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birdloveranne's review against another edition
4.0
Decided to reread this series. I read them 20 years ago and still have them. Going to read them in chronological order this time.
jjyauch's review against another edition
2.0
Wanted to try a darkover novel. This was not the one to try. Sometimes starting at the very beginning, is not a very good place, to start.
margyly's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. Didn’t age well. I started “The Heritage of Hastur,” said to be the best of the Darkover series, and put it down.
essieruth's review against another edition
1.0
Unbelievably trashy. Some interesting ideas, but none of them were explored with any real success.
alienskiesabove's review against another edition
2.0
I'm not entirely inclined, based on this book, to pick up the rest of the series. The story itself could have been far more interesting than it was if it didn't fall back so heavily on misogynistic/chauvinist subjects every moment the opportunity to point out the 'vast differences between the capabilities of men and women' came up. Over all it distracted greatly from the story itself. Whereas I'm usually heavily for character exploration and getting to know the characters I found myself disgusted with them and only really wanting to know more about the planet and anything else to do with it rather than the people. The setting and the overall plot was intriguing I wish there was more of it in this particular book.
I suppose if you're of the mind that women are creatures only meant to be lusted after and must swear off child bearing to be intelligent creatures - and upon doing so will then become callous to the very idea of children, then this is probably totally your cup of tea. It's got aliens, orgies, Celts, and space opera qualities - all of the bullet points I enjoyed.
The author, [a:Marion Zimmer Bradley|4841825|Marion Zimmer Bradley|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1305483488p2/4841825.jpg], is said to be a feminist but by this particular work I certainly couldn't see her that way. I could give some credit if it was only a character or two but every last character including the lead female character was bound and determined to point out that women were lesser creatures in some way. The lead male even more so even after claiming to believe in equality. He even had the nerve to feel entitled and offended when the lead female appeared to not share his feelings as he wanted her to.
I try and give some credit to this book as it was published in the 1970's, however that doesn't persuade me any further to pick up the rest of the series. I don't foresee the general style of the author changing to a more modern and true feminist styled writing until likely late into the series or her writing career if at all. Unfortunately that's a pretty big turn off for me.
I suppose if you're of the mind that women are creatures only meant to be lusted after and must swear off child bearing to be intelligent creatures - and upon doing so will then become callous to the very idea of children, then this is probably totally your cup of tea. It's got aliens, orgies, Celts, and space opera qualities - all of the bullet points I enjoyed.
The author, [a:Marion Zimmer Bradley|4841825|Marion Zimmer Bradley|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1305483488p2/4841825.jpg], is said to be a feminist but by this particular work I certainly couldn't see her that way. I could give some credit if it was only a character or two but every last character including the lead female character was bound and determined to point out that women were lesser creatures in some way. The lead male even more so even after claiming to believe in equality. He even had the nerve to feel entitled and offended when the lead female appeared to not share his feelings as he wanted her to.
I try and give some credit to this book as it was published in the 1970's, however that doesn't persuade me any further to pick up the rest of the series. I don't foresee the general style of the author changing to a more modern and true feminist styled writing until likely late into the series or her writing career if at all. Unfortunately that's a pretty big turn off for me.
shane_tiernan's review against another edition
3.0
Reading this one with Shelley. It's only been on my tbr pile for about 20 years now. I like to read at least one old classic sci-fi book a year.
So this was interesting. It was really more about the characters than an amazing new world or it's inhabitants. For it's age it held up well minus some gender issues with the male characters. Not a lot happened so it was a little slow and there definitely didn't seem like there was a conclusion or a climax to the story. I'm curious about what happens to this marooned colony of humans but not sure if I'm curious enough to read the next book.
So this was interesting. It was really more about the characters than an amazing new world or it's inhabitants. For it's age it held up well minus some gender issues with the male characters. Not a lot happened so it was a little slow and there definitely didn't seem like there was a conclusion or a climax to the story. I'm curious about what happens to this marooned colony of humans but not sure if I'm curious enough to read the next book.
llona_llegaconlalluvia's review against another edition
2.0
-semplicemente il naufragio di un astronave su un pianeta fortunatamente abitabile
-la storia della nascita di Darkover
potrebbe benissimo avere 3* perchè, anche se la traduzione è scarsa. resta un romanzetto che si lascia leggere volentieri.
Però meriterebbe 1* perche ci sono dettagli che mi disturbano (c'è qualcosa di stonato nel modo in cui viene trattata la sessualità) e dettagli che mi disturbano troppo, tipo che una donna sapendo quanto un uomo la desideri debba soddisfarlo
e soprattutto dettagli che mi disturbano VERAMENTE troppo come che esistano al mondo (qualunque mondo) motivazioni eticamente accettabile per togliere a una donna la sovranità sul proprio corpo o dottori che giustifichino la maternità forzata
-la storia della nascita di Darkover
potrebbe benissimo avere 3* perchè, anche se la traduzione è scarsa. resta un romanzetto che si lascia leggere volentieri.
Però meriterebbe 1* perche ci sono dettagli che mi disturbano (c'è qualcosa di stonato nel modo in cui viene trattata la sessualità) e dettagli che mi disturbano troppo, tipo che una donna sapendo quanto un uomo la desideri debba soddisfarlo
e soprattutto dettagli che mi disturbano VERAMENTE troppo come che esistano al mondo (qualunque mondo) motivazioni eticamente accettabile per togliere a una donna la sovranità sul proprio corpo o dottori che giustifichino la maternità forzata
eva_trostlos's review against another edition
3.0
I first read this 10 years ago and I remembered it being better. I'm still drawn to the story, but these whiny weak female characters ... how could I bear them the first time? "No you can't climb a hill, you are just a tiny little woman, women have no business doing anything connected to manual labour ..." And this from Marion Zimmer Bradley? I remembered her being more of a feminist. Do I remember wrong?
Well, I liked the story still, I love the whole feeling of this huge epic thing called Darkover. What I didn't like was the chauvinistic nature of the characters (all of them, even the women!). So yeah, mixed feelings ... A rather good read, kept me entertained for a day, so if nothing else, it did get me through a rainy afternoon.
Well, I liked the story still, I love the whole feeling of this huge epic thing called Darkover. What I didn't like was the chauvinistic nature of the characters (all of them, even the women!). So yeah, mixed feelings ... A rather good read, kept me entertained for a day, so if nothing else, it did get me through a rainy afternoon.
jacalata's review against another edition
3.0
I read this once years ago and found it super profound and amazing. It didn't quite hold up to that on re-reading, but it is a solid enjoyable book - if you're already familiar with Darkover then it's fun picking out foreshadowing hints.