- Paperback: 300 pages
- Publisher: Legend paperbacks (4 July 1991)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0099827409
- ISBN-13: 978-0099827405
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 10.9 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 141,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
One of the "Darkover" novels. In the Age of A Hundred Kingdoms, Darkover - planet of the bloody sun and world of legend and mystery - is hewn apart by border conflict between two of its realms. The infant twin heirs of Hammerfell are separated, but their fates are inextricably linked.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This volume has the slightly predictable premise of noble twins separated shortly after birth, who then rediscover each other years later and find themselves vying for the same inheritance. The lack of remorse for the dead is also unconvincing at times, though this is something common to much fantasy fiction, as the genre often demands great loss of life through epic battle without much time given over to length descriptions of grief (which admittedly could become painfully dull). The book in general didn't grip me in quite the same way as the others I've read thus far, though there was an attempt at some socio-economic discussion, with historical resonance in England at least (probably elsewhere too, but being UK educated, I'm not too up on the economic history of other countries...:p). There is also a small amount of gender issues, but unfortunately not to the same level as in a book like 'Two to Conquer'. Nevertheless, 'Heirs of Hammerfell' remains an enjoyable short piece of fantasy fiction, and sticks to a classic formula - not quite up to MZB's highest standards, but MZB's not-quite-best is still better than many other writers of the genre.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
After the effort it took to get hold of this Darkover book, I'm not sure it was worth it. "The Heirs of Hammerfell" would have worked better as a short story; it doesn't even really add much to our gradually-accumulated knowledge of the world and its history. However, it's worth reading for any die-hard Darkover fan, for the sake of completeness and the joy of this wonderfully complex & well-realised world.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Lightweight story.
3 Oct 1998
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This books feels like the author might even have been thinking of writing a Darkover children's book. There is almost no conflict. What should have been a tense story of twin brothers separated from infancy, each of whom thinks he is the sole heir of the kingdom, works out far too neatly and with unrealistically little fuss. The main reason to get this book would be to complete a Darkover collection. I wouldn't seek it out otherwise.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Weak? Yes. Terrible? No. Enjoyable? I thought so.
5 Oct 2000
Format:Hardcover
The story is more simplistic than Bradley's best work, yes.
It is not the best Darkover story, and not one I'd advise starting off with.
However, for those familiar with the setting, it's an enjoyable tale, perhaps on par with _Star of Danger_: fun, light reading in a familiar world.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
one of the weaker Darkover novels
11 Dec 2003
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The Heirs of Hammerfell is a Darkover novel set in the time of the Hundred Kingdoms. Like the other Darkover novels, this book can stand on its own with no need of having read the preceding books in the series. At the time this book was published, it was the first Darkover novel to have been released in Hardcover and it was the first new Darkover novel in a five year period. Unfortunately, this is not among the best of Marion Zimmer Bradley's work.
This novel is the story of the duchy of Hammerfell and the result of its ancient blood feud with neighboring Storn. The novel opens with the aging (40 something) Duke of Hammerfell taking Ermine as a wife. She gives birth to twin boys. When they are perhaps a year old, there is an attack by Ardrin of Storn. Their home is destroyed, and their father murdered. Ermine escapes, but gets separated from the man carrying the younger son, Conn. Each boy is raised believing that they are the only surviving heir to Hammerfell. Alastair is raised by his mother in the Hastur capital city of Thendara. Conn is raised by Markos, a family retainer, in the mountains of Hammerfell.
This is the story of twins, separated at a young age, and their attempt to regain the duchy of Hammerfell from their ancient enemy of Storn. The two are reunited eighteen years later, and what could have/should have been a major conflict in the book is shuffled to the side with minimal contention between Conn and Alastair. This book is as much of a romance as the adventure that it hinted at being.
I like the Darkover series, but this is perhaps the worst of the books that I have read so far. There is very little actual conflict (even though it had such a great set-up), and what conflict there was got resolved with so little fuss that it hardly seemed worth it. I would recommend this book only if you were looking to read all of the Darkover novels. As each book stands on its own, there is no reason to read this to complete your understanding of the story, and this should certainly not be the first book you read if you are starting the series. It's just not that good.
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