I continue with my Darkover reading with one that it's possible I never read before. I'm not sure if I've read any of the books published after Bradley's passing. Will someone tell me if they know the story with what MZB really wrote in the Deborah Ross era?
The Fall of Neskaya, the first in the Clingfire trilogy, takes us back about a thousand years in Darkover's history from the last book. This is before the Terrans returned and before the Domains split up the planet and ruled under a centralized council. It's also before laran weapons were banned and the Compact--where one can't use a weapon that doesn't put their own life at risk--was signed. The Compact makes a lot of sense. No automatic weapons, no nukes, no guns even--just knives and swords and bludgeoning tools.
The lovers in Neskaya are a widowed queen and a third son with some serious psychic mojo. It's a fine, absorbing tale, at least to me, right now, in my current mindset. As I've repeatedly said, I know it's awful that I keep reading MZB after she's been accused by her daughter of incest. I don't know how to justify it. I'm a cold fish.