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Darkover (Publication Order) #32
Exile's Song
Haunted by childhood memories of a strange silver man and a woman in flames, Margaret Alton returns to Darkover, the planet of her birth, where her memories lead her into a trap set centuries before her birth. Reprint.
496 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
36 people are currently reading
994 people want to read
About the author
Marion Zimmer Bradley
800 books4,882 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fan fiction and reprinted some of it in commercial Darkover anthologies, continuing to encourage submissions from unpublished authors, but this ended after a dispute with a fan over an unpublished Darkover novel of Bradley's that had similarities to some of the fan's stories.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 72 reviews
November 12, 2020
Margaret Alton is not Marion Zimmer Bradley’s character. Bradley herself has admitted that. Alton is, and has always been, the creation of Adrienne Martine-Barnes, and Barnes was the one who persuaded Bradley to include her in the Darkover canon back when Bradley was still active. Unfortunately, the full fruits of this have appeared now that Barnes is writing Darkover books. In this novel, Alton is a long-lost heiress, gets sent through space solely to study primitive folk-songs (yeah right, that makes no economic sense--what a moronic allocation of resources) has secret telepathic powers she discovers on Darkover, and notes to her own disdain how effing primitive, backward, and unlettered Darkovans are. However, despite her contempt for Darkovans, she doesn't hesitate to marry one. But not some lowly commoner, oh no. It's--surprise! a prince, namely Mikhail Lanart-Hastur. Oh, yes, she also time travels and generally affects everyone with her own awesomeness. Can you say Mary Sue?
Barnes goes on to warp and destroy Bradley’s characters to fit her Mary Sue. Gabriel Lanart-Hastur, who was not a bad person in Bradley’s canon, becomes a bellowing, bullying villain. Danilo Syrtis, one of the most benevolent persons in the series, becomes downright sinister. And when I say destroy, I mean it. Barnes kills off Regis Hastur in a later book solely to give Mikhail Hastur a bigger stage. If Barnes actually could create characters worth a damn, she might have some excuse, but all her grown-up younger generation are boring as hell.
Skip the Barnes books and save your sanity.
Barnes goes on to warp and destroy Bradley’s characters to fit her Mary Sue. Gabriel Lanart-Hastur, who was not a bad person in Bradley’s canon, becomes a bellowing, bullying villain. Danilo Syrtis, one of the most benevolent persons in the series, becomes downright sinister. And when I say destroy, I mean it. Barnes kills off Regis Hastur in a later book solely to give Mikhail Hastur a bigger stage. If Barnes actually could create characters worth a damn, she might have some excuse, but all her grown-up younger generation are boring as hell.
Skip the Barnes books and save your sanity.
August 2, 2018
This may be the point where the lack of consistency in Darkover's portrayal across the books finally gets to me.
The plot of Exile's Song is the classic "outsider comes to isolated culture and suffers misunderstandings" setup, except Margaret "Marguerida" Alton was born on Darkover, is the daughter of Lew Alton and Thyra Kadarin after the events of The Heritage of Hastur, but has been living in the TerranEmpire"Federation" for most of her life. She ignored her father and went to University (capitalization in original) to study music, and comes to Darkover to collect folk songs because her advisor has a grant. Her advisor dies, she learns she's actually planetary nobility, and the events of the novel happen.
The major problem of the first 250 pages is that this is one of those books where if you held guns to the heads of the protagonists and ordered them to talk to each other, you could condense those 250 pages into maybe 30. There's an enormous amount of dancing around the fact that yes, she's Lew Alton's daughter and the rightful heir to the Alton Domain, yes, she has laran, and yes, she has the Alton Gift. Gabriel and Javanne Lanart scheme for close to 150 pages to marry her off before Margaret realizes that maybe the Terrans would notice one of the citizens vanishing on a backwater world and invokes civis romanus sum on them. Sure, people do this all the time in real life, but that doesn't make it any less annoying to read about.
That's not the biggest complaint I have about Exile's Song. The biggest complaint is that my main interest in fiction is worldbuilding and this book makes it impossible to determine anything about anything. Previous books always called it the Terran Empire and implied it was humanity spreading out from Earth to the stars, but here it's the Federation and there are worlds with humans who aren't Terrans. Are they other lost ships? But Rediscovery implied that the lost ships were incredibly rare and there were only a few of them at the very beginning of human spaceflight, so there's no way the majority of planets in the Federation could be that way. Was there some kind of war in the past and the Terrans are reuniting long-sundered planets? Where do these planets with primitive societies come from? When Margaret talks about living on a hot planet and wearing feathers, was she studying nonhumans? I need to understand the system Margaret comes from because that informs her background and this just leaves me with more questions than ever.
In Sharra's Exile, we learn that there are telepaths on other worlds, but here Margaret half-believes that laran is a myth. Are there psychics elsewhere and Darkover is just the place that systemized laran the most, or is laran unique to Darkover? Is the TerranEmpireFederation keeping things under wraps because it employs telepaths as agents? There's reason to believe all of these depending on which Darkover book you read and no answer here.
I would have complained about Margaret constantly overhearing the thoughts of everyone around her, but that's eventually explained as being a side effect of her having the Alton Gift and a lack of formal training, which is a reasonable explanation. Sure is convenient for the plot, though.
This book also adds additional weight to Lerrys Ridenow's arguments about joining the Terrans given in Sharra's Exile. Offhand comments by Margaret indicate that in the Empire, genetic engineering to remove tooth decay and macular degeneration is routine and longevity treatments mean that citizens in good health can look forward to living centuries. The only reason Ivor dies in his 90s is because the last treatment failed. Meanwhile, Darkover is basically a pre-literate society that still uses torchlight as the main source of illumination. I was surprised that Margaret wasn't complaining more about the lack of amenities before I realized that if she's doing ethnomusicology she'd be used to it on field work.
On top of all that, most of the characters are completely flat. Lew changes into a laughing jokester despite being depicted in Margaret's memories the same way we last saw him in Sharra's Exile, and while it's true that it's been twenty years, without seeing any of the changes it might as well just be a completely different person. Gabriel and Javanne are basically one-note villains. Only Margaret and Mikhail really get any development, and a lot of that is from Margaret's indiscriminate mind-reading of everyone around her.
I remember liking this a lot when I read it as a child, but it hasn't held up in the least. Very disappointing.
Previous Review: Sharra's Exile.
Next Review: The Shadow Matrix.
The plot of Exile's Song is the classic "outsider comes to isolated culture and suffers misunderstandings" setup, except Margaret "Marguerida" Alton was born on Darkover, is the daughter of Lew Alton and Thyra Kadarin after the events of The Heritage of Hastur, but has been living in the Terran
The major problem of the first 250 pages is that this is one of those books where if you held guns to the heads of the protagonists and ordered them to talk to each other, you could condense those 250 pages into maybe 30. There's an enormous amount of dancing around the fact that yes, she's Lew Alton's daughter and the rightful heir to the Alton Domain, yes, she has laran, and yes, she has the Alton Gift. Gabriel and Javanne Lanart scheme for close to 150 pages to marry her off before Margaret realizes that maybe the Terrans would notice one of the citizens vanishing on a backwater world and invokes civis romanus sum on them. Sure, people do this all the time in real life, but that doesn't make it any less annoying to read about.
That's not the biggest complaint I have about Exile's Song. The biggest complaint is that my main interest in fiction is worldbuilding and this book makes it impossible to determine anything about anything. Previous books always called it the Terran Empire and implied it was humanity spreading out from Earth to the stars, but here it's the Federation and there are worlds with humans who aren't Terrans. Are they other lost ships? But Rediscovery implied that the lost ships were incredibly rare and there were only a few of them at the very beginning of human spaceflight, so there's no way the majority of planets in the Federation could be that way. Was there some kind of war in the past and the Terrans are reuniting long-sundered planets? Where do these planets with primitive societies come from? When Margaret talks about living on a hot planet and wearing feathers, was she studying nonhumans? I need to understand the system Margaret comes from because that informs her background and this just leaves me with more questions than ever.
In Sharra's Exile, we learn that there are telepaths on other worlds, but here Margaret half-believes that laran is a myth. Are there psychics elsewhere and Darkover is just the place that systemized laran the most, or is laran unique to Darkover? Is the Terran
I would have complained about Margaret constantly overhearing the thoughts of everyone around her, but that's eventually explained as being a side effect of her having the Alton Gift and a lack of formal training, which is a reasonable explanation. Sure is convenient for the plot, though.
This book also adds additional weight to Lerrys Ridenow's arguments about joining the Terrans given in Sharra's Exile. Offhand comments by Margaret indicate that in the Empire, genetic engineering to remove tooth decay and macular degeneration is routine and longevity treatments mean that citizens in good health can look forward to living centuries. The only reason Ivor dies in his 90s is because the last treatment failed. Meanwhile, Darkover is basically a pre-literate society that still uses torchlight as the main source of illumination. I was surprised that Margaret wasn't complaining more about the lack of amenities before I realized that if she's doing ethnomusicology she'd be used to it on field work.
On top of all that, most of the characters are completely flat. Lew changes into a laughing jokester despite being depicted in Margaret's memories the same way we last saw him in Sharra's Exile, and while it's true that it's been twenty years, without seeing any of the changes it might as well just be a completely different person. Gabriel and Javanne are basically one-note villains. Only Margaret and Mikhail really get any development, and a lot of that is from Margaret's indiscriminate mind-reading of everyone around her.
I remember liking this a lot when I read it as a child, but it hasn't held up in the least. Very disappointing.
Previous Review: Sharra's Exile.
Next Review: The Shadow Matrix.
April 23, 2018
What delight to find a Darkover novel I never read before! Margaret Alton's life is turned upside down when she returns to her home world as a musicologist, and becomes enmeshed in expectation of her to use gifts she never knew she had.
Recently I reread Traitor's Sun, and The Bloody Sun. All three start with the premise that a Darkovan who has spent most of his/her life on Earth or other planets must wrestle with a strange inheritance. This allows the author to explain history and customs of Darkover.
I would like to find historical novels of the Renaissance and other eras that are as gripping as Bradley's work. Her Arthurian prequels such as Avalon were fascinating.
Recently I reread Traitor's Sun, and The Bloody Sun. All three start with the premise that a Darkovan who has spent most of his/her life on Earth or other planets must wrestle with a strange inheritance. This allows the author to explain history and customs of Darkover.
I would like to find historical novels of the Renaissance and other eras that are as gripping as Bradley's work. Her Arthurian prequels such as Avalon were fascinating.
February 12, 2021
This Darkover book does not tell a complete story. The ending is a virtual cliffhanger without any formal notation "to be continued".
MZB often said her books can stand alone. This story is so much richer if the reader knows the books that came before it. Margaret keeps having feelings and memories and a reader new to the series will not understand them, but a reader familiar with the earlier books, especially Heritage of Hastur and Sharra's Exile, will understand them even when Margaret doesn't. The unfamiliar reader will have no idea why the Old Man is the way he is and not an uncaring father. And why would Dio remain faithful to him despite so much that she must suffer? That reader will not immediately be filled with so much understanding when the name of Thyra is mentioned. So much emotional context from the earlier books. Yes, I strongly suggest that HoH and SE be read before this book.
Furthermore, the last chapter leads directly into the next book Shadow Matirx. The single most discussed issue in the book, has not been completely resolved even though she now has powerful allies. There also have been hints that maybe something else is unresolved.
This could have been one of my favorite of the Darkover series. I love stories of people first finding out that there is something special about them, that they have "powers". This story shows that it is not always a wonderful experience.
I saw a complaint that Margaret whines about having "super-powers". To me, that comment misses much of what Bradley was trying to convey, Maybe that doesn't come out as strongly until later in the series, but I certainly think it is dealt with in this story. The Alton gift, and the Aldaran gift are curses as much as gifts. Most of the special gifts have that aspect, but perhaps not any as much as the gift of forced rapport. With no training, and in fact with no conception of what she is capable of, Margaret uses that gift unintentionally with disastrous effects. And more than once.
There is local politics in the story and I didn't care for how it was presented
The last third or so of the book was much less enjoyable for me than what preceded it. I will say that MZB does a masterful job of inciting the reader's anger over the oppression of women, but in the process occupies way too much of the story doing so. I would have gladly seen Margaret do grievous harm to at least one certain man.
Mature themes: there is no sex of any kind that actually takes place. There is a situation where a fully grown woman who has been on her own for years is threatened to be married by force against her will and she retaliates by threatening to kill the groom if it happens. There is almost no serious physical violence, certainly not the many deaths by murder or by battle.
MZB often said her books can stand alone. This story is so much richer if the reader knows the books that came before it. Margaret keeps having feelings and memories and a reader new to the series will not understand them, but a reader familiar with the earlier books, especially Heritage of Hastur and Sharra's Exile, will understand them even when Margaret doesn't. The unfamiliar reader will have no idea why the Old Man is the way he is and not an uncaring father. And why would Dio remain faithful to him despite so much that she must suffer? That reader will not immediately be filled with so much understanding when the name of Thyra is mentioned. So much emotional context from the earlier books. Yes, I strongly suggest that HoH and SE be read before this book.
Furthermore, the last chapter leads directly into the next book Shadow Matirx. The single most discussed issue in the book, has not been completely resolved even though she now has powerful allies. There also have been hints that maybe something else is unresolved.
This could have been one of my favorite of the Darkover series. I love stories of people first finding out that there is something special about them, that they have "powers". This story shows that it is not always a wonderful experience.
I saw a complaint that Margaret whines about having "super-powers". To me, that comment misses much of what Bradley was trying to convey, Maybe that doesn't come out as strongly until later in the series, but I certainly think it is dealt with in this story. The Alton gift, and the Aldaran gift are curses as much as gifts. Most of the special gifts have that aspect, but perhaps not any as much as the gift of forced rapport. With no training, and in fact with no conception of what she is capable of, Margaret uses that gift unintentionally with disastrous effects. And more than once.
There is local politics in the story and I didn't care for how it was presented
The last third or so of the book was much less enjoyable for me than what preceded it. I will say that MZB does a masterful job of inciting the reader's anger over the oppression of women, but in the process occupies way too much of the story doing so. I would have gladly seen Margaret do grievous harm to at least one certain man.
Mature themes: there is no sex of any kind that actually takes place. There is a situation where a fully grown woman who has been on her own for years is threatened to be married by force against her will and she retaliates by threatening to kill the groom if it happens. There is almost no serious physical violence, certainly not the many deaths by murder or by battle.
August 19, 2015
In Exile's Song, Margaret Alton (also known as Marja or Marguerida), daughter of Lewis Alton and part-chieri Thyra Darriel, comes home to Darkover. Estranged from her father since she left her home on the planet Thetis to attend University, Margaret is a musicologist. Together with her mentor, Ivor Davidson, she has come to survey Darkover's musical traditions. Sadly, just days after they arrive, Ivor dies suddenly of a heart attack, and Margaret is left to continue his research alone - if she can, on a planet as relentlessly patriarchal as Darkover.
From the moment she lands, Margaret finds parts of her long-suppressed childhood surfacing, often with unexpected consequences. She is also thrown headlong into the complex politics of Darkover, since she is the heiress to the powerful Alton Domain, which has been under the Wardenship of Gabriel Lanart-Alton since her father Lew's departure from Darkover - and Gabriel is loathe to relinquish his position and power.
Travelling in the Hellers with a Renunciate guide, Margaret is struck down with a severe case of threshold fever as her long-dormant laran awakens. Rafaella takes her to the nearby Ardais estate. While struggling with her new abilities, Margaret realises that as a child she was overshadowed by the long-dead Keeper Ashara; she confronts Ashara in a psychic battle in the Overworld, and destroys Ashara's tower there, breaking the ancient leronis' power over her - but in doing so, the patterns within the great matrix at the heart of Ashara's Tower are branded into the flesh of her hand. While recovering from her illness, Margaret meets - and is deeply attracted to - Mikhail, who currently serves as young Dyan Ardais' paxman.
When Margaret's kinsman Gabriel arrives and demands that she return to Armida, she is at first inclined to ignore him and leave Darkover, when her father urges her telepathically to go to Armida.
While fending off pressure from Gabriel and his wife Javanne to accept a proposal from one of their older sons, Margaret discovers just how powerful and dangerous her laran is - woken by one of Gabriel's grandchildren, she accidentally uses the Alton Voice and sends the child's spirit into the Overworld. She also discovers that she has the Alderan gift of seeing the future, when she sees danger ahead for another of the children - which so distresses the child's mother that she insists on leaving Armida with her husband and family in the face of a growing storm. The child is gravely wounded in a carriage accident.
In the midst of this turmoil, Lew arrives at Armida, having given up his Senate seat and returned to Darkover with his dying wife, Diotima Ridenow, and brings Margaret back with him to Thendara.
The novel ends with Regis Hastur announcing that he is reforming the Comyn Council, and appointing Mikhail Regent of Elhalyn, in the absence of any suitable heirs.
From the moment she lands, Margaret finds parts of her long-suppressed childhood surfacing, often with unexpected consequences. She is also thrown headlong into the complex politics of Darkover, since she is the heiress to the powerful Alton Domain, which has been under the Wardenship of Gabriel Lanart-Alton since her father Lew's departure from Darkover - and Gabriel is loathe to relinquish his position and power.
Travelling in the Hellers with a Renunciate guide, Margaret is struck down with a severe case of threshold fever as her long-dormant laran awakens. Rafaella takes her to the nearby Ardais estate. While struggling with her new abilities, Margaret realises that as a child she was overshadowed by the long-dead Keeper Ashara; she confronts Ashara in a psychic battle in the Overworld, and destroys Ashara's tower there, breaking the ancient leronis' power over her - but in doing so, the patterns within the great matrix at the heart of Ashara's Tower are branded into the flesh of her hand. While recovering from her illness, Margaret meets - and is deeply attracted to - Mikhail, who currently serves as young Dyan Ardais' paxman.
When Margaret's kinsman Gabriel arrives and demands that she return to Armida, she is at first inclined to ignore him and leave Darkover, when her father urges her telepathically to go to Armida.
While fending off pressure from Gabriel and his wife Javanne to accept a proposal from one of their older sons, Margaret discovers just how powerful and dangerous her laran is - woken by one of Gabriel's grandchildren, she accidentally uses the Alton Voice and sends the child's spirit into the Overworld. She also discovers that she has the Alderan gift of seeing the future, when she sees danger ahead for another of the children - which so distresses the child's mother that she insists on leaving Armida with her husband and family in the face of a growing storm. The child is gravely wounded in a carriage accident.
In the midst of this turmoil, Lew arrives at Armida, having given up his Senate seat and returned to Darkover with his dying wife, Diotima Ridenow, and brings Margaret back with him to Thendara.
The novel ends with Regis Hastur announcing that he is reforming the Comyn Council, and appointing Mikhail Regent of Elhalyn, in the absence of any suitable heirs.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 14, 2011
One day I'm just going to write the plots of all the Darkover books on post-its, to show that the other million words are just flat-out unnecessary. This is yet another book filled with thrilling bits of TOTAL INACTION.
I love how Darkover characters show no curiosity about a thing until exactly the moment the author wanted to kick off a long bout of mulling. It's insane - a character's seen something weird multiple times without batting an eyelash, then suddenly it's "Oh! What is that?! For I remember my father..." blah blah blah. Only one of the many, many reasons that Darkover characters do not feel real.
I also enjoy that this fixation on hissing the word "...SHARRA!" all over the place is now paired with constant murmurings of the word "Ashra!"Anyone else think that MZB was haunted by a Scrabble game where she only had the letters S, R, A and H?
Some of the more spectacular elements of this story: Lew Alton's magical (and inexplicable) character transformation, more marriage politics, the vanishing of a Renunciate for most of the book, the always-popular man-beating-woman Darkovian special.
Ohhhh, Darkover. How I wish I could throw you on an open fire. I really do. From what I understand you are very resinous and would burn well, and possibly smell of balsam.
I love how Darkover characters show no curiosity about a thing until exactly the moment the author wanted to kick off a long bout of mulling. It's insane - a character's seen something weird multiple times without batting an eyelash, then suddenly it's "Oh! What is that?! For I remember my father..." blah blah blah. Only one of the many, many reasons that Darkover characters do not feel real.
I also enjoy that this fixation on hissing the word "...SHARRA!" all over the place is now paired with constant murmurings of the word "Ashra!"Anyone else think that MZB was haunted by a Scrabble game where she only had the letters S, R, A and H?
Some of the more spectacular elements of this story: Lew Alton's magical (and inexplicable) character transformation, more marriage politics, the vanishing of a Renunciate for most of the book, the always-popular man-beating-woman Darkovian special.
Ohhhh, Darkover. How I wish I could throw you on an open fire. I really do. From what I understand you are very resinous and would burn well, and possibly smell of balsam.
August 8, 2020
Nicht nur ich liebe die Story "Terraner kommt nach Darkover (zurück) und verliebt sich in die Welt", Marion Zimmer Bradley tat es wohl auch und hier kommt Margaret Alton, Tochter von Lew Alton, zurück auf ihre Heimatwelt, obwohl sie eigentlich nicht viel über den Planeten weiß. Eigentlich ist es nur ein Zufall, dass sie als Musikwissenschaftlerin hier landet, um die Volksmusik zu studieren, aber der Kontakt mit den Comyn setzt ihre eigenen Laran-Kräfte frei und offenbart Stück für Stück Geheimnisse der Vergangenheit, bis sie sich ihrem Leben und ihrem Vermächtnis auf Darkover nicht mehr entziehen kann ...
Der Roman hat alle Aspekte, die mir an Darkover so gefallen. Es gibt eine Entsagende als Begleiterin, es gibt eine ziemlich willensstarke, eigenwillige Frau als Protagonistin, die dank ihrer terranischen Erziehung hier auch ziemlich aneckt in der Gesellschaft, es gibt die Comyn und ihre Intrigen, sympathische Nebenfiguren (hallo, Liriel), weniger sympathische (hallo, Ariel, Javanne und beide Gabriels), viele, viele Verweise auf die Geschichte und Auftritte von Figuren, die man aus vorherigen Bänden kennt (oder wie ich schon wieder vergessen hat, wenn sie nicht Regis Hastur heißen).
Was die Sharra-Rebellion angeht, die hier eine wichtige Rolle spielt, habe ich das Gefühl, entweder einen Band vergessen oder übersprungen zu haben, so dass ich da noch mal nachlesen werde. Gleichzeitig ist es beim Lesen aber nie das riesige Problem, sich reinzufinden, wenn man nicht mehr alle Daten parat hat. Es war wieder sehr unterhaltsam, spannend und mit dem typischen Flair, so wie einer Liebesgeschichte, die jedoch nicht zu viel Raum einnimmt. Deswegen finde ich das Cover von Weltbild auch ziemlich unpassend, es ist schon sehr seltsam. Sieht man einmal davon ab, dass Margarets Haarfarbe passt und die Hand, erkenne ich Mikhail nicht in dem Mann? Und wann sind sie mal am Meer in dem Buch? Nun ja ... im Englischen gibt es da einige sehr viel passendere Cover mit einem Turm in der Oberwelt und Margaret in terranischer Uniform.
Ansonsten gibt es aber nicht viel auszusetzen und ich lese schon gespannt weiter die Marguerida Alton-Romane im Darkover-Zyklus, um zu erfahren, wie es weitergeht.
Der Roman hat alle Aspekte, die mir an Darkover so gefallen. Es gibt eine Entsagende als Begleiterin, es gibt eine ziemlich willensstarke, eigenwillige Frau als Protagonistin, die dank ihrer terranischen Erziehung hier auch ziemlich aneckt in der Gesellschaft, es gibt die Comyn und ihre Intrigen, sympathische Nebenfiguren (hallo, Liriel), weniger sympathische (hallo, Ariel, Javanne und beide Gabriels), viele, viele Verweise auf die Geschichte und Auftritte von Figuren, die man aus vorherigen Bänden kennt (oder wie ich schon wieder vergessen hat, wenn sie nicht Regis Hastur heißen).
Was die Sharra-Rebellion angeht, die hier eine wichtige Rolle spielt, habe ich das Gefühl, entweder einen Band vergessen oder übersprungen zu haben, so dass ich da noch mal nachlesen werde. Gleichzeitig ist es beim Lesen aber nie das riesige Problem, sich reinzufinden, wenn man nicht mehr alle Daten parat hat. Es war wieder sehr unterhaltsam, spannend und mit dem typischen Flair, so wie einer Liebesgeschichte, die jedoch nicht zu viel Raum einnimmt. Deswegen finde ich das Cover von Weltbild auch ziemlich unpassend, es ist schon sehr seltsam. Sieht man einmal davon ab, dass Margarets Haarfarbe passt und die Hand, erkenne ich Mikhail nicht in dem Mann? Und wann sind sie mal am Meer in dem Buch? Nun ja ... im Englischen gibt es da einige sehr viel passendere Cover mit einem Turm in der Oberwelt und Margaret in terranischer Uniform.
Ansonsten gibt es aber nicht viel auszusetzen und ich lese schon gespannt weiter die Marguerida Alton-Romane im Darkover-Zyklus, um zu erfahren, wie es weitergeht.
June 20, 2019
post reread 6/20/19:
Well, honestly that was exactly what I expected. Writing isn't *bad*, but it certainly isn't stellar. The plot and world feel like the perfect sandbox to write fanfiction in, so it's a shame that I don't really care enough about any of the characters to do that.
In my head, I somehow constructed a decent portion of a book (2 or 3 chapters??) where Margaret and Mikhail (is that his name? I've already forgotten. love interest guy) go into the ghost tower and end up transported into Darkover's past? Like literally I have no idea where that came from but I was *convinced* that was how the book ended.
Anyway. Note to self: you've put a lot of emotional weight on this book, but the actual story is subpar. Try AO3.
pre reread:
I haven't finished my reread of Exile's Song. I think I probably will, though having recently discovered certain facts about MZB's personal life I'm feeling particularly conflicted.
ES is the only Darkover book I've ever read, and the only book by MZB. I found it by accident in a school library and even on my first read it captured some sort of bizarre nostalgia. It was... well primarily it was a book that I would have read when I was twelve, and that could have become foundational to my identity. I didn't, and it didn't, but it fundamentally could have been.
And, well, knowing what I know now about MZB I don't even know what to think, because Margaret is such a close match to the person I wanted to be when I was a kid.
I don't think I'll be reading Exile's Song again, but I also don't think I'm going to forget it. It's one of those books that strikes a chord with me not because it's good in an objective sense, but because it says something that I don't know how to say another way.
Also MZB is dead so like at least there's no way she's gonna benefit from me reading lmao.
Well, honestly that was exactly what I expected. Writing isn't *bad*, but it certainly isn't stellar. The plot and world feel like the perfect sandbox to write fanfiction in, so it's a shame that I don't really care enough about any of the characters to do that.
In my head, I somehow constructed a decent portion of a book (2 or 3 chapters??) where Margaret and Mikhail (is that his name? I've already forgotten. love interest guy) go into the ghost tower and end up transported into Darkover's past? Like literally I have no idea where that came from but I was *convinced* that was how the book ended.
Anyway. Note to self: you've put a lot of emotional weight on this book, but the actual story is subpar. Try AO3.
pre reread:
I haven't finished my reread of Exile's Song. I think I probably will, though having recently discovered certain facts about MZB's personal life I'm feeling particularly conflicted.
ES is the only Darkover book I've ever read, and the only book by MZB. I found it by accident in a school library and even on my first read it captured some sort of bizarre nostalgia. It was... well primarily it was a book that I would have read when I was twelve, and that could have become foundational to my identity. I didn't, and it didn't, but it fundamentally could have been.
And, well, knowing what I know now about MZB I don't even know what to think, because Margaret is such a close match to the person I wanted to be when I was a kid.
I don't think I'll be reading Exile's Song again, but I also don't think I'm going to forget it. It's one of those books that strikes a chord with me not because it's good in an objective sense, but because it says something that I don't know how to say another way.
Also MZB is dead so like at least there's no way she's gonna benefit from me reading lmao.
December 16, 2018
Having read this straight after Heir and Exile, I felt the hand of co-writer Adrienne Martine-Barnes quite strongly (and much more favourably that I did in the past): all the issue I had with the other two books (the constant and endless repetitions, the very fast and unexplicable rise of passions, the compressed timelines) almost disappeared, accompanied by an attention to the common folk and to how things actually work on Darkover that is not present in other books.
Margaret Alton is an interesting and quite likeable protagonist, with depth and contradictions, and her story is fascinating enough though I feel like more work could have gone in the planning/editing phase to make the story less erratic. This feels like two books in one, and I think that if they moved the big Tower of Shadows battle to the end, maybe splitting it between two confrontations - one were it is now and one after Lew's return - the narrative would have felt more cohesive.
One of the things that I liked most in my teenage years, the relationship between Margaret and Lew, this time felt distinctly "Bradleyan" and I wish the authors would have crafted it with a little more subtlety.
Margaret Alton is an interesting and quite likeable protagonist, with depth and contradictions, and her story is fascinating enough though I feel like more work could have gone in the planning/editing phase to make the story less erratic. This feels like two books in one, and I think that if they moved the big Tower of Shadows battle to the end, maybe splitting it between two confrontations - one were it is now and one after Lew's return - the narrative would have felt more cohesive.
One of the things that I liked most in my teenage years, the relationship between Margaret and Lew, this time felt distinctly "Bradleyan" and I wish the authors would have crafted it with a little more subtlety.
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* (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.
January 1, 2018
The villain/hero Lew Alton removed his wife and daughter from Darkover. He never intended to return, sacrificing the rest of his life to serve Darkover in the Terran Senate as a kind of penance for nearly destroying Darkover. His daughter Margaret grew up severely damaged, but content to be a Terran - until chance sent her back to Darkover. It is her only chance to heal, if she can survive the process. Somehow she must adjust to friendship and respect, so she can protect herself against the dangers of a telepathic, patriarchal society.
Bradley's series about the chilly planet Darkover is invitingly warm, interpersonally. I finished it at 2 AM, because I couldn't stop reading it.
Read 4 times
Bradley's series about the chilly planet Darkover is invitingly warm, interpersonally. I finished it at 2 AM, because I couldn't stop reading it.
Read 4 times
December 26, 2020
We first meet Margaret Alton when she is a very little girl, in Sharra's Exile. Here, she is all grown up and a Scholar, having come of age in the Federation and remembering nothing of the planet of her birth.
And of course, since a large portion of Darkover novels adore this theme, she returns to Darkover knowing nothing, but feeling inexorably drawn to it. The best part is that she is a woman and cannot imagine herself taking the part of most Darkovan women. My favorite scenes are the ones where she calmly dresses down the paternalistic and chauvinist men who tell her what to do. She doesn't know what her future in Darkover is, but she knows she is her own person.
Yes, Margaret Alton is up there with Romilly MacAran as one of my favorite characters.
And of course, since a large portion of Darkover novels adore this theme, she returns to Darkover knowing nothing, but feeling inexorably drawn to it. The best part is that she is a woman and cannot imagine herself taking the part of most Darkovan women. My favorite scenes are the ones where she calmly dresses down the paternalistic and chauvinist men who tell her what to do. She doesn't know what her future in Darkover is, but she knows she is her own person.
Yes, Margaret Alton is up there with Romilly MacAran as one of my favorite characters.
Read
August 20, 2014I'm not sure whether it's this edition or the other nearly identical edition which I own. I have the 1996 edition, which I believe is the 1st edition.
I wanted to review this as part of a trilogy, because the comments I have for now refer to the whole trilogy (to varying degrees). The other titles in what might be called the omega trilogy (if there were other books mooted, they don't appear on the shelves where I shop, so probably they weren't written) are The Shadow Matrix and Traitor's Sun.
Bradley, when speaking of short stories written by other authors in the Darkover series, tended to argue that they were set in alternate Darkovers, and this is why they differ from the main canon; in small details, or in massive variations in plot, character, biology, etc.
In a sense, these last three books are also written in such an alternate universe. They were written in a sort of silent collaboration. I've heard at least one name mooted as the coauthor, but I don't know how much credence to give to such speculation. Whether it was the coauthor who introduced the major and minor variations, or whether Bradley herself originated some of them, I couldn't say.
Some of the differences are minor, and would matter, probably, only to a geneaeologist or a historian. For example, it's established in other books that Jeff Kerwin, Jr's father was Lewis Alton, Kennard's older brother, and NOT Arnad Ridenow. Given how inbred the Comyn became (and indeed, started out), this is probably a distinction without a difference: except, perhaps, to the two men most involved.
For another thing, the Terran Empire is somehow transmuted into a 'Federation' in less than one lifetime. As early as The Spell Sword, Andrew Carr points out that it hasn't really been an empire in anything but name for centuries; nevertheless, people are often remarkably conservative about such matters of nomenclature, and it's never explained why the change is instituted.
Frankly, I found the descriptions of the Federation, its politics and policies, completely incredible. The description of some of the planets is a little more credible: but the argument that the peoples of the Empire haven't been able to overcome the petty bureaucracies and monitoring of the citizenry that has (apparently) proved 'more enduring than bronze' is frankly absurd.
As for Darkover, the descriptions are just NOTHING like the earlier descriptions. This applies even to details like whether the sea is included in the stories. Theoretically, there MUST be some islands on Darkover: but the only one I've heard tell of is the Island of Silence in books set during the Ages of Chaos. In this trilogy, there are more references to the sea. One character is described as a 'sea crow' (not metaphorically. We're talking about a real bird here). Although there are sometimes sea creatures well inland, the implication is that the bird has flown from the sea.
It also applies, unfortunately, to major details like some of the more prominent characters. I don't mean people like Marja Alton or Mikhail Lanart-Hastur. These characters were last seen as children: they might plausibly have developed along the lines projected. I mean people who already have strongly-developed histories. Lew Alton (nephew of Jeff Kerwin Jr's father), for example. Javanne Hastur. People like that.
Some of the changes are little short of slanderous. Ashara Alton was never a very convincing hero. She's an even less convincing spectral monster. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine that she might have become corrupted over a lifespan (and ghostly actor) of hundreds of years: but it's still a stretch.
As for the treatment of Varzil the Good, this is not at ALL short of slander. The idea that Varzil helped propose and implement the Compact--only to pass on his ring matrix to a far-future relative, with the intention of the successor using it at one point to severely VIOLATE the Compact (and quite likely thereby restart the Ages of Chaos), is disgusting.
Further, the transformation of Regis Hastur from a free-ranging adventurer to a housebound paranoid is simply untenable. Regis would reasonably have had to settle down when his grandfather died: fair enough. But though he's represented as not having lost any of his wit or geniality, he is nevertheless transformed into an agoraphobe. Not cool.
One other thing that's disgusting is pretty consistent with the rest of the series: the serious classist denigration of democracy. There are differences here, as well. Earlier versions did at least recognize that the 'head-blind' were whole, real people, and quite competent and able to work out their problems. This may be true in the later trilogy: but there's little demonstration of it. There are some shops and studios, to be sure. But there's only one scene, early on, that even shows the inside of a Guild House. There's a character who is of the Com'ii Letzi'i, but she's almost never seen in the Guild House, even when she's in Thendara.
In short, if you're looking for Darkover books, you'd be best advised to give these a pass. The establishment of the Telepathic Council is the proper ending of the story. Reestablishing the Comyn in unnecessary. Concealing that there are real telepaths (and a telepathic technology) on Darkover is just silly.
All that said, I still wouldn't like to have missed parts of this trilogy. It's something of a "Curate's Egg" situation: parts of them are excellent. If only they hadn't gotten mixed in with the garbage. And if only they hadn't been disguised as Darkover books...
I wanted to review this as part of a trilogy, because the comments I have for now refer to the whole trilogy (to varying degrees). The other titles in what might be called the omega trilogy (if there were other books mooted, they don't appear on the shelves where I shop, so probably they weren't written) are The Shadow Matrix and Traitor's Sun.
Bradley, when speaking of short stories written by other authors in the Darkover series, tended to argue that they were set in alternate Darkovers, and this is why they differ from the main canon; in small details, or in massive variations in plot, character, biology, etc.
In a sense, these last three books are also written in such an alternate universe. They were written in a sort of silent collaboration. I've heard at least one name mooted as the coauthor, but I don't know how much credence to give to such speculation. Whether it was the coauthor who introduced the major and minor variations, or whether Bradley herself originated some of them, I couldn't say.
Some of the differences are minor, and would matter, probably, only to a geneaeologist or a historian. For example, it's established in other books that Jeff Kerwin, Jr's father was Lewis Alton, Kennard's older brother, and NOT Arnad Ridenow. Given how inbred the Comyn became (and indeed, started out), this is probably a distinction without a difference: except, perhaps, to the two men most involved.
For another thing, the Terran Empire is somehow transmuted into a 'Federation' in less than one lifetime. As early as The Spell Sword, Andrew Carr points out that it hasn't really been an empire in anything but name for centuries; nevertheless, people are often remarkably conservative about such matters of nomenclature, and it's never explained why the change is instituted.
Frankly, I found the descriptions of the Federation, its politics and policies, completely incredible. The description of some of the planets is a little more credible: but the argument that the peoples of the Empire haven't been able to overcome the petty bureaucracies and monitoring of the citizenry that has (apparently) proved 'more enduring than bronze' is frankly absurd.
As for Darkover, the descriptions are just NOTHING like the earlier descriptions. This applies even to details like whether the sea is included in the stories. Theoretically, there MUST be some islands on Darkover: but the only one I've heard tell of is the Island of Silence in books set during the Ages of Chaos. In this trilogy, there are more references to the sea. One character is described as a 'sea crow' (not metaphorically. We're talking about a real bird here). Although there are sometimes sea creatures well inland, the implication is that the bird has flown from the sea.
It also applies, unfortunately, to major details like some of the more prominent characters. I don't mean people like Marja Alton or Mikhail Lanart-Hastur. These characters were last seen as children: they might plausibly have developed along the lines projected. I mean people who already have strongly-developed histories. Lew Alton (nephew of Jeff Kerwin Jr's father), for example. Javanne Hastur. People like that.
Some of the changes are little short of slanderous. Ashara Alton was never a very convincing hero. She's an even less convincing spectral monster. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine that she might have become corrupted over a lifespan (and ghostly actor) of hundreds of years: but it's still a stretch.
As for the treatment of Varzil the Good, this is not at ALL short of slander. The idea that Varzil helped propose and implement the Compact--only to pass on his ring matrix to a far-future relative, with the intention of the successor using it at one point to severely VIOLATE the Compact (and quite likely thereby restart the Ages of Chaos), is disgusting.
Further, the transformation of Regis Hastur from a free-ranging adventurer to a housebound paranoid is simply untenable. Regis would reasonably have had to settle down when his grandfather died: fair enough. But though he's represented as not having lost any of his wit or geniality, he is nevertheless transformed into an agoraphobe. Not cool.
One other thing that's disgusting is pretty consistent with the rest of the series: the serious classist denigration of democracy. There are differences here, as well. Earlier versions did at least recognize that the 'head-blind' were whole, real people, and quite competent and able to work out their problems. This may be true in the later trilogy: but there's little demonstration of it. There are some shops and studios, to be sure. But there's only one scene, early on, that even shows the inside of a Guild House. There's a character who is of the Com'ii Letzi'i, but she's almost never seen in the Guild House, even when she's in Thendara.
In short, if you're looking for Darkover books, you'd be best advised to give these a pass. The establishment of the Telepathic Council is the proper ending of the story. Reestablishing the Comyn in unnecessary. Concealing that there are real telepaths (and a telepathic technology) on Darkover is just silly.
All that said, I still wouldn't like to have missed parts of this trilogy. It's something of a "Curate's Egg" situation: parts of them are excellent. If only they hadn't gotten mixed in with the garbage. And if only they hadn't been disguised as Darkover books...
May 30, 2018
While I read this book on a tear - that was mostly because I was on a trip with no other options. I hadn't realized that this wasn't completely written by Bradley, but it does show. I was interested in Margaret and how she would fit in on Darkover and how she would handle her late-awakening laran, but there were so many flaws. Her father Lew changed completely over the course of the book, with no explanation. Margaret said she was so close to Rafaella, her Renunciate guide, but that wasn't shown much at all. Margaret's defeat of Ashara came too early in the novel - I didn't need 8 million pages about who would Margaret marry?!?!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 13, 2020
This book was my original introduction to the world of Darkover so maybe that colored my view into liking it more than some of the purists out there. I love the character of Marguerida and how she chafes against the expectations of her gender.
January 7, 2021
This was a real treat for my end of year book. The opening has Margaret Alton introduced as capable young adult. Intelligent, musical. My copy is falling apart I have read it so much! Pure indulgent escapism.
June 28, 2021
This is such a wonderful sequel to the Heritage of Hastur story line! Marion Zimmer Bradley weaves an intriguing tale, full of wonder, adventure, and even some romance! So glad to be revisiting the Darkover books
February 27, 2019
Altro capitolo della saga di Darkover, dove la legittima erede degli Alton rientra nel pianeta, e sopporta la terribile prova del mal di soglia.
January 28, 2020
wonderful
April 30, 2020
Love it!
This is one of my favorites. I’ve read it and re-read it and each time a new layer of storyline appears. A timeless story by a worthy author!
This is one of my favorites. I’ve read it and re-read it and each time a new layer of storyline appears. A timeless story by a worthy author!
July 22, 2020
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
April 1, 2021
I am not finishing this book. It was very slow going and I felt like I needed to read the books that came before this one in the series and I don't want to invest that much time to it.
May 30, 2022
Placeholder book?
New characters are introduced as we catch up with some older ones. The plot is tame - mostly just politics.
New characters are introduced as we catch up with some older ones. The plot is tame - mostly just politics.
Read
January 22, 2014I should have read this before I read Shadow Matrix. I knew a lot of what was coming, because Shadow Matrix recaps a lot of the stuff in this book.
I understand that someone who falls prey to threshold sickness would have to take a break from career work. I even understand that she has to get properly trained as a telepath, particularly if she's inherited such fearful gifts as the Command Voice. But if she was so devoted to her mentor (who died before he could finish his last expedition, why wouldn't she then go on to complete her mission? Her primary identity is as an ethnomusicologist, after all, whatever destiny people allotted her before she was born.
But I do wonder about one thing: Margali n'ha Ysabet was the daughter of just such an ethnomusicologist. Surely she took steps to make sure that the work of the Scholar Lorne was not lost? Why isn't his work (and that of his wife, who was either a colleague or in a closely related field), ALREADY in the archives of the University? Frankly, I'd like to see Margaret Alton (re)discovering Lorne's work in one of the few archives on Darkover. Then she could add her own observations, with perhaps a postscript including what her mentor has told her about the music of the spheres.
THEN she could settle in and set up schools, if that's what she wants to do.
I've always found the descriptions of Darkovan domestic life more interesting than the 'adventures'. I really wanted a better description of the poster about the Bridge Society at Thendara House. Or of the museum at Evrard the Musician's house. Or, for that matter, of how cloth from the featherpod tree is woven (felted?).
There are adventures in this story, as well. They aren't on every page, true. But they do happen. The Free Amazon Rafaella is one of the more interesting characters--but Liriel and Istvana also carry their weight. They make up for a lot of the makeweight characters. But I wouldn't count ALL the male characters out. Mikhail Alton-Hastur is more than a little interesting, but I'm more interested in young Donal Alar--he has potential. And then there's always Jeff Kerwin (aka Damon Ridenow the Younger).
One thing I do wonder is when Javanne Hastur became such a prude. She wasn't much of one when she was younger. Frankly, I always find it amusing when people accused virgins of sluttishness, just because they talk a good game.
Having read the whole book, I think somebody less biased should have given Margaret a full accounting of the Sharra Rebellion. She doesn't seem to realized that the Sharra matrix was not originally intended as a weapon (at a guess, it was originally used for mining, or possibly for protection against earthquakes, since earthquakes seem surprisingly rare on Darkover for a planet that has hot springs nearly everywhere).
Having been used as a weapon, however, it became weaponized, and when it was used by insufficiently trained and in many cases quite naive users in inadequate numbers, it corrupted those users, in too many cases irretrievably.
Without knowing this, Margaret probably gets an inaccurate understanding of what happened, which could too easily lead to mistaken decisions in future.
I understand that someone who falls prey to threshold sickness would have to take a break from career work. I even understand that she has to get properly trained as a telepath, particularly if she's inherited such fearful gifts as the Command Voice. But if she was so devoted to her mentor (who died before he could finish his last expedition, why wouldn't she then go on to complete her mission? Her primary identity is as an ethnomusicologist, after all, whatever destiny people allotted her before she was born.
But I do wonder about one thing: Margali n'ha Ysabet was the daughter of just such an ethnomusicologist. Surely she took steps to make sure that the work of the Scholar Lorne was not lost? Why isn't his work (and that of his wife, who was either a colleague or in a closely related field), ALREADY in the archives of the University? Frankly, I'd like to see Margaret Alton (re)discovering Lorne's work in one of the few archives on Darkover. Then she could add her own observations, with perhaps a postscript including what her mentor has told her about the music of the spheres.
THEN she could settle in and set up schools, if that's what she wants to do.
I've always found the descriptions of Darkovan domestic life more interesting than the 'adventures'. I really wanted a better description of the poster about the Bridge Society at Thendara House. Or of the museum at Evrard the Musician's house. Or, for that matter, of how cloth from the featherpod tree is woven (felted?).
There are adventures in this story, as well. They aren't on every page, true. But they do happen. The Free Amazon Rafaella is one of the more interesting characters--but Liriel and Istvana also carry their weight. They make up for a lot of the makeweight characters. But I wouldn't count ALL the male characters out. Mikhail Alton-Hastur is more than a little interesting, but I'm more interested in young Donal Alar--he has potential. And then there's always Jeff Kerwin (aka Damon Ridenow the Younger).
One thing I do wonder is when Javanne Hastur became such a prude. She wasn't much of one when she was younger. Frankly, I always find it amusing when people accused virgins of sluttishness, just because they talk a good game.
Having read the whole book, I think somebody less biased should have given Margaret a full accounting of the Sharra Rebellion. She doesn't seem to realized that the Sharra matrix was not originally intended as a weapon (at a guess, it was originally used for mining, or possibly for protection against earthquakes, since earthquakes seem surprisingly rare on Darkover for a planet that has hot springs nearly everywhere).
Having been used as a weapon, however, it became weaponized, and when it was used by insufficiently trained and in many cases quite naive users in inadequate numbers, it corrupted those users, in too many cases irretrievably.
Without knowing this, Margaret probably gets an inaccurate understanding of what happened, which could too easily lead to mistaken decisions in future.
June 30, 2010
Exile's Song was the first Darkover novel I ever read after my dad bought it for me in middle school. He himself had read some of the books when he was younger and was a fan. The book is about Margaret Alton, daughter of Lew Alton, himself a Darkovan representative on the Terran Senate. Margaret is a University scholar who studies folk music, and she is sent to Darkover to collect samples of the planet's songs. Lew had taken Margaret off the planet when she was five or six so he could serve on the Senate, and didn't pass on any knowledge to Margaret about the planet of her birth. Much of the novel deals with Margaret (Marguerida) battling with a strange force that has overshadowed her mind since childhood, learning to deal with her late onset of laran, and coming to terms with being a part of Darkovan nobility and a patriarchal society that has little patience with independent, strong-willed women such as herself. Overall, it's primarily a story of psychological growth on Marguerida's part.
What I most enjoy about this book is the mystery of Margaret's past. Since this was, again, the first Darkover book I ever read, I knew none of the backstory of Lew and the Sharra Rebellion, so as the reader, I was learning everything along with Margaret. The one thing I don't like is the fact that it was actually written by Adrienne Martine-Barnes, whose writing I just can't stomach after a while. It really keeps me from enjoying this book more than I think I could. Her writing is, to put it simply, annoying as all hell. Her dialogue is even more stilted than Bradley's, and everyone sounds way too light-hearted, even after some horribly traumatic event has taken place. As a result, I neither want to take any of them seriously as realistic characters, nor care enough about them to feel any sense of impending doom when they are in dangerous situations. Barnes writes caricatures, not characters, and I hate them all.
Barnes' other problem is that she writes way too much. This book could easily be hundreds of pages shorter, but Barnes insists on including overly long scenes with pointless description and unnecessary conversations. It would be fine if these things added something to the core conflicts, but they don't. Fluff with a capital F. Annoyingly written fluff, at that.
What I most enjoy about this book is the mystery of Margaret's past. Since this was, again, the first Darkover book I ever read, I knew none of the backstory of Lew and the Sharra Rebellion, so as the reader, I was learning everything along with Margaret. The one thing I don't like is the fact that it was actually written by Adrienne Martine-Barnes, whose writing I just can't stomach after a while. It really keeps me from enjoying this book more than I think I could. Her writing is, to put it simply, annoying as all hell. Her dialogue is even more stilted than Bradley's, and everyone sounds way too light-hearted, even after some horribly traumatic event has taken place. As a result, I neither want to take any of them seriously as realistic characters, nor care enough about them to feel any sense of impending doom when they are in dangerous situations. Barnes writes caricatures, not characters, and I hate them all.
Barnes' other problem is that she writes way too much. This book could easily be hundreds of pages shorter, but Barnes insists on including overly long scenes with pointless description and unnecessary conversations. It would be fine if these things added something to the core conflicts, but they don't. Fluff with a capital F. Annoyingly written fluff, at that.
September 5, 2024
Marion Zimmer Bradley is a wonderful writer. She has a great way with words and she knows how to spin an engaging story. Darkover is one of those places where I long to go sometimes, to revisit places and characters that have taken root in my heart.
August 28, 2018
I recently read Ammonite, first published 1992, four years prior to this book, and I want to address the similarities in plot between that novel and this somewhere. I did love this book when I first read it as a teenager, but over the years I've become increasingly disillusioned about Darkover and MZB's work in general.
Judge for yourself.
Judge for yourself.
January 1, 2013
If you've never read Marion Zimmer Bradley, try
instead of this book.
If you're never read any of the Darkover series, you might want to read
instead of this book.
If you loved The Heritage of Hastur and
then you might like this book as well. Worth a try.
This was one of those books that I ended up skimming. After just finishing three books by C.J. Cherryh, who prose tends to be trimmed to the bone, I found this novel full of fat.
Margaret's interaction with the Renunciate Rafaella, and the bit of sweet romance with Mikhail hold the book together. Otherwise, confusion and flat characters reign. There's enough solid plot here for a short story, but not a 500-page paperback.
In a culture where telepathy is the norm, wouldn't people learn how to hide their secrets? Instead, the protagonist, who is supposed to be new at all of this, picks up the very information she needs to defeat her antagonists. Convenient.
But I still gave it three and a half stars. A die-hard Darkover fan, one who likes Adrienne Martine-Barnes' writing, should enjoy reading this.
And not too bad if you're sitting around on New Year's Eve waiting for the party to start.
instead of this book.If you're never read any of the Darkover series, you might want to read
instead of this book.If you loved The Heritage of Hastur and
then you might like this book as well. Worth a try.
This was one of those books that I ended up skimming. After just finishing three books by C.J. Cherryh, who prose tends to be trimmed to the bone, I found this novel full of fat.
Margaret's interaction with the Renunciate Rafaella, and the bit of sweet romance with Mikhail hold the book together. Otherwise, confusion and flat characters reign. There's enough solid plot here for a short story, but not a 500-page paperback.
In a culture where telepathy is the norm, wouldn't people learn how to hide their secrets? Instead, the protagonist, who is supposed to be new at all of this, picks up the very information she needs to defeat her antagonists. Convenient.
But I still gave it three and a half stars. A die-hard Darkover fan, one who likes Adrienne Martine-Barnes' writing, should enjoy reading this.
And not too bad if you're sitting around on New Year's Eve waiting for the party to start.
April 21, 2010
This is...Okay. And I say that as a fan of the Darkover series. Indeed, it's Darkover, and not Mists of Avalon, that made me a fan of Marion Zimmer Bradley. But what you have to know about the Darkover series is that they're very uneven in quality--and written out of sequence. What tends to tip off the quality of the book is when it was published. MZB in my opinion really didn't hit her stride and hone her craft until the mid-seventies. There's a nod to this in her feeling a need to rewrite earlier Darkover novels such as expanding and revising The Bloody Sun and a rewrite of Sword of Aldones (which became Sharra's Exile). At the other end of her career, well, this is a collaboration with Adrienne Martine-Barnes and was published in 1996, and there's controversy over how much of a hand MZB had in works published under her name after her stroke in 1989. So for me this has the flavor of fan fiction--is fan fiction. Margaret Alton, the focus of this book is the daughter of one of MZB's signature characters, Lew Alton, and often came across as a Mary Sue.
Did I enjoy this? Somewhat. I like well-written fan fiction, and I love Darkover and if you fall in love with it too, I wouldn't say you might not find this enjoyable. But I certainly wouldn't start here, and I don't think this represents the series at its best.
Did I enjoy this? Somewhat. I like well-written fan fiction, and I love Darkover and if you fall in love with it too, I wouldn't say you might not find this enjoyable. But I certainly wouldn't start here, and I don't think this represents the series at its best.
June 22, 2014
I've seen several reviews complaining about either the lack of action in this novel, or the character (development?) of Margaret Alton, or both, ending with a judgment of one or two stars. I don't agree with those reviews. Regarding the "lack of action" complaint, no real person lives a life of constant action, so why should a character? And this is a story more like a coming-of-age tale, a story about finding oneself, so naturally it deals more with Margaret's inner struggles. As far as the character development complaint is concerned, I feel this novel touches of many personality facets of, not only Margaret, but also Rafaella, Mikhail, and Lew. Additionally, as the first novel of several dealing with Margaret Alton, this is an introductory novel, and does a excellent job of introducing the character(s). We can expect further character development in the subsequent novels. Had Bradley given us all of the characters' backgrounds and personalities in this book, what would be the draw of the following books?
Anyway, my point-simplistically-is that I enjoyed this book, and as I've read it 10 times or so previously, I will continue to enjoy it. I recommend it.
Anyway, my point-simplistically-is that I enjoyed this book, and as I've read it 10 times or so previously, I will continue to enjoy it. I recommend it.
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