Search - Ghostlight

Great surprise ending.

The premise was interesting but I found the writing wasn't very sophisticated, and the plot was sluggish. I couldn't get through more than a couple of chapters before I got irritated with the story. But I've never really liked this author all that much anyway (except for the Mists of Avalon, read years ago), so if you generally like this author, probably you won't be disappointed like I was.

I first read "Witchlight" in this series by Marion Zimmer Bradley and enjoyed it, so looked forward to reading the others in the series. At first it was confusing, because this is probably one of those series that you should probably read it order and "Ghostlight" must be the first book.

As always, the author's writing was good, but the story was ehhhhh..... I'll read the others, because I usually like Bradley's books, but this one was not one of her best.

Truth Jourdemayne has always hated her father, although she doesn't remember him. Thorne Blackburn was a celebrated occultist and near-cult leader of the 60's, but one of his rituals ended in the death of Truth's mother, and the disappearance of Thorne himself (one assumes, to escape murder charges). Scandal notwithstanding, Thorne Blackburn, Aleister Crowley-like, still has his followers - who regularly pester Truth for interviews or opinions on her notorious dad. In an effort to stave them off, Truth decides to work on a book on Blackburn, so that she can show him as he really was, in her opinion - a criminal, not a mystical hero. To further her research, she goes to her father's old estate, site of his notorious rituals. The estate is now owned by a significantly wealthy and charismatic man - and an odd collection of followers. Truth soon realizes they are Blackburnians, occultists devoted to recreating her father's rituals. But they offer her access to their collection of materials relating to her father... and soon she is drawn into a web of events that could lead to disaster - but which could also cause Truth to re-evaluate her father as a man, and to come to terms with her own emotions.
One of the better books in the 'Light' series, recommended for fans of occult fiction.