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mikimeiko's review against another edition
3.0
Having read this straight after Heir and Exile, I felt the hand of co-writer Adrienne Martine-Barnes quite strongly (and much more favourably that I did in the past): all the issue I had with the other two books (the constant and endless repetitions, the very fast and unexplicable rise of passions, the compressed timelines) almost disappeared, accompanied by an attention to the common folk and to how things actually work on Darkover that is not present in other books.
Margaret Alton is an interesting and quite likeable protagonist, with depth and contradictions, and her story is fascinating enough though I feel like more work could have gone in the planning/editing phase to make the story less erratic. This feels like two books in one, and I think that if they moved the big Tower of Shadows battle to the end, maybe splitting it between two confrontations - one were it is now and one after Lew's return - the narrative would have felt more cohesive.
One of the things that I liked most in my teenage years, the relationship between Margaret and Lew, this time felt distinctly "Bradleyan" and I wish the authors would have crafted it with a little more subtlety.
Margaret Alton is an interesting and quite likeable protagonist, with depth and contradictions, and her story is fascinating enough though I feel like more work could have gone in the planning/editing phase to make the story less erratic. This feels like two books in one, and I think that if they moved the big Tower of Shadows battle to the end, maybe splitting it between two confrontations - one were it is now and one after Lew's return - the narrative would have felt more cohesive.
One of the things that I liked most in my teenage years, the relationship between Margaret and Lew, this time felt distinctly "Bradleyan" and I wish the authors would have crafted it with a little more subtlety.
eupomene's review against another edition
3.0
We first meet Margaret Alton when she is a very little girl, in Sharra's Exile. Here, she is all grown up and a Scholar, having come of age in the Federation and remembering nothing of the planet of her birth.
And of course, since a large portion of Darkover novels adore this theme, she returns to Darkover knowing nothing, but feeling inexorably drawn to it. The best part is that she is a woman and cannot imagine herself taking the part of most Darkovan women. My favorite scenes are the ones where she calmly dresses down the paternalistic and chauvinist men who tell her what to do. She doesn't know what her future in Darkover is, but she knows she is her own person.
Yes, Margaret Alton is up there with Romilly MacAran as one of my favorite characters.
And of course, since a large portion of Darkover novels adore this theme, she returns to Darkover knowing nothing, but feeling inexorably drawn to it. The best part is that she is a woman and cannot imagine herself taking the part of most Darkovan women. My favorite scenes are the ones where she calmly dresses down the paternalistic and chauvinist men who tell her what to do. She doesn't know what her future in Darkover is, but she knows she is her own person.
Yes, Margaret Alton is up there with Romilly MacAran as one of my favorite characters.
vaderbird's review against another edition
3.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
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