Book description
High in the mountainous Hellers, Corin Leynier, adolescent son of a
minor nobleman, wakes from a nightmare of ravening forest fire, only to
find that the fire is real. Running toward the fire lines, Corin fights
to suppress waves of nausea and dizziness - feelings that have become
more and more frequent over the passing months - to help his kinsmen. As
the inhabitants of Verdanta lands, nobleman and commoner alike, struggle
hopelessly to contain the worst fire in memory, all seems lost, and
Verdanta doomed by uncontrollable flames, until help arrives
unexpectedly in the person of Rumail, laranzu of Neskaya Tower. At
Rumail's summoning, Tramontana Tower sends fire-fighting chemicals
carried by air-glider, and the fire is finally contained.
But Rumail has not come to Verdanta on an errand of mercy. He has come
with the express intention of testing the Leynier children for laran
potential, and quickly realizes that Colin is in the throes of
"threshold sickness," a potentially deadly illness that
accompanies the awakening of powerful laran. He offers to monitor Corin,
and arang for him to enter Tramontana Tower for training. But durig
Rumail's examination, Corin senses something terribly wrong - he knows
that Rumail has implanted a seed of evil deep within his mind - yet when
he wakes, he finds he cannot speak of it.
For unknown to the Leyniers, Rumail is the nedestro brother of the
powerful and corrupt King Damian Deslucido. Damian has enlisted the help
of his laranzu brother in his plans of conquest - plans to unite all
Darkover under one tyrannical rule - his own - and Rumail will stop at
nothing - not even unethical use of his telepathic powers - to help his
brother achieve his bloody and vainglorious aim. Marion Zimmer
Bradley (1930 - 1999)
Marion Zimmer was born on a farm in Albany, New York, in 1930, and
married Robert Alden Bradley in 1949. She received a B. A. from Hardin
Simmons University, Texas, and did post-graduate work at the University
of California, Berkeley, during which time she helped found the Society
for Creative Anachronism. She sold her first story in 1952 and was a
writer of note for over four decades. Bradley is best known for two
signature series: the 'Darkover' science fantasy series and her
Arthurian masterpiece, The Mists of Avalon and its sequels. She also
edited anthologies for 14 years and published Marion Zimmer Bradley's
Fantasy Magazine, which ran for 50 quarterly issues between 1988 and the
end of 2000. Marion Zimmer Bradley died in Berkeley, California, on
September 25, 1999, four days after suffering a major heart attack.
Deborah J. Ross (1947 -)
Deborah J. Ross, who grew up in California and attended college in
Oregon, began telling stories at an early age and continued writing
throughout her school and work life. Around the time she decided to
write professionally, Ross became friends with Marion Zimmer Bradley.
Many of Ross's short stories were published by Bradley in her
anthologies and magazines, and they later collaborated on a number of
titles from the well-known Darkover series, including the Clingfire
trilogy.
