Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Really gripping!, October 15, 2000
This is the third in the mini-series focusing on the Renunciates, within the larger Darkover series. It features the characters that have developed within the previous two novels, Jaelle, Magda, Camilla, and the Terran Cholayna. This novel is much more action packed than the previous two had been, with a fraught and perilous journey across mountains, facing dangers both natural and supernatural, in search of a mythic city mentioned in obscure legends--the city of sorcery. This novel takes place seven years after 'Thendara House', and Jaelle and Magda are full-members now of the Forbidden Tower. They've both been fully trained in the use of their Laran, and their abilities have grown considerably. If you've enjoyed the other two books in this series-within-a-series, 'Shattered Chain' and 'Thendara House,' you will love this one--it's definitely the best, and it truly delivers on the potential of the other two. If you've missed the first two, you'll still enjoy this one on its own--Bradley makes sure to provide recaps of relevant past events and relationships, allowing a new reader to dive straight into this story. But, there's no question, if you already know and love these characters from their previous adventures, you'll be even more deeply engaged in this great story.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It gets better with each reading, September 16, 1998
All right, I adore the Free Amazons of Darkover, I admit it. City of Sorcery finishes off the Free Amazon trilogy, which is my favorite of the Darkover books. The first reading, however, left me flat. I mean, I either love or am incredibly disappointed by an MZB book; this was the first that I would classify being in middle ground. But a year or two later I reread the trilogy and the book had improved greatly. A few years later, a rereading, and I found myself enjoying this tremendously. Characters meet their destinies in a very satisfying way. Jaelle's life story comes full circle to fit snugly into Darkover continuity. The whole is accomplished by remarkable mountain-climbing narrative (don't read this on a chilly day!) with a slew of familiar and new characters rounding out the almost completely-female cast. Although melodramatic, hinting of the worse MZB books, the style manages to remain clear and easy-reading, not too syrupy, and not nearly as all-out explanatory as MZB's latest Darkover books are. If you like Darkover, Free Amazons, Jaelle, Camilla and Magda... you'll warm up to this one.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A powerful story of women in all their power and frailty, October 3, 1997
This book, along with The Shattered Chain and Thendara House, explores the nature and source of feminine power and how little it is encouraged in western culture. Magda from Earth, and Jaelle of Darkover, the major characters, discover their differences and similarities and their strengths and weaknesses and their power as women. Their adventures take place on Darkover, a planet where a woman can choose a very traditional path or a non-traditional one, with nothing in between. The characters and plot are compelling and surprising, evoking the full range of human experience, in all its tawdriness and glory.
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by Marion Zimmer Bradley
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
