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    The Planet Savers
    The Planet Savers
    The Planet Savers
    Ebook99 pages1 hour

    The Planet Savers

    By Marion Zimmer Bradley

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    In 'The Planet Savers' Marion Zimmer Bradley introduced the world to her amazing Darkover series. A disease threatens all of Darkover and the only man that can save Darkover has a multiple personality disorder. He is two distinct men, but two men who hate one another and vie for possession of their one body. But to save Darkover they must work together.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWilder Publications, Inc.
    Release dateDec 11, 2015
    ISBN9781515402831
    Author

    Marion Zimmer Bradley

    Marion Zimmer Bradley is the creator of the popular Darkover universe, as well as the critically acclaimed author of the bestselling ‘The Mists of Avalon’ and its sequel, ‘The Forest House’. She lives in Berkeley, California.

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    Reviews for The Planet Savers

    3.5/5

    6 ratings6 reviews

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    • 3/5
      i don't know how many readers are "left" for this book - it & its author have not aged easily for anyone it seems - I "read" the audio book edition which may have made the dual personalities of the protagonist feel awfully contrived to support the rest ? Perhaps a story like this that hinges on notions of difference may need more than one voice actor to do its characters justice ?
    • 3/5
      Early part of the Darkover series. I'm not the biggest fan of this kind of handwaving-sf that veers off into fantasy (for example, when it comes to the psychic faculties of the Hasturs), but I liked how MZB set up the main character here. The changes in POV are stylistically interesting, and the split personality theme was well done. Just a pity that in the short novella format so many other themes like racism and the hegemony of men was only touched upon, and the ending war far too rushed. I would've wanted a bit more struggle to reconcile those two personalities instead of that kitschy reunion with Kyla.
    • 4/5
      This book contains a long short story, or a short novella, and a short story.The longer one, The Planet Savers is based around Trailman Disease and seeking a cure. There is a longer book that covers the same issue at the same time in a lot more depth. it would also be easy to dismiss this story as a simple boy meets girl, overcomes the challenges and they all live happily every after. There would be merit in that. The thing that raises this up to 4 stars is that the challenges are very interesting, awkward and nicely handled.The short story is rather predictable unfortunately. It's not bad, but it's entirely unsurprising and missable.
    • 4/5
      I've decided to tackle Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels, and after reading about them have decided to go chronologically in order of publication. The author has stated that the books aren't designed to require reading in a particular order, but at least this way I'll have a methodical way to tick them off as I go. Anyway, this very short novel introduced me to the planet Darkover and its bifurcated population. In this book, a man journeys to the home of the Trailmen, who do not normally welcome his kind. He hopes to obtain the cure to a disease ravaging a segment of Darkover's population. The story deals (a bit too much) with this man's personality, in what I thought was a silly contrivance concerning his "true" identity -- I don't want to put a spoiler in here so I won't say more. Still, I suspended disbelief and enjoyed reading the book. There were some well done scenes of tension and suspense as our protagonist journeys to the Trailmen's home. Darkover is set up as an interesting and complex world, and I look forward to finding out how the author develops it in her subsequent work.
    • 3/5
      A quick read, and a good introduction to the world of ''Darkover''.
    • 3/5
      I'm a fan of Marion Zimmer Bradley, but my affection for her rests not on the Avalon books, which I didn't care for, but her Darkover series. Darkover is a "lost colony" of Earth that falls into a medieval society. Ruled by a psychic aristocracy it is later rediscovered by a star-spanning high-tech human federation after centuries, giving the series a feel of both science fiction and fantasy. The series as a whole features strong female characters, but it has enough swashbuckling adventure to draw the male of the species, and indeed this series was recommended to me by a guy (when we were in high school!)Although some books are loosely connected, having characters in common, they were written to be read independently and were written out of sequence. Part of the difficulty of knowing what to read, and in what order to read comes from that. The Planet Savers (1962) is one of the earliest novels MZB ever published, one of the first two published in the Darkover series, even though chronologically in the series it came late. The Planet Savers is short and entertaining, but barely indicates the potential of the series at its best. You get more a glimpse of that in the included short story, "The Waterfall," written about 15 years after The Planet Savers, after Marion Zimmer Bradley had greatly improved as a writer. As a Darkover fan, I'm happy to have The Planet Savers and "The Waterfall," but by no means is this the place to start reading the series and this is among MZB's weakest novels and not representative of the series at its best. I'd start instead with The Shattered Chain or Forbidden Tower or Heritage of Hastur.

    Book preview

    The Planet Savers - Marion Zimmer Bradley

    The Planet Savers

    by Marion Zimmer Bradley

    Cover Image © Can Stock Photo Inc. / DesignWest

    Positronic Publishing

    PO Box 632

    Floyd VA 24091

    ISBN 13: 978-1-5154-0283-1

    First Positronic Publishing Edition

    10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

    By the time I got myself all the way awake I thought I was alone. I was lying on a leather couch in a bare white room with huge windows, alternate glass-brick and clear glass. Beyond the clear windows was a view of snow-peaked mountains which turned to pale shadows in the glass-brick.

    Habit and memory fitted names to all these; the bare office, the orange flare of the great sun, the names of the dimming mountains. But beyond a polished glass desk, a man sat watching me. And I had never seen the man before.

    He was chubby, and not young, and had ginger-colored eyebrows and a fringe of ginger-colored hair around the edges of a forehead which was otherwise quite pink and bald. He was wearing a white uniform coat, and the intertwined caduceus on the pocket and on the sleeve proclaimed him a member of the Medical Service attached to the Civilian HQ of the Terran Trade City.

    I didn’t stop to make all these evaluations consciously, of course. They were just part of my world when I woke up and found it taking shape around me. The familiar mountains, the familiar sun, the strange man. But he spoke to me in a friendly way, as if it were an ordinary thing to find a perfect stranger sprawled out taking a siesta in here.

    Could I trouble you to tell me your name?

    That was reasonable enough. If I found somebody making himself at home in my office—if I had an office—I’d ask him his name, too. I started to swing my legs to the floor, and had to stop and steady myself with one hand while the room drifted in giddy circles around me.

    I wouldn’t try to sit up just yet, he remarked, while the floor calmed down again. Then he repeated, politely but insistently, Your name?

    Oh, yes. My name. It was—I fumbled through layers of what felt like gray fuzz, trying to lay my tongue on the most familiar of all sounds, my own name. It was—why, it was—I said, on a high rising note, This is damn silly, and swallowed. And swallowed again. Hard.

    Calm down, the chubby man said soothingly. That was easier said than done. I stared at him in growing panic and demanded, But, but, have I had amnesia or something?

    Or something.

    "What’s my name?"

    Now, now, take it easy! I’m sure you’ll remember it soon enough. You can answer other questions, I’m sure. How old are you?

    I answered eagerly and quickly, Twenty-two.

    *

    The chubby man scribbled something on a card. Interesting. In-ter-est-ing. Do you know where we are?

    I looked around the office. In the Terran Headquarters. From your uniform, I’d say we were on Floor 8—Medical.

    He nodded and scribbled again, pursing his lips. Can you—uh—tell me what planet we are on?

    I had to laugh. Darkover, I chuckled, I hope! And if you want the names of the moons, or the date of the founding of the Trade City, or something—

    He gave in, laughing with me. Remember where you were born?

    On Samarra. I came here when I was three years old—my father was in Mapping and Exploring— I stopped short, in shock. He’s dead!

    Can you tell me your father’s name?

    Same as mine. Jay—Jason— the flash of memory closed down in the middle of a word. It had been a good try, but it hadn’t quite worked. The doctor said soothingly, We’re doing very well.

    You haven’t told me anything, I accused. Who are you? Why are you asking me all these questions?

    He pointed to a sign on his desk. I scowled and spelled out the letters. Randall ... Forth ... Director ... Department ... and Dr. Forth made a note. I said aloud, "It is—Doctor Forth, isn’t it?"

    Don’t you know?

    I looked down at myself, and shook my head. "Maybe I’m Doctor Forth," I said, noticing for the first time that I was also wearing a white coat with the caduceus emblem of Medical. But it had the wrong feel, as if I were dressed in somebody else’s clothes. Iwas no doctor, was I? I pushed back one sleeve slightly, exposing a long, triangular scar under the cuff. Dr. Forth—by now I was sure he was Dr. Forth—followed the direction of my eyes.

    Where did you get the scar?

    Knife fight. One of the bands of those-who-may-not-enter-cities caught us on the slopes, and we— the memory thinned out again, and I said despairingly, It’s all confused! What’s the matter? Why am I up on Medical? Have I had an accident? Amnesia?

    Not exactly. I’ll explain.

    I got up and walked to the window, unsteadily because my feet wanted to walk slowly while I felt like bursting through some invisible net and striding there at one bound. Once I got to the window the room stayed put while I gulped down great breaths of warm sweetish air. I said, I could use a drink.

    Good idea. Though I don’t usually recommend it. Forth reached into a drawer for a flat bottle; poured tea-colored liquid into a throwaway cup. After a minute he poured more for himself. Here. And sit down, man. You make me nervous, hovering like that.

    I didn’t sit down. I strode to the door and flung it open. Forth’s voice was low and unhurried.

    What’s the matter? You can go out, if you want to, but won’t you sit down and talk to me for a minute? Anyway, where do you want to go?

    The question made me uncomfortable. I took a couple of long breaths and came back into the room. Forth said, Drink this, and I poured it down. He refilled the cup unasked, and I swallowed that too and felt the hard lump in my middle begin to loosen up and dissolve.

    *

    Forth said, Claustrophobia too. Typical, and scribbled on the card some more. I was getting tired of that performance. I turned on him to tell him so, then suddenly felt amused—or maybe it was the liquor working in me. He seemed such a funny little man, shutting himself up inside an office like this and talking about claustrophobia and watching me as if I were a big bug. I tossed the cup into a disposal.

    Isn’t it about time for a few of those explanations?

    If you think you can take it. How do you feel now?

    Fine. I sat down on the couch again, leaning back and stretching out my long legs comfortably. What did you put in that drink?

    He chuckled. Trade secret. Now; the easiest way to explain would be to let you watch a film we made yesterday.

    To watch— I stopped. It’s your time we’re wasting.

    He punched a button on the desk, spoke into a mouthpiece. Surveillance? Give us a monitor on— he spoke a string of incomprehensible numbers, while I lounged at ease on the couch. Forth waited for an answer, then touched another button and steel louvers closed noiselessly over the windows, blacking them out. I rose in sudden panic, then relaxed as the room went dark. The darkness felt oddly more normal than the light, and I leaned back and watched the flickers clear as one wall of the office became a large visionscreen. Forth came and sat beside me on the leather couch, but in the picture Forth was there, sitting at his desk, watching another man, a stranger, walk into the office.

    Like Forth, the newcomer wore a white coat with the caduceus emblems. I disliked the man on sight. He was tall and lean and composed, with a dour face set in thin lines. I guessed that he

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