Customer Reviews

The Shadow Matrix (Darkover)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Has anyone noticed that this novel --- and its predecessor, "Exile's Song" are copyrighted by MZB and Adrienne Martine-Barnes? These last Darkover books were apparently not written by Bradley, but by an author trained by her to write in her style. The voice sounds like Bradley, the prose is readable enough, but this work certainly lacks the concision and taut plotting that made "Heritage of Hastur" and "Sharra's Exile" (to name two) so entertaining.

Even if the rumors are untrue, and MZB did actually write parts of this book, it's seriously flawed, and bears all the marks of having been written by a "fan". The opening chapters are effective enough; but there follows a sequence of some 300 pages in which nothing happens. Not until the last few chapters does the plot actually resume, and not all of the action is consistent with what we know about Darkover.

In spite of all these criticisms, the writing had enough flavor to keep me reading until the end. My guess is that Bradley simply lost interest in the series --- Thendara House was the last really worthwhile Darkover book --- and this late entry provides only a small sample of what made this series so popular.

If you haven't read Darkover before, skip this one and proceed directly to "The Heritage of Hastur" or "The Shattered Chain."

Margaret Alton is the child of the powerfully psychically gifted Lew Alton, who has been the Senator for Darkover for several years. After a traumatic early childhood, little Margaret lived with her father and stepmother in exile, struggling to overcome her own oppressive Gift without expert Darkovan help, as well as trying to endure what she cannot help sensing of her father, battling his own demons.

This book takes up the story of Margaret, who in Exile's Song returned to the planet of her birth as an ethnomusicologist, accompanied by her beloved professor Ivor Davidson, to collect folk song from the rural places still largely untouched by the Empire.

As this book begins, we find Margaret undergoing the compulsory training in a tower, while Mikhail investigates a suspicious situation in the Elhalyn household, which appears to be haunted, and dominated by a strange woman of unknown origins. Mikhail's handling of the troubled Elhalyn children is touchingly presented, as is his relationship to his sister Liriel.

After much political maneuvering (an annoying but necessary part of these Hastur-era stories) there is the expected midwinter crisis, this one larger than most.

As a bonus, we meet again characters we know well: Jeff Kerwin, Javanne Hastur, Lew Alton, Diotima Ridenow, Mrs Davidson (Ivor's wife), Rafaella the Renunciate, Michael Lanart-Hastur, Danilo Syrtis, and Uncle Rafe, and others. And, as always, the children are delightfully portrayed. Finally, there is travel through time to visit with Varzil the Good, towards the close of the ages of chaos, to learn what happened to the legendary ring in which he preserved the soul of his beloved, Felicia Hastur.

Margaret Alton is a very sympathetic character, especially to those who might relate to music. Her own development is only part of a larger set of events that culminate in the story related in Traitor's Sun. This book is indeed the middle section of a trilogy within the Darkover saga consisting of Exile's Song, Shadow Matrix, and Traitor's Sun, all worth reading.

Archimedes

Like its predecessor, Exile's Song, The Shadow Matrix is a decent story that is severely undermined by misspellings and horrible grammar. Plus, you know it's bad when even the author can't keep track of all of the character names (Mikhail's brothers are twice called "Lanart-Alton," and shouldn't "Lanart" be after "Hastur" anyway?). Did anyone actually edit this book, or did it go straight from MZB (& friends) to the printing press? These problems were very distracting and kept the book from being otherwise enjoyable.

The Rebirth of Darkover, which started in EXILE`S SONG (1996), continues in this exciting and wonderful sequel. Margaret Alton and her lover Mikhail Lanart-Hastur not only have to fight for their love, but they also have to defeat a dangerous enemy from the past: Ashara Alton, Margaret's nemesis. Be sure to expect a wonderful story with lots of swashbuckling and romance. This book is really hard to put down. I recommend it to everybody, who has read (and liked) one of the previous Darkover novels), but be sure to read EXILE`S SONG first.

The latest enstallment in the Darkover series was mediocre at best. The author relied too much on the characters and their stagnant relationships rather than plot. It took too long to reveal an uncreative ending. The meat of the novel, the male and female leads' relationship, reads like a "trashy" romance novel. Very dissatisfying.

I have and have read all of the Darkover series up until this on an enjoy them all. I enjoyed Exile's Song quite a bit, though it did seem a little different from MZB's usual style. The first half of this book is simply told in order to set up the second part of the book...if there was any reason for it at all. Personally, I could have lived with the first half being told in only one or two chapters. This might have actually created some excitement to that story instead of a boring tedium. The second half of the book, though, was as good as Exile's Song. It's not good enough for me to add this book to my collection, though.

Fans of Marion Zimmer Bradley will be disappointed on this one.
It has all the feel of having been written hastily and carelessly. The narrative wanders aimlessly and spends excruciatingly long pages on dialogue that is either banal, does
nothing to advance the story, or both. After spending the first
third of the book on a disconnected plot about Mikhail in the hands of a "hedge-witch" in the House of Elyhain, the author
largely drops it, and in effect takes until page 320 or so to
really get started. The time travel into the past by Mikhail and Margaret orchestrated by Varzil the Good, -and their subsequent marriage officiated by same- is the only worthwhile part, but
it lasts only a short while. After marrying them, the author
suddenly veers again blindly, this time to have Mikhail and
Margaret destroy evil plans to use atomic power in the
distant past (I am not kidding!) This plot has nothing discernible to do with the reasons Varzil brought them into the past for in the first place; but none of this seems to bother
the author one bit.

In short, it sounds as if the author puts this book together
from disjointed notes in her drawer. Very unsatisfying fare coming from a writer that has brought us such great works in the
past.

The Shadow Matrix ... the title relates to a shadow matrix that is emblazed on Marguerida Alton's hand. It is something she got from visiting the overworld. Her sweetheart, Mikhail goes with her on a journey that is unreal ... they go back to the past. But oh it is real! They could change the future (their own time) by changing something where they are now. Asharra is trying to find something ... the one who overshadowed her when she was a child and if Asharra finds Marguerida then Marguerida will die if she can't escape in time. Meanwhile some of the Towers are in big trouble as is the rest of the planet and if Marguerida and Mikhail don't do anything it will destroy everything they know and wipe away everything they've created together ...

The first half of the book is only tangentially connected to the second, and I'm being generous here.

What happened? Can this really be the same MZB? I know her health is failing and she wrote it with someone else, but still.... It's like Mills & Boon! I love the Darkover series - but this one is trite, with shallow characters and a far cheesier style of writing that usual. The characters are inconsistent with the other books (Lew Alton and Regis Hastur, for example, seem to have undergone a mutual personality transplant) and the usual Darkovan politicking is garbled. Plus the unspeakably naff way Margarita and Mikhail get sent back in time to be married by Varzil and Evanda.... Please, bring back the Marion Zimmer Bradley who wrote "Heritage of Hastur" and "Thendara House", and pray that the sequel isn't this bad.