Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful writing, but where or what is the prequel?, 29 May 2001
I first discovered "Darkover" some 20 years ago, and rediscovering some more recent material was a source of some excitement, until I also discovered the author had the bad grace to die in the meantime, thus limiting the future supply of such material.It did however lead me to re-read all the older novels I had in my posssession, including this one. Whilst MZB maintains that all "Darkover" novels stand alone, and a sense of chronology is not therefore essential to understanding, I would question how far such comments apply to this particular work. It contains perhaps the most powerfull writing of any of the Darkover novels, but the plot is very centred around an assumed prequel(a work that I have not yet had the good fortune to read, or even,in examining the other Darkover titles, clearly identify.) The reader is therefore left in the curious position of wondering precisely what happened "before" with as much interest as what happens next. For this reason I would not recommend the work as an introduction to the series, but it is certainly essential reading for committed "Darkover" enthusiasts, in particular as background to the later trilogy.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
4.0 out of 5 stars
A gripping tale - mostly, 1 Jan 2009
Note: Swords of Aldones was conceived when the author was just fifteen years old, before Heritage and Exile. Having subsequently written Heritage Marion Zimmer Bradley then considered Swords less than satisfactory and eventually decided that while Swords was basically a good idea it was written when she had neither the skill nor the maturity to handle it; she decided not to rewrite it but to write an entirely new book based on events in the same time frame as Swords; that book is Sharra's Exile.
Chronologically in Darkover's history Sharra's Exile follows on from Heritage and Exile after a gap of just a few years. Lew is living off world with his father seeking to save his damaged hand, he also has with him for the safety of Darkover the powerful Shara Matrix. On Darkover Regis is coming to terms with his role as his grandfather's eventual successor. We also learn very soon that his relationship with Danilo has progressed beyond the latter being sworn paxman, and with great subtly on the author's part we realise they are now also lovers. When Lew returns from exile to stand for his rights as Lord of his Domain, he inevitably brings with him the Shara Matrix, unleashing series of events that will threaten the very existence of Darkover.
Told as was Heritage and Exile, in alternate chapters in third person narrative and then narrated by Lew in the first person, Shara's Exile is a complex and involving story, full of political intrigue, drama and love as the Comyn struggle for their own survival, an anachronism in the time of an interstellar empire; events which will ultimately demonstrate that love conquers all. It is on the whole a gripping read; it does at times get bogged down and suffer occasionally from repetition of certain points, but other than that the writing is first rate, one feels absolutely confident the author's hands.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
