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Darkover (Publication Order) #15
Sharra's Exile
The sequel to Heritage of Hastur, perhaps the single most popular of Bradley's spectacular Darkover novels, Sharra's Exile is the story of Lew Alton's return to Darkover and his battle to destroy the deadly Sharra matrix.
The most dangerous matrix on all Darkover was the legendary Sharra. Embodied in the image of a chained woman, wreathed in flames, it was the last remaining weapon of the Ages of Chaos that had almost destroyed civilization on the planet of the Bloody Sun. The Sharra had been exiled off-planet among the far stars of the Terran Empire in the custody of Lew Alton ... until he found himself called back to his homeworld to contest his rights. But once the Sharra was back, the flaming image spread far and wide---and set in motion events that were to change the land, the domains, and the future of Darkover forever
The most dangerous matrix on all Darkover was the legendary Sharra. Embodied in the image of a chained woman, wreathed in flames, it was the last remaining weapon of the Ages of Chaos that had almost destroyed civilization on the planet of the Bloody Sun. The Sharra had been exiled off-planet among the far stars of the Terran Empire in the custody of Lew Alton ... until he found himself called back to his homeworld to contest his rights. But once the Sharra was back, the flaming image spread far and wide---and set in motion events that were to change the land, the domains, and the future of Darkover forever
365 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 1981
9 people are currently reading
893 people want to read
About the author
Marion Zimmer Bradley
802 books4,901 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 63 reviews
June 17, 2020
Un altro capolavoro di Marion Zimmer Bradley, che segue di sei anni la storia di L'erede di Hastur. Tra l'altro, La spada di Aldones fu il secondo romanzo pubblicato dalla Bradley, nel 1962, che poi riprese la storia nel 1981 dopo averne creato il prequel (L'erede di Hastur, appunto), dandole una nuova profondità e una maggiore complessità ai personaggi. Come nel precedente romanzo, la storia viene raccontata alternativamente da una terza persona che segue per lo più le vicende dal punto di vista di Regis Hastur e in prima persona da uno dei personaggi più belli e tormentati della storia di Darkover, Lew Alton, l'erede del dominio di Alton che il Consiglio dei Comyn (i nobili dei sette domini che governano Darkover) ha ammesso con grande riluttanza perché figlio di un matrimonio mai pienamente accettato di suo padre, Kennard Alton, con una donna per metà terrestre e per metà Aldaran (che è il dominio rinnegato di Darkover). Quindi - un po' come in tutti i romanzi darkovani in cui ci sono rapporti con l'Impero terrestre - uno dei temi fondamentali è proprio la discriminazione razziale, malgrado sia ormai ben chiaro che Darkover è stata fondata da una spedizione spaziale di terrestri che si sono persi tra le stelle, e che dunque anche i darkovani sono discendenti dai terrestri.
La matrice di Sharra, come nel precedente romanzo, rappresenta l'energia nucleare, una potenza che l'uomo crede di poter asservire ai propri scopi, per rivendicare la propria superiorità sull'altra fazione, ma che finisce sempre per sfuggirgli di mano.
L'impero terrestre, che in questo romanzo visitiamo all'inizio, viaggiando assieme a Lew e a Kennard, che hanno portato Sharra fuori da Darkover, rappresenta la globalizzazione, l'uniformazione a cui molti nel Consiglio dei Comyn si oppongono per mantenere la singolarità del pianeta, con leggi nate da una storia piuttosto tragica, legata alla tecnica delle matrici e all'utilizzo del laran, ovvero dei poteri psi posseduti dalla maggior parte dei comyn.
Sicuramente uno dei più tragici ma anche dei più epici tra i romanzi darkovani di Marion Zimmer Bradley.
La matrice di Sharra, come nel precedente romanzo, rappresenta l'energia nucleare, una potenza che l'uomo crede di poter asservire ai propri scopi, per rivendicare la propria superiorità sull'altra fazione, ma che finisce sempre per sfuggirgli di mano.
L'impero terrestre, che in questo romanzo visitiamo all'inizio, viaggiando assieme a Lew e a Kennard, che hanno portato Sharra fuori da Darkover, rappresenta la globalizzazione, l'uniformazione a cui molti nel Consiglio dei Comyn si oppongono per mantenere la singolarità del pianeta, con leggi nate da una storia piuttosto tragica, legata alla tecnica delle matrici e all'utilizzo del laran, ovvero dei poteri psi posseduti dalla maggior parte dei comyn.
Sicuramente uno dei più tragici ma anche dei più epici tra i romanzi darkovani di Marion Zimmer Bradley.
February 15, 2015
3.75
I want half stars. I feel guilty giving this one three stars but at the same time I don't feel like giving it four stars. I enjoyed Stormqueen and The heritage of Hastur (I hope that's the English title, I can't remember right now) more.
Sharra's Exile is still a good installment, and I love Dani and Regis like ther's no tomorrow, but Sharra's Exile lacked something, I think. The plot was quite good (though, again it can't compare to The heritage of Hastur in my opinion) and it was refined in its political aspects as well, but it wasn't as interesting as I expected it to be. I still liked the old characters, most of them anyway, but I didn't exactly warm up to some new ones. I'm talking about you, Dia. Dia aside I quite liked Lew's storyline.
Anyway...Regis and Dani are still OTP. Too bad I wanted to see them more.
I want half stars. I feel guilty giving this one three stars but at the same time I don't feel like giving it four stars. I enjoyed Stormqueen and The heritage of Hastur (I hope that's the English title, I can't remember right now) more.
Sharra's Exile is still a good installment, and I love Dani and Regis like ther's no tomorrow, but Sharra's Exile lacked something, I think. The plot was quite good (though, again it can't compare to The heritage of Hastur in my opinion) and it was refined in its political aspects as well, but it wasn't as interesting as I expected it to be. I still liked the old characters, most of them anyway, but I didn't exactly warm up to some new ones. I'm talking about you, Dia. Dia aside I quite liked Lew's storyline.
Anyway...Regis and Dani are still OTP. Too bad I wanted to see them more.
June 28, 2023
Si affrontano tanti temi nei libri di Darkover...
Quest'altro romanzo su Sharra affronta ancora quello delle armi di distrazione di massa. Alcune armi vanno semplicemente bandite, non importa se possono dare un presunto vantaggio tattico su un eventuale nemico. Alcune armi distruggono prima di tutto chi le usa e non ci sono giustificazioni che possano permetterne l'utilizzo, perché è immorale l'annientamento dell'avversario.
Un altro tema che spicca sin dalle prime pagine è il conformismo derivante dalla globalizzazione. Se è bello condividere le conoscenze con gli altri popoli, il prezzo da pagare è alto e inevitabile perché chi vive ai margini dell'impero ne viene sempre fagocitato. Così non solo cambiano costumi e tradizioni, ma si perde tutto un bagaglio culturale. Se l'evolversi della società è inesorabile, non è detto che gli stili di vita del popolo più forte e potente siano in tutto e per tutto i migliori. Mi ha colpito molto il riferimento al turismo: tutto quello che rimane delle radici di un popolo rischia di essere uno spettacolo di folklore per gli stranieri paganti.
Anche se mi è sembrato un po' lento nella parte centrale, questo libro mi è piaciuto moltissimo perché mostra che non esiste un'unica società possibile, un modo di vivere che debba essere uguale per tutti ovunque. È bello non dimenticare che il concetto di famiglia non è uno solo, ma che ce ne possono essere molti, così come ci possono essere più tipi di amore e che tutti vanno bene se vanno bene per le parti coinvolte.
Quest'altro romanzo su Sharra affronta ancora quello delle armi di distrazione di massa. Alcune armi vanno semplicemente bandite, non importa se possono dare un presunto vantaggio tattico su un eventuale nemico. Alcune armi distruggono prima di tutto chi le usa e non ci sono giustificazioni che possano permetterne l'utilizzo, perché è immorale l'annientamento dell'avversario.
Un altro tema che spicca sin dalle prime pagine è il conformismo derivante dalla globalizzazione. Se è bello condividere le conoscenze con gli altri popoli, il prezzo da pagare è alto e inevitabile perché chi vive ai margini dell'impero ne viene sempre fagocitato. Così non solo cambiano costumi e tradizioni, ma si perde tutto un bagaglio culturale. Se l'evolversi della società è inesorabile, non è detto che gli stili di vita del popolo più forte e potente siano in tutto e per tutto i migliori. Mi ha colpito molto il riferimento al turismo: tutto quello che rimane delle radici di un popolo rischia di essere uno spettacolo di folklore per gli stranieri paganti.
Anche se mi è sembrato un po' lento nella parte centrale, questo libro mi è piaciuto moltissimo perché mostra che non esiste un'unica società possibile, un modo di vivere che debba essere uguale per tutti ovunque. È bello non dimenticare che il concetto di famiglia non è uno solo, ma che ce ne possono essere molti, così come ci possono essere più tipi di amore e che tutti vanno bene se vanno bene per le parti coinvolte.
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July 31, 2014The alternating first-person and third-person chapters established in Heritage of Hastur is somewhat violated in this book, at least at first. It's not clear how Lew Alton is recording his story. There seems to be an immediacy to it that's probably illusory--perhaps Lew, a genuinely haunted man (there seems to have been some brain damage caused by his father's final telepathic command, for example) is reliving the experience as a form of therapeutic catharsis.
Regis Hastur, though he has his psychological problems, seems to have always been a more stable person, less controlled by his passions (but see Heritage of Hastur to recognize that threshold sickness can shake the most tranquil character), and he handles the crisis of the book better--as he handles most things better.
Several people point out in the book that the Comyn Council is an anachronism--but few seem to realize that there was very little basis for it in the FIRST place. A story of the establishment of the Council, and the reasons for same, would repay reading.
This book continues the practice of denying history. Several characters speculate that there must be archives of some sort explaining what happened in history--but instead of going in search of them, they instead rely on shaky and dangerous expeditions to try to plumb the memory of living fossils like Mother Ashara--often with disastrous results. The censorship by the Comyn council of what people can learn is justified quite a few times in the books by arguing, essentially, that the people are not capable of deciding for themselves what they can or should learn. At least once, whole areas of study are declared off limits because they are described as 'idle' and the argument is that people don't need to know that stuff.
The existence of (a) separate Darkovan culture(s) might or might not have been possible without the bookburning tendencies of the founding generation. But the damage inflicted by the perennial tendency to try to expunge any record of the past (besides vague traditions most people can't fathom the reason for) indubitably results in serious catastrophes for people who find themselves caught in serial and parallel tragedies, almost entirely unrelieved by humor, and mostly lacking even the ameliorating comforts of everyday life.
At one point in the book, Lew Alton refers to 'games' played in the Towers that amount to psychic fencing matches. What about other games? In Heritage of Hastur, Lew uses forcing flowers to bloom prematurely as a training game--but as pointed out in Stormqueen!, there are other games (hide and seek comes at once to mind) that could be used as training tools. Part of the abusive nature of Darkovan society is that they recognize that things are dangerous, but they seem to argue that this means you shouldn't play with them, even in a dry run. If Terrans had run their technology that way--well, it looks like they WERE doing that when the original ship crashed. Perhaps that's WHY the ship crashed. If they'd done more virtual testing, they might not have been in a situation where the crashed ship had no contact with potential rescuers. The Darkovans abandoned a lot of their past--it might have helped if they abandoned that bit as well.
For a comparison, it might be worthwhile to contrast the violent (and cooperatively warlike) Darkovans with the more individualistic (and more cooperative, except in warfare) Gethenians from LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness. One important point of contrast--the barely post-adolescent Marius Alton is ashamed of his tears for his distant (in all senses of the word) father. By the time of Sharra's Exile, Bradley has come to understand this as a sign of his youth, not of 'manliness'--Marius is afraid he will be considered childish, not that he'll be considered unmanly. Older people who have passed through this phase cry unashamedly. Well, it's a start.
Another issue only glancingly discussed is the reaction of the Darkovans, accustomed to low light, to the bright lighting of Empire technology and the more brightly sunlit worlds. As a default expert on this subject, I would say that Bradley probably did NOT have trouble with bright lights. She shows no real appreciation for how hard it is to get around and do ordinary tasks in such painful and disabling lighting. A few vague references to 'headaches', it's true--but no stories of people planning excursions to allow for travel through shadows, no real discussion of how it's not possible to see where you're going, read road signs, etc. Andre Norton discusses the subject a little better in her Janus books--Bradley doesn't seem to have thought the matter through.
The internal chronology of this book is such that other books would fit within the 'books' of this one. Thus, for example, Planet Savers would probably have been around the time that Lew Alton discovers that his genome has been irreparably damaged. This damage was NOT established in the earlier version (Sword of Aldones), which results in some discontinuities within fan fiction (one story supplies Marja with siblings, for example). The damage to Lew's somatic DNA need not, of course, have cause damage to the gametes, since the injury was to the hand. But apparently it did.
It's never established, by the way, why Diotima Ridenow didn't choose to have children of her own. There's no reason to believe that Lew Alton would have protested--he might even have encouraged her to have children by other fathers...or to make use of modern reproductive technologies. Lew's great-uncle Damon (probably also Dio's great-uncle--Darkovan geneaeologies tend to be like that), after all, arranged matters so that not only he, but Ellemir, were able to have children, once they realized that they were too closely related to have children together. Perhaps Dio didn't want more children?
Later parts of the book are several years later. Kennard Alton dies on the pleasure world of Vainwal, to which he had resorted when his rheumatism got bad enough that he needed regular access to hot springs, and a mild climate. It's not clear how old Kennard was when he married Yllana Aldaran. He had recognized that his first, dynastic marriage wasn't going to work out early on, but he seems to have stayed married to her until she died--so he may have been in his forties or older before he was freed to marry again. There's no doubt he was already prone to lameness and aching joints even before he left Arilinn, to which he seems have returned after Yllana's death, while his sons were still children.
Kennard was probably over 70, therefore, when he died. He was preparing to return to Darkover when he died; to contest plans to declare the Lordship of Alton vacant because both he and Lew had been offplanet for too long. His last command to Lew precipitates most of the later action.
Several things are established in this book which are belied in later books. One which had been established earlier as well is that Jeff Kerwin, Jr is the son of Cleindori and her foster-brother--Kennard's older brother (also named Lewis), and NOT of Arnad Ridenow. Whatever one's opinion of all these people having sexual relations with their foster-siblings (I hope I've made my own objections clear), this is apparently what happened yet again in this case. Arnad Ridenow would have been MUCH too close kin to Cleindori for it to be safe for her to have a child with him.
It's also established in this book that Gabriel Lanart-Hastur is the descendant of Ann'dra Carr and Ellemir Lanart-Alton (I think he was a grandson, but if so, he was probably a lateborn child).
One thing which IS carried on to later books is that wielding the Sword of Aldones is very hazardous to the health, even for a Hastur. This has aftereffects that bear watching.
At the end of this book, Marguerida Alton is said to be between three and five years old. This means that it can't be more than six years since her conception--which places the ending of this book around the time that Regis Hastur was about 21. Prematurely white-haired, indeed!
Regis Hastur, though he has his psychological problems, seems to have always been a more stable person, less controlled by his passions (but see Heritage of Hastur to recognize that threshold sickness can shake the most tranquil character), and he handles the crisis of the book better--as he handles most things better.
Several people point out in the book that the Comyn Council is an anachronism--but few seem to realize that there was very little basis for it in the FIRST place. A story of the establishment of the Council, and the reasons for same, would repay reading.
This book continues the practice of denying history. Several characters speculate that there must be archives of some sort explaining what happened in history--but instead of going in search of them, they instead rely on shaky and dangerous expeditions to try to plumb the memory of living fossils like Mother Ashara--often with disastrous results. The censorship by the Comyn council of what people can learn is justified quite a few times in the books by arguing, essentially, that the people are not capable of deciding for themselves what they can or should learn. At least once, whole areas of study are declared off limits because they are described as 'idle' and the argument is that people don't need to know that stuff.
The existence of (a) separate Darkovan culture(s) might or might not have been possible without the bookburning tendencies of the founding generation. But the damage inflicted by the perennial tendency to try to expunge any record of the past (besides vague traditions most people can't fathom the reason for) indubitably results in serious catastrophes for people who find themselves caught in serial and parallel tragedies, almost entirely unrelieved by humor, and mostly lacking even the ameliorating comforts of everyday life.
At one point in the book, Lew Alton refers to 'games' played in the Towers that amount to psychic fencing matches. What about other games? In Heritage of Hastur, Lew uses forcing flowers to bloom prematurely as a training game--but as pointed out in Stormqueen!, there are other games (hide and seek comes at once to mind) that could be used as training tools. Part of the abusive nature of Darkovan society is that they recognize that things are dangerous, but they seem to argue that this means you shouldn't play with them, even in a dry run. If Terrans had run their technology that way--well, it looks like they WERE doing that when the original ship crashed. Perhaps that's WHY the ship crashed. If they'd done more virtual testing, they might not have been in a situation where the crashed ship had no contact with potential rescuers. The Darkovans abandoned a lot of their past--it might have helped if they abandoned that bit as well.
For a comparison, it might be worthwhile to contrast the violent (and cooperatively warlike) Darkovans with the more individualistic (and more cooperative, except in warfare) Gethenians from LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness. One important point of contrast--the barely post-adolescent Marius Alton is ashamed of his tears for his distant (in all senses of the word) father. By the time of Sharra's Exile, Bradley has come to understand this as a sign of his youth, not of 'manliness'--Marius is afraid he will be considered childish, not that he'll be considered unmanly. Older people who have passed through this phase cry unashamedly. Well, it's a start.
Another issue only glancingly discussed is the reaction of the Darkovans, accustomed to low light, to the bright lighting of Empire technology and the more brightly sunlit worlds. As a default expert on this subject, I would say that Bradley probably did NOT have trouble with bright lights. She shows no real appreciation for how hard it is to get around and do ordinary tasks in such painful and disabling lighting. A few vague references to 'headaches', it's true--but no stories of people planning excursions to allow for travel through shadows, no real discussion of how it's not possible to see where you're going, read road signs, etc. Andre Norton discusses the subject a little better in her Janus books--Bradley doesn't seem to have thought the matter through.
The internal chronology of this book is such that other books would fit within the 'books' of this one. Thus, for example, Planet Savers would probably have been around the time that Lew Alton discovers that his genome has been irreparably damaged. This damage was NOT established in the earlier version (Sword of Aldones), which results in some discontinuities within fan fiction (one story supplies Marja with siblings, for example). The damage to Lew's somatic DNA need not, of course, have cause damage to the gametes, since the injury was to the hand. But apparently it did.
It's never established, by the way, why Diotima Ridenow didn't choose to have children of her own. There's no reason to believe that Lew Alton would have protested--he might even have encouraged her to have children by other fathers...or to make use of modern reproductive technologies. Lew's great-uncle Damon (probably also Dio's great-uncle--Darkovan geneaeologies tend to be like that), after all, arranged matters so that not only he, but Ellemir, were able to have children, once they realized that they were too closely related to have children together. Perhaps Dio didn't want more children?
Later parts of the book are several years later. Kennard Alton dies on the pleasure world of Vainwal, to which he had resorted when his rheumatism got bad enough that he needed regular access to hot springs, and a mild climate. It's not clear how old Kennard was when he married Yllana Aldaran. He had recognized that his first, dynastic marriage wasn't going to work out early on, but he seems to have stayed married to her until she died--so he may have been in his forties or older before he was freed to marry again. There's no doubt he was already prone to lameness and aching joints even before he left Arilinn, to which he seems have returned after Yllana's death, while his sons were still children.
Kennard was probably over 70, therefore, when he died. He was preparing to return to Darkover when he died; to contest plans to declare the Lordship of Alton vacant because both he and Lew had been offplanet for too long. His last command to Lew precipitates most of the later action.
Several things are established in this book which are belied in later books. One which had been established earlier as well is that Jeff Kerwin, Jr is the son of Cleindori and her foster-brother--Kennard's older brother (also named Lewis), and NOT of Arnad Ridenow. Whatever one's opinion of all these people having sexual relations with their foster-siblings (I hope I've made my own objections clear), this is apparently what happened yet again in this case. Arnad Ridenow would have been MUCH too close kin to Cleindori for it to be safe for her to have a child with him.
It's also established in this book that Gabriel Lanart-Hastur is the descendant of Ann'dra Carr and Ellemir Lanart-Alton (I think he was a grandson, but if so, he was probably a lateborn child).
One thing which IS carried on to later books is that wielding the Sword of Aldones is very hazardous to the health, even for a Hastur. This has aftereffects that bear watching.
At the end of this book, Marguerida Alton is said to be between three and five years old. This means that it can't be more than six years since her conception--which places the ending of this book around the time that Regis Hastur was about 21. Prematurely white-haired, indeed!
June 25, 2015
Yeah, The Heritage of Hastur is better, but I liked Sharra's Exile a lot too.
The plot is pretty much the continuation of everything that happened in the previous book, so I won't go too much into it here. Lew has to deal with the aftereffects of joining with the Sharra circle and his physical and psychic (in both senses) maiming, Regis has to deal with becoming the leader of the Comyn and assuming his at-least partially unwanted birthright, Dyan continues to be ambiguously villainous, and the Terrans are lurking around the edges of society.
The Terrans and their relationship with Darkover were probably the most interesting part of the book for me, because I thought it was a great look at colonialism. Darkover is a protected planet, with the technological impact of the Empire pretty minimal outside the Terran Zone in Thendara and very little interference with the Comyn even though they're a regressive feudal aristocracy, but not everyone likes it that way.
There's some great points made on both sides of the issue, like when Lerrys Ridenow points out that the current situation is because the Comyn want it that way so that they can keep their hereditary privileges and they don't even ask the common people what they want, or how the Terran Legate basically admits that the only reason the Empire doesn't ignore the Comyn completely is because it's too much effort for too little result most of the time. Darkover is a metal-poor frostball--Lew mentions that he can tell it's high summer because there's only a little snow on the ground in the morning--with a total population that's maybe in the hundreds of thousands. The only thing the Empire would be interested in is the laran science, but even there it turns out there are telepaths on other Empire worlds, and by the end of the novel the Comyn sound like there are barely a few dozen left. Without Darkover's use as a transfer point, there's no reason for the Empire to be here at all.
Speaking of the Empire, I had a bit of a hard time getting used to the starships and spacemen (gender deliberate) feel of the Terran Empire, especially when someone mentions the year is around 5000 CE and not the ~2400 CE or so I would have expected from the tech level. After three thousand years I would have thought the Terrans would all be followed by sentient nano clouds tying them in to the godmind through wormhole internet, making laran a quaint anachronism of an age when a human's power was based only on the squishy meat of their physical brain. But it's not that kind of book. They can't even provide a mechanical hand to Lew that's as good as what we're developing now.
On the other hand, ten thousand years have passed on Darkover because of hyperdrive shenanigans, and that immediately invokes the Sci fi writers have no sense of scale problem. A period longer than the entirety of recorded human history and casta and cahuenga still are recognizably descended from Spanish and Gaelic? Names like di Asturien and MacAran and Del Rey are still around?
I was also surprised at how the Hastur Gift was a lost mystery. I've read enough other Darkover books over the years that the Living Matrix has a prominent place in the part of my brain devoted to obscure sci fi and fantasy knowledge, so the idea that it could be unknown was pretty weird to me. But for people coming to this book for the first time, that won't be a problem.
I haven't really talked about the plot at all, both because it's better done in The Heritage of Hastur and because one of the central points the plot hangs on--namely, Cherilly's Law and summoning Kathy--struck me as completely ludicrous. I think it's the central conceit of Two to Conquer as well (hence the title), but just because it's done more than once doesn't make it any easier to swallow.
I did like Ashara pointing out that the Darkovans attempt to make laran into a Terran-style science, bound by the scientific method and subject to rigid laws, is impossible because laran is non-causal and the scientific method breaks down completely if effects precede causes.
Sharra's Exile is another book that I liked more because of what it implied and the overarching themes rather than the events that actually occurred. That's not to say that the events are bad, but they didn't stick out in my mind and they're not as good as The Heritage of Hastur in any case. Dyan has a motivation and is quite a good villain, since he wants what he thinks is best for his world, but Kadarin seems to just want to summon Sharra for the lulz. Or possibly because Sharra wants to be used and, through being used, freed, but this is ambiguous enough that I focused much more on the colonialism aspect than the supernatural battle between Otherworldly forces. Darkover has always been more interesting when it's about familial conflict with laran as the spice, which is why I'm still annoyed that there aren't more books set in the Ages of Chaos.
It's much better than The Sword of Aldones, that's for certain.
Previous Review: The Heritage of Hastur.
Next Review: Exile's Song.
The plot is pretty much the continuation of everything that happened in the previous book, so I won't go too much into it here. Lew has to deal with the aftereffects of joining with the Sharra circle and his physical and psychic (in both senses) maiming, Regis has to deal with becoming the leader of the Comyn and assuming his at-least partially unwanted birthright, Dyan continues to be ambiguously villainous, and the Terrans are lurking around the edges of society.
The Terrans and their relationship with Darkover were probably the most interesting part of the book for me, because I thought it was a great look at colonialism. Darkover is a protected planet, with the technological impact of the Empire pretty minimal outside the Terran Zone in Thendara and very little interference with the Comyn even though they're a regressive feudal aristocracy, but not everyone likes it that way.
There's some great points made on both sides of the issue, like when Lerrys Ridenow points out that the current situation is because the Comyn want it that way so that they can keep their hereditary privileges and they don't even ask the common people what they want, or how the Terran Legate basically admits that the only reason the Empire doesn't ignore the Comyn completely is because it's too much effort for too little result most of the time. Darkover is a metal-poor frostball--Lew mentions that he can tell it's high summer because there's only a little snow on the ground in the morning--with a total population that's maybe in the hundreds of thousands. The only thing the Empire would be interested in is the laran science, but even there it turns out there are telepaths on other Empire worlds, and by the end of the novel the Comyn sound like there are barely a few dozen left. Without Darkover's use as a transfer point, there's no reason for the Empire to be here at all.
Speaking of the Empire, I had a bit of a hard time getting used to the starships and spacemen (gender deliberate) feel of the Terran Empire, especially when someone mentions the year is around 5000 CE and not the ~2400 CE or so I would have expected from the tech level. After three thousand years I would have thought the Terrans would all be followed by sentient nano clouds tying them in to the godmind through wormhole internet, making laran a quaint anachronism of an age when a human's power was based only on the squishy meat of their physical brain. But it's not that kind of book. They can't even provide a mechanical hand to Lew that's as good as what we're developing now.
On the other hand, ten thousand years have passed on Darkover because of hyperdrive shenanigans, and that immediately invokes the Sci fi writers have no sense of scale problem. A period longer than the entirety of recorded human history and casta and cahuenga still are recognizably descended from Spanish and Gaelic? Names like di Asturien and MacAran and Del Rey are still around?
I was also surprised at how the Hastur Gift was a lost mystery. I've read enough other Darkover books over the years that the Living Matrix has a prominent place in the part of my brain devoted to obscure sci fi and fantasy knowledge, so the idea that it could be unknown was pretty weird to me. But for people coming to this book for the first time, that won't be a problem.
I haven't really talked about the plot at all, both because it's better done in The Heritage of Hastur and because one of the central points the plot hangs on--namely, Cherilly's Law and summoning Kathy--struck me as completely ludicrous. I think it's the central conceit of Two to Conquer as well (hence the title), but just because it's done more than once doesn't make it any easier to swallow.
I did like Ashara pointing out that the Darkovans attempt to make laran into a Terran-style science, bound by the scientific method and subject to rigid laws, is impossible because laran is non-causal and the scientific method breaks down completely if effects precede causes.
Sharra's Exile is another book that I liked more because of what it implied and the overarching themes rather than the events that actually occurred. That's not to say that the events are bad, but they didn't stick out in my mind and they're not as good as The Heritage of Hastur in any case. Dyan has a motivation and is quite a good villain, since he wants what he thinks is best for his world, but Kadarin seems to just want to summon Sharra for the lulz. Or possibly because Sharra wants to be used and, through being used, freed, but this is ambiguous enough that I focused much more on the colonialism aspect than the supernatural battle between Otherworldly forces. Darkover has always been more interesting when it's about familial conflict with laran as the spice, which is why I'm still annoyed that there aren't more books set in the Ages of Chaos.
It's much better than The Sword of Aldones, that's for certain.
Previous Review: The Heritage of Hastur.
Next Review: Exile's Song.
August 19, 2015
Sharra's Exile (pub. 1981) is an extensive revision of Bradley's second Darkover novel, Sword of Aldones (pub. 1962), and the immediate sequel to The Heritage of Hastur. In Sharra's Exile, the consequences of the Sharra rising on all the participants are examined, and a final resolution is finally found to the threat of another Sharra rising.
Lew and Kennard have been offworld for five years. Kennard is aging and in poor health. Lew has learned that using Sharra has distorted his very genetic structure -Terran regeneration techniques can not restore his hand, and when he meets and falls in love with Diotima Ridenow, a Darkovan Comynara travelling offworld, their child is born premature and fatally deformed, which strains the relationship past the breaking point.
Then comes news from Darkover - the Comyn Council is preparing to void Kennard's lordship of Alton and, ignoring both Lew as his declared heir and his younger son Marius, choose a new lord of Alton. But before Kennard can return to defend his claim, he suffers a fatal stroke - and his dying act is to use the Alton gift of forced rapport to compel Lew to go back to Darkover and secure Marius' rights.
With both Lew and Sharra on Darkovan soil again, Sharra wakes, and the former members of the Sharra circle are drawn to it. Kadarin steals the Sharra matrix from the Alton residence in Thendara; Marius is killed in the attack. Meanwhile, rumours about a child of Alton blood are circulating; the child - a girl named Marja - is found, and proves to be Lew's child by Thyra, conceived while he was drugged and under Kadarin's control.
After conversations with the two Keepers at the Comyn Tower - Callina Aillard and the unbelievably ancient Ashara, Lew and Regis realise that Regis, bearing the Hastur gift, is the only one who can stand against Sharra - but that he needs the power of the ancient Hastur relic, the Sword of Aldones, to defeat Sharra. But the Sword is guarded in an ingenious fashion. It lies within the Comyn Chapel, the rhu faed, which is so shielded that only one of Comyn blood can enter - but the Sword itself is warded such that no one with the slightest hint of Comyn blood or laran power can touch it. Callina and Lew use a giant matrix screen to "call" to them a person who will be best suited to help them reach the Sword. This person is Kathie Marshall, a Terran nurse from the planet Vainwal, who was present when Diotima and Lew's child was born, and who is also a perfect double for Linnell Lindir-Aillard, Camilla's half-sister, Lew's foster sister, and the betrothed of the young and mentally unstable Prince Derik Elhalyn.
In an attempt to bring Lew back under Sharra's control, Kadarin and Thyra attend the Midsummer Festival in disguise, but Regis, who has already discovered that he has an instinctive gift that can counter Sharra's influence, manages to keep Lew from succumbing. Sharra strikes out, killing Linnell; Prince Derik, weakened by a mysteriously spiked drink, dies in the psychic backlash.
Callina, Lew and Kathie succeed in retrieving the Sword of Aldones from the rhu faed, but Lew is seriously wounded when Kadarin and Thyra try - and fail - to take the Sword from them. A Terran helicopter, authorised by Regis, arrives in time to transport Lew, Callina, Kathie, and - under arrest - Kadarin and Thyra - to Terran Medical, where Regis heals Lew with the power of the Sword.
Using the powers of Sharra, Kadarin teleports himself, Thyra and Lew to the forecourt of Comyn Castle. Lew is almost drawn into Sharra, but Callina and Regis arrive, and challenge Sharra's power, weakening its hold over Lew. A psychic battle begins, Aldones against Sharra, with Lew torn between them, unable to lend his power to either side. Suddenly Dyan Ardais arrives, and, driven by his ambition, arrogance, and jealousy of Lew, joins Sharra and cuts the ties that draw Lew to its fires. The final battle is joined, with Kadarin, Thrya and Dyan sealed to Sharra, and Regis, with the support of Callina and Lew, wielding the Sword of Aldones. In the end, Sharra is broken, Kadarin and Thyra drawn bodily into the vortex of its passing, and both Callina and Dyan lie dead or dying on the cobblestones. Only Lew and Regis remain alive, and Regis' hair has turned white.
As the novel ends, the loss of so many of the Comyn forces Darkover into a closer relationship with the Terran Empire. Lew, reconciled with Diotima, goes back into space with his wife and daughter, to serve as Darkover's first representative in the Empire Senate. And Regis, once more, takes up the Hastur mantle as Lew goes out among the stars.
Lew and Kennard have been offworld for five years. Kennard is aging and in poor health. Lew has learned that using Sharra has distorted his very genetic structure -Terran regeneration techniques can not restore his hand, and when he meets and falls in love with Diotima Ridenow, a Darkovan Comynara travelling offworld, their child is born premature and fatally deformed, which strains the relationship past the breaking point.
Then comes news from Darkover - the Comyn Council is preparing to void Kennard's lordship of Alton and, ignoring both Lew as his declared heir and his younger son Marius, choose a new lord of Alton. But before Kennard can return to defend his claim, he suffers a fatal stroke - and his dying act is to use the Alton gift of forced rapport to compel Lew to go back to Darkover and secure Marius' rights.
With both Lew and Sharra on Darkovan soil again, Sharra wakes, and the former members of the Sharra circle are drawn to it. Kadarin steals the Sharra matrix from the Alton residence in Thendara; Marius is killed in the attack. Meanwhile, rumours about a child of Alton blood are circulating; the child - a girl named Marja - is found, and proves to be Lew's child by Thyra, conceived while he was drugged and under Kadarin's control.
After conversations with the two Keepers at the Comyn Tower - Callina Aillard and the unbelievably ancient Ashara, Lew and Regis realise that Regis, bearing the Hastur gift, is the only one who can stand against Sharra - but that he needs the power of the ancient Hastur relic, the Sword of Aldones, to defeat Sharra. But the Sword is guarded in an ingenious fashion. It lies within the Comyn Chapel, the rhu faed, which is so shielded that only one of Comyn blood can enter - but the Sword itself is warded such that no one with the slightest hint of Comyn blood or laran power can touch it. Callina and Lew use a giant matrix screen to "call" to them a person who will be best suited to help them reach the Sword. This person is Kathie Marshall, a Terran nurse from the planet Vainwal, who was present when Diotima and Lew's child was born, and who is also a perfect double for Linnell Lindir-Aillard, Camilla's half-sister, Lew's foster sister, and the betrothed of the young and mentally unstable Prince Derik Elhalyn.
In an attempt to bring Lew back under Sharra's control, Kadarin and Thyra attend the Midsummer Festival in disguise, but Regis, who has already discovered that he has an instinctive gift that can counter Sharra's influence, manages to keep Lew from succumbing. Sharra strikes out, killing Linnell; Prince Derik, weakened by a mysteriously spiked drink, dies in the psychic backlash.
Callina, Lew and Kathie succeed in retrieving the Sword of Aldones from the rhu faed, but Lew is seriously wounded when Kadarin and Thyra try - and fail - to take the Sword from them. A Terran helicopter, authorised by Regis, arrives in time to transport Lew, Callina, Kathie, and - under arrest - Kadarin and Thyra - to Terran Medical, where Regis heals Lew with the power of the Sword.
Using the powers of Sharra, Kadarin teleports himself, Thyra and Lew to the forecourt of Comyn Castle. Lew is almost drawn into Sharra, but Callina and Regis arrive, and challenge Sharra's power, weakening its hold over Lew. A psychic battle begins, Aldones against Sharra, with Lew torn between them, unable to lend his power to either side. Suddenly Dyan Ardais arrives, and, driven by his ambition, arrogance, and jealousy of Lew, joins Sharra and cuts the ties that draw Lew to its fires. The final battle is joined, with Kadarin, Thrya and Dyan sealed to Sharra, and Regis, with the support of Callina and Lew, wielding the Sword of Aldones. In the end, Sharra is broken, Kadarin and Thyra drawn bodily into the vortex of its passing, and both Callina and Dyan lie dead or dying on the cobblestones. Only Lew and Regis remain alive, and Regis' hair has turned white.
As the novel ends, the loss of so many of the Comyn forces Darkover into a closer relationship with the Terran Empire. Lew, reconciled with Diotima, goes back into space with his wife and daughter, to serve as Darkover's first representative in the Empire Senate. And Regis, once more, takes up the Hastur mantle as Lew goes out among the stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2007
Re-read. I tend to forget how awful this one is in the years between readings. Poorly plotted, repetitive, internally inconsistent and yet here I am. It's the resolution of the set up in the much better Heritage of Hastur and thus must be read. Regis and Lew do seem to rise above the horrible writing, but only just. I don't recommend this for anyone but Darkover completists doing a re-read.
August 14, 2020
The end of The Heritage of Hastur resulted in
With hopes that Terran medical science can help Lew regain his destroyed hand, Kennard tries to aid his son and Alton’s heir. Lew finds some small comfort and starts to live once again when he and Dio meet on the pleasure planet Vainwal. At first Dio is completely turned off by Lew and his over the top meanness towards everyone and everything. But as Lew slowly allows Dio past his barriers, Sharra’s hold on him diminishes when he confesses to her what happened to him in the Sharra matrix circle, the Lady Ridenow grows to love him.
Sharra’s influence on Lew goes deeper than what he previously imagined it ever could.
The Hasturs intend to inherit the Alton Domain, adding to the already immense Hastur power, because both Lew and Kennard are off world at the same time. The two have left the domain vacant for more six years. Will Lew return to Darkover to claim his right to rule the Alton domain, or will his brother Marius finally work his way into the Comyn with Dyan’s help? Will Regis support his grandfather, when he plans to put Gabriel Lanart-Hastur on the Alton domain throne? How will the manipulated and dull-witted Prince Derik’s big mouth bring an end to not only his reign as king, but bring an end to the Comyn’s rule also? Ultimately, will Lew continue to battle and defeat Sharra, or will he choose to give up and die because the pain Sharra inflicts on him is unbearable?
With hopes that Terran medical science can help Lew regain his destroyed hand, Kennard tries to aid his son and Alton’s heir. Lew finds some small comfort and starts to live once again when he and Dio meet on the pleasure planet Vainwal. At first Dio is completely turned off by Lew and his over the top meanness towards everyone and everything. But as Lew slowly allows Dio past his barriers, Sharra’s hold on him diminishes when he confesses to her what happened to him in the Sharra matrix circle, the Lady Ridenow grows to love him.
Sharra’s influence on Lew goes deeper than what he previously imagined it ever could.
The Hasturs intend to inherit the Alton Domain, adding to the already immense Hastur power, because both Lew and Kennard are off world at the same time. The two have left the domain vacant for more six years. Will Lew return to Darkover to claim his right to rule the Alton domain, or will his brother Marius finally work his way into the Comyn with Dyan’s help? Will Regis support his grandfather, when he plans to put Gabriel Lanart-Hastur on the Alton domain throne? How will the manipulated and dull-witted Prince Derik’s big mouth bring an end to not only his reign as king, but bring an end to the Comyn’s rule also? Ultimately, will Lew continue to battle and defeat Sharra, or will he choose to give up and die because the pain Sharra inflicts on him is unbearable?
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.
February 27, 2023
reading the books in chronological order according to the Darkover timeline, you actually work backwards in terms of publishing date. The author acknowledges this in Sharra's Exile, noting that readers who do read in this order read her more refined work before her more ?primitive? ?less evolved? less mature? writing style.
Nevertheless, I felt this book the most intense in terms of details of the world, wrapping up many many plots that span centuries. It was very fulfilling, and a good conclusion to the series.
I have not read many of the co-authored works, nor any of the anthologies. perhaps this remains for my next visit to Darkover...
Nevertheless, I felt this book the most intense in terms of details of the world, wrapping up many many plots that span centuries. It was very fulfilling, and a good conclusion to the series.
I have not read many of the co-authored works, nor any of the anthologies. perhaps this remains for my next visit to Darkover...
Read
October 23, 2025The most dangerous matrix on all Darkover was the legendary Sharra. Embodied in the image of a chained woman, wreathed in flames, it was the last remaining weapon of the Ages of Chaos that had almost destroyed civilization on the planet of the Bloody Sun. The Sharra had been exiled off-planet among the far stars of the Terran Empire in the custody of Lew Alton ... until he found himself called back to his homeworld to contest his rights. But once the Sharra was back, the flaming image spread far and wide---and set in motion events that were to change the land, the domains, and the future of Darkover forever.
April 10, 2023
A continuation of The Heritage of Hastur that picks up several years after but really years that wouldn't contribute to the plot of the 2 main characters' stories. And it brings their stories to a nice conclusion.
I did get confused over who was related to who, which families had what traits etc. but I gave up and found not knowing those details really didn't impact the plot or dull the enjoyment of the story.
I did get confused over who was related to who, which families had what traits etc. but I gave up and found not knowing those details really didn't impact the plot or dull the enjoyment of the story.
April 26, 2023
Secuela inmediata de The Heritage of Hastur, la que probablemente sea la más famosa de las líneas argumentales de Darkover. A nivel de trama parece una extensión de esta, y la historia del regreso de uno de los personajes y el enfrentamiento final con los antagonistas de su predecesora es algo que lo sentí muy breve y que no justificaba una novela que se regodea más en las peripecias políticas y largas explicaciones acerca de la magia de este mundo en particular. En general me pareció algo tediosa y la mayoría de sus virtudes (como por ejemplo su inusualmente positiva visión de la diversidad sexual de sus protagonistas) son cosas que ya tenía la novela anterior así que tampoco me impresionaron tanto.
December 11, 2018
So, so, SO repetitive. And everything happens in such a short amount of time, passions and friendship and hatred and battles, everything is really compressed and kind of not believable like this.
And it's a shame, since the story is quite good and it could have been so much better... I wish they would adapt Darkover books into movies or a tv series, I think it would be a very interesting adaptation to make.
And it's a shame, since the story is quite good and it could have been so much better... I wish they would adapt Darkover books into movies or a tv series, I think it would be a very interesting adaptation to make.
February 26, 2019
8/10. Media de los 18 libros leídos de la autora : 8/10
En su día estaba colgadito de su saga de Darkover (Fantasía). Hace no mucho re-leí parte de uno de estos libros y me resultó simplón, pero como estoy manteniendo la nota que les puse en su día, pues queda la autora con una media fantástica de "8".
La saga artúrica Las nieblas de Avalon tb está muy bien, es una novelación distinta pero bien escrita. Lo de siempre pero con otro toque, vamos. Y sus incursiones en CF tampoco defraudan.
En su día estaba colgadito de su saga de Darkover (Fantasía). Hace no mucho re-leí parte de uno de estos libros y me resultó simplón, pero como estoy manteniendo la nota que les puse en su día, pues queda la autora con una media fantástica de "8".
La saga artúrica Las nieblas de Avalon tb está muy bien, es una novelación distinta pero bien escrita. Lo de siempre pero con otro toque, vamos. Y sus incursiones en CF tampoco defraudan.
July 8, 2020
Directly follows Heritage of Hastur but is also rewritten from the very early work called Sword of Aldones. I have never read, never been able to find the latter. It would be interesting to compare the two. This one is riveting after a slow start, and continues the struggle between Darkover and the Terran Empire. The story itself seems to overlap on itself and get knotted up, which is where I wonder about the original story and the newer writing.
Still, a lot of fun.
Still, a lot of fun.
January 7, 2021
This is one of my favourite of all the Darkover series. Now, Darkover fans will know the ending suggests something a plot twist that changes in subsequent stories. But this is a fabulous story of love, duty, and the powers of good and evil. It does fill in so much more of the characters of Lew Alton and Regis Hastur. A jolly good yarn!
September 6, 2020
This is a good story, but.... I think something,g is missing. I think the climate of Darkover, which plays such a big part of most of the earlier books, is very much not important in this book. That climate is one of the unique parts of the Darkover world.
February 23, 2022
è la rivisitazione di La spada di Aldones : era una merda il primo e questo riesce ad essere anche peggio
December 8, 2023
What a DRAMA!! It’s silly to think these novels are “stand alones,” bc without having previously read Heritage of Hastur this wouldn’t have made any sense. Since I had read that book and Winds of Darkover, though, I can say I loved this as a ‘conclusion’ to this specific bit.
March 18, 2019
Altro libro del ciclo di Darkover. Molto piacevole, narra di quando Lew Alton viene corrotto dallo spirito distruttivo di Sharra, diventando l'incarnazione della furia.
September 15, 2019
Good Sci fi
January 28, 2020
I am going to hate it when these books end
February 28, 2020
The climax and final battle was kind of a letdown after such a long buildup.
May 21, 2020
It's been ages since I've read one from this series. Now I might have to go find all the ones I have read and read them again.
March 14, 2023
3,5 ⭐️
March 13, 2025
Palace intrigue, deeds
done for possession or love
rule unsure future
done for possession or love
rule unsure future
June 10, 2025
Anche questo romanzo della saga di Darkover si inserisce nel periodo in cui la società tradizionale del pianeta Darkover con le sue istituzioni di stampo feudale si incontrano e più spesso si scontrano con la modernità dell'impero terrestre.
Ma questo tema rimane sullo sfondo per concentrarsi sull'aspetto più "magico" del potere dei signori di Darkover.
Il tentativo di spiegare scientificamente la magia delle matrici è risucito solo in parte ma ad ogni modo aggiunge fascino e mistero.
Questo ciclo, e questa autrice, son garanzia di piacevoli letture.
Ma questo tema rimane sullo sfondo per concentrarsi sull'aspetto più "magico" del potere dei signori di Darkover.
Il tentativo di spiegare scientificamente la magia delle matrici è risucito solo in parte ma ad ogni modo aggiunge fascino e mistero.
Questo ciclo, e questa autrice, son garanzia di piacevoli letture.
Read
September 23, 2024This is not a review, but rather a progress report (note to self).
Book was "on hold" (paused reading) from August 31st to September 15th because I was reading accompanied by the audiobook using my free hours on Spotify and ran out of free hours until September. In the meantime, I read the Chronicles of Nick books, and resumed reading Sharra's Exile on September 15th (2024).
Book was "on hold" (paused reading) from August 31st to September 15th because I was reading accompanied by the audiobook using my free hours on Spotify and ran out of free hours until September. In the meantime, I read the Chronicles of Nick books, and resumed reading Sharra's Exile on September 15th (2024).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 14, 2009
This was the first Darkover book I read, more than a quarter of a century ago. I didn't realize it until the end, when I came to a section that was very memorable. Again, this was quite a good novel, one that deals with the events that are 'legendary' in the Darkover canon, events that are referred to throughout the other novels--when Regis Hastur wields the Sword of Aldones to banish Sharra.
Bradley apparently had the idea for this story when she was about fifteen, which would have been in the late 1940s, and she had written it once in a novel called 'The Sword of Aldones,' which, she admits in the introduction to this novel, she didn't do a very good job of, and she says that she wanted to rework the story and do it again rather than rewrite the novel. It's interesting to me that there were a couple of novels Bradley wrote when she was younger, realized as she matured and her artistic abilities grew, and she rewrote or reworked as a mature artist. I have written on one of htese already, Star of Danger, which is excellent--I commented at the time how much better it seemed that other of its comtnemporary books, then I realized that it was a good that had been rewritten fifteen years later and was good. Such is the case with Sharra's Exhile/Sowrd of Aldones.
Picking up where Heritage of Hastur left off, this novel follows the narrative pattern of the previous book, alternating third person narration from Regis' point of view and first person narration from Lew Alton's. It follows the romance, falling out, and reunion of Lew with Diotima Ridenow; these are major characters in the Exhile's Return triology, Bradley's last and perhaps greatest triology.
It also follow Regis' efforts to banish Sharra and the matrix that has the power to destroy both the Darkovans and the Terrna base. It traces the development of Regis from a reluctant young man to the man who will be crowned King on Darkover and, later, Regent (the real political power).
Exciting, action packed, interesting exploraiton of gender and, in this case, male sexuality. The only flaw I find is one I alluded to in my critique of the previous novel, that some clumsy foreshadowing in the Lew sections spoils the plot and seems melodramatic ina Victorian manner.
Overall, a really good, almost great, book.
I do have to mention that the warm, likeable, loving father we see Lew Alton be is incconsistent with the distant, angry, poor father we see in Exhile's return. Although Lew returns to himself later in the final trilogy, Bradley commits a pretty serious character violation with him in the later book.
Doesn't lessen my opinion of this novel, though. A definite read.
Bradley apparently had the idea for this story when she was about fifteen, which would have been in the late 1940s, and she had written it once in a novel called 'The Sword of Aldones,' which, she admits in the introduction to this novel, she didn't do a very good job of, and she says that she wanted to rework the story and do it again rather than rewrite the novel. It's interesting to me that there were a couple of novels Bradley wrote when she was younger, realized as she matured and her artistic abilities grew, and she rewrote or reworked as a mature artist. I have written on one of htese already, Star of Danger, which is excellent--I commented at the time how much better it seemed that other of its comtnemporary books, then I realized that it was a good that had been rewritten fifteen years later and was good. Such is the case with Sharra's Exhile/Sowrd of Aldones.
Picking up where Heritage of Hastur left off, this novel follows the narrative pattern of the previous book, alternating third person narration from Regis' point of view and first person narration from Lew Alton's. It follows the romance, falling out, and reunion of Lew with Diotima Ridenow; these are major characters in the Exhile's Return triology, Bradley's last and perhaps greatest triology.
It also follow Regis' efforts to banish Sharra and the matrix that has the power to destroy both the Darkovans and the Terrna base. It traces the development of Regis from a reluctant young man to the man who will be crowned King on Darkover and, later, Regent (the real political power).
Exciting, action packed, interesting exploraiton of gender and, in this case, male sexuality. The only flaw I find is one I alluded to in my critique of the previous novel, that some clumsy foreshadowing in the Lew sections spoils the plot and seems melodramatic ina Victorian manner.
Overall, a really good, almost great, book.
I do have to mention that the warm, likeable, loving father we see Lew Alton be is incconsistent with the distant, angry, poor father we see in Exhile's return. Although Lew returns to himself later in the final trilogy, Bradley commits a pretty serious character violation with him in the later book.
Doesn't lessen my opinion of this novel, though. A definite read.
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