Customer Reviews

The Ages of Chaos (Daw Book Collectors)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Ages of Chaos is an omnibus edition, containing the two of MZB's Darkover novels that she wrote about early Darkovan history. It is set about 1000 years after colonisation, during the period that the ruling families warring against one another and were breeding for Laran (psi-powers).

Unfortunately, this edition is really, really awful to read because of poor editing - every now and again there is a sentence that makes no sense until the reader suddenly realises that a word is missing a letter, or a word is missing entirely from the sentence. eg. "He could see it in her yes..." - yes=Eyes

Apart from the cryptic editing, it is still a good read for Darkover fans (not the best to start reading the series with), and a cheap way to buy a couple of classic SF/FAN novels.

I was an avid fan of MZB's Avalon series when I stumbled on the Darkover series. Now, I am trying to collect the whole entire Darkover series which is quite hard considering there are so many and they go back to the 70s! I am lucky to have a used book store that occasionally gets them in because I would die if I had to wait for the re-releases. I like that the re-releases include more than one book. I have also tried the "Light" series (witchlight, gravelight etc) but have found that they are what I describe as "fluff" in comparison to her other works. Enjoyable, but not nearly as much as the Avalon or Darkover series.
This set is definitely one of my favorites, both of the series and of MZB's work in general. "Stormqueen" especially is my top choice. The Sage of the Renunciates are also Incredibly good. I love the fact the MZB's stories have well thought out and richly detailed storylines and incredibly strong developed characters. Her characters have flaws and are people that it is possible to relate to on some level. I wish that more authors portrayed such strong, realistic female characters. It is also great as a reader to be able to pick up any book in the series and be able to read it without having read any of its previous counterparts (especially when so many are out of print!). Each books stands on its own and presents a whole new element of the Darkovan society, while making reference to people or places from other books. I highly recommend this and any other Darkover book!

Having just started on my Darkovan journey I must say I loved these books. Have not read Sci/Fi Fantasty literature for quite awhile since Pamela Sargent's The Shore of Women and since I love MZB thought this would be a perfect place to begin again.
I was right!
I thoroughly enjoyed both books. However I liked Stormqueeen best. I found the plot twists and the perspective of different characters intriguing. I was riveted from start to finish. And I liked the descriptions quite a bit as well.
Although I enjoyed Hawkmistress, I found the plot less fresh and not as compelling. The "girl dresesed up as boy in a male dominated society and coming into her own power and making good" is a little too predictable.
Two things:
The editing is absolutely atrocious. It was either left entrely to the computer or someone edited it who does not speak English fluently. I too found this distracting. A disservice to both author and reader.
In addition it would be nice to have a chronology and or Darkovan historical timelene at the beginning of these books. Maybe a map too! I always like it when that is done and not just in scifi fantasy books. but in general. hmmm but that does sound kind neurotic doesn't it? But oh well just my opinion
Truly enjoyable! Read and and enjoy and be charmed!

I also have to comment on the absolutely HORRIBLE editing. Did they even edit them at all, I wonder? It really seems like not. You will probably be able to figure out what is meant by the context of the sentences. It gets really annoying though. If you can find them, I suggest finding "Stormqueen!" and "Hawkmistress!" separately and read them that way. I'm hoping this is the only Darkover Omnibus to be so badly edited. The first one, "Darkover: First Contact" was fine.

Both of these Darkover books are set in the Age of Chaos, one thousand years after the original landfall settlement. (Darkover Landfall) Marion Zimmer Bradly did a tremendous job on both of these books. They are both full of suspense, betrayal, magic, love, and some of the strongest and well written characters that I've had the chance to read about. You will never put these books down. Bradley guides you through a fascinating world where you feel anything is possible.

Stormqueen- Dorilys Aldaran, heiress to her father's domain and ender of her mother's life, was possessed with a uncontrollable power. She could unintentionally summon lightning and create terrifying storms across the lands. Her father sent for a trained monitor to help, Renata Leynier, to teach Dorilys control over her power. Even with the additional help of a Hastor lord, Allart Hastor, with a fascinating power of his own, Dorilys may or may not prevail. This storyline was very compelling and I just couldn't put the book down. It was so suspenseful and full of emotion; it definitely was a delight to read! I certainly like the idea of powerful and strong women in this book. Overall this book was a great read and I really would recommend it to anyone who is a Sci-Fi fan.

Hawkmistress- Romilly MacAran was a very independent tomboy. When her father arranged her marriage to a utterly disgusting nobleman, she revolted. She ran away from home disguising herself as a boy. With a telepathic communication with animals, especially hawks and horses, she could easily live off the land. She gets pulled into a civil war and must find her true role in life without scarifying her morals. I'm going to have to say that I liked Hawkmistress better than Stormqueen. I felt more connected to Romilly the hawkmistress than I did Dorilys the stormqueen. Additionally, this book is more feminist than the other book, because we have Romilly, a very strong, determined young lady and we also have the strength, bravery, and heart of the Sisterhood of the Sword, women warriors. Go Girl Power! I was also deeply moved by all the emotion in this book, that I actually felt emotionally exhausted after finishing it. It feels great when you can connect to a book this way. Finally, I would recommend it to all Sci-Fi fans and also to people that love emotionally jam-packed books.

The Darkover series is becoming one of my favorite reads and I'm definitely going to keep on reading theses books! I love them!

I was happy to see this and other older stories by MZB in this form since when I first found her books, sadly, most were out of print. Thank you doing this so that others can read and enjoy her superb works!

What a tale! The storyline is very involved, but with characters as clearly drawn as Ms. Bradley has presented them, it is easy to keep them all straight. Even with two different stories, it is hard to put the book down.

My only negative comment is there are more typographical errors in this book than I have encountered before. There were enough, however, that this did distract me.

This book is an omnibus edition of two books-Stormqueen and Hawkmistress. I know why she put them in omnibus and I usually like omnibus books. However, the title-The Ages of Chaos- may be confusing as the two books are not very close to each other in time and during the second book the events are described as taking place in the next era-The Hundred Kingdoms. That aside the books in themselves weren't anything more than mediocre. The characterization was decent but not great. I never felt truly connected to any of the characters. Many times I predicted what would happen in the book, however, I have read a lot of fantasy and you become more adept at spotting foreshadowing and plotlines the more you read. The editing was horrendous. Either they didn't BOTHER to edit them or the editor was drunk. He instead of she, completely misspelled words, odd phasing, these errors do intrude considerably into the enjoyment of reading these books. Usually I don't even spot typos as I just change them for myself. However, these typos were so blatantly obvious that they made me want to take a pen to the book to correct them! It's not a bad book. In fact it's fairly decent as books go. However for a more interesting read I would recommend Mercedes Lackey, Tanya Huff, Anne McCaffrey, Kate Elliot, Jennifer Roberson, and even though they're 'young adult' books-Tamora Pierce. I would say that Marion Zimmer Bradley has mediocre characterization in all of the books I've read by her-only a few as I've just begin the Darkover series-Darkover Landfall and The Mists of Avalon, have decent but not great characterization. Although this review may seem alarmingly negative I have still not finished the Darkover series (I just finished this book today) but I plan to. I encourage you to at least read Darkover Landfall if you are intrigued by these books to get an idea if you like her writing style.

I agree with one reviewer on the subject line, but agreement ends there. I couldn't finish Stormqueen; it's simply poor story-telling. Some specifics:
* Excessive mental stream from key characters (Allart, Renata, etc.) leaves little to the imagination, and is so frequently repetitive and trite it's painful to read
* Insufficient development of other key characters (Donal, Cassandra, etc.)
* Illogical and sometimes silly use of fantasy (e.g. intense Tower sessions for tasks like charging batteries!)
* Editing is bad
* The fantasy focus is overdone and wearisome. Save yourself money and time by skipping the book and engaging in self debate on this topic: "woe-is-me-I-have-strange-fantasy-powers" / "hurray-for-me-I-have-strange-fantasy-powers".