The Shattered Chain is a novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley in her Darkover series. The Shattered Chain is the first Darkovan novel to explore the world of the Renunciates - the Free Amazons or comhii letzi. The Renunciates are women living in a deeply patriarchal and feudal culture who have renounced both the protection and control of men, cutting their hair and living apart, vowing never to marry di catenas with a man. The Shattered Chain is divided into three parts, the first titled 'Rohana Ardais: Comynara', the second 'Magda Lorne: Terran Agent' and the third, 'Jaelle n'ha Melora: Free Amazon', and each follows one female character's experiences with the Free Amazons of Darkover.
- “While only women can command the power of the matrix and he secret sciences which keep Darkover from Terran hands, in most respects they are still chattels. Yet there are bands of pledged women known as the Free Amazons, equal to men and outside the laws that keep the rest of their sex subservient. And in THE SHATTERED CHAIN, it is these Free Amazons who will prove the key to the Terran-Darkovan Dilemma.” -Taken from the back cover of The Shattered Chain, written by Marion Zimmer Bradley and published by Daw Books Inc.
Read more about The Shattered Chain: Gender and Society in The Shattered Chain
Famous quotes containing the words shattered and/or chain:
“I was even more surprised at the power of the waves, exhibited on this shattered fragment, than I had been at the sight of the smaller fragments before. The largest timbers and iron braces were broken superfluously, and I saw that no material could withstand the power of the waves; that iron must go to pieces in such a case, and an iron vessel would be cracked up like an egg- shell on the rocks.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Man ... cannot learn to forget, but hangs on the past: however far or fast he runs, that chain runs with him.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)