Rating: 
Summary: True to Bradley's Vision
Review: Many of the Darkover books are set after people from Earth rediscover their long-lost colonists. The clash of cultures makes for good books, but I have personally always been more interested in the Ages of Chaos and the Hundred Kingdoms, when it is said use of laran science for nefarious purposes was widespread. This book, to my great delight, takes place in this time!
This book tells the story of Queen Tanquiel Hastur-Acosta, who escapes the depradations of the conquerer Damien Deslucido and his evil laranzu brother, Rumail. She escapes her besieged castle and makes her way across land to try and reach her kinsmen in Thendara. Along the way, she meets under-keeper Coryn Leynier, whose home has also fallen to the evil Deslucido, who is traveling to his new post at Neskaya tower. They form a deep and lasting mental bond when Coryn saves her life during a raging blizzard. With his help she is able to reach the home of her powerful uncle, King Rafael Hastur II. There she gives birth to her son, the next king of Acosta, and fights the political machinations of Deslucido and tries to regain control of her son?s birthright. Finally, when it is discovered that Deslucido can lie under truthspell, King Hastur acts, and the evil marauder is finally defeated. Coryn and the other tower workers in Neskaya and Tramontana are drawn into this terrible battle which rages on the physical world and in the Overworld as well.
I thought this was a very good, engrossing read. Bradley?s writing always seemed to me to be sparse on descriptions, very down-and-dirty. So, this book was a pleasant change in some ways, it seemed more complete and satisfied my curiosity. However, the long drawn-out discussions of political machinations and the long battle with Deslucido were a bit too much for me. Some prudent editing would have been nice, IMHO. I kept thinking ?Isn?t it over YET? I want to get to the ending!?
(Yes, I am a geeky Trekkie nit-picking, but... I question the chronological list of books in the front. It says this book takes place during the Hundred Kingdoms, after the Ages of Chaos, yet the events in this book pre-date King Carolin, who is a major character in HAWKMISTRESS!, a book supposedly during the Ages of Chaos. I also agree with a previous reviewer who nit-picked the mentions of foxes and dragons.)
Rating: 
Summary: A Worthy Successor
Review: Ms Ross has really captured the flavor of Darkover and the style of the Darkover series. The anachronisms are the only thing that prevents this rating from being a five. For instance, horses. Horses are supposed to have been imported from Earth much later in this series after contact with Earth has resumed. When writing in a series, details like this have to be kept consistent.
Rating: 
Summary: MZB, like Generalissimo Francisco Franco, is still dead
Review: Ms. Bradley's estate continues to churn out "new" works - even though she's been deceased for at least four (4) years. While the works she published while still among the living had incongruities and even contradictions at times, they still remained quite good, especially those after 1970. These new books are formulaic and just plain sad. The continued use of her name as an "author" is vile. While she welcomed others to play in the worlds she created I doubt she, like most people, would endure others putting words in her mouth.Please let her rest in peace. If you must continue to earn money off her creation don't lie about the source.
Rating:
Summary: MZB, like Generalissimo Francisco Franco, is still dead
Review: Ms. Bradley's estate continues to churn out "new" works - even though she's been deceased for at least four (4) years. While the works she published while still among the living had incongruities and even contradictions at times, they still remained quite good, especially those after 1970. These new books are formulaic and just plain sad. The continued use of her name as an "author" is vile. While she welcomed others to play in the worlds she created I doubt she, like most people, would endure others putting words in her mouth. Please let her rest in peace. If you must continue to earn money off her creation don't lie about the source.
Rating:
Summary: MZB, like Generalissimo Francisco Franco, is still dead
Review: Ms. Bradley's estate continues to churn out "new" works - even though she's been deceased for at least four (4) years. While the works she published while still among the living had incongruities and even contradictions at times, they still remained quite good, especially those after 1970. These new books are formulaic and just plain sad. The continued use of her name as an "author" is vile. While she welcomed others to play in the worlds she created I doubt she, like most people, would endure others putting words in her mouth. Please let her rest in peace. If you must continue to earn money off her creation don't lie about the source.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent glimpse into Darkover's lost history
Review: MZB has often hinted at the *laren* atrocities of the Ages of Chaos, but other than *clingfire*, has often not explained them. Here, the two ladies give a better glimpse of the horrors that led to the creation of the Compact. And why Darkover's people view the Terrans as such wimps - they've been down our path already, and know where it goes. I look forward to seeing the next 2 books, especially if Ross ended up writing them on her own, w/ only notes from MZB (RIP). Hopefully, Ross is a worthy inheritor to MZB's beautiful tapestry of a world & culture.
Rating:
Summary: Anticipate More and Hopefully Soon!
Review: The latest Marion Zimmer Bradley, although Posthumously, has continued to give me more of Darkover, which I would like to see continued. Although, we tragically lost MZB in 1999, I am still thrilled at the prospect of her legacy living on through her collaborations. This is a wonderful story of good deeds and suspense, of the evils of greed and lust for power, of the great saying that the road to hell is led by good intentions and of a story well written and of purpose. I only hope that we will get to see and read the next two parts of this trilogy in the next few years. I recommend this story to any MZB fan and for those who would like to fill in some of the pieces to the Darkover saga in a time of strife and chaos that leads to the years known as the "Hastur Rebellion." I also want to know more about the development of King Carolin and his relationship with Varzil the Good - a sorceror known well into the modern day Darkover fold.
Rating:
Summary: a winner
Review: This was a great book! Even though Ms. Bradley is no longer alive, you can certainly see her in this book; whereas I could not see her at all in the disappointing (to me) 4th Avalon book. I am definitely looking forward to the next in the series!
Rating:
Summary: The Fall of Neskaya
Review: This was my first piece of literature by Marion Zimmer Bradely, and becuase of it it won't be the last. I was spellbound by her writing technique. I could hardly set it down. I finished it within two school days and was mesmerized. This was a very good book and I would recommend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: darkover at it's best
Review: when damain deslucio decides that he wants to expand so that he can rule most of darkover, he stops at nothing to get what he wants. he uses bonewater, clingfire, forced marriages and torture to get what he wants. for his ultimate goal puts him in a face to face battle with the hasturs themselves.
this book has very real stories of men, women and children who suffer through this tyrant's quest for power and the characters are so real that one feels that one is actually a part of the novel. the only downfall i had is that i mistakenly read zandru's forge first so some of it was no surprise. but this book is a definite must for all darkover fans.
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