The Heritage of Hastur perhaps marks the center of the Darkover series, with its looping, cyclical nature. In general, Darkovan chronology goes backwards, with the later novels actually representing an earlier period, when Terran and Darkovan relations were better; by the time of The Heritage of Hastur, most Darkovans were unaware of their parallel history with the Terran Empire. After the unquestioned critical success of The Heritage of Hastur, Bradley continued to develop the personal and political themes earlier novels had begun. The Forbidden Tower (1977), in which Bradley acknowledges her debt to Theodore Sturgeon, chronicles the development of matrix power and the rebellion against conservative Hastur rule as a circle of four matrix telepaths. One a Terran, locked in psychic and physical intimacy, defies the traditional Towers in order to democratize the positive features of matrix technology. The Shattered Chain (1976) develops the "chain" metaphor for the...