The Ages of Chaos

I was happy to see this and other older stories by MZB in this form since when I first found her books, sadly, most were out of print. Thank you doing this so that others can read and enjoy her superb works!

Both of these Darkover books are set in the Age of Chaos, one thousand years after the original landfall settlement. (Darkover Landfall) Marion Zimmer Bradly did a tremendous job on both of these books. They are both full of suspense, betrayal, magic, love, and some of the strongest and well written characters that I've had the chance to read about. You will never put these books down. Bradley guides you through a fascinating world where you feel anything is possible. Stormqueen- Dorilys Aldaran, heiress to her father's domain and ender of her mother's life, was possessed with a uncontrollable power. She could unintentionally summon lightning and create terrifying storms across the lands. Her father sent for a trained monitor to help, Renata Leynier, to teach Dorilys control over her power. Even with the additional help of a Hastor lord, Allart Hastor, with a fascinating power of his own, Dorilys may or may not prevail. This storyline was very compelling and I just couldn't put the book down. It was so suspenseful and full of emotion; it definitely was a delight to read! I certainly like the idea of powerful and strong women in this book. Overall this book was a great read and I really would recommend it to anyone who is a Sci-Fi fan. Hawkmistress- Romilly MacAran was a very independent tomboy. When her father arranged her marriage to a utterly disgusting nobleman, she revolted. She ran away from home disguising herself as a boy. With a telepathic communication with animals, especially hawks and horses, she could easily live off the land. She gets pulled into a civil war and must find her true role in life without scarifying her morals. I'm going to have to say that I liked Hawkmistress better than Stormqueen. I felt more connected to Romilly the hawkmistress than I did Dorilys the stormqueen. Additionally, this book is more feminist than the other book, because we have Romilly, a very strong, determined young lady and we also have the strength, bravery, and heart of the Sisterhood of the Sword, women warriors. Go Girl Power! I was also deeply moved by all the emotion in this book, that I actually felt emotionally exhausted after finishing it. It feels great when you can connect to a book this way. Finally, I would recommend it to all Sci-Fi fans and also to people that love emotionally jam-packed books. The Darkover series is becoming one of my favorite reads and I'm definitely going to keep on reading theses books! I love them!

I was an avid fan of MZB's Avalon series when I stumbled on the Darkover series. Now, I am trying to collect the whole entire Darkover series which is quite hard considering there are so many and they go back to the 70s! I am lucky to have a used book store that occasionally gets them in because I would die if I had to wait for the re-releases. I like that the re-releases include more than one book. I have also tried the "Light" series (witchlight, gravelight etc) but have found that they are what I describe as "fluff" in comparison to her other works. Enjoyable, but not nearly as much as the Avalon or Darkover series.This set is definitely one of my favorites, both of the series and of MZB's work in general. "Stormqueen" especially is my top choice. The Sage of the Renunciates are also Incredibly good. I love the fact the MZB's stories have well thought out and richly detailed storylines and incredibly strong developed characters. Her characters have flaws and are people that it is possible to relate to on some level. I wish that more authors portrayed such strong, realistic female characters. It is also great as a reader to be able to pick up any book in the series and be able to read it without having read any of its previous counterparts (especially when so many are out of print!). Each books stands on its own and presents a whole new element of the Darkovan society, while making reference to people or places from other books. I highly recommend this and any other Darkover book!

The Ages of Chaos is an omnibus edition, containing the two of MZB's Darkover novels that she wrote about early Darkovan history. It is set about 1000 years after colonisation, during the period that the ruling families warring against one another and were breeding for Laran (psi-powers).Unfortunately, this edition is really, really awful to read because of poor editing - every now and again there is a sentence that makes no sense until the reader suddenly realises that a word is missing a letter, or a word is missing entirely from the sentence. eg. "He could see it in her yes..." - yes=EyesApart from the cryptic editing, it is still a good read for Darkover fans (not the best to start reading the series with), and a cheap way to buy a couple of classic SF/FAN novels.

I stayed up until 5 a.m. reading this last night, need I say more? Loved the book, love the series...