The Alton Gift

This book is great,just like all of her other ones. She didn't write this one, but left an outline and her protegee wrote it. It's just as good, I think.

I loved this story! Ms. Ross has taken someone else's AU and kept the 'voices' true. And believe me, I'm picky about that. I could not tell that Ms. Marion didn't write this story herself. If anything, the characters were deeper, more complex, and more real. I highly recommend it.

Like many a fan of MZB's Darkover series I was delighted to see that she had collaborated with Deborah Ross on the Clingfire trilogy. I feared that we would no longer have access to Darkover when the trilogy was finished. I found The Alton Gift to be a worthy part of the Darkover series. MZB would be pleased, I think, to read of the indepth characterizations (Lew, Marguerida, Mikhail, etc.), the lush imagery of life on the planet, the deft handling of the increasingly complex politics (which has always been a hallmark of MZB novels) and the fascinating fantasies extended around the Comyn and their use of "laran." I could not put the book down. I particularly loved the trouble that Deborah Ross went to in re-imagining the history and subtly reminding the reader of what had happened in novels written many, many years ago. For those of us who have been reading Darkover novels for thirty years, it was a kindness. I'd strongly recommend this book to anyone who is familiar with the Darkover novels. It will be like coming home to old friends and meeting some new ones in the process.

Ross returns to Bradley's Darkover world in the sequel to Traitor's Sun. This book follows mostly Domenic, the oldest son of Marguerida and Mikhael, as he tries to figure out how to be a man and outside the shadow of his parents. If you aren't familiar with Darkover, this is probably a pretty bad place to start, since it could really be considered probably the 6th book in a series (start instead ossibly with Heritage of Hastur, available in an "omnibus" book including its sequel, Sharra's Exile, which could be considered the first in this Darkover series - or other good places to start are Bloody Sun or Forbidden Tower). If you have followed the books, I enjoyed this book probably more than the prior three because they seemed to spend less time sitting around talking about politics or gossip, and more time actually doing things. This was also interesting for more insight into Danilo's life (and I won't spoil what is going in his life in case you haven't read the other books). If you like Darkover, definitely read this, although read the Traitor's Sun series first. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, just order one of my recommendations of books to start with and read them. Very good.

The Terran Federation left Darkover to fight in an interstellar war not realizing just how powerful the people with laran (psychic powers are) or that they can be a weapon against an enemy. Now the old ways no longer work. There are less laran users and towers have been abandoned because there have not been enough people to fill them. Trailmen's Fever which was thought to have been wiped out by Terran science makes a pandemic return. The knowledge of how to cure it is locked in an encrypted file in the bioweapon files so those who know how to use a computer can't access it. However, there is one Terran soldier Jeram who chose to stay on Darkover. His mind was entered without his consent to erase a few of his memories so that the off-world military won't discover what laran can actually is. As the plague threatens the world, he is the Darkover's last hope. Taking place after the federation forces have left, The Regent Mikhail and his wife Marguerida try to hold society together but the poor, caught in a cycle of devastation have no lords to help them. Their son is torn between love and honor and finds the strength to rule when his father takes ill. These characters make THE ALTON GIFT very special because they care about their people and the audience will hope they survive and their son Domenic finds love. The authors have written a complex tale with interwoven storylines that are entertaining and exciting. They create a world with its own culture that seems believable. This adds to the Darkover mythos. Harriet Klausner