Reviews

Stars of Darkover by Deborah J. Ross, Elisabeth Waters

vaderbird's review

3.0

5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish

bookcrazylady45's review

3.0

Many surprisingly good stories. I enjoyed this one very much. About half could be slotted neatly into the timeline but the rest were ones I think I would like to reread.

morgandhu's review

3.0

Reading a new piece of fiction set on Darkover always feels a bit like coming home, I've dreamed this world for so long. With Deborah Ross editing, this new antholology touches on both old and new themes, but always within the scope of what feels right for Darkover.

The themes and situations explored in this anthology range from imaginings of events referred to but not written about in Bradley's books (Janni Lee Simner's All the Branching Pathd, about the off-world meeting of key series character Kennard Alton and his wife Elaine Montray), to a comic tale of courting ritual in the Dry Towns (Threads, by Elisabeth Waters and Ann Sharp).

One theme that runs through much of Bradley's work, as well as that of others who ave written in her universe, is that of women trapped by Darkover's rigid gender expectations finding a way to change, escape or at least subvert them. There are, as is not uncommon in The Darkovan anthologies, several stories in which escape from a marriage or other alliance threatened or forced upon one of the parties (usually the woman) due to political or breeding considerations is a key element. Of these, Kari Sparling's House of Fifteen Widows is particularly memorable.

Another common theme (with many variations) deals with the relationship of Terrans and Darkovans - sometimes one in which a Terran, often one with psychic abilities of theirvown, finds a place on Darkover (as in Judith Tarr's The Cold Blue Light), but more often stories based on misunderstandings (as in Barb Caffrey's At the Crossroads and Rosemary Edghill and Rebecca Fox's Second Contact, the very different stories based on the building of the first spaceport on Darkover, in Aldaran lands).

Another theme of interest was the emergenge of stories examining the lives of those born emmasca. Bradley suggested in the original novels that there was a higher proportion of people born intersex on the Darkovan population, as a part of the chieri inheritance, along with the enhanced psi abilities and the occasional extra digits. Two stories in this anthology feature emmasca characters, both raised as "almost male," who make a transition to full functionality in their preferred gender with the help of an unusual display of laran, or psychic power. I found Diana Paxson's story, Evanda's Mirror, particularly evocative, being the story of an emmasca raised male yet having a female identity, who seeks help first from the Renuciates - who reject her with all the classic transphobic arguments you'd hear at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival.

All in all, it was a pleasant visit to a universe I've long loved, and I'm happy to hear that the MZB literary trust plans to release annual anthologies.