Hawkmistress
Marion Zimmer Bradley

Rating:
Publisher: Daw Books, Inc.
Publish Date: 1982

            Bradley enjoyed significant popularity in the 80's with her Darkover series.   Of the series, there are some novels which had more going for them than others.   I remember reading and liking the Darkover series in the 80's, but found myself disappointed when re-reading Hawkmistress recently.  The world of Darkover is built upon a solid fantasy premise of a subset of human beings who possess a mysterious power called Laran.  This power manifests itself in different ways, depending upon the bloodline inherited by the individual.  In the case of Romilly and her MacAran kin, they have the ability to look into and control the minds of animals.  In some cases, the truly gifted MacArans are able to train the vicious Verrin hawks which are used for hunting.  Unfortunately for Romilly, this type of training is considered no place for a woman.  Romilly, a teenage girl, is chaffing under the thumb of an overprotective father and unhappy home life.  When she is forced to marry a lecherous older nobleman, she revolts and runs away.

         So begins Romilly's journey of self discovery and exploration of her magic.  Bradley does a good job of creating relationships between characters which demonstrate that they care for each other.   For example, Romilly forms a particularly deep attachment to a noble named Orain which persists as an important theme throughout the novel.  I guess my frustration with Hawkmistress comes from the fact that it is very staid and predictable throughout most of the story and the actions of many of the characters seem put on and fake based upon what we know about them.  There are moments when you will find yourself enjoying a particular scene, for example,  when a character is viewing a battlefield from the eyes of a hawk high overhead.  However, overall I would skip this one if you have other books available.  I would even suggest the other Darkover novels by Bradley over this one.

Reviewed by Chris Hart