The Alton Gift (Children of Kings #1) » (Reprint)

A prolific storyteller from the time she was old enough to talk, Marion Zimmer Bradley had an enormous impact on the science fiction and fantasy genres, imagining centuries of technological and culture clashes in the colonization of a distant planet in her Darkover series and recasting the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the women in his life in her 1983 masterpiece, The Mists of Avalon.

After the tragic, untimely death of Regis Hastur, a ruler who struggled lifelong to save the beloved world of his birth from the ambitions of the ruthless Terran Federation, the Terrans have finally abandoned Darkover to pursue interstellar civil war.

As Lew Alton-returned home to the world of his birth after decades spent in exile as the Darkovan representative to the Terran Senate-wrestles with the dark shadows from his past, his daughter Marguerida's psychic Gifts warn her of impending danger. But danger to whom? For though her precognitive senses fill her with a feeling of imminent doom, she can see nothing specific in her visions of the ever-changing, uncertain future. Her husband Mikhail, as powerful head of the Hastur Domain, is her most obvious concern-for he's a likely target for assassination. Far too many would stand to gain from his demise.

Meanwhile, unknown to Marguerida, her son, Domenic, searches for his place in a world of shifting loyalties-torn between love for two very different women-and struggles to come to terms with his destiny as the heir to Hastur.

But while Francisco Ridenow, longtime adversary of the Hastur clan, plots to bring down Mikhail and Marguerida, and the rulers of Darkover think only of their own political issues, a far greater threat is facing their world.

Even as increasingly desperate refugees flood the streets of Thendara, Darkover's capital city, in the wilds of the far-distant Hellers an ancient menace rises once again-a power against which neither swords nor the psychic sorcery of Darkover can prevail. Only an outlaw Terran, fleeing from a past he cannot remember, may hold the key to Darkover's survival.

Jackie Cassada - Library Journal

After the death of Regis Hastur, who labored to save his planet from exploitation by the Terran Federation, political tension heats up as Domenic Alton-Hastur, heir to the Hastur rule, faces opposition from longtime rival Francisco Ridenow, while unknown to all but a few, an ancient threat rears its head, wreaking havoc among Darkoverians of all ages and classes. Approved by the late Bradley to continue her Darkover novels, Ross remains faithful to Bradley's vision in this sequel to Traitor's Sun, creating a story filled with memorable characters, agonizing decisions, and powerfully subtle psychic forces. Suitable for all libraries, but particularly appropriate where the series has a following.