Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels discussion

Order of MZB books we must read

1. The Spell Sword (not nominated)
2. The Forbidden Tower (Hugo nomination 1978)
3. The Heritage of Hastur (Nebula nomination 1976)
4. The Sword of Aldones (Hugo nomination 1963)

The three nominated Marion Zimmer Bradley books are part of one huge series. I think we can get away with reading only 4 of them, though you may want to read 5. (There are many facets to life on the planet Darkover, many of which you don’t need to know to enjoy the nominated books, IMHO.)

Although it is not usually named as a starting point for Darkover novels, I suggest we start with “The Spell Sword,” which is the immediate precursor to Hugo nominated “The Forbidden Tower.” I know this works because I started there, years ago, and it worked fine for me. The character who you open the book with is a newcomer to the planet of Darkover, so you learn about the background as he does.

FYI, in Kindle, these two books are only available in an omnibus, "The Forbidden Circle” for $7.99 (or same price, new paperback). Bryan, both are available in audio versions, separately. Or, you can probably find some really cheap used paperbacks. These books were widely read.

Next, we should read "The Heritage of Hastur,” (HH) which probably occurs probably a generation later. It is a sometimes suggested starting point. Problematic is “The Sword of Aldones,” (SoA) which immediately follows it. It was the first Darkover book written, (except for a novella “The Planet Savers” (PS), which is chronologically after SoA) and you can sure tell. MZB was so unhappy with it she rewrote it as "Sharra’s Exile,” (SE) but that book is not nominated. I think that HH & SE together are probably the best things she ever wrote, but we don’t need to read SE. We can read the (clumsier and shorter) nominated “SoA" only. But you might WANT to read SE, I'm thinking. We could just read it on our own

SoA is Kindle for $4.99. It’s gone up a dollar since I bought it in 2011. There are used. paperback copies for a buck and a half. Bryan, the audible version is recorded with the novella PS, but I suggest you don’t listen to PS first. It has lots of Darkover settings that aren’t really needed to understand the other books.

If you want to read them all, go here for a discussion of series order.
http://www.mzbworks.com/works.htm

There are also some books written later in her life with other people. I have not read most of them because I had trouble with the differing perspectives and writing styles. But I have read all of the ones in the 7 anthologies which make up the backbone of Darkover. Let me know if you want a list.

I hesitated whether to say the following in this email but here we go:
1. I remember a review that said “The Forbidden Tower” focused “almost myopically on the bedroom.” (I love that phrase, that’s why I have remembered it all these years.) But there’s no sex in it that I recall. What it is is--It’s a completely character-based book that talks about the interactions between the 4 main characters and on their problems caused by the culture/structure/life etc. of Darkover.

2. The Heritage of Hastur has nothing graphic, but you know there is something going on, and you may not like it, depending on your tastes.

3. This happened in 2014, long after MZB died, and I never knew until I was just writing this post. . . https://www.theguardian.com/books/201... I have also not followed up to determine the truth of these allegations or to see what happened. Some people may decide not to read these because of this, though. So I mention it.