I had absolutely no issues in giving this a full 5 star rating, because even though the novel was nominated in '78 for the Hugo, that it comes out of the mind of one of the more well-beloved SF/F authors of our times, the novel is absolutely gorgeous all on its own.

Why? Because we're getting such depth of world-building, from the science of the solar/planetary, to the culture it spawned, to an absolutely amazing depth of social explorations, to a very cool discourse on the sexes as seen from multiple cultures and their conflicts.

Sound impressive? It only gets better, because the story is oh so solid and very complex. This is the novel highlights all the things we truly love about his SoIaF series, establishing characters as one thing only to break the mold completely, crossing all the boundaries of evil to good and back again. No one is a secondary character, either. This is the precursor to the series we know, only it's Science Fiction.

It's easy to get carried away with the misogynic society of men and the desire of a single woman to free herself after having got caught, and it is a major theme, at first, but then we begin to see how truly disturbing the society is not because it does such male-centered things, but because of it's tragic history and how it had almost died out because it had lost most of its females, and as such, had changed them into true treasures and communal properties over a few generations despite the original star-faring society being perfectly egalitarian. It sounds bad, but then you start to see a particularly complex bond/love relationships between men, almost honor, almost romance, and it's made even more complex by the deep rules of duels, warfare, and conquest, all while having such strange mixes of old and rediscovered tech.

And of course we get to see and explore it all through both their eyes and an outsider's eyes in the greater galactic civilization, full of misunderstandings, surprises, hate, love, little heroisms and subversions.

Sound a deeply complex storyline full of surprises and adventure? Well it is, and we get to see a deeply imagined physical world, too, not just of the people and the social structures. The planet is within a strange and chaotic start system and they cannot even see more than twelve stars. With so many multiple suns, we also discover that the planet had a near brush with a sun and is now on it's way out of the system entirely. The planet will go from great heat into an eventual iceball. See a theme? Only this time, it's explained in science, even if the inhabitants truly have little recourse or satisfaction in the knowledge.

When I first read SoIaF, I loved to speculate about the planetary system that would cause centuries of winter and a few small generations of summer. It's a very SF thing to do for an epic fantasy. Imagine how delighted I am to learn that he'd been long thinking of these specific plans within his fantasy? It's obvious from this book. :)

This should be a must read for all his fans, and even of fans of LeGuin. The deeper social aspects are quite fascinating, indeed. :)


2016-shelf sci-fi worldbuilding-sf81 s Baba3,722 1,130

SF Masterworks (2010- series) #75: In a well thought out constructed macroverse many aeons in the future mankind is all over the universe, and pretty much a war-less and peace abiding race with very few exceptions. Dirk t'Larien thinks he'sm been summoned to rogue Planet Worlorn by a former lover to make to rekindle what they had, but instead finds himself caught up in the internal struggles of one of the last violent and homicidal peoples! Mr 'Game of Thrones' had this, his first published novel released back in 1977, and it's pretty pretty pretty good!

Quite daring for the 1970s, there's mainstream bisexuality being undertaken by men, men that are also some of the last remaining war- peoples in the universe. As seems his constant themes, there's a lo of violence against women historically and within this tale. There's zero faux-science and really this is about the reluctance of people to progress with the status quo... hint hint American Republicans. I feel this would have blown mine mine in the 1970s when it was first released, a pretty stand-out read. 7 out of 12.
sci-fi-beam-me-up sfmasterworks48 s Silvana1,182 1,189

This could have been a one-star book if not only because of the interesting parts of the worldbuilding - a dying world - and also because I don't want to group a GRRM book with real, trashy books that I hate. I seriously thought the dying world thing would be the main attraction and at least gave me back my trust to that trope after being disappointed with Vance's Dying Earth.

I just did not get this one. I was not able to connect with any of the characters. Which is understandable since this is GRRM's first published novel and apparently he did not have that knack of fantastic characterizations since the early days. Clearly he grew significantly as a writer. The story probably should have stayed as short fiction, A Song for Lya. I thought the conflicts were not interesting enough to make a full novel. The planetary romance part of it was really yawn inducing too, I felt slapping the two main characters, and also myself because I was so sleepy.

Aside from the group slapping, I actually thought the glossary was more interesting than the book content. This glossary would be useful when I read more of the Thousand Worlds books. Well, providing that George would publish more books in that universe. One can only hope. dick-lit kindle-google mine-mine-mine ...more27 s Maria Dobos108 46

Vai, cum bântuie disperarea ?i dezn?dejdea în lumea asta...

R?t?cind la nesfâr?it prin spa?iu, planeta Worlorn este sortit? nefiin?ei. O lume a ghe?urilor ?i a nop?ii infinite, ea popose?te pentru pu?in? vreme în apropierea lui Satan cel Gras, un sistem solar spectaculos format dintr-o stea ro?ie gigantic?, orbitat? de ?ase stele mai mici (Roata de Foc). "Împrumutând" c?ldur? ?i lumin?, Worlorn se transform? într-o s?rb?toare a celor 14 civiliza?ii care au colonizat-o. Dar iat? c? timpul vie?ii ?i luminii se apropie de sfâr?it, planeta îndep?rtându-se încet ?i implacabil de Roata de Foc.

Pe aceast? lume muribund? ajunge Dirk t’Larien, r?spunzând la chemarea fostei lui iubite, Gwen Delvano, care studiaz? interac?iunea dintre formele de via?? ale planetei. Confuz ?i înc? suferind din cauza trecutului, Dirk descoper? c? Gwen este prins? într-o rela?ie destul de complicat? cu kavalaanul Jaantony Vikary, patrician Ironjade ?i teyn-ul acestuia, Garse Ironjade Janacek. ?ocat de brutalitatea culturii kavalaane pe care nu o în?elege, Dirk decide s? fac? tot ce îi st? în puteri pentru a o elibera pe Gwen din încorset?rile unei tradi?ii ce reduce femeile la statutul de obiect, de proprietate. Dar nimic nu merge cum trebuie, iar Dirk se treze?te provocat la duel de c?tre Braith, cea mai tradi?ionalist? cast? kavalaan? ?i contestându-i-se chiar calitatea de fiin?? uman?.

M-a îngrozit universul întunecat ?i violent creat de Martin, fiecare pagin? ?opte?te disperarea unei lumi pe moarte. Complexitatea ?i absurditatea sistemului social de pe Înaltul Kavalaan înc? îmi d? fiori, ideea de om copie, vân?toarea de oameni ?i u?urin?a cu care oamenii î?i motiveaz? sadismul cu umbra unor tradi?ii incerte ?i îndep?rtate m? vor mai urm?ri o perioad?.

Anyway, se pare c? am supravie?uit primei întâlniri cu George R. R. Martin, s? vedem ce va urma...21 s Lau 682 127

3.5

Este es el primer libro que escribió George R.R. Martin, y se publicó antes de que tuviera 30 años. No esperaba encontrar la misma calidad que se ve en sus novelas más actuales, es más, casi tenía miedo que fuera un libro malo... pero si hay algo que afortunadamente ya se evidencia desde el principio, es su imaginación y gran habilidad para narrar.

El prólogo nos cuenta un resúmen de la extensa historia de Worlorn, un planeta vagabundo que no pertenece a ninguna estrella, por lo que flota libremente por el espacio.
En un punto de su existencia, Worlorn  pasó cerca de un conjunto de estrellas conocido como La Rueda de Fuego, un aro de soles que gira alrededor de una estrella aún mayor llamada El Gordo Satanás. Atraído por su gravedad, Worlorn se volvió temporalmente un lugar apto para la vida, y fue de este modo como pudo albergar El Festival de los Mundos, una serie de colonias de diferentes planetas que llevaron su tecnología y cultura mientras el calor de El Gordo Satanás lo permitió.
Pero ahora Worlorn se aleja de La Rueda, y en él sólo quedan unos pocos habitantes, además de los fantasmas de ciudades que ya olvidaron sus días de esplendor.
Si esa imagen no seduce a los fans de la ciencia ficción, no se qué puede hacerlo.

Quizás llamar 'romance' a este libro sea un poco excesivo, pero es una historia donde el motor principal es el amor, o mejor dicho, el amor es lo que hace que la historia comience.
Dirk t'Larien es convocado a Worlorn con un pedido de ayuda de Gwen Delvano, la mujer que amó y perdió años atrás. Él, con la esperanza de poder recuperarla, hace el largo viaje hasta el planeta moribundo para encontrarse con ella... y enterarse muy pronto de que está casada –o algo así– y sólo quiere ser su amiga.
Gwen es ecologista, una de las pocas que quedan en el universo aparentemente, y junto con un grupo de investigadores está analizando la fauna y flora de Worlorn antes de que todo muera. Ella tiene un vínculo llamado jade-y-plata con un hombre perteneciente a una cultura violenta, estructurada y dura.
Dirk cree que está yendo para rescatar a Gwen de ese mundo, pero la realidad que encontrará es bastante diferente y peligrosa, y él va a quedar en el medio de todo. No esperaba menos.

Esta es una historia que probablemente tenga varias interpretaciones, de acuerdo a la forma de pensar de cada lector. Tiene una cierta oscuridad que lo rodea, además de su buena dosis de nostalgia camuflada. Sólo por la idea del mundo ya vale la pena leerlo.
Me sorprendí durante casi todo el libro con la imaginación del autor. Las descripciones de los diferentes lugares del planeta son increíbles, con sus animales y plantas completamente distintos a lo que conocemos. El contexto que armó es realmente fascinante, y sería interesante leer más historias ambientadas allí.
Cada sector de Worlorn es diferente, desde los bosques donde habitan animales extraños, tétricos y peligrosos, hasta las ciudades que tenían construcciones tan imaginativas como tecnológicas, a su modo.

La historia en sí avanza lento. Hay muchas explicaciones en el medio, la mayoría dedicadas a la cultura del hombre con el que Gwen está enlazada, que llegado un punto me resultaron un tanto largas. Esa sociedad es extraña, opresiva y machista aún para los mismos hombres. Por momentos me perdí un poco con el licuado de honor, lealtad ciega y burocracia que es esa sociedad, y le encontré detalles que me hizo pensar en la forma de organización de las manadas de los hombres lobo. 
De todos modos todo el resto está narrado de forma tan linda que no importa la lentitud en la historia. Hay capítulos con mucha acción y otros con muchas explicaciones, pero todo tiene una razón para estar ahí.
Hay algo muy raro que sólo lo puedo adjudicar a lo bien que escribe George R.R. Martin. Muchas de las cosas que se cuentan, explican y ocurren en teoría deberían ser aburridas y hasta monótonas, pero este hombre tiene un don. Ciertas partes de este libro no son interesantes, y sin embargo son interesantes. Todavía no entiendo bien cómo ocurrió eso.

Respecto de los personajes, Dirk me resultó simpático pero todo el resto (Gwen incluída) me generaron una desconfianza casi constante. Son todos extraños, escondedores y parecen estar a punto de explotar unos contra otros en cualquier momento.
Cuando se habla de la vieja relación de Dirk y Gwen, durante mucho tiempo no supe si él era un poco obsesivo o ella un poco paranoica. Hacia el final del libro me formé una idea, pero me parece que está hecho de forma poco clara a propósito, para que cada uno se lleve su opinión.
De todos modos mientras leía iba cambiando de idea constantemente sobre si quería que los dos terminen juntos o no. Los momentos que pasan solos son tiernos y distantes a la vez.
Siempre me encanta ver historias de amor contadas por hombres que escriben fantasía o ciencia ficción, tienen un estilo distinto (y de algún modo más espiritual) del que le suelen dar las mujeres.

En lineas generales me gustó, creo que George R.R. Martin puede hacer una buena historia con cualquier cosa. Probablemente si lo reescribiera ahora sería distinto (más complejo y más claro), pero es innegable que ya desde el comienzo sabía lo que hacía.


Reseña de Libros junto al mar16 s Jan485 60

All right, IÂ’m writing the first half of this review while I havenÂ’t finished the book, but IÂ’m having too much frustrated thoughts without an internet connection to put them into status updates, so I thought IÂ’d write everything up into this preemptive review, and then later paste it all together into Goodreads.

Seriously, IÂ’m having massively mixed feelings about this book. In one hand thereÂ’s the hero who just doesnÂ’t learn and the heroine whoÂ’s just so stupid and insensitive. But in the other hand thereÂ’s the huge history (with wars, colonization and independence stuff), and incredible culture building, with both mythical and plausible cultural footings. There so much here that is made of pure awesomesauce, but unfortunately weÂ’re forced to see it all through the eyes of an arrogant dimwit.

Needless to say, I didnÂ’t really Dirk.

IÂ’m still not entirely sure what kind of book this is, even after I peeked to see the ending (it didnÂ’t make anything clearer alas). ItÂ’s an adventure novel at the surface, but itÂ’s so much more, only all the rest is only touched at the surface as well. IÂ’m just not sure. ItÂ’s so different from all other books IÂ’ve read by Martin. ItÂ’s not bad, IÂ’m just not sure how to exactly wrap my head around it. I think at heart, even though Martin didnÂ’t intend it that way, this is a Science Fiction RomanceÂ… Only, the hero of the romance is not the hero of the story. The hero of the story isnÂ’t really a hero at all, even if he comes around a bit at the end.

Everybody just has their own truth in this story, and most of these truths are based on entirely different cultures and ways of viewing the World. Strangely enough I had more sympathy for the the two anti-heroes who were part of one of the most mysogynist societies IÂ’ve encountered in fiction, than for the main character who fought against their culture, only for all the wrong reasons.

This book is as much a conflict between old and new lovers as it is a culture clash, and it is filled with so much lies, half lies and misunderstandings it makes me sad. These people are stuck on a dieing World, and IÂ’m pretty sure theyÂ’ll die there as well, and I donÂ’t really care, because most of them have used up my sadness by now, and Dirk, heÂ’s still just a bit too stupid and easily manipulated and superficial for me to really care. If he had acted he was acting now from the beginning I might have sympathized, but by now, I feel IÂ’m definitely in the anti-hero camp of things, and I just want the book to be over, because I want a happy ending for him, and Dirk made that accidentally impossible, and IÂ’m just tired.

***

Now that itÂ’s finished, IÂ’m surprised how spot on I was. The only thing I didnÂ’t catch half way down, is how tragic it all was. I also didnÂ’t expect the ending to be as open ended as it was (which is something I dis in general, and Martin better not do this for the ASOIAF books). But, as is usual for Martin, a lot of people die, even some of the ones you expect to survive. Some die in a very sad and tragic way. And the way everyone has been manipulated just made me feel tired, because it was such a waste of people and their happiness. If not for the meddling this book didnÂ’t have to happen, and everyone could have been spared their lot. I guess it still works as a happy ending in the romance area of the book, but IÂ’m not entirely sure, and well, ItÂ’s only two thirds the way I wanted it to be. It isn't an Unhappy Ever After, so I'll have to give it some credit.

All in all, IÂ’m not satisfied by this book. It did evoke emotions, but never without me being annoyed. I just think this story could have been more if it had been told by someone different. Or at least by multiple POVs. And while it has a lot of the things that make Martin one of my favorite authors, it never really hit the spot for me, so IÂ’m a bit disappointed.
science-fiction speculative16 s Scot Eaton324 5

I only gave it a 5 because I couldn't give it a 6. This is truly one of the best books ever written. Martin creates a culture that jumps right off the page, and before you even get to appreciate the beauty of it, he throws it into conflict with a culture modeled after 20th century America. The planet Worlorn itself is also very believable. But the characters... my gosh, the characters! You will not find a single character in this novel that is not fully formed. There is a depth of writing that other authors can only emulate. You will love them at times, hate them at times, and watch how, by the end of the book, they grow and change.

Why this isn't included in the overall corpus of literature, I will never know. Probably because the only genres that could be applied to it are "sci-fi" and "western", two genres that don't get the respect they deserve. But next time a teacher tries to tell you how wonderful "The Great Gatsby" is, roll your eyes, buy a copy of this book for them, and introduce them to what true American writing can look . At less than 300 pages, it is not a significant time investment, though it will stick with you for years.

Am I gushing? It's only because this is one of my favorite books of all time. If you haven't read it, put it at the top of your list.15 s Kat Hooper1,584 402

3.5 stars http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

In the outer fringe of the inhabited universe, the rogue planet Worlorn falls darkly through space. But years ago it circled the Wheel of Fire, the brilliant wheel-shaped star system that is worshipped by many in the outworlds. Worlorn, the Wheel of FireÂ’s only planet, was lit for fifty years before it wandered off again. During that half-century, the outworlds held a cultural diversity festival on Worlorn, with each world trying to outdo the others when building their extravagant temporary cities on a planet they knew theyÂ’d only inhabit for a few decades.

Now that Worlorn is fading into darkness again, the cities are almost completely abandoned, but there are a few people left on the planet. When Dirk tÂ’Larien is summoned there by Gwen, the ex-girlfriend he still loves, he discovers that Worlorn is no longer a festival planet. Now itÂ’s dark and dangerous. Worse, though, is that Gwen is now mated to Jaantony Riv Wolf high-Ironjade Vikary, a leader of the Kavalar race which, in order to protect its few women and children, has developed some barbaric customs and codes. Most notably, men form high-bonds with a male partner and may have a wife as a shared piece of property. Jaantony, both a warrior and an academic, is eager for his peoplesÂ’ culture to become more liberal towards women, but his is a minority opinion. The man he is bonded to, Garse Janacek, does not agree. And the larger faction of the Kavalar race, including some who are hunting non-Kavalar humans on Worlorn, is happy to find any reason to pick a fight with Jaantony Ironjade. When Dirk gets to Worlorn, he unwittingly walks right into the middle of a tense situation and only makes it worse.

Dying of the Light, first published in 1977, is George R.R. Martin’s debut novel and it’s impressive. The setting is wonderful: a dying planet getting farther and farther away from its sun; abandoned cities; jungles with strange and deadly life forms; fascinating cultures. My favorite feature was the city of Challenge which is a 500-story building housing thousands of apartments and lots of cool amenities. Because it’s run by machines, much of Challenge is still operative though only a handful of people still live there. The most exciting action in Dying of the Light occurs in Challenge — I loved this part of the story.

The clashing cultures that Martin creates are also imaginative and fascinating and he hints at plenty of history and backstory that he never gives us but that make this world feel real. I wish heÂ’d write more about it. IÂ’d love to read about the fifty sunny years on Worlorn, for example.

Unfortunately, none of George R.R. Martin’s characters are likable. Dirk is passive and Gwen is flighty and indecisive. It was hard to root for them as a couple, especially when Jaantony Ironjade was more interesting than Dirk. I’d classify Dying of the Light as a science fiction romantic tragedy (in fact, Dirk, who calls Gwen “Jenny,” ns their situation to the disastrous love triangle in the Arthurian legend) but the romance and the tragedy would have been more effective if Dirk and Gwen had been admirable characters. As it was, I didn’t really care what happened to them in the end.

Overall, Dying of the Light is impressive and surprisingly sophisticated for the first novel of a young author. If youÂ’re a fan of GRRM, itÂ’s a must-read. Dying of the Light was initially serialized in Analog Science Fact/Science Fiction with the name After the Festival in 1977. The novel was nominated for the Hugo and the British Fantasy Award. I read Subterranean PressÂ’s recent publication which has wonderful artwork by Tom Kidd (both glossy color sheets and black and white drawings). I also tried Dying of the Light in audio (recently produced by Random House Audio) and was pleased with Iain GlenÂ’s narration.audiobook14 s Metodi Markov1,441 359

?????? ?? ?????? ????????, ???? ?????? ??? ????? ?? ??????...

????? ??-????????? ?? ?? ???? ??????????? ??????? ????? - ???? ?? ??????, ????????? ? ??????? ?? ????? ?? ????????? ?????? ????????. ??????????, ?? ???? ? ???????? ????? ?????, ? ????????? ?????????? ???.

???? ????, ??? ???? ??? ?? ???????? ? ?? ? ????, ??? ????? ?? ?? ????? ??????, ??????? ?? ?? ? ????????? ?? ??????. ????? ????????? ?? ?? ?????? ????????? ? ??????? ? ???.

??????? ?????? ???? ?? ???, ????????? ????? ? ???????????. ;)2017 sci-fi usa ...more13 s Bryn HammondAuthor 14 books374

I was in love with this novel early in life and have it indelibly stamped upon me. The atmosphere: ruins on an abandoned planet, a few people left there, devoted to things lost or old-fashioned or with nowhere else to go. It used to be a festival world and different races built their festival-houses, alien architectures now derelict. The mood known in the planet's name, Worlorn. A war culture (on its way out) where teyn is the closest bond, a chosen brother, fight together, sleep together, women are irrelevant. An Earther steps in with his Earther ideas of love, instead, and not a clue. Sadness and ends, lost causes and left-behinds... nothing if not atmospheric. Science fiction poetry.

It's true that I found both Dirk and Gwen ignorable; Garse was my guy, along with bit-parts from his world. Also I skip the botany lessons near the start.

I've tried his famous stuff these days, doesn't have the emotional clout for me. I think I early George R.R. Martin. imagined-fiction12 s NigelAuthor 12 books61

An interesting, complex debut novel from George RR Martin, Dying Of The Light is an old-school planetary romance that reminded me quite strongly of both Cordwainer Smith and CJ Cherryh, oddly enough, though the setting is pure Jack Vance. Worlorn is a wandering world that enjoyed a brief heydey when, passing near a specatcular star system, it was transformed into a festival world where all the primary centres of human civilisation built cities to house thousands and even millions of inhabitants in an extravagant display of wealth and technology. Now the planet is drifting back into the dark and the cold is closing in and only a few last remnants of the festival throngs remain.

One of those remnants, a former lover, summons Dirk t'Larien to Worlorn. Gwen is caught in an odd marriage to a Kavalar, a marriage that in the eyes of Kavalar society, reduces her to the status of property. Furthermore, a particular faction of a die-hard conservative Kavalar holdfast are on Worlorn hoping to revive a forbidden tradition: the hunting of humans for sport. Caught between his love for Gwen, his growing respect for her husband, who is on Worlorn to thwart the hunters and his troubled search for his own sense of self, Dirk becomes enmeshed in the struggle and the divided loyalties and the battle between the old and the new, haunted by the spectre of death on a dying planet.

Martin's strengths as a world-builder and a story-teller are on full display here. The universe he creates is far bigger, richer and deeper than the planet of Worlorn, though nearly all the action takes place there. Did he ever revisit it, I wonder? Did he intend to? His facility for conjuring history and romance and mystery out of a few brief asides and suggestive comments and names is part of what makes him such a pleasure to read. His frank examination of a martial culture, bound by codes of honour and formal bonds and the attraction it holds for both the romantically inclined and the aimless and the lost prefigures the proud medieval chivalric culture of the Seven Kingdoms, as does his unflinching study of its dark side: the horrifying misogyny and the violence inflicted on those deemed unworthy or outside that culture.

The books ends oddly: after a frantic, edge-of-the-seat hunt, there is a period of waiting and then an anti-climax, followed by a coda that ends without a resolution, though not without resolve. It fits the setting and the theme perfectly, though, and speaks to Martin's integrity as a writer and fidelity to his vision. I hope that once the Song is finished he might consider a return to science fiction. It's clearly his first love.a-dry-martini fiction11 s Ana-Maria Negril?Author 25 books228

Este un roman diferit de ultimele crea?ii ale scriitorului, dar mult mai uman ?i mai profund. Accentul nu cade aici pe istoria unei lumi, ci pe o istorie privat?, a personajelor, care iubesc, ur?sc ?i sufer? pe o planet? muribund?, aruncat? într-un univers ostil. Pe scurt - o carte impresionant?!10 s ???????? ????????530 74

„??????? ?? ??????????“ ? ????? ??????, ?? ? ??????????? ???????! ??????? ???????? ???? ?? ???????? ????????????? ?? ????? ?????, ? ??? ? ?????? ??? ????? ???????? ????????? ??? ????????? ?? ???? ?????. ?????, ?? ?????? ??????? ???-???? ???? ????????????? ?? „????? ?? ???? ? ???“, ??? ???? ?? ?????? ????????????????? ?????? ?? ?????? ??????, ??????????? ? ?????????? ?? ??????????? ??? ???-????? ?? ?????????? ?? ???? ?? ??-?????? ?? ? ?? ????????? ?????????? ??????? ????...

?????????? ? „??????? ?? ??????????“ ?? ??????? ?? ??????????? ? ??????? ?????????? ???? ???????, ?????? ???? ??????????, ? ???????????? ??????? ? ??????? ?? ????, ????? ??????? ??? ???? ??... ??????? ????? ??????? ????? ? ????? ????, ????? ??? ????? ?? ????... ???????? ????? ???? ?‘?????? ? ??????? ??? ???? „?????? ?????“ ?? ??????? ?? ?????? ???? ???????, ?? ????? ??? ???? ???????, ?? ???? ?? ??????? ??????... ??????????? ????? ? ??????, ???? ?? ??????? ????? ????????????,?? ??? ?? ??? ????? ?? ??????????! ???????????? ????????? ?? ???? ????????? ?? ??????????, ???????? ????? ???, ??????? ?????? ?? ????????? ? ?.?... ????? ?? ???????? ?? ???????????, ??????? ??? ????????? ?? ????? ??????? ? ??????? ???? ???? ??????, ??? ????? ???? ?? ???? – ?????, ?? ???? ?? ?????? ??????????? ??? ????????, ????????? ?? ??????... ???? ???????????? ????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ???? ?? ????????? ????? ?? ??????! ?? ???, ??????? ? ???? ?????? ?? ????????????? ? ??????? ???????? ????? ?? ???? ?? ??????? ??????????!11 s Youssef85 6

George R.R. Martin created an incredibly rich universe where human civilisation is rebuilding itself after war and collapse, then, in its midst, placed an ephemeral planet in advanced decay. Used, then discarded by civilisation, it's being slowly engulfed by cold and darkness.
But then, he chose to put against this backdrop the sorriest characters in that universe. Dumb, fickle, inconsiderate, cowardly and thoroughly uninteresting. The result is a tedious story where you grow frustrated by the very same protagonists you are supposed to identify with, and not feel sorry at all for their sad fate.
The ecology of Worlorn is never successfully explored, the history of the worlds beyond the veil, their cultures and politics, aside from Kavalaar, are not addressed, nevertheless these remain the highlights of this book.
Martin's writing is beautiful as well, but in my opinion, any other story in that universe would have made a far superior novel.10 s Xabi19902,017 1,077

8/10 en 2009.

Martin crea bien, muy bien los personajes y la ambientación del mundo Worlon y su sociedad. Y las relaciones entre todo ello.

Romanticismo, imaginación, ideas, tensiones entre culturas, sentido de la maravilla y ritmo. ¿Fantasía, Ciencia Ficción, novela Romántica. novela Social? Todo eso y más. Léela, coño.12 s Krell75332 52

Purtroppo non sono riuscito ad andare oltre pagina 100.....la noia ha prevalso. Un'accozzaglia di descrizioni su popoli e città che con la storia non hanno nulla a che fare, il protagonista è un poveraccio che per un amore non corrisposto decide di abbandonare tutto e ficcarsi nei guai per salvarla. Mi sono fermato qui.fantascienza martin10 s Raffaello176 61

Bello! Romantico e squisitamente malinconico come piace a me. Forse il miglior Martin al di fuori delle Cronache (se la gioca con Armageddon Rag). Inoltre, di tutti i libri di Martin che non appartengono alle Cronache, questo è quello che più mi ha ricordato il Martin più famoso, quello di Westeros.
L'ho visto nelle conversazioni tra Kavalari, dove l'autore mostra di essere già pronto a intavolare una discussione tra due Lord ad Approdo del Re. Poi nelle descrizioni delle spettrali città di Worlon, dove non fai fatica ad immaginare un malinconico drago sorvolare le rovine di Valyria...e questi sono solo due esempi che mi saltano alla mente. Ce ne sono stati altri durante la lettura.

Il libro ha un inizio un po' troppo ricco di infodump, ma temo fosse necessario (il worldbuilding è complesso nonostante le sole 250pg) e comunque l'infodump non arriva mai sino a dar fastidio o a rallentare il testo. Il romanzo prende spessore nella parte centrale, piacevole ed avventurosa, e arriva ad un valido (e vagamente poetico) finale. Forse l'ultima decisione del protagonista non mi ha convinto appieno, ma non ritengo questa una ragione valida per abbassare il rating più di tanto. Lettura consigliata.9 s Gertie362 290 Shelved as 'partial'

This book is annoying. Well, I didn't finish, so I guess I can only say that about 22% of it.

So much backstory and history and characters I frankly just don't get. It's a little much for me. I a little of that for sure, because all simple dialog makes a story dull. But at some point I just feel saying "Get to the point already!". As a very straightforward person it's a little painful to listen to people speaking in riddles. It just feels a little too dragged out for my tastes. So, clearly this is just a mismatch.

Oh, and lamest excuse to break up with someone ever. Ever tried communicating?

So, I'm not deleting this from my iPod YET, since I might just try again later when I'm feeling more patient, but for now I have happily moved on to another book, which was interesting from the start. Quite a contrast.



9 s Rifelaura364 26

“Muerte de la luz” es, en esencia, una novela romántica ambientada en un mundo de ciencia ficción. Aunque eso de tacharla de novela romántica no me acaba de convencer, pues mucho dista de lo que se nos viene a la cabeza al hablar de novela romántica. Es una historia en la que el amor tiene un gran peso, y de hecho es este sentimiento el que le da comienzo a la historia, pero nada tiene que ver con la visión clásica en la que todos pensamos al hablar de un libro romántico.

Es un romance más profundo y oscuro. Un amor que va más allá de la conexión física o del cariño. Martin nos presenta una unión más de necesidad, de posesión, de pertenencia. Un sentimiento que anula al individuo. Resumiendo, un amor bastante tóxico.

Como comentaba esta es también una historia de ciencia ficción. A pesar de que se nos habla de un extenso mundo con múltiples planetas, la mayor parte de la trama transcurre en Worlon; un planeta errante que no pertenece a ninguna estrella, sino que flota libremente por el espacio. Es gracias a esta ambientación que la historia se me ha hecho más llevadera. El worldbuilding es espectacular, sin duda. La construcción del planeta, su flora y su fauna, las costumbres de cada planeta… Sería fascinante leer más historias ambientadas en este mundo. La verdad es que me he quedado con ganas de seguir explorándolo y descubrir más de sus secretos.

La trama de esta historia, sin embargo, se me ha hecho un poco pesada. La historia avanza lenta, con muchas explicaciones de por medio que hacen que te pierdas un poco. Tampoco hay mucho jugo que exprimirle a lo que es la historia en sí. Si no fuera por todo lo que la envuelve, a mí, personalmente, me hubiera aburrido bastante. Además los personajes me han parecido bastante fríos y distantes, me generaban mucha desconfianza, y eso tampoco me ha ayudado a amenizar el avance lento de la trama.

Así que, resumiendo, he disfrutado muchísimo del mundo que Martin ha creado y me encantaría que lo aprovechara para construir en él otras historias. Sin embargo, esta en concreto, no estaba hecha para mí. 10 s Oleksandr Zholud1,209 120

This is a short grimdark SF novel that was a debut for George R.R. Martin, more famous for his fantasy series Song of Ice and Fire. I read it as a part of the monthly reading for December 2022 at Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels group. The book was nominated for Hugo in 1978 but lost to Gateway

There is a rogue planet Worlorn that travels across the universe. No one cared about it until some time ago it was calculated that it will pass rather close to a system of twelve suns whose unnaturally precise location lead to rumors of their artificial setting but some ancient civilization. Coming close to the suns the planet will temporary become warm enough to be inhabited. Fourteen fringe worlds decide to join together and use Worlorn for a festival, an exercise in vanity, terraforming it and each constructing a city to show off its culture. For a decade the festival lasted, but now its days are long over – great cities are almost empty, and the planet gets farther away from the sun into an empty space, so that only power fields prolong its descent into darkness and cold. The setting reminds of the dying Earth trope, which has quite strong history in SF – from Twilight (1936) by John W. Campbell Jr. to The Dying Earth (1950) by Jack Vance and The Dancers at the End of Time (1977) by Michael Moorcock among others. And this book captures perfectly the futility of struggle against eventual fate, but just heroes of Greek mythos, characters here are trying to fight the inevitable, for ‘the winter is coming…’

In this world comes Dirk t'Larien. He responded to a call from his old love Gwen Delvano, with whom he separated almost a decade ago. Gwen works as an environmental scientist on Worlorn, for each world important their plants and animals without any care of ecological balance, for all life will soon be over here. A side note, her job is a very interesting concept, which can be made in a SF book of its own, but it is largely undeveloped here. Instead, there is her new husband and his best friend, even if both words are quite imprecise descriptors of who there are and their relationship. For in this hi-tech universe they are descendants of a human colony that was cut off, degraded into barbarity, were hunted and exterminated by aliens, so the survivors created a warrior culture with women's role as breeders only and everyone around potential enemies or property, without things human rights. The rest of the book consists of travels around Worlorn and a conflict created by the clash of cultures, with Dirk, Gwen and her husband Jaan Vikary playing roles of Lancelot, Genevieve and Arthur respectively.

For a debut novel, the book is quite strong, but it doesnÂ’t fully shows the authorÂ’s mastery.


7 s Althea Ann2,239 1,103

Written well (1977) before Martin's highly-acclaimed but not-yet-with-an-end-in-sight Song of Ice and Fire series, Dying of The Light is a novel that shows many of the skills that that series has been appreciated for - complex interpersonal relationships, deft characterizations, believable world-building, to the degree that you want to just step right in and look around the corners to see what else is there - because you *know* that something is...
I actually finished this book really wishing that Martin had written other books in this universe because it was so fascinating - even though the story itself takes place in an extremely small, isolated sphere.
The scenario, I thought, was very Iain Banks-ish...
A 'rogue' planet in a parabolic(?) orbit is only swinging close enough to its stars to support life for 50 years. The civilized universe decides to take advantage of this and throw a festival much a World's Fair, each planet displaying their arts, technology and unique culture - but only for a brief time.
At the time of the book, the festival is over. The vast majority of the participants have left, as the planet slowly plunges back into cold and night.
But one man (Dirk T'Larien) races through space to that planet - because he has received a token from an old love, one that he had promised, no matter what, to answer...
But when he arrives, things are not as he expected. His welcome is odd. His old lover, an ecologist, is busy studying the dying of the planet's ecosystems.
She's married - or 'betheyn' - to Vikary, a man from a harsh, war culture, and is also bound sexually and culturally to his partner.
But another old friend of hers is also there - and he speaks, in confidence, telling Dirk that she really wants to be rescued - that she is enslaved and oppressed.
A psychosexual drama ensues between these four - one with plenty of action and violence, but also dealing with the frictions and attractions between personalities, the complexities of human relationships and the differences between cultures.
Really a great book.6 s Vagner Stefanello119 86

Review in Portuguese from Desbravando Livros:

O primeiro livro escrito por Martin já começa a mostrar uma das várias características do autor: a complexidade dos personagens. Este foi um livro que não me prendeu a atenção no começo, pois eu havia ficado um pouco confuso com os nomes dos planetas e seus mundos, mas no momento em que a história de Dirk t'Larien e Gwen Delvano começou a se desenrolar eu não conseguia tirar o olho do livro em algumas partes. A ação no livro é frenética, misturada com uma dose legal de fugas e reviravoltas, mas nada além disso.

No entanto, acabei não gostando muito do livro, tanto é que o final deixou muito MESMO a desejar. Havia pensado em algo bem mais grandioso, mas o que aconteceu no fim não me deixou nada satisfeito... Tudo ficou em aberto e não haverá continuação, então não tinha por que o Martin finalizar o livro daquela maneira e deixar os leitores de mão abanando.

Não julguem o bom velhinho Martin por esse livro, já que ele não tem absolutamente NADA A VER com As Crônicas de Gelo e Fogo e jamais chegará aos pés da série de fantasia épica escrita pelo autor. Recomendo que passem bem longe desse e partam direto para Westeros!

Pontos fortes: as (poucas) partes de ação.
Pontos fracos: o blábláblá em relação aos planetas e mundos (muito enrolativo).

Avaliação: 2/56 s EmBe950 26

Dass ich ein George R.R. Martin-Fan wurde, hat auch dieser Roman beigetragen. Ingredienzien: eine exotische Welt, faszinierende und vielgestaltige Figuren, eine Prise Sentimentalität und Romantik, Melancholie und eine spannende Handlung. Das alles in einem Science Fiction-Kosmos. Ich war damals noch ziemlich jung, noch ein Teenager. Aber GRRM hatte seine schriftstellerischen Fähigkeiten, seine spezifische Erzählstimme schon nahezu voll entwickelt.science-fiction7 s Javier Muñoz804 87

Interesante historia en un mundo crepuscular, un planeta de los mundos exteriores cuya órbita le va alejando de un cúmulo de estrellas, "la rueda de fuego"... un mundo condenado a la oscuridad en el que ya apenas quedan habitantes.

Dirk t’Larien viaja a Worlorn con la esperanza de reencontrarse con su antiguo amor Gwen Delvano cuando esta le envía su joya susurrante en señal de que le necesita a su lado, pero Dirk encontrará a Gwen unida por jade-y-plata a Jaan Vikary y a su teyn Garse Janacek, dos miembros de la cultura Kavalar con los que mantiene una extraña relación difícil de entender a ojos de un poblador de los mundos interiores.

Me ha gustado el libro sobretodo por la habilidad del autor a la hora de mostrarnos con bastante detalle detalle la cultura, las costumbres y la historia de los Kavalares y por la descripción de algunas de las ciudades que quedan en este mundo moribundo, pero me ha resultado muy difícil empatizar con los personajes, son personajes bastante coherentes y puedo entender sus motivaciones y las razones que les pueden llevar a la toma de decisiones hasta cierto punto, pero me resulta en la mayoría de las ocasiones un proceso bastante forzado... yo desde luego no creo que llegara a las mismas conclusiones o decisiones si me viera en la mayoría de las situaciones que se presentan ante los personajes principales: Gwen, Dirk y Jaan.

Por otro lado la trama me parece bastante predecible, me he encontrado pocas sorpresas.

En todo caso la prosa de Martin está muy bien construida, y el libro tiene bastantes puntos a su favor, he disfrutado la lectura.5 s Jersy888 102

The cavalarian culture and the planet Worlorn were fascinating, so I actually enjoyed that there wasn't really a plot for half of it and that the plot that did happen eventually was deeply connected to these ideas. The protagonists werent badly written, but since they are both pretty pathetic people, I didn't care for them much. The side characters were way more interesting, though.
If you are interested in SciFi cultures incl. alternative relationship structure and worldbuilding, this is really fun.audiobook library-book read-2023 ...more5 s Andrew233 82

I went back this month to re-read some of Martin's early SF. This was his first published novel, I believe -- he already had a short-fiction Hugo and a couple of nominations in his pocket.

nearly all of Martin's SF, this book is set in the Thousand Worlds: a loose far-future history spanning millennia of time and a range of narrative styles. The planet Worlorn is wonderfully named and wonderfully gothic: a rogue planet which happened to drift into the multiple star system called the Hellcrown, beyond the Tempter's Veil. The nearby stellar nations jumped on the opportunity for potlatch, and spent years terraforming and building temporary cities for a decade-long planetary Festival. And now the Festival is over, the tourists are gone, and empty Worlorn is drifting back into the interstellar night.

Tell me that isn't the best SF setting ever.

Dirk t'Larien is haunting some backwater of the Thousand Worlds when he gets a message from Worlorn: a psi-jewel etched with memories of his ex-lover, Gwen Delvano. They once traded promises to come, either to the other, if so summoned. So off he goes. It turns out that Gwen is studying the ecology of the dying planet, and is married... sort of.

The story centers on the society she has married into. The world of High Kavalaan has a history which will be familiar to Bujold fans: loss of spaceflight in a great interregnum, invasion by aliens, nuclear and biological assault, mutation, near-extinction -- and thus a societal swing to xenophobia, obsessive genetic purity, and over-the-top patriarchal wingnuttitude.

Un Barrayar, High Kavalaan isn't so much obsessed with honor as with face. Kavalars go armed and ready to duel for called insult. Their women are legally property, which brings us back to the storyline, of course. Jaan, Gwen's lover/husband/owner, is a cosmopolitan guy -- they met on the high-tech world of Avalon -- and their relationship wasn't a problem until he brought her home to meet the family. Specifically, to Jaan's shieldbrother/lover/husband Garse, who is, well, more progressive than Kavalar average but still a shock to Gwen.

The societal clash has pushed the trio out to Worlorn, nominally for ecological research, actually to get away from it all. Inevitably, they brought it with them. Plus there are *other* Kavalars on Worlorn, for their own not-so-progressive reasons. That's where Dirk walks in -- blind to the whole mess and still carrying a torch for the young Gwen. Tragedy encued.

This is unquestionably a novel about relationships, and unquestionably *not* a romance; I don't think Martin writes romance, ever. Don't go into this looking for hot OT3. All the relationships are broken, and the characters are trying to feel out new ones. The science-fictionality is that Gwen's position -- emotionally abused, caught between at least four men who all care for her and are hurting her in different ways -- is nonetheless a privileged one; most women on High Kavalaan are rape-fodder locked in basements. I think the point is to knock over the cultural norms and focus on the brokenness. (Readers may disagree about this. But it's safe to say that Martin *never* implies that Gwen should be grateful for what she's got, and at the end of the book she's created something better.)

Bujold, of course, spends books and years trying to draw what's admirable about Barrayar out from the mountain of blood and pain it rests on. Martin asks the same question about a tougher target. I think he's somewhat clumsy about it -- seriously, rape-fodder in basements, and people hunting humans for sport. We're supposed to believe that most of High Kavalaan has modernized, and is building starships and so on instead of fighting world-wars, but we don't get any sense of social change on this human level -- only Jaan's personal rebellion, and the varying attitudes of the other Kavalars. I think the story would have been stronger for a little more display of Kavalar society and its layers.

(Also, every other planet we might contrast it with is a total cipher. Dirk's viewpoint might as well be 1977-Earth-normal, and the other major society represented in the plot -- Kimdiss, home of another ecologist -- is pacifist cardboard.) (Although, to be fair, Bujold has the same problem in _Shards of Honor_. We really see nothing of Beta Colony, except as a "sane" foil to "mad" Barrayar, until that brief scene late in the book.)

Nonetheless, and after all that, Dirk *does* (and we do) get a sense of what High Kavalaan has that is valuable. It may not be much, it may not be what he was hoping for, and it may cost him -- the epilogue makes that clear. But it's better than clinging to a relationship that died seven years ago.
5 s Liviu SzokeAuthor 34 books413

For more details, please visit: https://fansf.wordpress.com/2013/04/1....1977-books 2013-reads sci-fi-reads5 s Adrian Boca9 6

N-ai cum sa te raportezi altfel dac? ai citit atât cartea de fa??, cât ?i ASOIAF (Review mai vechi, scris ”la cald”)

Primul roman publicat de George R.R. Martin nu abunda de actiune, si chiar si aia care exista nu e de vreo intensitate nemaipomenita. Asta ca sa pornim din capul locului cu ceea ce nu ofera „Lumina ce se stinge„.
Insa daca vorbim de o carte scrisa de GRRM, atunci cu siguranta ne putem astepta la un cadru extraordinar, cu o lume creionata pana la cel mai mic detaliu si cu un backstory urias. La fel, ne putem astepta la personaje complexe, cu relatii dintre cele mai complicate si interesante.
Fiind un fan al autorului, datorita cartilor din ASOIAF, si citindu-le pe acestea primele n-am putat, parcurgand cartea de fata, sa nu fac legatura cu GOT, cu Westeros. De asemenea am regasit unele personaje din Westeros si pe Worlorn - planeta pe care ne aflam - sub o forma sau alta. (Dar incerc sa nu stric surpriza fanilor)
Worlorn, de-a lungul timpului a fost casa a 14 civilizatii, 14 popoare adunate pe aceasta planeta care acum este in pragul unei nopti eterne. Unele dintre aceste civilizatii au venit aici de bunavoie, altele cu forta, dar la momentul cand debuteaza povestea noastra, multe dintre acestea vor fi disparut, ramanand in urma lor doar orasele pe care au fost obligati sa le intemeieze. Acum masa este formata din castele de pe Inaltul Kavalaan: Ironjade, Braith, Shannagate si Redsteel. Toate cu obiceiuri bine conturate, dar unele mai conservatoare decat altele, unele mai violente decat altele. Conflictul principal este intre castele Braith si Ironajade, dar este intensificat doar dupa aparitia lui Bran(HBO), pardon Dirk t`Larien. Acesta este POV-ul din care porneste povestea. Dirk si-a pierdut iubirea si o data cu ea sensul vietii, dar cand primeste un semnal de la Genevieve/Jenny a sa, marea iubire, care pare a fi in pericol, acesta se imbarca si porneste spre Worlorn pentru a-i veni in ajutor. Pe Worlorn insa este intr-un conflict continuu, ba cu el, ba cu informatiile pe care le primeste, ba chiar cu Jenny a sa, care nu mai e Jenny, sau nu a fost niciodata Jenny.
Acum cred ca este momentul oportun sa aduc in atentie o tema care se va repeta in opera lui Martin, si anume, importanta numelui. Daca in ASOIAF numele are importanta data de istorie, sau de sange in ”Lumina ce se stinge” numele are importanta in intregimea sa. Cei de pe Inaltul Kavalaan au nume lungi, nume care ii reprezinta. Au un nume ales la nastere, un nume de casta si un nume pe care si-l aleg ei insusi. Pe langa altele, mai oficiale si ceremonioase.
Acum daca ma intrebati, Dirk t`Larien e mai degraba un maester din Westeros in importanta povestii. Jaan Vikary Ironjade si Garse Janacek Ironjade fura lumina reflectoarelor. Din nou, marca GRRM. Aceste personaje, zugravite de autor in anti-eroi au o poveste mult prea interesanta pentru a nu placea cititorului, iar dezvoltarea lor ca personaje este cea mai interesanta parte a cartii. Cei doi fac parte din aceeasi casta, caractere diferite. Desi ambii sunt periculosi, unul este mai calculat, celalalt actioneaza doar instinctiv si impulsiv. Dar legatura dintre ei este mai reala decat orice altceva.
Din nou trebuie apreciat autorul pentru talentul cu care reuseste sa creeze o relatie intre personaje, una care poate parea nefireasca pentru cei mai multi, pe care sa o vezi cu alti ochii decat in mod normal. ”Un nume, o legatura, o promisiune - toate acestea reprezinta insasi substanta umanitatii”.
Daca am vorbit de Dirk, de Jaan si de Garse, trebuie neaparat sa vorbim de Gwen, cea care a fost Jenny/Genevieve doar intr-o alta lume. Gwen este un personaj feminin puternic intr-o lume misogina, un personaj care incearca sa schimbe mentalitati si obiceiuri mai vechi decat insusi Worlorn. Din nou paralele cu ASOIAF. Ramane la latidutinea cititorului sa o identifice pe Gwen. Este ea Daenerys sau este Arya?4 s Jesse224

Absolutely AMAZING.

This is the first book of George R. R. Martin's that I've read, however I am in the middle of watching the Game of Thrones series, and debates about not judging movies by their books/books by their movies aside, since Mr. Martin is quite involved in the production of Game of Thrones, I think it is safe to say that you can learn more about his style than watching some other adaptation where the author has little or no say in the final product.

So with that being said, I recognize a few themes right off the bat: the long summer followed by an (in this case, eternal) dark winter for the planet Worlorn. The struggle to rise above. The battle between good and evil, which is nothing of black and white and everything of shades of grey. One of the things I love about George R. R. Martin's writing is how he takes a character that you really , and make you despise them; or how he takes a character that is loathsome in the beginning and then slowly brings them around, but the good and the evils is all mixed up and swirled together, just as it is in life, and oftentimes you're left not really knowing how you feel about certain characters. And with that comes angst, at times, but it really makes for a better story.

And that's another thing. This is a book that really makes you think (and oh, how I do love those) because it doesn't spell every little thing out for you. Sometimes all you get is a sentence or two, and you have to fill in the blanks yourselves. And in today's literary world, you don't seem to get that much. (Part of that is quite possibly because this book was written nearly forty years ago...yet it ages well and is still very relevant, and doesn't seem dated much at all outside of the very 1970s sci-fi clothing and furniture...) A prime example of how much is not being said is the relationship between Jaan and Garse. There are just a few brief sentences to describe, very circumspectly, what their intimate relationship is really . It isn't just dropped on your head out of nowhere, it would be in a movie or TV show (ahem, Game of Thrones...though I do love Game of THrones...)

The social structure and relationships of High Kavalan are intriguing. Hints are dropped, again very subtly, about historical events, leaving us, as readers, to piece it all together to figure out how modern men and women went from having an egalitarian society to one where the main bond is not "husband and wife" but (male) teyn and (male) teyn, sometimes as a woman as a betheyn which isn't really a wife, but somewhere between concubine and slave, depending on the context. There isn't really a lot about High Kavalan society that doesn't come off as sounding extremely oppressive--especially if one happens to be female--yet I was intrigued by the teyn-teyn relationship, this male-male bond in all senses of the word, warrior-brothers and lovers (in a sense) which when compared with modern society would still be considered non-traditional to many, especially in the 1970s when this was written. Still, the teyn/teyn relationship isn't one built primarily on romantic love, and it has its faults as well.

More frustrating, still, is the position of women. Yet in writing a story about an oppressive misogynistic society, there are certain benefits: namely, writing a formidable female character who breaks the mold and refuses to conform to what the oppressive society says she must do. Gwen is a great character--full of her own strengths and flaws, at times sympathetic and at times not--but always full of fire and someone I admired very much. It is amazing that, in all of the relationships in this book--Dirk and Gwen, Gwen and Jaan, Jaan and Garse--none of the characters plays second fiddle to any of the others. All of the intricate connections and tangled-up feelings somehow still let them each shine as their own person, detracting nothing from the others.

Once you really get into the thick of this story, it is hard to dis any of the characters. About three-quarters of the way through, I felt something for Garse, in a way that, at the outset I never expected I would feel. And the same for several of the other characters, in varying degrees.

And then...there's the setting. One both original and darkly alluring. A planet at the very fringe of our galaxy, beyond the only fuzzily-explained Tempter's Veil, cutting it off from the rest of the galaxy. I love space, and thinking about what might be out there that we just don't know about yet. This plays well into that: imagine a world with six or seven suns, only a few stars in the sky at all (how strange and unnerving would a sky be with only about twelve stars in it?) The planed Worlorn has quite literally had its 'time in the sun' and is now retreating forever, back to being a rogue planet wandering the cold, dark galaxy on its own, its rivers, lakes, and its very atmosphere frozen once again into solid ice. But before that happens, we are given a glimpse into what would happen out there, in the wilderness and the abandoned cities of a planet where almost everyone has left for brighter places, and only a very few people hang on.

I only have one gripe, and it's about the ending...I want to know what happened between Dirk and Bretan!! Was the undercurrent I sensed right at the end just a figment of my imagination? Or is the story between these two just beginning? I didn't really care much at all for Bretan all the way through the story, yet in that last scene...I felt something unexpected. I think that Dirk did, too, and I very much want to know what happened with that duel, and afterwards. I hope they didn't kill each other. I hope they found something unexpected in each other, as things seemed to suggest. But either way, I really wish we'd found out.

This book knocked it out of the park for me. Fascinating, intriguing, surprising, conflicting, humorous at times, and even downright horrifying (the scene where Dirk and Gwen were in Challenge and the power started to fail...I felt absolute terror! And loved every delicious second of it!) In truth, there is a lot to love, here. I never wanted the story to end.

4 s Mark127 1 follower

Autor del comentario:
=================================