But the fact that it's quite late in Darkovan chronology (Regis Hastur is described as being 24, and Desideria Lanart-Storn is in her late 80s or early 90s) means that people who have read the books in order of internal chronology will find repeated inconsistencies. Can't be helped, of course, but it can be irritating.
The World Wreckers in the title are really almost irrelevant to the story. The decision to collect together telepaths from all over the Terran Empire is something that should have been done generations before. The Darkovans didn't do so, presumably because they had a large and thriving community of native telepaths at the time--but they would have been driven to this point eventually anyway, because even when the Terran Empire first made contact with Darkover, the telepathic community was failing. They'd become too inbred, and had adopted abusive training methods, and a temporary efflorescence had long since ended, leaving waning remains of a once quite sophisticated technology. Eventually they would have had to turn to the empire for fresh blood.
One point: early on (at a conference at Arilinn) the phrase 'survival of the strongest' is used in so many words. I don't know if Bradley ever came to understand that Darwinian evolutioary theory has NEVER been about 'the strongest'. 'Strength' (especially as Bradley understands it) is rarely a survival characteristic, and often a positive detriment to leaving behind more copies of one's chromosomes. The Darkovans are not failing because they are not 'strong'. Leaving aside deliberate sabotage (a relatively recent development), Darkovan society was ALWAYS on an uncertain foundation. It's not only that the original humans were FAR too inbred, but also that they were, in many ways, TOO strong. They were taking without balance: 'fighting' a 'hostile' environment. They were NOT trying to learn from people like the Trailmen, who lived in balance with the environment.
The analogy I would use is the Vikings in Iceland. The Vikings tried to import an enconomy that wasn't compatible with the Icelandic environment. In very early times they destroyed the forests, and failed to conserve the limited pastoral and agricultural capacity. The Darkovan humans have done a slightly better job--but not so much better that the Darkovans really have much basis for rejecting 'Terran' technology. They've been USING Terran technology since the ship crashed--they've just been picking and choosing WHICH technologies they use, and supplementing them with 'native' psionic technologies, whose development has not really been described.
In later books ('earlier' in internal chronology) Bradley presents a considerably more stereotyped version of 'Terran' society. In this book there's less of that. The complexity of Empire societies is accepted. The idea that the Terran Empire is a sterile, uniform (and, oddly, homophobic) society is a strange one. The Darkovans might be forgiven for thinking so: as the Terrans get a very false impression of Darkovan women from the women of the spaceport bars, so the Darkovans might reasonably get a false impression of life on Empire worlds from their spaceports and trade cities in a hostile world. The civilization(s) of the Terran Empire are clearly NOT sterile or uniform. The prejudice of a certain class of Darkovans (unfortunately the ruling class for too long) against non-telepaths has too much of a tendency to bleed into their relationships not only with the Terrans, but also with their own kinsfolk who have the misfortune not to be telepathic.
I should point out that the telepaths are of the opinion that they're getting at people's 'real' motives: but consider Bard di Asturien in Two to Conquer. He's not getting at people's 'real' motives because he can see to (and manipulate) unconscious drives. Those drives are NOT controlling people's behavior. Conscious behavior establishes a superego that censors certain drives, encourages others, diverts, sublimates, etc. Social communication is not necessarily improved by stripping off the skin, or by deciding that subconscious drives are somehow more 'real' than the strategies people develop to live amongst their companions.
The ending's too frequently telegraphed to come as much of a surprise, so I won't be focusing on that, except to say that I'd forgotten how it was resolved, though I remembered what the issue was. I will say that there are people missing here. Where is Gabriel Lanart-Hastur, for example? Or Dyan Ardais' son? Dyan is the great grandson of Callista and Ellemir's older sister, Dorian (remember her? Thought not. She was almost always offstage, really. Indeed, I had to search to get her name--I think it was Dorian.). Also, I've mentioned before that for people who are obsessed with children, the children aren't underfoot a lot, at least among the Comyn.
There's one possibility I've always wondered about, that seems a likely theory, given the description of the ecstatic nature of chieri dancing. Isn't it just possible that the chieri, realizing they were losing fertility, DELIBERATELY developed the kireseth flower, to supplement their flagging (and never very strong) sex drives? And then, when it was at best indifferently successful, neglected and forgot them, leaving them to run wild, until reminded of their effects by the reactions of the newcomers?
One minor note: this is the ONLY Darkover story I've ever read which has more than one chieri in it. There are three who are major characters, and, toward the end, what are probably ALL the surviving chieri still able to travel come to Thendara.
The World Wreckers in the title are really almost irrelevant to the story. The decision to collect together telepaths from all over the Terran Empire is something that should have been done generations before. The Darkovans didn't do so, presumably because they had a large and thriving community of native telepaths at the time--but they would have been driven to this point eventually anyway, because even when the Terran Empire first made contact with Darkover, the telepathic community was failing. They'd become too inbred, and had adopted abusive training methods, and a temporary efflorescence had long since ended, leaving waning remains of a once quite sophisticated technology. Eventually they would have had to turn to the empire for fresh blood.
One point: early on (at a conference at Arilinn) the phrase 'survival of the strongest' is used in so many words. I don't know if Bradley ever came to understand that Darwinian evolutioary theory has NEVER been about 'the strongest'. 'Strength' (especially as Bradley understands it) is rarely a survival characteristic, and often a positive detriment to leaving behind more copies of one's chromosomes. The Darkovans are not failing because they are not 'strong'. Leaving aside deliberate sabotage (a relatively recent development), Darkovan society was ALWAYS on an uncertain foundation. It's not only that the original humans were FAR too inbred, but also that they were, in many ways, TOO strong. They were taking without balance: 'fighting' a 'hostile' environment. They were NOT trying to learn from people like the Trailmen, who lived in balance with the environment.
The analogy I would use is the Vikings in Iceland. The Vikings tried to import an enconomy that wasn't compatible with the Icelandic environment. In very early times they destroyed the forests, and failed to conserve the limited pastoral and agricultural capacity. The Darkovan humans have done a slightly better job--but not so much better that the Darkovans really have much basis for rejecting 'Terran' technology. They've been USING Terran technology since the ship crashed--they've just been picking and choosing WHICH technologies they use, and supplementing them with 'native' psionic technologies, whose development has not really been described.
In later books ('earlier' in internal chronology) Bradley presents a considerably more stereotyped version of 'Terran' society. In this book there's less of that. The complexity of Empire societies is accepted. The idea that the Terran Empire is a sterile, uniform (and, oddly, homophobic) society is a strange one. The Darkovans might be forgiven for thinking so: as the Terrans get a very false impression of Darkovan women from the women of the spaceport bars, so the Darkovans might reasonably get a false impression of life on Empire worlds from their spaceports and trade cities in a hostile world. The civilization(s) of the Terran Empire are clearly NOT sterile or uniform. The prejudice of a certain class of Darkovans (unfortunately the ruling class for too long) against non-telepaths has too much of a tendency to bleed into their relationships not only with the Terrans, but also with their own kinsfolk who have the misfortune not to be telepathic.
I should point out that the telepaths are of the opinion that they're getting at people's 'real' motives: but consider Bard di Asturien in Two to Conquer. He's not getting at people's 'real' motives because he can see to (and manipulate) unconscious drives. Those drives are NOT controlling people's behavior. Conscious behavior establishes a superego that censors certain drives, encourages others, diverts, sublimates, etc. Social communication is not necessarily improved by stripping off the skin, or by deciding that subconscious drives are somehow more 'real' than the strategies people develop to live amongst their companions.
The ending's too frequently telegraphed to come as much of a surprise, so I won't be focusing on that, except to say that I'd forgotten how it was resolved, though I remembered what the issue was. I will say that there are people missing here. Where is Gabriel Lanart-Hastur, for example? Or Dyan Ardais' son? Dyan is the great grandson of Callista and Ellemir's older sister, Dorian (remember her? Thought not. She was almost always offstage, really. Indeed, I had to search to get her name--I think it was Dorian.). Also, I've mentioned before that for people who are obsessed with children, the children aren't underfoot a lot, at least among the Comyn.
There's one possibility I've always wondered about, that seems a likely theory, given the description of the ecstatic nature of chieri dancing. Isn't it just possible that the chieri, realizing they were losing fertility, DELIBERATELY developed the kireseth flower, to supplement their flagging (and never very strong) sex drives? And then, when it was at best indifferently successful, neglected and forgot them, leaving them to run wild, until reminded of their effects by the reactions of the newcomers?
One minor note: this is the ONLY Darkover story I've ever read which has more than one chieri in it. There are three who are major characters, and, toward the end, what are probably ALL the surviving chieri still able to travel come to Thendara.
January 9, 2023
So this book is interesting - it was written towards the beginning of the Darkover series composition, but details events later in Darkover's history. In other words, most books that followed were prequels, by hundreds or even more than a thousand years. It has been interesting reading the books in order of the Darkover history, and getting progressively earlier in publication date. Fascinating in terms of writing and authorship.
February 20, 2021
Now this is an oddity, but I like it. There is a sense of realism combined with the fantasy and the exploration of the chieri is fabulous. I couldn’t remember being that taken by the story in previous iterations, so wonder what was different? How does what I bring to the reading affect my enjoyment? Whatever, just the breadth of this in terms of characters really surprised me.
September 25, 2020
Book club Book for September. It had some nice ideas and concepts. But the plotting was off, the writing weird and zero tension.
But good book if you a craving star wars. Also good book if you want something like the wayfarer series (the long way to a small angry planet)
But good book if you a craving star wars. Also good book if you want something like the wayfarer series (the long way to a small angry planet)
May 5, 2019
What a boring book just a lot of blah blah about telepathy and what makes them tick. The sun story is this women that wrecks world's for the terran empire but on darkover it does not work, please if you have to read a Marion Zimmer Bradley book on darkover just read star of danger it's the only one worth reading.
November 11, 2019
A good read, though not really any of the detail about the Darkovan society that was in previous books.
January 13, 2020
Leicht zu lesen, ein Snack. Mutet in der ersten hälfte oberflächlich und linear an, danach noch Smut fuer den wahrscheinlich jugendlichen Leser, dann happy end.
April 29, 2020
Not one of the best in the series.
September 14, 2020
Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. Kind of hard to rate because a lot of the stuff I would consider flaws in a more modern book are just period appropriate for a book released in the seventies.
February 3, 2022
approfondimento sconclusionato e demente sui "Chieri" (elfi di Darkover)
January 4, 2024
3.5* Telepaths and hermaphrodite aliens make interesting world building.
January 4, 2024
This was a great start but the last quarter was a sharp turn and did not fit with the start.
Read
December 25, 2025very good.
February 5, 2017
This book is called The World Wreckers, but a better title would probably be The People of the Yellow Forest.
There are two events in the plot that are referenced in book after book after this, and I'm a bit surprised because I forgot how short this book was and how quickly the plot went by. The titular World Wreckers are a company, one of many that work in the Terran Empire--for this was written in the Starships and Spacemen days of Darkover's compositional history--designed to open up protected worlds to more favorable economic agreements with the Empire. In other words, it's disaster capitalism. Cause enough problems that the local economy and technological base cannot handle, and they'll beg for Imperial expertise regardless of the wishes of the local government. That's in the background, with assassinations among the Comyn, forest fires in the Hellers, crop blights, and other ailments growing more and more common.
But it's not the focus. Almost the entire plot is dedicated to the chieri after Regis Hastur decides that the lack of laran-talented individuals in Darkover will lead to an inevitable slide into barbarism and darkness, and gets the Empire to help track down telepaths and train them, because this is when the Empire believed in telepathy. For unknown reasons, a chieri walks out of the Yellow Forest to join the project, and so The World Wreckers is where almost all of the parameters of the chieri that are adhered to for the rest of the Darkover series are established.
And that is that the chieri are stereotypical space elves. They are tall and pale, with immensely powerful laran. They have very low fertility rates, and while once they had an interstellar empire with colonies flung out among the stars, they faded, and dwindled, and now they have abandoned their technology and retreated back to their homeworld to die. Complicating their attempts to save themselves is the fact that chieri are naturally hermaphroditic, able to assume male and female forms in response to environmental stimuli, so sometimes they would fall in love and be unable to sire or bear a child with the partner, or be in compatible forms for ensuring pregnancy but one or both partners would not be fertile, which occurs rarely. And since the chieri have strong laran, they couldn't submit themselves to a breeding program like the Comyn used to, and from what Keral--the chieri that joined Project Telepath--says, they tried technological means to encourage fertility but it didn't work either. Like I said, space elves.
And the plot relies on that old interstellar empire, because it turns out that some chieri were left behind during the retreat back to Darkover. This is obviously playing on old legends of the Fair Folk, but it also mean that some are still out there. One of the people picked up by Project Telepathy is actually a chieri foundling, born on an alien world and ignorant of her heritage until she returns to the world of her people.
And, in the biggest coincidence around which the entire plot hinges, so is the leader of World Wreckers, who calls herself "Andrea" now. This is not a spoiler--the first chapter has her speaking chieri to herself when she contemplates the job she must do on Darkover. So she sets up her world wrecking, but surprise, the chieri are not all dead! Plot resolved.
Also, they decide to solve the lack of telepaths with an orgy. Well, the book was published in 1971.
There's a subplot about the growing love between Keral and David, an Imperial medic picked up by Project Telepath who decides to stay on Darkover and who shows up in The Children of Kings having sired a child among the chieri, but it failed to catch my interest. I think it's because of the 70s-progressive attitude toward homosexuality. We are told that there are strong taboos against it in the Empire--Starships and Spacemen, remember--so David has to work against those to express his love for Keral, who he meets when the chieri is in neuter-to-male aspect and has to help transition to female aspect. This is kind of cute, but the old-fashioned attitudes muted some of the romance for me.
Almost nothing in this book is carried forward into future Darkover novels. Offscreen, the Terran Empire forgets telepaths ever existed, aided by the Darkovans using laran to adjust people if necessary. The chieri vanish back into the Yellow Forest and people spend entire books wondering if they're all dead or not. But taken by itself, it's...okay. Not as bad as I remembered it being, and I'd rate it two stars if it hadn't featured the chieri so much because alien worldbuilding is always fun. But not great.
There are two events in the plot that are referenced in book after book after this, and I'm a bit surprised because I forgot how short this book was and how quickly the plot went by. The titular World Wreckers are a company, one of many that work in the Terran Empire--for this was written in the Starships and Spacemen days of Darkover's compositional history--designed to open up protected worlds to more favorable economic agreements with the Empire. In other words, it's disaster capitalism. Cause enough problems that the local economy and technological base cannot handle, and they'll beg for Imperial expertise regardless of the wishes of the local government. That's in the background, with assassinations among the Comyn, forest fires in the Hellers, crop blights, and other ailments growing more and more common.
But it's not the focus. Almost the entire plot is dedicated to the chieri after Regis Hastur decides that the lack of laran-talented individuals in Darkover will lead to an inevitable slide into barbarism and darkness, and gets the Empire to help track down telepaths and train them, because this is when the Empire believed in telepathy. For unknown reasons, a chieri walks out of the Yellow Forest to join the project, and so The World Wreckers is where almost all of the parameters of the chieri that are adhered to for the rest of the Darkover series are established.
And that is that the chieri are stereotypical space elves. They are tall and pale, with immensely powerful laran. They have very low fertility rates, and while once they had an interstellar empire with colonies flung out among the stars, they faded, and dwindled, and now they have abandoned their technology and retreated back to their homeworld to die. Complicating their attempts to save themselves is the fact that chieri are naturally hermaphroditic, able to assume male and female forms in response to environmental stimuli, so sometimes they would fall in love and be unable to sire or bear a child with the partner, or be in compatible forms for ensuring pregnancy but one or both partners would not be fertile, which occurs rarely. And since the chieri have strong laran, they couldn't submit themselves to a breeding program like the Comyn used to, and from what Keral--the chieri that joined Project Telepath--says, they tried technological means to encourage fertility but it didn't work either. Like I said, space elves.
And the plot relies on that old interstellar empire, because it turns out that some chieri were left behind during the retreat back to Darkover. This is obviously playing on old legends of the Fair Folk, but it also mean that some are still out there. One of the people picked up by Project Telepathy is actually a chieri foundling, born on an alien world and ignorant of her heritage until she returns to the world of her people.
And, in the biggest coincidence around which the entire plot hinges, so is the leader of World Wreckers, who calls herself "Andrea" now. This is not a spoiler--the first chapter has her speaking chieri to herself when she contemplates the job she must do on Darkover. So she sets up her world wrecking, but surprise, the chieri are not all dead! Plot resolved.
Also, they decide to solve the lack of telepaths with an orgy. Well, the book was published in 1971.
There's a subplot about the growing love between Keral and David, an Imperial medic picked up by Project Telepath who decides to stay on Darkover and who shows up in The Children of Kings having sired a child among the chieri, but it failed to catch my interest. I think it's because of the 70s-progressive attitude toward homosexuality. We are told that there are strong taboos against it in the Empire--Starships and Spacemen, remember--so David has to work against those to express his love for Keral, who he meets when the chieri is in neuter-to-male aspect and has to help transition to female aspect. This is kind of cute, but the old-fashioned attitudes muted some of the romance for me.
Almost nothing in this book is carried forward into future Darkover novels. Offscreen, the Terran Empire forgets telepaths ever existed, aided by the Darkovans using laran to adjust people if necessary. The chieri vanish back into the Yellow Forest and people spend entire books wondering if they're all dead or not. But taken by itself, it's...okay. Not as bad as I remembered it being, and I'd rate it two stars if it hadn't featured the chieri so much because alien worldbuilding is always fun. But not great.
October 5, 2011
I have a deep and abiding love for this series...but I must admit that this is not my favorite Darkover book, for several reasons. A few examples:
First, there is little real action or conflict in this book. Despite the dramatic title, there is no ongoing struggle -- no concrete plan of action -- which saves the Good Guys from the Bad Guys. They are, instead, saved in large part by chance. Not exactly a good way to build narrative tension.
Second, I am as always a big fan of emotional drama -- but, in this case, that drama bleeds over the line into unpalatable melodrama in several places throughout the book. I could feel my eyes rolling more than once, unfortunately.
Third, this book is a regrettable example of the consistency problems that plague the series as a whole. Those who read the series in chronological order will find quite a few minor to medium-sized continuity glitches between World Wreckers and preceding books such as Heritage of Hastur and Sharra's Exile. These include things like physical descriptions of certain characters, modes of death for characters from previous books, timeline discrepancies, even the existence of some characters (for example, in World Wreckers Regis' oldest children are said to be in the nursery -- ignoring his two older sons from Heritage of Hastur and Sharra's Exile, who shoud be roughly 14 and 10 at this stage).
Also -- not a complaint, just an observation -- even though this book was written several years before the preceding two books in the series, for some reason this book discusses sex in entirely different terms than the "earlier" (chronologically earlier, written later) volumes. In this book sex is, at one point, described in great detail; and, in fact, it is one of the main recurring themes throughout the book. In the preceding two books, however, the sexual act itself is hardly touched on at all -- and, when it is mentioned, it is described in one sentence or less (I'm serious here -- at one point in Heritage of Hastur, a character describes the first time he made love to his True Love as "we did what lovers do"). The difference makes me wonder whether somebody complained about the sexual content of this book, so that Bradley might have intentionally toned down the subsequent books. Just speculation!
Overall, this is not a terrible book, but it's also not a particularly good one. If you love Darkover, by all means go ahead and read it. But if you're new to the Darkover books, read Heritage of Hastur instead.
First, there is little real action or conflict in this book. Despite the dramatic title, there is no ongoing struggle -- no concrete plan of action -- which saves the Good Guys from the Bad Guys. They are, instead, saved in large part by chance. Not exactly a good way to build narrative tension.
Second, I am as always a big fan of emotional drama -- but, in this case, that drama bleeds over the line into unpalatable melodrama in several places throughout the book. I could feel my eyes rolling more than once, unfortunately.
Third, this book is a regrettable example of the consistency problems that plague the series as a whole. Those who read the series in chronological order will find quite a few minor to medium-sized continuity glitches between World Wreckers and preceding books such as Heritage of Hastur and Sharra's Exile. These include things like physical descriptions of certain characters, modes of death for characters from previous books, timeline discrepancies, even the existence of some characters (for example, in World Wreckers Regis' oldest children are said to be in the nursery -- ignoring his two older sons from Heritage of Hastur and Sharra's Exile, who shoud be roughly 14 and 10 at this stage).
Also -- not a complaint, just an observation -- even though this book was written several years before the preceding two books in the series, for some reason this book discusses sex in entirely different terms than the "earlier" (chronologically earlier, written later) volumes. In this book sex is, at one point, described in great detail; and, in fact, it is one of the main recurring themes throughout the book. In the preceding two books, however, the sexual act itself is hardly touched on at all -- and, when it is mentioned, it is described in one sentence or less (I'm serious here -- at one point in Heritage of Hastur, a character describes the first time he made love to his True Love as "we did what lovers do"). The difference makes me wonder whether somebody complained about the sexual content of this book, so that Bradley might have intentionally toned down the subsequent books. Just speculation!
Overall, this is not a terrible book, but it's also not a particularly good one. If you love Darkover, by all means go ahead and read it. But if you're new to the Darkover books, read Heritage of Hastur instead.
April 8, 2015
The World Wreckers (1971) 215 pages by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
This is the first one of Bradley's Darkover novels that I've read. Looking at her wikipedia entry it's the sixth that she wrote. Darkover is a planet that has remained mostly free of Terran influence. It's the only planet with developed telepaths.
The story begins with some entity hiring Andrea Closson to "wreck" Darkover. The deal being that the Darkovan's have refused to join the Terran empire, and that if through a series of "natural" disasters, they would have to come and ask for aid. In order to pay for the aid they would have to join the Terran Empire, and the entities who hired the world wreckers would stand to gain much when Darkover was exploited.
There are a couple of mentions of Andrea and what she has done, but most of the story follows Regis Hastur and the group of offworld telepaths that he has asked the Terran's to find and bring to Darkover. It's the chemistry between David, Jason, Keral (a chieri, a native race of Darkover), Missy, Connor, Desideria, that is the real story. Regis does get the idea that something deliberate is being done to the planet, but there is no mention of him searching for whoever is responsible.
There were a couple of places where the story seemed to have a gap. Maybe it's just this cold that I have, and I missed it, and I didn't really get what happened at the end. I reread that section and I still don't get it. Regis gets the telepaths together so that they can sell their services to the Terran's in order to pay for repairing the damage to the planet, I get that. They have a fesitival, that's fine, it's one of their holidays. Andrea thinks this is her chance to finish the job of wiping out all the telepaths at once. OK. It's what happens next that seemed to be really loose.
Perhaps if I read a couple of the earlier books, I'd have some background to explain that behavior. Or maybe it's because it was written in 1971. I am going to reserve judgement until I read more about Darkover.
This is the first one of Bradley's Darkover novels that I've read. Looking at her wikipedia entry it's the sixth that she wrote. Darkover is a planet that has remained mostly free of Terran influence. It's the only planet with developed telepaths.
The story begins with some entity hiring Andrea Closson to "wreck" Darkover. The deal being that the Darkovan's have refused to join the Terran empire, and that if through a series of "natural" disasters, they would have to come and ask for aid. In order to pay for the aid they would have to join the Terran Empire, and the entities who hired the world wreckers would stand to gain much when Darkover was exploited.
There are a couple of mentions of Andrea and what she has done, but most of the story follows Regis Hastur and the group of offworld telepaths that he has asked the Terran's to find and bring to Darkover. It's the chemistry between David, Jason, Keral (a chieri, a native race of Darkover), Missy, Connor, Desideria, that is the real story. Regis does get the idea that something deliberate is being done to the planet, but there is no mention of him searching for whoever is responsible.
There were a couple of places where the story seemed to have a gap. Maybe it's just this cold that I have, and I missed it, and I didn't really get what happened at the end. I reread that section and I still don't get it. Regis gets the telepaths together so that they can sell their services to the Terran's in order to pay for repairing the damage to the planet, I get that. They have a fesitival, that's fine, it's one of their holidays. Andrea thinks this is her chance to finish the job of wiping out all the telepaths at once. OK. It's what happens next that seemed to be really loose.
Perhaps if I read a couple of the earlier books, I'd have some background to explain that behavior. Or maybe it's because it was written in 1971. I am going to reserve judgement until I read more about Darkover.
July 28, 2011
This is the sixth Darkover book Marion Zimmer Bradely wrote; it was published in 1971. This edition includes a new introduction written in 1979 by the author. She comments that she was at a low point in her career and wanted to kill off the Darkover series. So this story was an attempt to wrap up the major theme that had dominated Darkover novels to this point, which was the cultural tension between the feudal Darkovan society and the high-tech Terran Empire that wants to establish a foothold on the planet Darkover. The major obstacle is that Darkover's nobles have strong, genetically-derived telepathic powers. The World Wreckers uses environmental sabotage as a plot device to force Terrans and Darkovans to work together.
This book represents something of a turning point in the Darkover series, where the themes shift from culture clashes to more individual struggles. In particular, Zimmer Bradley was becoming interested in what personal relationships and sex might be like for telepaths, who know precisely what their partners are thinking at all times. It helped that science fiction in this period was becoming more open to depicting unusual or atypical sexual relationships (such as between humans and aliens, as well as same-sex relationships).
So in essence, this novel has two warring ideas behind it. One is the author's desire to end the series and move on to something new. The other is a new openness towards the exploration of sexual themes, which allowed her to say things she hadn't been able to say before. Although the events depicted in this story will ultimately be negated by later books, this is probably the book that convinced Zimmer Bradley to keep writing about Darkover, as she realized there were still many stories about this fascinating planet to tell.
This book represents something of a turning point in the Darkover series, where the themes shift from culture clashes to more individual struggles. In particular, Zimmer Bradley was becoming interested in what personal relationships and sex might be like for telepaths, who know precisely what their partners are thinking at all times. It helped that science fiction in this period was becoming more open to depicting unusual or atypical sexual relationships (such as between humans and aliens, as well as same-sex relationships).
So in essence, this novel has two warring ideas behind it. One is the author's desire to end the series and move on to something new. The other is a new openness towards the exploration of sexual themes, which allowed her to say things she hadn't been able to say before. Although the events depicted in this story will ultimately be negated by later books, this is probably the book that convinced Zimmer Bradley to keep writing about Darkover, as she realized there were still many stories about this fascinating planet to tell.
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