Customer Reviews

The Saga of the Renunciates (The Shattered Chain, Thendara House, City of Sorcery) (Darkover)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The saga of the renunciates is an omnibus of MZB's three "Darkover" novels that deal with the Renunciate's Guild - a group within Darkovan society that allows women to free themselves from the oppressive rules of their world. At this point of Darkovan history, the planet (a lost colony of Earth) has been rediscovered by the Terran Empire. It works well as a single volume, as it's the three-part story of a "Terran" woman (Margali) who becomes involved in the guild by accident, and her personal growth as a result.

Personally, I find the third story rather tedious - it is a quest story in which a group of women go searching for a mythical or secret Women's City, involving a lot of walking through frozen mountains and (I thought) a fairly anticlimactic ending.

Some of the Terran gender relations in the book seem somewhat dated, reading like a reflection of the late 70s-early 80s period when the stories were written, although the alien Darkovan version seems much less so.

In general, a rewarding book, which should appeal to anyone who enjoys speculative fiction with strong feminist characters.

I disagree with the last review. I have been collecting all the Darkover novels, which has been difficult considering how most of them are out of print since the 70s. The Age of Chaos omnibus and the Saga of the Renunciates are some of my favorite Darkover books. I like the fact the MZB is not afraid to portray her female characters as strong, intelligent women. The stories in this omnibus are not "women against men" at all. There are strong male characters in all three books, and wonderful relationships between both male and female characters. The world of Darkover is one of women taking a submissive and passive role of keeping hearth and home and bearing children. The Renunciates are a totally different aspect of that world, one that is often disapproved of and shunned by the other part. While other novels have touched on the Renunciates in passing, none have given any of those women a chance to tell their stories of how and why they came to the Guild. These books are the stories of women, their lives, their relationships with men, and their friendships with one another. I would not call these books feminist at all. Unless you call well developed, realistic female characters in a story a feminist movement. I call it good writing.

I read these 3 novels in the late 70's-early 80's and loved them...recently found the 3 novel compendium and enjoyed it more the second time around. What a wonderfully imagined world!! How I wish we had something like the Guild here on Earth! As an old feminist in my 70's, I cannot recommend them more highly...READ!!

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book - I loved Mists of Avalon, but wasn't fond of the other Avalon books. I wanted to like Darkover, but the two other Darkover novels I read (Stormqueen and Hawkmistress) didn't appeal to me much.

And then I began The Shattered Chain.

It started off exactly as I'd feared it would - a band of Amazons (just...read the other reviews for technical details) walk into a town and are laughed and jeered at by the men and treated with greater hostility by the women. I thought at this point that the book would be full of "Woman Power" and show how strong these Independent Women had to be to exist on a world like Darkover.

But the novel quickly became something more than that. I felt that it greatly picked up when we were introduced to Magda, the Terran - because for the Terrans, men and women are pretty much equal. And this viewpoint GREATLY helped balance out the supressing Darkover views, and made them not just bearable, but interesting. The resulting main plotline between the Terrans and Darkover people, with the Amazons building the bridge between the two worlds...it was pretty awesome. And of course there's all the subplots, and the huge personal developments taking place within the two main characters: the Terran woman and the Amazon one.

This book has some good action scenes, but the major focus is definitely on the characters themselves, and their relationships to one another and the world. Normally I would stay away from something like that, but the Terran/Darkover worlds created here are so interesting that it's pretty much impossible to not be caught up in it.

It had great, memorable characters, a great plot, and scenes you'll remember for a long, long time. I'd say it's definitely worth a read for anybody who likes fantasy/sci-fi...and books in general.

I've read most of the Darkover series during the last five yrs. I started off with MZBs Avalon books & ended up hooked on the Darkover series.
In many the Darkover books the renunciates (free amazons) are mentioned, but usually not in much detail. It was wonderful to stumble upon a whole trilogy of books about them. They explain
how & why the group started, and how they worked out a way to marginally fit into the society by being of service to both Darkovans & Terrans. I thoroughly enjoyed this series & would highly recommend it to any MZB fan.

I am an avid MZB fan and have read most of her novels, but the Darkover series is the closest to my heart and The Saga of the Renunciates stands above all. This novel is more than just a story, deconstructing femininity is a central part of this trilogy: as a reader I found myself pondering the same questions that trouble the women on Darkover and thinking that eventhough they are only sci-fi characters, their insigth would change a lot of women.

The first novel is about a group of mercenary warrior women who hire themselves out to Lady Rohana to rescue her cousin from the Dry Towns, a country where married women are kept in chains. Rohana's cousin never makes it but she does bring back Jaelle, her 12 year old niece and a very unconfortable awareness of the invisible chains she has fashioned for herself.

In the 2nd part we meet Magda and Peter, two Darkover-born Terranan and the best spies the Empire has on Cottman 4. Altough Magda is the better agent, as a woman there is not much she can do outside HQ. When Peter goes missing on a mission and his superiors have no plans to rescue him Magda disguises herself as an Amazon and goes looking for him. All goes well until she meets some real Amazons whose leader is none other than a grown up Jaelle.

The final chapter in this story is about a journey to a mythical city in the enormous mountains of Darkover where an all-knowing sisterhood of wise women is supposed to be hidden from all but those by whom they wish to be seen. Jaelle leaves everything behind for even a chance to get there and Magda has no choice but to follow.

As a Psychologist I found this trilogy about women claiming their own power and moving away from societal mores and predictive expectations an excellent study in self empowerment. The story is written in the context of a futuristic science fiction world and addresses the many issues that contemporary society presents as we know them today. Although I am not a gay female, I am sensitive to the issues that present to women who are, and the countless challenges they face on every level of their being. Intellectual, emotional, societal, spiritual and beyond, and not the least is the physical strength that they must also develop and hone to defend themselves when bullied by men or while dealing with work that demands strength akin to the male whose strength is clearly superior due to body mass and musculature.

These stories progress from the starting point of Jaelle who is a child being rescued by Renunciates from the horror of being forced to live in chains, literally, a cultural expectation on that part of Darkover, as she approaches womanhood in Dry Town. This desert area represents a male dominated society lead by her father a cruel, punishing tyrant, and her mother, a highly educated and talented psychic, which is called "laran" in these stories. Jaelle's mother was captured and abducted by a bandit and forced to live in absolute captivity with this sadistic, depraved, misogynistic, bestial man. Jaelle's mother dies in childbirth during the escape orchestrated by her cousin who had hired the Renunciates, and she is left as a 12 year old orphan full of fear, distrust and grave conflicts.

Thendara House is part two which introduces Magda Lorne, a Terran whose parents were off-worlders who settled on the planet Cottman 4 called Darkover by it's inhabitants. Magda's self exploratory story is about a woman who is evaluating herself and finding no "true home" on either her birth planet Darkover, or in the world of the Terrans where she was trained and functions as an intelligence agent. Her conflict is due to the Darkovan rigid societal expectations of feminine behavior which is to serve their husbands without any real voice in decision making at all. She is deeply conflicted and frustrated. During the course of her story she interfaces with a traveling band of Free Amazons or "Renunciates" who capture her, albeit due to her own error, and in order for her to not betray them they force her to take the Oath of Renunciates. Jaelle, now an adult becomes her Oath Mother and helps Magda on her solo journey to rescue her former husband also a Terran Intelligence agent named Peter Haldane, who has been captured by a hill bandit and mistakenly confused as one of the sons of a neary ruling lord who looks like him due to the red hair genetic characteristic of Comyn blood of the seven ruling domain lords. Haldane is facing death unless ransom is paid. Magda and Jaelle successfully rescue Haldane and later Magda must honor her Oath and come to live in the Thendara Renunciate House for 6 months in order to learn, be trained and to find herself. In the process she recognizes that she is a "lover of women" in a relationship with Camilla, an emascua mercenary, and she is forced to reevaluate her life in the context of being torn between two worlds Terran and Darkovan, gay and straight, and, additionally, she finds herself gifted with "laran" that confuses her further.

Part Three is a terrifying and riveting story of the search and rescue of a Terran woman Lt. Alexis Anders of Mapping and Exploring who is in direct competition with the Terranan "Lorne Legend". Through sheer bad luck Anders and her guide Rafaella get involved with a sisterhood of evil sorceresses in the frozen mountains past Nevarsin. Magda and Jaelle are freemates now, and had left the Renunciate House to study at the Forbidden Tower for seven years in order to fully develop the psychic skill "laran" they possess. Each woman has had a child who is being fostered by others in the Forbidden Tower while the freemates continue to pursue their respective careers. Jaelle is restless and wants to get back on the road with her former business partner Rafaella. Terranan Magda is asked by Jaelle to become involved in the rescue attempt that Rafaella mistakenly took due to her greed for Terran gold offered by Lt. Alexa Anders who is setting out to find this alleged "hidden city" she believes that she saw during one of her M & Ex excursions. Her self serving goal is to "one-up" Magda and surpass the "Lorne Legend" as she creates her own "Legend" should she discover this unmapped city. Camilla, and two other women join Jaelle and Magda on a treacherous journey through unbelievable challenges.

Overall, The Saga of the Renunciates is a fantastic trilogy of well thought out stories and I really enjoyed them. In the process, I found myself able to add greater depth to my understanding of women in the totality of their experiences. Although this is presented in the context of a fictional world it reflects the Universality of the feminine journey through various attitudes and behaviors experienced in this world which we identify as real life. Excellent.

I have recently been re-reading Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover books, most of which I read, and loved, years ago. I originally read them as I came across them, often years apart, so it's been interesting to re-read them one right after the other, in a more logical sequence. This book is the first of a trilogy (together with "Thendara House" and "City of Sorcery") which follow the lives and adventures of Darkover-born Terran, Magdalen Lorne, and Darkovan Jaelle n'ha Melora.
In this book, Lady Rohana Ardais hires a group of Free Amazons - properly called "Renunciates" - to help her rescue her kinswoman, Melora, from the Dry Town bandit, Jalak, who kidnapped her years before, and Melora's daughter, 12-year-old Jaelle. The Dry Towners regard women as property and keep them in chains. From this experience, Jaelle becomes a Renunciate.
Years later, Terran Intelligence agent Magda Lorne sets out on a mission to ransom her colleague and former husband, Peter Haldane, from mountain bandits who have kidnapped him. At the suggestion of Lady Rohana, she goes disguised as a Renunciate - but when a real group of Renunciates led by Jaelle discovers her subterfuge, she must join them or die.
The book explores a number of different cultural attitudes and biases of men toward women, and women toward men. The prevailing views of several different Darkovan groups - Dry Towners, mainstream comyn, Renunciates and Terrans - create a clash of cultures that allows the author to explore issues of sexual identity and appropriate sex roles in our own complex, mixed modern culture. And for fans of Darkover, with its characteristic psychically gifted characters, the various lead characters also struggle with their own awakening laran capabilities.
An interesting and worthwhile read that makes the reader think about her/his own sexual attitudes and biases!

I've always liked these 3 books in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series. The Renunciates are women living in the feudal, patriarchal Darkovan society who renounce the traditional dependency on men & work to live in new ways doing all kinds of different things. These have been out of print for quite a while, so it was nice to see them in the world again. I read them when they first came out - late '70's/early '80's after my father turned me on to the whole series with The Forbidden Tower (Darkover).

I had wondered if these would be too dated given the changes in feminist thought & theory since they were written, but I found them for the most part surprisingly fresh. I really like Thendara House (Darkover) best as it's the most in-depth examination of the two main characters, Jaelle & Margali, & their own journeys to self-empowerment (yes, Virginia, woman can be Joseph Campbell class heroes, too!).

Good stories & an interesting exploration of gender roles, sexuality (& its many possibilities), friendship, & living in defiance of societal norms. It's a fun read & with 3 books in one will keep you occupied!

The first two books in this three book compilation are really great and memorable works. They are an important part of the Darkover saga, and provide some interesting insights both to the Renunciates (Free Amazons), a separatist female group, and to the history of Terran/Darkover relations. However, I thought the last book in this trilogy absolutely lost any basis in reality. The motivations of the characters made absolutely no sense. The two main characters of the books are propelled on a quest that seems utterly pointless and ridiculous from the setup until the very end. Just stop reading after the second book and you'll be much happier.