stories are completed in the sequel novel, Thendara House. Characters Jaelle n'ha Melora (aka Jaelle Aillard), a Renunciate Magda Lorne (aka Margali n'ha Ysabet), a Terran operative Peter Haldane, Magda's ex-husband, a Terran intelligence officer Rohana Ardais, wife of Gabriel Ardais Melora Aillard, mother of Jaelle Kindra, a Renunciate Jalak of Shainsa, Dry Town bandit Gender and society The Shattered Chain presents the Renunciate organization and worldview in greater detail than previous books in the series. The first free Amazon character that Bradley created, Kyla Raineach in The Planet Savers, was a two-dimensional caricature who ended up rather conventionally falling in love with her male employer. As the series developed, the Renunciates evolved into a complex experiment in separatist feminism. The Renunciates are one of the most popular character groups in the Darkover series, resulting in a considerable amount fan fiction, some of which ended up in the 12 short story anthologies. The Shattered Chain is a distinct deviation from the male-dominated narratives of Bradley's previous Darkovan novels, and also as an experiment in feminist writing for an author who had previously written very conventionally male-dominated fiction. Later novels in the Renunciate series, in particular Thendara House, explore issues of female sexuality and matriarchal social structures, with particular emphasis on the character Magda's developing sense of herself as a lesbian, and as an independent woman raised to be a 'traditional Darkovan woman' and yet living a liberated, autonomous life beyond the rule of fathers and husbands. Linda Leith suggests that these novels express Bradley's ambivalence towards Rousseauist society (Darkover) on the one hand, and American technological society (Terran Empire) on the other. The Renunciate characters of Magda and Jaelle offered the author an opportunity to explore the world of women-centered and lesbian-accepting communities within a patriarchal context. Susan Schwartz, writing for the New York Times, noted of this book: "Bradley may have followed C.L. Moore in creating Amazons, but she raises her book The Shattered Chain above the level of heroic fantasy by having her characters explicitly debate the varieties of feminist theory, discussing among other things the merits of celibacy, lesbianism and conventional marriage". References Sources External links Darkover books 1976 American novels Novels by Marion Zimmer Bradley American science fiction novels DAW Books books American LGBT novels