Darkchild [Mass Market Paperback]

Sydney J. Van Scyoc (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 349 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (September 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425056449
• ISBN-13: 978-0425056448
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,582,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First volume of Daughters of the Sunstone, April 20, 2002

By 

Michele L. Worley (Kingdom of the Mouse, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Darkchild (Paperback)

The planet Brakrath was settled accidentally during EarthExodus, by a starship strayed far off course; it's barely able to support human life, so its involuntary settlers had to adapt. Brakrath has harsh winters, and left to itself most of its solar energy is spread too thin to support much in the way of crops. Most of the people live in the mountain valleys; only their culture and that of the redmane guardians (women who follow the herds of horselike, intelligent redmanes native to the planet, with whom they can communicate) is shown in this book, although humans have spread to other areas of Brakrath and have different societies, shown later in the series. The valleyfolk, who have mutated slightly from the human 'norm' over centuries, are able to hibernate through the worst of the winters, but they'd still be hard put to it to survive if it weren't for another series of mutations among the redmane guardians' daughters, which produced the barohnas.

When Brakrath was rediscovered and received a study team from the scholarly Arnimi, it unfortunately drew the attention of other organizations, such as Rauthfleet, always on the lookout for a vulnerable-looking world suitable for piracy and exploitation, and Brakrath's greatest strength and greatest vulnerability are the barohnas. When collecting data to be sold to the highest bidder, Rauthfleet's tactic is to plant the best tool possible among the people of a new world, to learn their language and their ways: an intelligent, appealing child with a drive to learn and explore (with posthypnotic commands to ensure that he or she can be retrieved), whose memory of previous assignments has been blocked. Such a one is the title character, a Rauthimage: illegal clone of the famous explorer Birnam Rauth. He's called 'Darkchild' by Khira, the barohna's daughter who finds him on Brakrath, not knowing what he is and still a child herself. The viewpoint changes between Khira, Darkchild, and 'the guide', the voice in Darkchild's mind that keeps him within the bounds of his assignment.

The barohnas are immensely respected, since they have inherited abilities to manipulate sunstone; they collect and store solar energy in sunstone throughout the winters, and just as the valleyfolk wake from wintersleep, the barohna of a valley returns from her winter retreat with the collected solar energy to thaw and warm the soil, giving the valley a proper growing season. Barohnas are always female, live immensely long lives, and bear only daughters. (Mutations still crop up from time to time, and there are some variations; for example, there are men with some sensitivity to stone who can't actually use it; they find it and shape it into the tools used by the barohnas.) It's actually a complex system: a palace daughter is generally raised by her next eldest sister, and in turn raises the next in line, until finally a daughter bronzes: that is, upon coming of age, she goes hunting for bronzing prey, and the adrenaline stimulus of near-death risks triggers the changes that bring on the changes in brain chemistry and physical appearance that mark a barohna.

Unfortunately, life is never quite that simple. Many palace daughters simply haven't inherited the potential to bronze, or are killed in attempting to take their prey; some refuse even to try, and remain permanent daughters all their lives. So it is that each daughter raises the next, and bronzes or (more usually) is killed, and the barohna has another daughter. (It's no wonder that a barohna doesn't dare get emotionally attached to her daughters; most of them have the lives of candleflames compared to hers, and she has to go on functioning for the people to live.) Alzaja, palace daughter of valley Terlath, wasn't the type to remain a permanent daughter, but all too obviously had no chance of bronzing. Her younger sister Khira was thus left mourning to spend the winter alone, and finds the distraction of Darkchild, her only companion in the days of wintersleep, a welcome distraction.

The characters are beautifully drawn; the tranquil Alzaja, having been left with many unfulfilled promises by her overconfident elder sister Mara, left Khira with only one promise, fulfilled by the two stories she told just before leaving for her hunt. Khira, on the other hand, is hot-tempered, and so forceful of character that her mother is assured that this daughter will bronze...if she survives the attempt. For his part, Darkchild is a divided personality: on the one hand, he likes her, but his internal 'guide' is increasingly alarmed. Usually a Rauthimage only has to fool adults with plenty of other distractions, not a single child concentrating on learning about the Rauthimage. Could Khira uncover his true identity? And what will happen if she does?

What will happen when Rauthfleet returns to collect him? And what happens to a Rauthimage who is no longer a child?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Introduction to the Darkchild Trilogy, June 14, 2002

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Darkchild (Mass Market Paperback)

What happens when a boy who is not quite what he seems meets a girl who will not stay as she is? A boy is sent to study the seemingly primitive Brakrathi planet and the rulers of that planet need to decide if he is friend or foe.

Van Scyoc's novel _Sunwaifs_ was long one of my favorite science fiction novels, but I had not read anything else that she had written. Darkchild is clearly imagined and strongly written and an encouragement to read the rest of the series.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book :), July 9, 2001

By 

"magicsn" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Darkchild (Mass Market Paperback)

As a kid this was my favourite book. I lost the book, though, and could not find it anywhere for sale anymore. Luckily with Amazon I could buy a used english-language version recently, and it had even the same cover art like the German version which I had as a kid.

The author really manages to describe Darkchild and Khira (and their emotions) in a very believable and "real" way.

And I still liked the book, when reading it again after so many years :)