A review by morgandhu
The Alton Gift by Deborah J. Ross, Marion Zimmer Bradley
3.0
The Alton Gift (pub. 2007), written by Deborah J. Ross from notes by Marion Zimmer Bradley, is the first book to deal with Darkover in the post-Terran era - and things are not good.
Darkover has clearly suffered in the three years since the departure of the Terrans. Only a generation has passed since the assault of the world wreckers, and the planet's ecology is still too fragile to sustain even the slightest of injuries. Forest fires have ravaged the hill areas, but without access to the fire-fighting chemicals of the Terrans, and with the numbers of Tower-trained leroni too depleted to fight fires in the old-fashioned way, with laran, whole villages have been destroyed, their inhabitants reduced to wandering the roads in search of work. The economy is faltering. And, harkening back to the very first Darkovan novel, a new strain of trailman's fever has appeared - and this time, the trailmen are dying of it too.
Not surprisingly, social unrest has reached levels previously unknown on Darkover. With the Comyn no longer able to uphold its part in the ancient feudal bargain, the social fabric of Darkovan culture is fraying. Added to this is the legacy of the self-imposed isolation that Regis Hastur adopted for himself and his kin after the wave of assassination attempts engineered by the world wreckers, which distanced the Comyn leaders from the people, and the effects of the Terran attempts to foment revolt through political satires spread by their agents among the Travellers.
Meanwhile, Lew Alton is having a crisis of conscience over his use of the Alton Gift to muddle the memories of the Terrans who survived the battle on the Old North Road. On the advice of Danilo Syrtis, he retires to the home of the cristoforo monks at Nevarsin where he hopes to find some peace of mind. Instead, he is directly confronted with his actions when the Keeper of Neskaya asks for his help in dealing with a Terran experiencing the awakening of latent laran as a result of being subjected to forced rapport. The Terran, Jeremiah Reed - now calling himself Joram - had remained on Darkover when the others were evacuated, and is, of course, one of those who attacked the funeral cortege. Lew restores his memories, helps him learn to control his laran, in the process both of them find a degree of healing and redemption - for Joram, a former biotechnician tasked with creating bioweapons, has his own demons to settle.
As the scene shifts from the Hellers to Thendara, Joram - and the knowledge that Lew and Marguerida have misused their power - falls into the hands of Mikhail Lanart-Hastur's enemy, Francisco Ridenow. With the Comyn Council in session, Francisco brings Joram to a council meeting, intending to use his story as a reason to challenge Mikhail's leadership. When Joram, despite being drugged, refuses to accuse Marguerida and Lew, Francisco declares blood feud against Mikhail. In the ensuing duel, Francisco is killed but not before he manages to wound Mikhail with a poisoned blade.
With Mikhail in a laran-induced coma to prolong his life in the hope that he will be able to fight off the effects of poison, Domenic convinces the Council to accept him as Acting Warden of Hastur and Regent in his father's place. Almost immediately he is faced with his first crisis - the trailmen's fever outbreak is spreading.
Under Domenic's leadership, The effort to save the people of Darkover from the plague brings together the diverse elements of society - Renunciate healers, Tower-trained leroni, matrix technicians from outside of the Towers, others of the Comyn, to nurse the already infected. Meanwhile, Joram, Marguerida, and some of those Darkovans who had once worked for the Terrans work to find a vaccine or treatment, drawing on Joram's knowledge and the records of the last outbreak of the fever.
In the end, it takes both Terran bioscience and Darkovan to create a vaccine from the blood of a plague survivor, but the process is difficult for the leroni involved, and it seems impossible to make enough in time to prevent the plague from killing off most of the population. Marguerida makes a desperate attempt, drawing on all the potential of her shadow matrix, to create enough vaccine to begin a treatment program - but in so doing, her consciousness is trapped in the Overworld, and none of the leroni are able to find her and bring her back to her body.
Domenic then makes his own desperate act, and joins the hands of his mother and father, both unreachable by any normal laran contact. While this allows Marguerida and Mikhail to find each other in the Overworld, it is Domenic who brings them back to the physical plane after they have healed each other with the power of Varzil's ring.
As the novel ends, the epidemic is under control, and the changes brought about by the need to find a cure are starting to ripple through the fabric of Darkovan society.
Darkover is changing, and so is the cast of characters that readers had grown used to over so many novels. Regis Hastur, who was introduced in the first Darkover novel Bradley wrote, died in The Traitor's Sun. The Alton Gift sees the passing of both Javanne Hastur and her husband Gabriel. Lew Alton suffers a heart attack, reminding readers that his days too are numbered. Marilla Lindir-Aillard succumbed to the plague. Yet as the old guard passes, Dominic Alton-Hastur is coming into his own as the heir to the Regency. And a new political landscape has been formed, with formerly unacknowledged nedestro heirs to the dwindling Domains - including Domenic's lover Illona Ardais (formerly Rider) - taking their places beside the remaining members of the older Comyn lines, and a Keeper's Council formed to advise the Comyn. Joram is teaching Terran science to a selected group of Darkovan students, with the goal of preparing for the eventual return of the Federation. The stage is set for the next stage of the Darkovan story.
Darkover has clearly suffered in the three years since the departure of the Terrans. Only a generation has passed since the assault of the world wreckers, and the planet's ecology is still too fragile to sustain even the slightest of injuries. Forest fires have ravaged the hill areas, but without access to the fire-fighting chemicals of the Terrans, and with the numbers of Tower-trained leroni too depleted to fight fires in the old-fashioned way, with laran, whole villages have been destroyed, their inhabitants reduced to wandering the roads in search of work. The economy is faltering. And, harkening back to the very first Darkovan novel, a new strain of trailman's fever has appeared - and this time, the trailmen are dying of it too.
Not surprisingly, social unrest has reached levels previously unknown on Darkover. With the Comyn no longer able to uphold its part in the ancient feudal bargain, the social fabric of Darkovan culture is fraying. Added to this is the legacy of the self-imposed isolation that Regis Hastur adopted for himself and his kin after the wave of assassination attempts engineered by the world wreckers, which distanced the Comyn leaders from the people, and the effects of the Terran attempts to foment revolt through political satires spread by their agents among the Travellers.
Meanwhile, Lew Alton is having a crisis of conscience over his use of the Alton Gift to muddle the memories of the Terrans who survived the battle on the Old North Road. On the advice of Danilo Syrtis, he retires to the home of the cristoforo monks at Nevarsin where he hopes to find some peace of mind. Instead, he is directly confronted with his actions when the Keeper of Neskaya asks for his help in dealing with a Terran experiencing the awakening of latent laran as a result of being subjected to forced rapport. The Terran, Jeremiah Reed - now calling himself Joram - had remained on Darkover when the others were evacuated, and is, of course, one of those who attacked the funeral cortege. Lew restores his memories, helps him learn to control his laran, in the process both of them find a degree of healing and redemption - for Joram, a former biotechnician tasked with creating bioweapons, has his own demons to settle.
As the scene shifts from the Hellers to Thendara, Joram - and the knowledge that Lew and Marguerida have misused their power - falls into the hands of Mikhail Lanart-Hastur's enemy, Francisco Ridenow. With the Comyn Council in session, Francisco brings Joram to a council meeting, intending to use his story as a reason to challenge Mikhail's leadership. When Joram, despite being drugged, refuses to accuse Marguerida and Lew, Francisco declares blood feud against Mikhail. In the ensuing duel, Francisco is killed but not before he manages to wound Mikhail with a poisoned blade.
With Mikhail in a laran-induced coma to prolong his life in the hope that he will be able to fight off the effects of poison, Domenic convinces the Council to accept him as Acting Warden of Hastur and Regent in his father's place. Almost immediately he is faced with his first crisis - the trailmen's fever outbreak is spreading.
Under Domenic's leadership, The effort to save the people of Darkover from the plague brings together the diverse elements of society - Renunciate healers, Tower-trained leroni, matrix technicians from outside of the Towers, others of the Comyn, to nurse the already infected. Meanwhile, Joram, Marguerida, and some of those Darkovans who had once worked for the Terrans work to find a vaccine or treatment, drawing on Joram's knowledge and the records of the last outbreak of the fever.
In the end, it takes both Terran bioscience and Darkovan to create a vaccine from the blood of a plague survivor, but the process is difficult for the leroni involved, and it seems impossible to make enough in time to prevent the plague from killing off most of the population. Marguerida makes a desperate attempt, drawing on all the potential of her shadow matrix, to create enough vaccine to begin a treatment program - but in so doing, her consciousness is trapped in the Overworld, and none of the leroni are able to find her and bring her back to her body.
Domenic then makes his own desperate act, and joins the hands of his mother and father, both unreachable by any normal laran contact. While this allows Marguerida and Mikhail to find each other in the Overworld, it is Domenic who brings them back to the physical plane after they have healed each other with the power of Varzil's ring.
As the novel ends, the epidemic is under control, and the changes brought about by the need to find a cure are starting to ripple through the fabric of Darkovan society.
Darkover is changing, and so is the cast of characters that readers had grown used to over so many novels. Regis Hastur, who was introduced in the first Darkover novel Bradley wrote, died in The Traitor's Sun. The Alton Gift sees the passing of both Javanne Hastur and her husband Gabriel. Lew Alton suffers a heart attack, reminding readers that his days too are numbered. Marilla Lindir-Aillard succumbed to the plague. Yet as the old guard passes, Dominic Alton-Hastur is coming into his own as the heir to the Regency. And a new political landscape has been formed, with formerly unacknowledged nedestro heirs to the dwindling Domains - including Domenic's lover Illona Ardais (formerly Rider) - taking their places beside the remaining members of the older Comyn lines, and a Keeper's Council formed to advise the Comyn. Joram is teaching Terran science to a selected group of Darkovan students, with the goal of preparing for the eventual return of the Federation. The stage is set for the next stage of the Darkovan story.