I have a great many of the Darkover books and really looked forward to reading this one. I must say that I found it a bit disappointing but it did fill in some of the history of other characters. I know more about Margali Lorne's parents, and why the first space port was built on Aldaren lands, Zeb Scott's background and more about Raymond Kadarin's history. I am used to reading about Lorril Hastur and his sister Leonie who also feature in later books and it was interesting to discover more about their youth.
If you want a book to fill in background to some of the later characters this is the book for you. Good reading.