SOPOR_blog
Date
5th December 2011
stormqueen
Plagued by a feeling of general uselessness, I decided to re-read
MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY
's "
Stormqueen!
" today (first published in 1978) ...  which, if you ask me, is by far the most interesting (dare I say
fabulous
?) of her
DARKOVER
novels. Well, it's certainly the only one that I have read more than once. In fact, it seems that I tend to come back to it every decade or so (which, clearly, can't be a good thing…).
 
Anyway, if you are not familiar with the Darkover universe, then … hmm, how shall it best describe it? Well, it's essentially
epic fantasy for frustrated housewives
. At least, that's the kind of clientele that usually attends the respective conventions (or any other medieval spectaculum or LARP get-together for that matter).
 
I really can't remember where or when I first encountered her books (someone probably knocked me over the head with it in the local library), but when I was shuffling through my transition, I - sort of - developed a temporary (and rather pretentious) soft spot for superficial feminism, and in its wake, I suppose, I must have read all the Darkover novels that were available at the time.
 
My second favourite back then was "
Hawkmistress!
" (yes, also with an exclamation mark, and also from the so-called 'Ages of Chaos'), which - now that I think about it - I must have read at least twice as well … - though I can hardly recall anything of its plot anymore (apart from a handful of colourful scenes and the occasional hint of homo- erotica). But back to "
Stormqueen!
" …
 
… which, actually,
IS
quite fabulous, because it really has it all: the soap-opera-esque
family drama
,
genetic engineering
(slash selective breeding, including
forced incest
... of course!),
Romance
(with a capital R),
napalm
(here 'clingfire'), a variety of
psychic- powers
(and other disturbances),
sword & sorcery
,
sex
with non-humans (some animal -like, others manufactured),
Lords & noblemen
,
Kings & Queens
,
tele-transportation
… and many more fun things (even spaceships, though not in this book) … - all set in an
extra-terrestrial version of the
Scottish highlands
!
-
Yep.
(Well, at least in
my
interpretation).
 
Oh, yes... and it has this
really
tasteful
cover-illustration ...
Speaking of
Marion Zimmer Bradley
... (and this is aimed at all the little witches out there) ... if you haven't done so already, go and read the book she is (I guess) most famous for: "
The Mists of Avalon
". It's a must. It's essential. It has sex with crippled dwarves in it ...
 
... well,
one
dwarf, anyway.
in_another_galaxy
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