Rating: 
Summary: MZB Darkover series has been renovated.
Review: At last! The Darkover series has beem brought back to life by MZB with this and her last book. It was getting a little bit tiring to read antholigies and revisited history in her books. New characters with new plots being aimed at. She points toward new books in this story. I found it refreshing to have some new characters being active in the series. The characters are not completlely fleshed out yet, but that is why you have a series. You learn about the people in the story as they grow in the series. I look forward to the next book in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantasy's best=Marion Zimmer Bradley !!!!!
Review: Dear readers and fans of Mrs. Bradley, I'm writing from far Italy only to let you know that my heart beat 1000 times faster when I saw that in the bookshop there was a new book of this wonderful writer "the shadow Matrix". You may pardon my opinion, but to really appreciate this work I'd suggest to first read the entire "saga" chronologically, beginning with (you will excuse me if the titles are not perfectly correct, but I'm used to the Italian ones) "The heritage of Hastur", followed by "Sharra's Exile", "Return on Darkover", "The exile's song", and then "Shadow matrix", in order to understand the "historical" facts and the characters better. The thrilling adventures of beautiful and intelligent Marguerida and of intrepid and handsome Mikhail really captured my mind...the more I read the more I wanted to read about their story. When I arrived at the end of "The Shadow Matrix" I was so sad (perhaps I'd better say hungry), because I didn't know if there was a follow-up (let's call it like this)...you can perhaps imagine my joy when I discovered that in fact there is one, "The traitor's sun". But unfortunately is has not been translated in my language yet, and I'd be really thankful if somebody could help me. To those who write that Mrs. Bradley's masterpieces are honeyd or like "Barbara Cartland's" romances (I once read one and I found it really empty), well, I respect their opinion, but let me add that no other author (and I really read a lot) made me fly on the wings of fantasy and made me enter in this world of romance, magic, love, chivalry as if I was a character myself... I just wanted to let you know this little thought of a passionate and faithful reader from far Italy. (hope you'll excuse my English mistakes) If there is someone who would enjoy sharing my feelings and thoughts through e-mail, I'll be glade to chat a little..... ciao ciao
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpeice
Review: Even though this book starts out slow, the rest of the read is well worth it. This cunning story is a hard to put down book that has adventure as well as true love. This is one of Marion Zimmer Bradly's best works.
Rating: 
Summary: A jumble and a disappointment
Review: Fans of Marion Zimmer Bradley will be disappointed on this one.
It has all the feel of having been written hastily and carelessly. The narrative wanders aimlessly and spends excruciatingly long pages on dialogue that is either banal, does
nothing to advance the story, or both. After spending the first
third of the book on a disconnected plot about Mikhail in the hands of a "hedge-witch" in the House of Elyhain, the author
largely drops it, and in effect takes until page 320 or so to
really get started. The time travel into the past by Mikhail and Margaret orchestrated by Varzil the Good, -and their subsequent marriage officiated by same- is the only worthwhile part, but
it lasts only a short while. After marrying them, the author
suddenly veers again blindly, this time to have Mikhail and
Margaret destroy evil plans to use atomic power in the
distant past (I am not kidding!) This plot has nothing discernible to do with the reasons Varzil brought them into the past for in the first place; but none of this seems to bother
the author one bit.
In short, it sounds as if the author puts this book together
from disjointed notes in her drawer. Very unsatisfying fare coming from a writer that has brought us such great works in the
past.
Rating:
Summary: Alas, Poor Darkover
Review: Has anyone noticed that this novel --- and its predecessor, "Exile's Song" are copyrighted by MZB and Adrienne Martine-Barnes? These last Darkover books were apparently not written by Bradley, but by an author trained by her to write in her style. The voice sounds like Bradley, the prose is readable enough, but this work certainly lacks the concision and taut plotting that made "Heritage of Hastur" and "Sharra's Exile" (to name two) so entertaining.Even if the rumors are untrue, and MZB did actually write parts of this book, it's seriously flawed, and bears all the marks of having been written by a "fan". The opening chapters are effective enough; but there follows a sequence of some 300 pages in which nothing happens. Not until the last few chapters does the plot actually resume, and not all of the action is consistent with what we know about Darkover. In spite of all these criticisms, the writing had enough flavor to keep me reading until the end. My guess is that Bradley simply lost interest in the series --- Thendara House was the last really worthwhile Darkover book --- and this late entry provides only a small sample of what made this series so popular. If you haven't read Darkover before, skip this one and proceed directly to "The Heritage of Hastur" or "The Shattered Chain."
Rating:
Summary: Alas, Poor Darkover
Review: Has anyone noticed that this novel --- and its predecessor, "Exile's Song" are copyrighted by MZB and Adrienne Martine-Barnes? These last Darkover books were apparently not written by Bradley, but by an author trained by her to write in her style. The voice sounds like Bradley, the prose is readable enough, but this work certainly lacks the concision and taut plotting that made "Heritage of Hastur" and "Sharra's Exile" (to name two) so entertaining. Even if the rumors are untrue, and MZB did actually write parts of this book, it's seriously flawed, and bears all the marks of having been written by a "fan". The opening chapters are effective enough; but there follows a sequence of some 300 pages in which nothing happens. Not until the last few chapters does the plot actually resume, and not all of the action is consistent with what we know about Darkover. In spite of all these criticisms, the writing had enough flavor to keep me reading until the end. My guess is that Bradley simply lost interest in the series --- Thendara House was the last really worthwhile Darkover book --- and this late entry provides only a small sample of what made this series so popular. If you haven't read Darkover before, skip this one and proceed directly to "The Heritage of Hastur" or "The Shattered Chain."
Rating:
Summary: Alas, Poor Darkover
Review: Has anyone noticed that this novel --- and its predecessor, "Exile's Song" are copyrighted by MZB and Adrienne Martine-Barnes? These last Darkover books were apparently not written by Bradley, but by an author trained by her to write in her style. The voice sounds like Bradley, the prose is readable enough, but this work certainly lacks the concision and taut plotting that made "Heritage of Hastur" and "Sharra's Exile" (to name two) so entertaining. Even if the rumors are untrue, and MZB did actually write parts of this book, it's seriously flawed, and bears all the marks of having been written by a "fan". The opening chapters are effective enough; but there follows a sequence of some 300 pages in which nothing happens. Not until the last few chapters does the plot actually resume, and not all of the action is consistent with what we know about Darkover. In spite of all these criticisms, the writing had enough flavor to keep me reading until the end. My guess is that Bradley simply lost interest in the series --- Thendara House was the last really worthwhile Darkover book --- and this late entry provides only a small sample of what made this series so popular. If you haven't read Darkover before, skip this one and proceed directly to "The Heritage of Hastur" or "The Shattered Chain."
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing entry in Darkover series
Review: Having been a Bradley and Darkover fan for years, I was greatly disappointed in this latest offering. It lacked the character depth and richness of all of the others; very superficial.
Rating:
Summary: The exciting conclusion to "Exile's Song"
Review: I am an avide reader and aspiring writer. MZB's latest novel of darkover is the best. If you felt like you were left hanging in " Exile's Song" hold on tight for the conclusion that will take you through love, intrigue, and the Age of Chaos. I fell in love with Margaret Alton and Mihkail Hastur the first time I picked " Shadow Matrix". Everything fron "Exile's Song" is answered.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant ( I have read Exile's Song too)
Review: I bought this as soon as I saw it for sale! I rarely buy books, particularly hard backs (I usually use the local library), but I loved Exile's so much that I had to read The Shadow Matrix the instant I found it. I can't wait for the next installment. Admittedly I am a Darkover fan, having read most of the Darkover novels years and years ago. These new novels have made me start reading the older ones again!
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