Christie S’aranth has survived assassins, dodged accusations of witchcraft and murder, and travelled from the Barrens to the Brown Tower. Now her time on Orthe is ending. Torn between her duty to the Dominion and her love of the Southland, she must decide where her loyalties lie…
orthe
Christie survived the Barrens and is reunited with her Orthean allies at the winter court in Peir-Dadeni. But while her enemies slide free of the claims against them, Christie once again finds herself accused of a terrible crime. Mistrustful, fearing for her life, she goes back on the run…
With Crown permission to tour the telestres, Christie settles in to Roehmonde to try and convince them of the benefits of off world contact. But Roehmonde has domestic problems that technology can’t solve, and it soon becomes clear that anything that promotes change poses a threat to stability…
You know I can’t resist a read-along. It was SciFiMonth that first lured me into one, and it’s a tradition I’m delighted to continue. This year, we’re reading Mary Gentle’s Golden Witchbreed, a classic of cut-throat politics and cultural tensions as a junior diplomat gets out of her depth on the dangerously compelling world of Orthe.
Ancient Light continues the epic world-building of Golden Witchbreed, giving us a good look at the Southern Continent to explain the fragile balance of power before the action returns to the Hundred Thousand for the devastating final act.
This is great stuff, but ultimately a tough sell and not one for readers seeking happy escapism. I think Ancient Light is a book that needs to be read in the context of the time it was written (the 1980s) to be fully appreciated – while it works on its own terms, the themes gain resonance when you keep corporate greed and the Cold War in mind.
I didn’t mean to read this, but I’m ever so glad I did – it’s an excellent book and a great introduction to Mary Gentle.
Earth has mastered FTL travel, and sent diplomats and xeno-teams all over the galaxy to establish relations with our alien neighbours. Relatively inexperienced Lynne Christie is sent to the enigmatic world of Orthe / Carrick V when the previous envoy dies – in part, she soon realises, because she is expendable.
