A World Divided

Darkover Omnibus #5

by Marion Zimmer Bradley

An omnibus volume of three classic, long-unavailable Darkover novels--Star of Danger, The Bloody Sun , and Winds of Darkover --tell of two men of mixed Darkovan ancestry, who must choose where their true allegiances lie.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Sci Fi Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Own, Adventure

686 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 2003

About the author

Marion 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fan fiction and reprinted some of it in commercial Darkover anthologies, continuing to encourage submissions from unpublished authors, but this ended after a dispute with a fan over an unpublished Darkover novel of Bradley's that had similarities to some of the fan's stories.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)

Reviews

[Gregg Wingo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marion Zimmer Bradley has become a cautionary tale of the dangers of hero worship and glorification of celebrities. She had an astoundingly successful career as a fantasy and science fiction writer and editor. was know as a friend and mentor of beginning writers, and was a co-founder of the Society for Creative Anachronism. She also was married to a convicted pedophile, is accused by her own daughter of sexual abuse from the age of three to 12, and is now suspected of sexual crimes against other female and male children. The SF and fantasy world is reeling from these revelations and its final impact is not yet realized.

But Bradley's work speaks loudly of these issues and includes many pubescent characters dealing with their sexual awakenings, adults mentally and physically violating youths, and a menagerie of sexual encounters of all makes and types. Yet, Marion was a staunch defender of women's rights and personal responsibility for one's actions in her writings. So it is important that we learn to condemn the person but still see the beauty and importance of the author's work both written and in support of these ghetto genres. She may very well be seen as literary figure whose life and ideals are a mixed legacy similar to the Marquis de Sade.

I have never considered the Darkover stories as fantasy but rather well written science fiction with good characterization and a well-constructed and logically bound psionically based technological society. "Star of Danger", the first in this collection, is one of the very first of the series and begins firmly rooted in the world of hard science fiction. It is tale of a boy finding his manhood through adventure and exploration like Huck Finn, Jim Hawkins and, of course, Paul Atreides. It is also a story that will resonant with any world traveler who despises globalization and the denizens of business class hotels, organized tours, and international home-country schools. Bradley's hero is an individual enthralled with the wonder of the alien and a dislike of the sterility of his Terran culture. His adventures introduce us to the conflict between our own history of assimilation and the indigenous cultures it has destroyed. In fact, the book is more relevant in our condition of Late Capitalism than it was when originally written in 1965. This collection also lays down the basic facts of the Darkoveran universe and is a quick and riveting introduction to one of the great SF and fantasy series ever written and one of the few that can be enjoyed by readers of both genres.

Until the Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust decides how to handle royalty issues in regards to her victims, you might not want to buy the book but I strongly recommend you ask your neighborhood librarian to find it for you. It is fun and thought provoking as Mrs. Bradley's work has always been for both female and male readers alike.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three books in one volume. I am reasonably sure I've read all of these before but it would have been a really long time ago. I have most of the Darkover books in paper packed in boxes somewhere. Anyway, the Star of Danger is your basic boys' adventure story with the human boy visiting the alien locals and getting sucked into the adventure. The Bloody Sun is about a man who grew up on Earth, but always felt drawn to Darkover, and when he gets there, he learns ... slowly ... that most of what he grew up believing was true, isn't. And he looks an awful lot like one of the local telepaths. Then, in The Winds of Darkover, two plot lines draw together from different beginnings. In the mountains, a nasty bandit lord takes over a mostly defenseless castle from the blind telepath who rules it and his siblings. One sister is able to escape while her blind brother gives her the help he can. Meanwhile, in the Terran Trade City, an air traffic controller is in deep trouble for almost causing a crash -- and he can't explain the weird hallucination he had of a castle under siege, so he doesn't. Maybe this will help me remember the next time I think about reading these books.

[Rebecca Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can accept the continuity gaps between books, though I don't like them. But within the same book it's just obnoxious. As a minor example, a Terran character not having any idea what the Comyn were aside from the word's etymology, but then later knowing a lot about the institution from training he'd had before the book started? Sigh. And I now know too much about mzb to fully enjoy her books, but rereading some darkover kept me busy for a while.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

STAR OF DANGER: It is so refreshing to finally read a Darkover story where the main character is a man and not a woman. Even though the female characters that Marion Zimmer Bradley writes are strong, they can at times be overbearing and whiny.
Larry was a bit of a weak character at first, but when he and Kennard began their adventure and friendship together, Larry proves to be a strong and interesting character.
Sixteen year old Larry is eager for adventure and discovery. He gets his wish when his father tells him that he has been reassigned and they will be traveling to the planet Darkover.
Larry is confronted with all kinds of cultural barriers when they land. He soon finds himself in a fight against the local young men, brutes of the trade city, on his first day on Darkover.
Larry and Kennard quickly become friends after the fight in the trade city. Kennard observes that Larry is not like other Terrans. To his benefit, Larry made the effort to learn the Darkovan language. Also, he solves his own problems himself. He doesn’t call out for help from elsewhere or from someone on the outside. He is invited to the house of the ruling Altons. He is surprised to discover that they have the ability to read his mind, but that doesn’t seem to disturb him any. The real trouble starts when his father forbids him from leaving the safety of their dormitory at the Terran space port, because of the fear that Larry will unknowingly cause irresolvable conflict between the two aliens leading to a war. Torn between obeying his father and keeping his word to Kennard, Larry decides that the right thing for him to do is to stay true to his word, and deliver on his promise to the Altons.
When the Legate, Commander Reade gets wind of Larry’s friendship with the powerful Comyn family, he asks him to continue the friendship and deliver any helpful information regarding the Darkovans or even the Altons back to the Terran Empire. He wants him to spy on his friend who can read his mind!
Faced with fighting the disastrous and deadly fires racing across the hills, brutal and murderous bandits, and a deep prejudice between the two aliens, Larry wants to earn the right to be recognized as a man.
When he is kidnapped under the wrong assumption that he is Kennard Alton because of his copper hair, Larry learns about psi powers, matrix jewels, and their potential dangers.
Because Larry is under the protection of the Altons when he signed the Legate’s proposal, Kennard is forced to deliver Larry back to his father alive and healthy, in order to avoid a possible war that will make the gap between the Terrans and Darkover impossible to bridge, and to keep his and his family’s honor. In Kennard’s rescue attempt, the two young men will battle the frightening Cyrillon des Trailles’s matrix jewel and banshees, get captured by the trailmen, and travel across the harsh, snowed in mountain pass in order to reach the safety of Hastur’s castle.
Their journey will eventually end with a chieri-folk, who will tell them of their planet Earth roots and heritage. This information will lead to the first step in the reunion of the Terrans and Darkovans, to share in one another’s technology and knowledge. For some members of the Terran Empire, they don’t realize that Darkover was where they were born, and that is why the primitive planet is so familiar. It was once their home.
THE WINDS OF DARKOVER: This book reminded me of The Spell Sword in a lot of ways except for one, the misuse of laran.
Barron is a Terran who works in spaceport dispatch. It’s a very stressful job that many do not last in doing, and Darkover (Cottman IV) is a major pivot on long-distance hypertravel because it is situated conveniently between the High Arm and Low Arm of the Galaxy. The dispatcher’s job is to safely manage travel among the spaceships, cargo, passenger transits, mapping ships, and various tractors and surface machinery for servicing all of those, in the Terran Trade City. Barron has joyfully and successfully performed his job with no mishaps, until now. He has an episode, and a tragic disaster is narrowly avoided, irreparably marking up his Space Service record. Because the planet is so harsh, and the job is so overwhelmingly stressful, it is next to impossible to get someone new transferred in.
The Commander Legate sends Barron to assist the Altons in some elementary Terran technology that will greatly assist in the detection of the disastrous fires that wipe out a lot of the planet’s timber and wildlife. He isn’t able to ship Barron off planet, because he can’t prove that the accident wasn’t Barron’s fault. Barron continues to slip in and out of his own consciousness.
The Storn Castle is attacked and infiltrated by the brute and rogue Brynat Scarface. Edric is tortured and imprisoned; Allira of Storn is forced to marry the bandit, legitimizing his claim on Storn, while Melitta of Storn is telepathically told to escape by the blind Storn of Storn. She escapes with the bravery and determination of any man, climbing the castle walls, braving the unforgiving cold and snow, and conquering her fear of the unknown in the dark secret tunnels and caves.
Barron is befriended by Lerrys, (from The Bloody Sun), and through him learns that he is seeing the Darkover deity Sharra. Things get really intense, (and finally interesting), when Barron steals one of the Alton’s horses to meet Melitta in Carthon. Melitta is surprised to find out that Barron is Loran Storn and not the strange Terran before her. However, once Barron walks through a field psychic dampener, Loran is forced to lose his link to Barron’s mind.
Will Loran pay for the Darkovan taboo, meddling with another’s soul? How will Melitta and Barron be able to regain their rightful possession of Storn Castle, free Edric, and save her sister Allira from Brynat’s dirty hands, before it is too late? What is the reason behind Barron’s puzzling visions of Sharra?
THE BLOODY SUN: Jeff Kerwin grew up in the Spaceman’s Orphanage on Cottman IV, until he was forced to travel to Earth. When he wasn’t able to imitate their lost Earth son Jefferson Andrew Kerwin, he joined the Terran Space Service to make his way back home to Darkover. Around his neck he wears a blue stone. He’s had it for as long as he can remember, but he has no idea that it’s a matrix stone. Not only that, but that it use to belong to his mother, a leronis, the Keeper of Arilinn after the late Leonie Hastur.
With his red hair not hidden under a hood in the Trade City, he is mistaken for one of the Comyn. There are those who don’t agree with what decisions the Comyn has made for the people of Darkover. Some do want the Terran technology. A stone gets chunked at Kerwin’s head, by an unknown pitcher.
Because his Terran father thought ahead to give his son the best of both worlds, Kerwin has citizenship into the Empire. He hopefully and desperately tries to hunt down any records regarding his Darkovan parents. There isn’t any record of him ever being in the orphanage. The computers only give him the same repeated message, “subject not found”, in all of his searches. He begins to feel as if he’s gone crazy; because he knows for sure that he was there and can’t prove it to himself, or maybe more importantly to anyone else.
Realizing that he will not be accepted as a Terran, and faced with a deportation order, Jeff abandons his Earth heritage, and searches for his answers in the Arilinn Tower. Unaware of the powerful intimacy between the members of the circle and the strong untapped empath laran he possesses, he finds himself reacting as a Terran boyfriend would, not like a Darkovan Tower technician should. Sleeping with Neyrissa is unlike any woman Jeff has ever been with before. When she comforts Auster with her laran the hatred between the two men explodes.
Being in Arilinn Tower, he not only learns about laran and psi powers and how to use his laran, he is taught how to use the matrix stone given to him by his mother. (I’d love to tell you who his mother is, but that would be a spoiler. It was an enjoyable surprise for me.)
There are only a few towers operating out of the once many from the Ages of Chaos, and none of them have a complete working matrix circle that Arilinn Tower now possesses with Jeff’s membership. With the tempting ease of the Terran technology exchange that the Darkovans want, it is a struggle for the Comyn and the Towers to retain the integrity of the Darkovan way of life, rather than becoming another Empire satellite state. To their credit, Arilinn Tower succeeds with finding the desperately needed metals (for industry and commerce), buying them some more time. Unfortunately, they soon discover that someone is compromising their efforts, from the inside. Jeff’s suspicions are on Auster Ridenow. Jeff and Auster have been at odds since they met. Jeff now fed up with not fitting in with either of his home planets and in addition to the misunderstood loss of Neyrissa’s intimacy, confronts Auster with a challenge to prove his innocence. Unknowing to Kerwin, Auster has a trap matrix set up to ensnare Jeff and prove his innocence instead!
To touch a Keeper is a powerful taboo that still remains, but since the Forbidden Tower changes are happening. The training required at a young age isn’t truly necessary anymore. Because of Damon’s efforts, anyone willing can be taught to use their laran and the matrix stones. The tower’s Keepers can be replenished from the general population. With this controversy and when Jeff’s feelings are reciprocated by Elorie Ardais, the Keeper of Arilinn, they both leave the Tower and circle. However, they don’t leave with the other members of their circle’s happiness for the couple. They don’t understand that Elorie can be both a Keeper and a lover.
Jeff Kerwin learns that he will never be accepted for either his father’s Terran heritage or his mother’s Darkovan heritage. He attempts to make a new life for himself with Elorie, who still retains her powerful laran.
It will be interesting to find out how this arrangement will affect the Towers and their Keepers in the near future. A result of the death of Leonie Hastur will be the end to Keepers that the Towers once possessed. Also, the greedy and irresponsible Empire is one step closer to getting their hands on the matrix stones. At this point in history, it seems that the Terrans and Darkovan will not reunite into the same civilization as they once were when the lost ship crash landed on Darkover, the planet of The Bloody Sun.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

STAR OF DANGER: It is so refreshing to finally read a Darkover story where the main character is a man and not a woman. Even though the female characters that Marion Zimmer Bradley writes are strong, they can at times be overbearing and whiny.
Larry was a bit of a weak character at first, but when he and Kennard began their adventure and friendship together, Larry proves to be a strong and interesting character.
Sixteen year old Larry is eager for adventure and discovery. He gets his wish when his father tells him that he has been reassigned and they will be traveling to the planet Darkover.
Larry is confronted with all kinds of cultural barriers when they land. He soon finds himself in a fight against the local young men, brutes of the trade city, on his first day on Darkover.
Larry and Kennard quickly become friends after the fight in the trade city. Kennard observes that Larry is not like other Terrans. To his benefit, Larry made the effort to learn the Darkovan language. Also, he solves his own problems himself. He doesn’t call out for help from elsewhere or from someone on the outside. He is invited to the house of the ruling Altons. He is surprised to discover that they have the ability to read his mind, but that doesn’t seem to disturb him any. The real trouble starts when his father forbids him from leaving the safety of their dormitory at the Terran space port, because of the fear that Larry will unknowingly cause irresolvable conflict between the two aliens leading to a war. Torn between obeying his father and keeping his word to Kennard, Larry decides that the right thing for him to do is to stay true to his word, and deliver on his promise to the Altons.
When the Legate, Commander Reade gets wind of Larry’s friendship with the powerful Comyn family, he asks him to continue the friendship and deliver any helpful information regarding the Darkovans or even the Altons back to the Terran Empire. He wants him to spy on his friend who can read his mind!
Faced with fighting the disastrous and deadly fires racing across the hills, brutal and murderous bandits, and a deep prejudice between the two aliens, Larry wants to earn the right to be recognized as a man.
When he is kidnapped under the wrong assumption that he is Kennard Alton because of his copper hair, Larry learns about psi powers, matrix jewels, and their potential dangers.
Because Larry is under the protection of the Altons when he signed the Legate’s proposal, Kennard is forced to deliver Larry back to his father alive and healthy, in order to avoid a possible war that will make the gap between the Terrans and Darkover impossible to bridge, and to keep his and his family’s honor. In Kennard’s rescue attempt, the two young men will battle the frightening Cyrillon des Trailles’s matrix jewel and banshees, get captured by the trailmen, and travel across the harsh, snowed in mountain pass in order to reach the safety of Hastur’s castle.
Their journey will eventually end with a chieri-folk, who will tell them of their planet Earth roots and heritage. This information will lead to the first step in the reunion of the Terrans and Darkovans, to share in one another’s technology and knowledge. For some members of the Terran Empire, they don’t realize that Darkover was where they were born, and that is why the primitive planet is so familiar. It was once their home.
THE WINDS OF DARKOVER: This book reminded me of The Spell Sword in a lot of ways except for one, the misuse of laran.
Barron is a Terran who works in spaceport dispatch. It’s a very stressful job that many do not last in doing, and Darkover (Cottman IV) is a major pivot on long-distance hypertravel because it is situated conveniently between the High Arm and Low Arm of the Galaxy. The dispatcher’s job is to safely manage travel among the spaceships, cargo, passenger transits, mapping ships, and various tractors and surface machinery for servicing all of those, in the Terran Trade City. Barron has joyfully and successfully performed his job with no mishaps, until now. He has an episode, and a tragic disaster is narrowly avoided, irreparably marking up his Space Service record. Because the planet is so harsh, and the job is so overwhelmingly stressful, it is next to impossible to get someone new transferred in.
The Commander Legate sends Barron to assist the Altons in some elementary Terran technology that will greatly assist in the detection of the disastrous fires that wipe out a lot of the planet’s timber and wildlife. He isn’t able to ship Barron off planet, because he can’t prove that the accident wasn’t Barron’s fault. Barron continues to slip in and out of his own consciousness.
The Storn Castle is attacked and infiltrated by the brute and rogue Brynat Scarface. Edric is tortured and imprisoned; Allira of Storn is forced to marry the bandit, legitimizing his claim on Storn, while Melitta of Storn is telepathically told to escape by the blind Storn of Storn. She escapes with the bravery and determination of any man, climbing the castle walls, braving the unforgiving cold and snow, and conquering her fear of the unknown in the dark secret tunnels and caves.
Barron is befriended by Lerrys, (from The Bloody Sun), and through him learns that he is seeing the Darkover deity Sharra. Things get really intense, (and finally interesting), when Barron steals one of the Alton’s horses to meet Melitta in Carthon. Melitta is surprised to find out that Barron is Loran Storn and not the strange Terran before her. However, once Barron walks through a field psychic dampener, Loran is forced to lose his link to Barron’s mind.
Will Loran pay for the Darkovan taboo, meddling with another’s soul? How will Melitta and Barron be able to regain their rightful possession of Storn Castle, free Edric, and save her sister Allira from Brynat’s dirty hands, before it is too late? What is the reason behind Barron’s puzzling visions of Sharra?
THE BLOODY SUN: Jeff Kerwin grew up in the Spaceman’s Orphanage on Cottman IV, until he was forced to travel to Earth. When he wasn’t able to imitate their lost Earth son Jefferson Andrew Kerwin, he joined the Terran Space Service to make his way back home to Darkover. Around his neck he wears a blue stone. He’s had it for as long as he can remember, but he has no idea that it’s a matrix stone. Not only that, but that it use to belong to his mother, a leronis, the Keeper of Arilinn after the late Leonie Hastur.
With his red hair not hidden under a hood in the Trade City, he is mistaken for one of the Comyn. There are those who don’t agree with what decisions the Comyn has made for the people of Darkover. Some do want the Terran technology. A stone gets chunked at Kerwin’s head, by an unknown pitcher.
Because his Terran father thought ahead to give his son the best of both worlds, Kerwin has citizenship into the Empire. He hopefully and desperately tries to hunt down any records regarding his Darkovan parents. There isn’t any record of him ever being in the orphanage. The computers only give him the same repeated message, “subject not found”, in all of his searches. He begins to feel as if he’s gone crazy; because he knows for sure that he was there and can’t prove it to himself, or maybe more importantly to anyone else.
Realizing that he will not be accepted as a Terran, and faced with a deportation order, Jeff abandons his Earth heritage, and searches for his answers in the Arilinn Tower. Unaware of the powerful intimacy between the members of the circle and the strong untapped empath laran he possesses, he finds himself reacting as a Terran boyfriend would, not like a Darkovan Tower technician should. Sleeping with Neyrissa is unlike any woman Jeff has ever been with before. When she comforts Auster with her laran the hatred between the two men explodes.
Being in Arilinn Tower, he not only learns about laran and psi powers and how to use his laran, he is taught how to use the matrix stone given to him by his mother. (I’d love to tell you who his mother is, but that would be a spoiler. It was an enjoyable surprise for me.)
There are only a few towers operating out of the once many from the Ages of Chaos, and none of them have a complete working matrix circle that Arilinn Tower now possesses with Jeff’s membership. With the tempting ease of the Terran technology exchange that the Darkovans want, it is a struggle for the Comyn and the Towers to retain the integrity of the Darkovan way of life, rather than becoming another Empire satellite state. To their credit, Arilinn Tower succeeds with finding the desperately needed metals (for industry and commerce), buying them some more time. Unfortunately, they soon discover that someone is compromising their efforts, from the inside. Jeff’s suspicions are on Auster Ridenow. Jeff and Auster have been at odds since they met. Jeff now fed up with not fitting in with either of his home planets and in addition to the misunderstood loss of Neyrissa’s intimacy, confronts Auster with a challenge to prove his innocence. Unknowing to Kerwin, Auster has a trap matrix set up to ensnare Jeff and prove his innocence instead!
To touch a Keeper is a powerful taboo that still remains, but since the Forbidden Tower changes are happening. The training required at a young age isn’t truly necessary anymore. Because of Damon’s efforts, anyone willing can be taught to use their laran and the matrix stones. The tower’s Keepers can be replenished from the general population. With this controversy and when Jeff’s feelings are reciprocated by Elorie Ardais, the Keeper of Arilinn, they both leave the Tower and circle. However, they don’t leave with the other members of their circle’s happiness for the couple. They don’t understand that Elorie can be both a Keeper and a lover.
Jeff Kerwin learns that he will never be accepted for either his father’s Terran heritage or his mother’s Darkovan heritage. He attempts to make a new life for himself with Elorie, who still retains her powerful laran.
It will be interesting to find out how this arrangement will affect the Towers and their Keepers in the near future. A result of the death of Leonie Hastur will be the end to Keepers that the Towers once possessed. Also, the greedy and irresponsible Empire is one step closer to getting their hands on the matrix stones. At this point in history, it seems that the Terrans and Darkovan will not reunite into the same civilization as they once were when the lost ship crash landed on Darkover, the planet of The Bloody Sun.

[Heike Lettrari · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was some decent sci-fi! The world building was decent. I appreciated getting a sense of the world through the three different books (and perspectives), but it was also neat to see how they connected to one another as well.

A World Divided is a great title for this set of books - the divisions are several and layered, with a good deal of nuance, made possible by the spans of time and the diverse characters we meet.

However, sometimes, some of the characters, their actions and motivations were just a bit much for me. They didn’t quite make sense and as a result, they weren’t compelling. I almost put this book down half way through the second one because I had trouble with the main character and some of the situations he was dealing with/encountering.

Overall, I’m also not that impressed with some of the depictions of the women in the novel. There were no women except dead ones in the first book; there are some but they way they are described and their whole treatment was so very odd in the second one, and some of that same strangeness remains in the third book. The feminist in me definitely raised my eyebrows a few times…

[Mark A · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Books:

1) Star Of Danger
Young adult. Ok. Light. 5 of 10
2) The Bloody Sun
OK 6 of 10
3) The Winds of Darkover
5 of 10

I love Darkover. The only thing I can think of that make me so ambivalent about all 3 of these is they are written mostly from an Earthling's viewpoint. Just kind of boring as they all fight belief in the mysteries of Darkover.

[Gmc]

A World Divided (Darkover Omnibus, #5)
by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Star of Danger,
The Bloody Sun,
Winds of Darkover

[Queen Talk Talk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Darkover will never be an Earth culture clone. Various Terrans discover the wonders and power of Darkover. Much violence ensues.

[Aarati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Project Reread Darkover: The Bloody Sun (2/24)

A heart-wrenching installment that's the perfect introduction to the Darkover universe.

What I loved:

1) The world-building. Darkover isn't a vague stereotypical society on the cusp of colonization by the Terran empire. Without any infodumps, MZB crafted and conveyed geographical features, social structures, cultural norms, political intrigues, history, and a complex system of technology. Darkover has a strongly defined identity that only grows stronger in later books. The clash between the traditional, relatively primitive Darkover and the modern Terran empire is captivating.

2) The characters. Most every character (even those who only appeared once or twice) was three-dimensional. More importantly, I was emotionally invested in them. Jeff Kerwin is a likable protagonist who struggles with his mixed heritage and learns about Darkover along with the reader (he's Darkover-born but Terran-raised).

What I didn't love so much:

The romance. It was a relatively small (if important) component of the story, but it still irked me that Jeff fell in love so suddenly. His love interest was the least developed of the main characters and hadn't had (in my opinion) any meaningful romantic interactions with him. As far as I could tell, he was on the rebound and/or was emotionally unstable (which is certainly possible). Their love for each other and resulting sacrifices were touching and certainly tugged at my heartstrings (as well as being necessary for the plot), but I was dissatisfied with the weak origin of the relationship. It is possible that my expectations are unrealistic because I regularly read romance novels, but is it really too much to expect at least a friendship before love blossoms? /end rant

That gripe aside, the world that MZB creates is worthy of nothing less than 5 stars and I'm more than excited to reread the rest of the series!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yup, this is Darkover. Yes, they're in the same category of 'guilty-read fantasy in a loong series' as Pern, but given that Marion Zimmer Bradley is the author the quality and plot-tightness are higher.

All three of these books were solid. None of them were earth-shattering. There are other Darkover books I've liked better, but I did read those in middle school or high school...

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels are always good.

[Jacqueline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extra 1/2 star.

Star of Danger - 3.5 stars.
The Winds of Darkover - 3 stars.
The Bloody Sun - 4 stars.

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was an easy book to read and a bit different from the usual Marion Zimmer Bradley books I usually read.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omnibus of Star of Danger 2/7/1999
The Winds of Darkover 2/9/1999
and the reworked version of The Bloody Sun. 11/11/1998

[Lillith · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories are a great combination of sci-fi, psi-fi and fantasy-tech; some of it feels a bit young, but I enjoyed the writing and the setting very, very much.