Death of a Gossip (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries)

Book Description

When a famous gossip columnist is murdered at the local fishing school, no one is ready to talk. It's up to Hamish Macbeth, with the inspiring assistance of the lovely Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, to sniff out the right rat amid all the cunning anglers with secrets to hide. But someone has baited a hook for him . . .

Customer Reviews:

An Uncharacteristic Beginning to a Humorous Series.......2006-12-16

Death of a Gossip is the first book in the Hamish Macbeth mysteries by M.C. Beaton. I decided to read this book after having found many of the references to Hamish Macbeth's motives in the later books to be obscure and puzzling. I was pleased to find that Death of a Gossip does a fine job of setting up the premise for the series; outlining the characters of Hamish Macbeth and his friend, Priscilla Hallburton-Smythe; and establishing a plot structure for the future murder spree in the small village of Lochdubh in the northwestern Highlands of Scotland. If you want to understand those underpinnings, you definitely need to read this book.

However, the book is quite unlike the others in the series in important ways:

1. The premise behind the murder is much more thoughtful and better developed than in the following books.

2. The tension between the victim and the other characters is also better developed.

3. The interplay between Hamish and Priscilla is awkward and embarrassingly at the edge of prurience for burlesque purposes. In later books, this relationship is much better grounded and more interesting.

4. The detection involved is clumsy and disappointing. It's as though M.C. Beaton had missed the last class on how to write a mystery story. In the later books, the detection is a rewarding element of the stories. So this is an unusual false start.

I mention all of these things lest you fail to realize that you have better books ahead of you.

If you have read none of the Hamish Macbeth stories, I recommend you start with this one and read through them in the order that they were published. You'll enjoy the character development better that way.

Here's a thumbnail of the set-up. Hamish Macbeth is the sole police constable in a small village where there's not much to do. He's impoverished because he's the eldest son in a Scottish family with lots of wee lads and lassies who need financial support. Due to a Highland tradition, he cannot even think of getting married until another son can replace him as an extra provider for the younger children in the large family. Since Hamish is much older than the other children, that day will be long in coming. There's not much for him to do, and he uses a lot of his time to scrounge free food and drink, raise chickens . . . and to poach on occasion. His one vice is his mongrel dog, Towser, who often eats better than Hamish does. Hamish has been struck dumb by the beauty and grace of Priscilla Hallburton-Smythe, daughter of the local landed gentry. Priscilla is unaware of his feelings. Others think that Hamish is retarded because of how much Priscilla affects him. The Hallburton-Smythes see marrying off Priscilla well as their main activity.

As this story opens, it's fishing season . . . and many beginning anglers arrive for the fishing school. They expect to struggle with tying flies, getting lines untangled and overcoming midges, but they don't expect the pointed comments of Lady Jane Hamilton . . . which hint at the hidden secrets in their closets. Lady Jane is obnoxious in other ways, and soon everyone feels threatened. Someone must feel more threatened than others because Lady Jane is found dead. Who did it? Hamish will find out, even though he's ordered off the case.

Hamish Macbeth's Début.......2006-10-13

In the 1st book in the Hamish Macbeth mystery series, we are introduced to the laid-back yet highly intelligent Constable Hamish Macbeth. Living in the Scottish village of Lochdubh, Hamish loves his small town and the villagers that live within it. Even though Hamish is kind and fair, the townspeople still consider him a bit of a moocher (always looking for free coffee and sandwiches), and he has been known to poach game to send back to his siblings. Living a bachelor's life in an idyllic setting, Hamish loves nothing more than to loaf about on the moors.

In this first installment, a new class of fly fishermen has arrived at the Lochdubh School of Casting taught by John and Heather Cartwright. Everyone is looking forward to a relaxing holiday learning more about their new hobby. The peacefulness of the outing is rudely interrupted by the brash antics of one of the pupils, Lady Jane Hamilton. Making snide comments about each of the members of the fishing school, she quickly makes enemies of them all. When a body is found murdered, no one is surprised to find that it is Lady Jane. Doing some digging into everyone's background and a little bit of lucky guess-work, Hamish lands himself the killer before all the students return back home after a wild vacation.

Having read all of the books in the series in the past, I decided to return and read them again for a second time. Listening to these books on CD is almost like visiting an old friend, or a childhood home. Hamish is a soothing character...he has such a good natured personality, and rarely gets anxious or angry. He looks at his cases in a calm, yet clever manner and always catches his killer. This series definitely grew on me as I continued to read it. In this first book, most of the beloved townspeople are absent (with the exception of Priscilla and her father). Much of the appeal of this series is in the village and its inhabitants, so if this is the first book you have read in the series, don't stop here. This is a witty, sometimes quirky look inside the brilliant mind of a constable at work in his beloved Scottish Highlands. I cannot wait to revisit Lochdubh again soon!

The next book in the series is called "Death of a Cad". Enjoy!

They get better!.......2006-06-24

The first of the Hamish books that I "read" was a recent one: Death of a Charming Man, and I went on to 3 others before coming back to the beginning. I am very glad that I started with a later book rather than this one, because without recommendation, I would not have gone farther. The books are told from the Third Person Limited, and in the later books, the story is told with knowledge of Hamish's thoughts. In this book, the first half is told primarily from the viewpoints of other characters, most prominently those of Alice, a confused 19-year-old who is only in the village for a week. In fact, the book is really about a group of outsiders rather than about the colorful villagers we come to know and love later. There are no Curry sisters, or doctor, or minister's wife, or Patel the grocer.

Hamish is a petty thief. This book does, though, point out in a fine way that all the characters are self-aggrandizing liars and hypocrites, but that all but one or two of them are harmless. Another nice thing about this book and all the Hamish books is that you know who's going to die, s/he doesn't die until about a third of the way through, and s/he is so awful a person that you can't wait for it to happen.

Note: I have listened, rather than read, the Hamish books. The audio versions are excellent. Both Davina Porter and the gentleman who reads the last books have wonderful breath and inflection. I forgive Ms. Porter for not managing one visitor's NYC accent -- in all other respects, she makes the books come alive. The perfect distraction from housework or a workout or a long plane ride.

Cozy is the perfect definition.......2006-03-06

This is the first book in the Hamish Macbeth Series. The book was enjoyable, yet it seemed similar to cotton candy, good, yet not filling. There were very nice settings and a solid mystery at the heart of this book. One of my biggest concerns after reading the book, was that I did not really take to the book's hero. I have read the other reviews and will probably give the other books a chance at some point.

Keep Reading..........2005-06-22

At first glance, "Death of a Gossip" did not fit my ideal of the "hero." It features Hamish Macbeth, a Scottish village constable - who isn't particular handsome or suave and is notoriously known for "mooching" coffee at the local hotel. (He sends the majority of his paycheck home to his parents and siblings.) Initially, I thought it might be a little dated as it was written 20 years ago.

But I quickly discovered that there is a reason for the success of this series, with additional new episodes published each year. In many ways, this series is light - and in many ways, it is rather profound. M.C. Beaton conveys important insights about human flaws and strengths in a remarkably understated way.

As the title suggests, this book focuses on the murder of a newspaper gossip columnist, who has made a career of embarking on various group vacations throughout the country - but only after first investigating the "skeletons" of the other guests on the tour. She has built her reputation on ultimately exposing these vacationers in her column.

When "The Gossip" is murdered, Hamlish steps in to investigate the mystery - but in a funny, quirky way. The mystery is solved through the often hilarious recounts of conversations and events that take place in the quaint, unsophisticated Scottish village.

Hamish Macbeth GROWS on you and wise advice is to be gleaned from this patient, sometimes lazy, all too human constable - almost before you discern it. He transports one back to a simpler time when the good character of an individual was the most important attribute one could possess. I urge readers to give this series a try because it only gets better with each book.

What Are the Chances?: Voodoo Deaths, Office Gossip, and Other Adventures in Probability

Average customer rating:

Elementary introduction
Let's Figure the Odds
A good collection of statistics applications

What Are the Chances?: Voodoo Deaths, Office Gossip, and Other Adventures in Probability
Bart K. Holland
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Mathematics | Science | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0801869412

Book Description

Our lives are governed by chance. But what, exactly, is chance? In this book, accomplished statistician and storyteller Bart K. Holland takes us on a tour of the world of probability. Weaving together tales from real life -- from the spread of the bubonic plague in medieval Europe or the number of Prussian cavalrymen kicked to death by their horses, through IQ test results and deaths by voodoo curse, to why you have to wait in line for rides at Disneyworld -- Holland captures the reader's imagination with surprising examples of probability in action, everyday events that can profoundly affect our lives but are controlled by just one number.

As Holland explains, even chance events are governed by the laws of probability and follow regular patterns called statistical laws. He shows how such laws are successfully applied, with great benefit, in fields as diverse as the insurance industry, the legal system, medical research, aerospace engineering, and climatology. Whether you have only a distant recollection of high school algebra or use differential equations every day, this book offers examples of the impact of chance that will amuse and astonish.

Customer Reviews:

Elementary introduction.......2003-02-15

The only useful item I found in this book was an explanation of how to calculate the average life span from a life table. The book explains the normal distribution and topics at that level. It also gives a rather superficial explanation of Black-Scholes option pricing.

Let's Figure the Odds.......2002-10-24

It has been shown that although any branch of mathematics can be difficult, people have a particular inherent difficulty with probability. It's easy to see an example of this: Las Vegas was built upon the fantasy that one might walk away from the tables richer than one started. Of course, it can happen, but even the fools about to be parted from their money know that the odds are against them. It makes little difference. We think we have an intrinsic understanding of probability, but we do not. A little book by statistician Bart K. Holland, _What Are the Chances?: Voodoo Deaths, Office Gossip, and Other Adventures in Probability_ (Johns Hopkins University Press) could improve understanding of some simple and some difficult matters in the laws of chance.

For instance, mathematicians evaluated the "Hot Hand" effect in basketball. Players and spectators knew that there were times when a shooter was having a good string of hits, an obvious run that demonstrated a flow of particular skill. But there weren't such runs; we are pattern-seeking creatures, and we can see patterns even in randomness, that is, when no pattern is there. What's more, we are very likely to think the pattern can be used as some sort of prediction. This is the basis of the classic "gambler's fallacy," that in a random indicator, what has gone before affects what will happen next. It "feels" right that if you toss a fair coin repeatedly and get ten heads in a row, that it is more likely that the next toss will be tails, but of course the coin has no memory of what has gone before. Probability plays a role in actuarial tables, and there is a brief, fascinating history of life insurance; it used to be sacrilegious to offer life insurance (but not, say, shipping delivery insurance) because only God was supposed to roll those dice. Holland also explains queuing theory basics, and answers the ultimate question: Why is my line for the supermarket check-out going so much slower than the others?

The Voodoo deaths in the subtitle come from epidemiologic studies (Holland is a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology) which show that that patients who believe themselves marked by death for a voodoo curse are actually at greater risk for dying (or at least getting sick). It can be shown, however, that nothing supernatural is happening. The hex only works if the victim and his family know about it and believe the voodoo priest has the power to do such a thing; in other words, it has a reverse placebo effect. The office gossip in the subtitle is a model of exponential spread, analogous to the spread of the plague, or to a nuclear chain reaction. Holland has picked amusing examples, both esoteric and from everyday life, to illustrate the way probability profoundly affects all of us. Chances are that any reader will be entertained and educated.

A good collection of statistics applications.......2002-06-17

I teach introductory business statistics, in addition to a variety of economics and finance courses at a regional campus of a state university. I was looking for some interesting, relevant applications/anecdotes to supplement a clearly written but rather terse textbook. I also wanted some new material to spice up my lectures. This book delivers. In principle, it can be read by someone who has never had a course in statistics, because it develops the subject from first principles, or should I say, first examples. In the course of the narrative, typical introductory textbook topics such as the nature of randomness, the binomial and normal probability distributions, and confidence intervals are covered. The exposition is self-contained, in that it includes mathematical expressions of the probability distributions. Unlike a textbook, however, it becomes clear that the examples drive the exposition of the statistics, not vice-versa. Some interesting examples require the development of distributions which are not generally taught in introductory courses, such the Poisson and even more advanced stochastic processes to model waiting times. No one but a mathematician will be able to completely absorb this advanced material, especially since it seems to be included more for completeness than with an expectation of comprehension by the reader. Also, as a financial economist, I was a bit disappointed by the treatment of random walks to model stock price behavior. While not generally incorrect, the exposition is not as lucid as if it had been written by, say, an econometrician. On the other hand, the main benefit I got from reading this book was a plethora of examples outside finance and economics--specifically, in epidemiology, which is the author's specialty. Although I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for a self-study textbook in the subject, I would highly recommend it for a student who is taking or has taken an introductory statistics class, as well as someone who is contemplating taking the subject and wants more motivation than a textbook will provide. Holland is a very erudite writer. After reading this book, nobody can legitimately claim that statistics is boring or irrelevant.

Average customer rating:

Help for the Hurting

Betrayed by Gossip
Clinton Clark
Manufacturer: Xulon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1597810347

Book Description

Falsely accused of participating in homosexual orgies, the author lost his closest relationships, including his new wife. Crushed - God becomes his best friend. Hope for the emotionally wounded.

Customer Reviews:

Help for the Hurting.......2006-02-28

The author tells a painful story of a betrayal in his own life that left him devastated and without the wife he planned to spend the rest of his life with. This is a beautifully written book and a very easy read. If you've ever been falsely accused of something, you will truly appreciate reading this man's experience.

Average customer rating:

Death of a gossip.
M.C. Beaton
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJN66C

Average customer rating:

The Station Wagon Murder
Milton Propper
Manufacturer: Harper
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000CQCOU6

Product Description

Very vintage murder mystery set in High Society Philadelphia. We'd all like to know why someone thought a station wagon was a good place to commit murder...or was it the last straw for the frustrated owner? Delightful rare mystery for car buffs, armchair detectives and period literary types.

Even in death, controversy follows; Troubled ex-playmate can't escape being fodder for celebrity gossip.(World Wire): An article from: Winnipeg Free Press

Average customer rating:

Even in death, controversy follows; Troubled ex-playmate can't escape being fodder for celebrity gossip.(World Wire): An article from: Winnipeg Free Press
Gale Reference Team
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000NDI9FW
Release Date: 2007-02-09

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Winnipeg Free Press, published by Thomson Gale on February 9, 2007. The length of the article is 727 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Even in death, controversy follows; Troubled ex-playmate can't escape being fodder for celebrity gossip.(World Wire)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication: Winnipeg Free Press (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 9, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: a9

Distributed by Thomson Gale

4 PBs by M.C. Beaton: Death of a Snob, Outsider, Gossip, Hussy (Hamish Macbeth Mystery)

Average customer rating:

4 PBs by M.C. Beaton: Death of a Snob, Outsider, Gossip, Hussy (Hamish Macbeth Mystery)
M. C. Beaton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VV2UJM

Product Description

Paperbacks

Average customer rating:

Death of a Gossip
M. C. Beaton
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTH47E

Average customer rating:

Hamish Macbeth's Début

Death of a Gossip
M.C. Beaton
Manufacturer: Recorded Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Product Description

COllector's Edition. The Hamish Macbeth mysteries are such fun, its no wonder they have achieved cult status among whodunit lovers. Readers are enchanted with their scenic Highland settings and unassuming red-headed hero. Lochdubh Constable Hamish Macbeths down-to-earth style is as refreshing as the thyme-scented Highland air, and his ability to hone in on the truth, as stunning as the blazing heather covering the mountainsides. Lady Jane Hamilton, one of the guests at the Lochdubh School of Casting, is positively ruining everyones holiday with her knack for digging up nasty secrets. As the week-long fishing class progresses, she gives each person there a reason to hate her. But figuring out which one of them would go so far as to commit murder is trickier than catching a Lochdubh salmon. Davina Porters mellifluous tones and authentic Scottish accents make Lochdubhs ambiance irresistible. Whether youre wading through trout-filled streams, or fishing for clues at Macbeths side, your trip to the Highlands is sure to entertain and delight.

Customer Reviews:

Hamish Macbeth's Début.......2006-10-13

Average customer rating:

A life and death matter
A. P Gouthey
Manufacturer: A.P. Gouthey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0008B4A0M

Customer Reviews:

Not "canonical" Darkover, but fun anyway.......2000-08-23

These books were written early in the author's career, and have many inconsistencies with the rest of the Darkover series. Nevertheless, taken as stand-alone novels, they are both enjoyable. The Planet Savers is an interesting study of a man with two personalities, representing opposite psychological extremes... and what happens when those personalities are put under stress. Overall, these are fun "light" SF reading, not to be taken too seriously, but good for an evening's entertainment.

The Winds of Darkover/the Anything Tree (Ace Double)

Average customer rating:

The Winds of Darkover/the Anything Tree (Ace Double)

Manufacturer: Ace Double 89250
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000BB8E10

Average customer rating:

WINDS OF DARKOVER
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Manufacturer: Ace
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0441892531

The Winds of Darkover and The Anything Tree

Average customer rating:

The Winds of Darkover and The Anything Tree
Marion Zimmer and Rackham, John Bradley
Manufacturer: NY Ace Books 1970.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HCZ8VW

The Anything Tree / The Winds of Darkover (Ace Double 89250)

Average customer rating:

The Anything Tree / The Winds of Darkover (Ace Double 89250)
John Rackham , and Marion Zimmer Bradley
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000CRI1UC

Average customer rating:

The Anything Tree; The Winds of Darkover
John; BRADLEY, Marion Zimmer RACKHAM
Manufacturer: Ace 89250
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000OPAVL4

Marion Zimmer Bradley - 5 Darkover Novels - Two to Conquer, Sword of Chaos, The Winds of Darkover, The Other Side of the Mirror, & Thendara House (Darkover)

Average customer rating:

Marion Zimmer Bradley - 5 Darkover Novels - Two to Conquer, Sword of Chaos, The Winds of Darkover, The Other Side of the Mirror, & Thendara House (Darkover)
Marion Zimmer Bradley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WQX16W

Product Description

Set of 5 novels from Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series: Two to Conquer, Sword of Chaos, The Winds of Darkover, The Other Side of the Mirror, & Thendara House.

Average customer rating:

Bradley keeps telling the same story over and again
An important but not quite essential Darkover novel
Interesting aside from mainstream of Darkovan history

The Winds of Darkover
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Manufacturer: G. K. Hall & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Literature & Fiction | Large Print | Formats | Books

Science Fiction & Fantasy | Large Print | Formats | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0783890672

Customer Reviews:

Bradley keeps telling the same story over and again.......2004-09-10

Dan Barron is a Terran who has spent 5 years working on Darkover. Like nearly all Terrans on Darkover, he has spent all of his time in the Terran Zone and not actually among native Darkovans (which is the way the ruling class of Darkover wants it). He is demoted after causing a nearly horrific accident at the Thendara Spaceport. It seems that Dan has been having "visions" where he suddenly finds himself in some castle somewhere, but he doesn't actually go anywhere. When this happens on the job, accidents can and do happen. While Dan is skilled at what he does, the accident was so severe that he can no longer be trusted to do his job. When the Darkovan Lord Valdir Alton requests a Terran to help teach and train Darkovans to grind glass for telescope and binocular lenses, the Terran Vice-Coordinator selects Dan to do the job. It is the only job that could keep Dan from being transferred off-planet.

One of the visions that Dan keeps having has to do with a young woman, red-haired, in chains, and covered with fire.

Since Darkover novels tend to be told from multiple perspectives (Terran and Darkovan), we are also told the story of the Storn family. Storn castle has been taken over by a bandit army and the Storns have been imprisoned. Lord Loran Storn, blind and nearly helpless, has protected himself with his laran (esp) power and has also sent his sister Melitta out to find help. Loran has also been trying to find a way to help his family himself, so he uses his laran to try to control someone and get the help the Storns need. That someone just happens to be Dan Barron.

Once again, as in the majority of the Darkover novels, "The Winds of Darkover" deals with the cultural differences between Terrans and the natives of Darkover and there is a Terran trying to assimilate to the new Darkovan culture. This is such a common theme that Bradley works with, but due to the nature of her world it is one that is necessary.

"The Winds of Darkover" feels more like a set-up novel than one that is telling a new story. It is world building. This story introduces Dan Barron to Darkover, but it also introduces something called the "Sharra Matrix" which will be important later in the series. The Sharra Matrix is powerful laran magic. It was outlawed years ago because it was viewed as "dangerous" and also "pagan" (of sorts). It can create powerful fire magic in the hands of a leronis (one who can command laran). "The Winds of Darkover" introduces this concept and a couple of others to our understanding of Darkover, but as a standalone novel it is not anything truly special. It builds on what we know of Darkover, but in the basics of the story it is one that Bradley has told several times set in Darkover.

By no means is this one of the best Darkover novels, though it is decent enough. "The Winds of Darkover" is one for fans of the series because it fills in some details and introduces a couple of characters and concepts that will be used later in the series, but unless you are trying to work your way through the entire series (as i am), this is one that you can easily skip. It is an average story (even for Darkover) with nothing to recommend it over some of the far superior Darkover novels (The Bloody Sun, The Forbidden Tower, Stormqueen).

-Joe Sherry

An important but not quite essential Darkover novel.......2004-05-23

Among the native people of Darkover, even those outside the rule of the Comyn, certain taboos are strictly forbidden. In this society of telepaths, none must use their mental powers in order to shadow, or take over the mind and body, of another individual. Drastic times call for drastic measures, however, and the situation at High Windward, the outlying Castle of Storn, is indeed drastic. The stronghold has been breached and the family of Storn virtually imprisoned by a gang of ruffians. The oldest son and de facto head of the family, Loran, lies in a deathlike trance inside the high walls of the castle, protected by a magical force field; blind since birth and thus virtually powerless to stop the storming of the castle, he is not without magical recourse in his trancelike state. Eldric, his younger brother, is imprisoned in the dungeon. Allira, his timid sister, has been forcefully taken as a wife by the leader of the gang of bandits, but the younger Melitta has been given, at least temporarily, limited freedom of movement inside the walls of the castle. Alienated from the families of the Comyn on Darkover, Loran Storn has no one to call upon for aid. Taboo or not, his only hope is to search out another mind and engineer some kind of rescue mission through that person. The mind he finds is that of a Terran named Dan Barron.

Barron, after five years of unblemished service as a dispatcher at the Darkover Spaceport, finds himself in serious trouble after his dereliction of duty almost results in the crash of a landing spacecraft. He cannot tell his superiors what actually happened - that he had suddenly found himself lost in a vision of a world he did not know. Rather than being deported, he is assigned to teach lens crafting to a delegation of Darkovans, and so he ventures into the world outside the Terran zone for the first time. These sudden, all-encompassing visions continue to hit him without a moment's notice, and he begins to feel as if two people reside within his brain, as he seems to know things about Darkovan language and culture that he cannot possibly know. Eventually, this other person inside Barron takes full control of his mind and body, sending him on a desperate mission to a city he has no knowledge of; at the same time, Melitta follows the instructions of her entranced brother, escapes from the Castle of Storn, and makes her way to that same city. In this desperate rendezvous of sister and "brother" lies the only hope for the rescue of the Storn family. Dan Barron, as you might expect, takes on a less zombified role in the drama before all is said and done. Still, with no allies to call upon or available mercenaries to hire, Loran Storn's desperate gamble to save his family seems destined to fail until a most unlikely savior comes up with a plan, one involving the breaking of yet another Darkover taboo.

This relatively short novel stands alone quite well, but it also has its place in the context of the entire Darkover series. We meet Star of Danger's Larry Montray, in a relatively minor role here, and Desideria, an important character in the story of The Second Age of Darkover, makes her first appearance (in terms of the Darkover chronology) in these pages as a heroic young lady. Winds of change blowing in the kingdoms outside Comyn hegemony portend the sweeping changes evoked in the land as The First Age of contact with the Terrans draws to a close. Perhaps most significantly, we are witnesses to the rebirth of one of the forbidden weapons from the earlier Ages of Chaos, as the forbidden powers of the fire goddess Sharra are called upon for the first time in centuries.

Interesting aside from mainstream of Darkovan history.......2000-06-09

The series of twenty-one novels and a dozen anthologies that sprawls across the history of human settlement on the planet of Darkover consists not of an ordered sequence of novels but of trilogies, duos and stand alones which weave in and out of each other, sometimes in direct conflict. This is one of the stand alones in this series, an aside from Darkovan events at large. Very few of the characters appear in or are even mentioned in any of the other novels, and this is not greatly dissapointing as it is definitely not one of the best Darkovan novels. The protagonist is a Terran who, being stationed on this primitive planet finds himself in service to one of the great lords of the Comyn, Valdir Alton. The contact between this Terran and another, Larry Montray (the foster-son of Valdir, due to events related in 'Star of Danger')is used typically by MZB as a platform from which to demonstrate Darkovan culture and explore the effects of culture shock - this technique of immerging a Terran in Darkovan nobility and standing back to watch the effects is one MZB uses in most of the novels set after recontact between Earth and its lost colony Darkover. It is quite slow getting into the story, but when it does it is quite a good rolic. It is a must read for devotees of the series but definitely not one to start on if unfamiliar with the series - The Heritage of Hastur or The Bloody Sun are probably the best to start on. Those more aware of the series will enjoy the brief contact with Larry Montray, destined to become uncle to Lew Alton, one of the most poignant and troubled characters of the whole series, and the focus on the Storn family, who are one of those families in the complex genealogies of the Comyn which receives little attention in the main novels. Particularly interesting for those who found Desideria Storn in 'The World Wreckers' a fascinating character. Perhaps the most interesting part of the novel for devotees though is the taboo broken by the Storn scion in order to obtain help from the Terran: he telepathically 'overshadows' him and takes control of his mind and body. Darkover is a society run by powerful telepaths and the observation of certain conventions, all of which utterly forbid such a maneuovre, is the only way to make such a society functional. This makes for interesting ramifications for all characters in the novel, and interesting explorations of conscience. The other bonus for those familiar with the series is the only excursion to the Dry Towns (except for the notable rescue in 'The Shattered Chain')in the whole series. However, these items of trivia for the fan are not enough to sustain a middling novel above a rating of three.

Average customer rating:

The Winds of Darkover
Marion Zimmer Bradly
Manufacturer: Arrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K2NDBQ

Average customer rating:

The Winds of Darkover
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8MTYI

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books