There has been some debate about how good of writer MZB was. If I am being totally honest, I would have to say that she is not the best writer in the world, and considering the massive amount of work she put out, some of it is "hack" work.The Darkover novels always stand out, however. Part of this for me is that there is almost consistent theme of the good of the society versus the rights of the inidivual in the books, even in the earlier ones. That theme is one full view here.Landfall tells the story of the colonization of Darkover. It is nice to see the real gods and goddesses that later Darkoveran characters talk about. One of the undercurrents in the novel is the relationships between men and women. It seems that the men assume control too quickly, that women are forced into subservient roles. Is it sexism, Bradley seems to be asking, or something? If given the chance, will equality be thrown aside? The most controvesial aspect is the refusal of an abortion to a main character, a non-colony woman who is trapped on the planet. While I wanted to smack the cold hearted male doctor, one has to admit the question in a colonizing sitution should abortion be allowed? Bradley really challenges the reader here, and that is a good thing.
Chris' Fish Place
Thoughts on things, mostly books.
There has been some debate about how good of writer MZB was. If I am being totally honest, I would have to say that she is not the best writer in the world, and considering the massive amount of work she put out, some of it is "hack" work.The Darkover novels always stand out, however. Part of this for me is that there is almost consistent theme of the good of the society versus the rights of the inidivual in the books, even in the earlier ones. That theme is one full view here.Landfall tells the story of the colonization of Darkover. It is nice to see the real gods and goddesses that later Darkoveran characters talk about. One of the undercurrents in the novel is the relationships between men and women. It seems that the men assume control too quickly, that women are forced into subservient roles. Is it sexism, Bradley seems to be asking, or something? If given the chance, will equality be thrown aside? The most controvesial aspect is the refusal of an abortion to a main character, a non-colony woman who is trapped on the planet. While I wanted to smack the cold hearted male doctor, one has to admit the question in a colonizing sitution should abortion be allowed? Bradley really challenges the reader here, and that is a good thing.
