The Ages of Chaos

I've reread Hawkmistress a few times over the years as it's always been one of my favorite books in the Darkover series. I have to admit that while Zandru's Forge which I recently read for the first time covers some of the same ground, but it is in a different POV which only added to my enjoyment of this reread.
Romilly is such a strong heroine, sometimes brusk but always honest and practical. She is one of my favorite woman protagonists. The MacAran Donas is an interesting type of laran, creating a powerful rapport between human and animal. The links between Romy/Preciosa and Romy/Sunstar are written so well that's it's just crushing to me as a reader when a link is broken. The sentry birds are also some of my favorites because Romy can show more see the beauty and worth inherent in the ugly creatures while others disparage them.
The overall theme of human war between the nobles destroying common folk, lands, and beasts is played out in a thoughtful manner. Carolin pledges to fight without resorting to the more dangerous forms of warfare, but he knows that there's a cost to any war, something Romilly doesn't always see with the sacrifice of her beloved animals. There's a lot to think about here. Now, onto the end of the Clingfire trilogy. show less

This is a reread from many years ago. I love the Darkover novels but this one is my least favorite though it's still a great book. It's a story with no happy endings.
Allart Hastur is heir to his brother and so, must marry though he's been happy living as a monk in Neversin. His laran is a rare one that predicts the many paths of a possible future and leaves him distraught with fear. He and Cassandra, his new wife, become embroiled with the domain of Alderan where the heiress is a young girl Dorilys with equally strange laran, the ability to control storms.
It's a good read about the land in the mountains and the people and customs there. It's a time of war and the matrix circles in the towers have been drawn into various sides, creating show more new and powerful weapons with their laran.
I didn't realize that the Darkover series has been expanded with after the author's death by Deborah J Ross, so next up is Thunderlord, a completely new book (to me) in the Age of Chaos. I'm so looking forward to it. show less

Stormqueen! This was an enjoyable story. I've read very few of the Darkover books, so I had no preconceived notions of what this book should be. I found myself saddened by the many circumstances in this story of young people born with tremendous psychic abilities (laran, in their own language), but also born into extreme danger of death by the same. So much suffering simply because the older generations believe they MUST have an heir, and that heir must have laran, even if it will be the death of them. I found this story compelling, the characters very human and fallible and interesting, even though ultimately this is a tragic story.

Hawkmistress! : I enjoyed this book the better of the two. It had a much more hopefull and positive tone, show more and the journey of the young protaganist was interesting and believable in the context of her own society. The usual background issues of family, laran, and geneology were very much a part of the story, but in this case did not lead to a tragic conclusion. show less

This is a omnibus edition and it has 2 book.

I started by the second book and I really loved it. I was my first Darkover book, and it is still one of my favourites (I read more since then).

The first book (StormQueen) has some details that may confuse someone that is not familiar with the Darkover world.

Booth book are set in a feudal kind of society, where women are over protected (and considered inferior by some) there is war and some people has psychic abilities...

Most of the Darkover book are about the psychic gifts and their use (specially in war)

Stormqueen is book 1 of a 'Darkover' omnibus called "The Ages of Chaos". The Age of Chaos was a time similar to our "Dark Ages" when living was feudal. The omnibus describes the how society, namely the rich and influential, spent a lot of time trying to harness and control powerful Laren (or magic) into their families. Sons and daughters were basically breeding stock, unfortunately many died when they reach puberty as their full powers come in. Sometimes a child with such powerful laren is born that it kills it mother during the birth process, sometimes dying itself shortly after.

In Stormqueen, Dorilys is one such child, she is born with such tremendous power that she can call bolts of lightening down to kill. The result of this is one show more little girl who gets whatever she wants as her family and servants don't want to be zapped if she chucks a tantrum. As she approaches puberty her father and brother seek help from a Tower to teach Dorilys to control her power. The character of Dorilys is portrayed is a typical teenager, sometimes arrogant and spoiled, but also courageous and loving. These two aspects of her character pull her either way as her supporters struggle to help her survive her own power. Unfortunately, all of her supporters have their own problems, her father, Mikhail of Aldaran, has seen all of his previous children die as they reach puberty, and is desperate for a male heir to stop his brother taking over the family. Allart has a power that shows him all possible consequences of each act, and it drives him mad trying to figure out which course to follow. Renata has powerful magic, and refuses to be just a childbearing pawn. Finally, Dorilys's half brother,Donal is forced to marry Dorilys to meet his stepfather's desire for an heir.

I found this story hard to read due to all of the ethical issues of forced breeding. I also found it hard to read as the story was hard to follow and told from various points of view. I also got very confused as to why Allart was at the castle at all - eventually it all fell into place, but took a while. I am a huge fan of the darkover series - but was not happy with this story.

Hawkmistress is book 2 of a 'Darkover' omnibus called "The Ages of Chaos".

In this story the main character is a girl named Romilly MacAran, the MacAran's are an important family. She has the ability, laren, to get inside the mind of animals, mainly horses and hawks. Her eldest brother left home to train in a Tower, a place where Laren is used to make matrixes that are used to build things. This enraged Romilly's father and he has disowned the brother and banned the use of laren. Her father thinks that Romilly is unladylike for using her laren to train a hawk so he arranges for her to marry a man she finds disgusting and unacceptable. Instead of accepting the marriage, she ran away from home.

Romilly disguises herself as a man as Darkover is extremely patriarchal and women have no rights in society. After some adventures, Romilly meets up with Dom Carlo and his exile band who are joining the army of the exiled King Carolin. She joins up with the group - still disguised as a man. When she is busted, she is taken to the Sisterhood of the Sword, a female/warrior society. Her laren is much appreciated by the King and she ends up his trainer for horses and the sentry birds. She stays with the army as the final battle for power takes place - a terrible battle that no man should have to endure, let alone a woman.

I prefered this story to Stormqueen - had more sympathy for Romilly. Not one of her best books in the Darkover series - but a good average one :) show less

One of my all-time favorite sci-fi/fantasy series by one of my all-time favorite authors. Highly recommended.

Fantasy, Darkover,