Customer Reviews

The Shattered Chain (Darkover)

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This is the first Darkover novel I read, and it made me hungry for more. Darkover and the Terran Empire in their diplomatic maneuverings. Free Amazons--a guild of women who renounce men's domination over women, the Comyn--the noble caste with psi powers, an intricate society with traces of the supernatural and feudal systems in place.

The novel starts with a daring rescue of a kidnapped, enchained, and very pregnant Comyn Lady from the barbaric Dry Towns chief who has kept her his prisoner/wife for over a decade. We meet the Free Amazons, the women who are hired as mercenaries to handle the rescue, as well as the Comyn Lady who hired them to rescue her imprisoned cousin and her young daughter.

The story returns to the Free Amazons and the Comyn Lady years later when a Terran woman needs their help to save one of her own. Their stories are linked in a series of adventures that establish Darkover as an irresistable world.

Each Darkover novel can stand on its own as a complete story, but taken together, they weave a rich tapestry about a world different from our own. "The Shattered Chain" is set after the rediscovery period when the Terran Empire discovered the planet of Darkover and that the inhabitants are descendants of colonists on a "lost ship" from thousands of years ago. This story is about the Order of Free Amazons. Darkover society is very restrictive towards women and women have few rights; and in some cases no rights to speak of. The Free Amazons reject that attitude and by law, any member of the Free Amazons does not have to submit to the rule of men. Rather, they are held accountable by the Charter of the Free Amazons for their actions and to the Guild to which they belong. They represent another option for women who feel the oppression of Darkovan society (some do not feel the oppression).

The novel is broken out into three sections, each focusing on a different character, though the same cast of characters moves in and out of the stories being told in each section. The first section focuses on the lady Rohana Ardais. Before the novel begins, Lady Rohana is given information that a kinswoman who had been kidnapped more than a decade ago is still alive and that she wants to be rescued for the sake of her children. Rohana defies convention, hires out a team of Free Amazons, and sets out to rescue Melora from the Dry Towns. This rescue results in Melora's daughter, Jaelle, being fostered by the Free Amazons. There is a twelve year interval between section one and section two.

Section two focuses on a Terran named Magda Lorne, and again, there is someone who needs rescuing. This time it is her former husband, also a Terran. Both are Terran agents working out of the spaceport at Thendara. Since they were raised in a Darkovan city, they are able to work undercover, learning the languages and the changes in language and style and culture to better assist the Terrans to interact with the natives of Darkover. Magda's ex-husband, Peter, seems to look identical to a relative of Rohana's, and with Rohana's suggestion, Magda disguises herself as a Free Amazon to negotiate the release of Peter.

Section three features a grown Jaelle. Jaelle met up with Magda during section two, and is a leader of a small band of Free Amazons. But she is still young, and has not yet known love and does have the experience to know if she will regret her decision to become a Free Amazon. This becomes the central conflict of the third section, after the action of section two.

Ultimately, this is a novel that looks at the gender roles in Darkovan society and how there is one segment of society that works outside the typical roles of women. The Free Amazons will also be a very important society in the relations between Darkover and the Terran Empire.

This is one of the better Darkover novels. With the three section structure, Bradley was able to pack the detail and story and emotion into a tighter form, and the novel is stronger because of that. Each of the three women (Rohana, Magda, and Jaelle) are characters that I want to know more about, they are well written and interesting, and this is an excellent chapter in the world of Darkover.

Marion Zimmer Bradley uses her fantasy world of Darkover as a backdrop for her close and brilliant analysis of any patriarchal civilization (fantastic or actual) and its affects upon the citizens who live under its sway. The three main female characters each holds and defends a unique position in a culture which forces them to choose in a manner which proves detrimental to the human soul. Her characters are well-drawn, her setting is beautifully creative, and the issues are shockingly relevant to every reader, female or male. With a carefully drawn plot, Ms. Zimmer-Bradley's fantasy novel addresses generation gaps, identity crisis, personal politics, spritual growth, and cultural conflicts which provide distance from and insight into the plight of Terra, circa 20th century.

"The Renunciates" series is a must read if you love MZB and the World of Darkover. The female reader will be especially inspired! (as usual) However, a word of advise...If you like to discover a new world in chronological order, as I do, then I suggest you jump ahead and read "Rediscovery", "The Spell Sword" and "The Forbidden Tower," at least, before you dive into the thought-prevoking, and thrilling side story of "The Renunciates" trilogy.

This series is not just for the Sci-Fi/fantasy reader. It is probably the most "real" look at humanity, our gender struggles, and our mental potential that I've read in any genre. A truly intelligent rendering of the human landscape!

This was the first Darkover book I read, and I instantly fell in love -- with the story, with Darkover and especially with Magda Lorne. I think it's a good starting point, though male newcomers to Darkover might prefer _The Spell Sword_ or _The Forbidden Tower_.

This is a book that improves upon re-reading. There are so many layers to what is happening that I'd even say that you haven't *really* read this book until you've read it at least twice. Darkover is a bit like Roger Zelazny's Amber series in that respect, at least for me.

Although their world is different from ours, I could identify closely with Rohana's slow loss of her class-based prejudices, with Magda's feeling of being torn between two worlds, and with Jaelle's fear of sacrificing her beliefs for the sake of love.

It's the little things that make this book truly great -- the minor incidents between characters that portray far better than any lecture or even work of realistic fiction could the misunderstandings that exist between men and women, or even between "traditional" women and their "modern woman" counterparts.

In a word: WOW.

Marion Zimmer Bradley is reknowned for her ability to create real-life, complex characters, and this book holds no exception. Tracing the life paths of two defiant and independant women in a world where female independance is seriously frowned upon, Shattered Chains is a journey of self discovery and makes one question "conventional thinking". The complex attitudes and lifestyle of Darkover have formed fan clubs world-wide, and any fan of Bradley's will fall in love with Magdalen Lorne and Jaelle n'ha Melora as they have her hundreds of other characters in classics such as Mists of Avalon and The Firebrand

A Darkover novel, and at least at the first time that I read it, a fan favorite. The Free Amazons of Darkover were always one of the most interesting aspects of Darkover, in part because of how Bradley worked to turn the idea of Amazons on their head. The Shattered Chain brings together the Free Amazons, Terrans, Dry Town women, and the Comyn into a series entry which does a fine job of examining the life of Darkover women from many angles.

It may be that the interest Bradley has in the lives of women here comes to some degree at the expense of a broader plot. While it was decent, and kept me reading, it was also a little bit disjointed in time and character. The pacing also had its odd moments.

Flawed but still interesting Darkover book. Darkover is still by far my favorite body of work by MZB.

The Darkover series is an excellent blend of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Plus, Bradley describes action scenes with a flair that even men could appreciate, while never sacrificing the sensitivity and feeling that marks female writing. You get a good buy with this one.

This book tells us about a society guided by women who do not accept the social rules in Darkover. This is the story about Jaelle and how she leave the dry town (where womwn are property of theirs husband and use chains around her arms)and became a renunciant. It's also the story of Magdalen Lorne and how, pretending been a renunciant she has became one in fact - Margali 'n Ysabeth. This two women cross each other life and after that theirs lives would be different forever. This book introduce us to these two caracthers that would re-appeared in Thendara House and City of Sorcery.

Along with the other volumes in the trilogy, this is one of MZB's best efforts in the Darkover series. Has all the elements that have hooked thousands on the Darkover books: laran, loyalty and comradeship among women, sexism, etc. However, MZB is the only author I've read whose concept outstrips her ablity/desire to put it into writing. Hence, all her fans who have "filled in the gaps" by wrting for her anthologies. These efforts are not at all satisfying. Don't start with the trilogy, or it will only be downhill from there if you go on to read about Darkover. You'll be addicted but never satisfied! All the Darkover books would be vastly improved by the addition of maps, glossaries, and family trees.