Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #930969 in Books
• Published on: 2008-12-09
• Released on: 2008-12-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780765321886
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From Publishers Weekly
Adept at both SF (the Darkover series) and fantasy (The Mists of Avalon), Bradley broadens her range with an entertaining tale of contemporary "magick" and self-discovery that combines gothic romance, urban fantasy and horror. Truth Jourdemayne, parapsychologist and illegitimate child of celebrated vanished occultist Thorne Blackburn, decides to write a book about her much-hated father; to begin her research, she visits his estate, Shadow's Gate, nestled in the Hudson River valley. There Truth meets a group continuing Blackburn's occult "Work," led by the exciting and mysterious Julian Pilgrim. The narrative employs gothic props such as hidden parentage, a secret book, underground passages and intricate alliances, and it isn't shy about flashing occult wonders either, but the emphasis is on Truth's growth toward greater understanding and wisdom. With a strong, though not feminist, heroine and a sophisticated treatment of magick, this novel overcomes myriad cliches?including the charismatic occult leader and an apparently haunted mansion?to offer intelligent, if somewhat giddy, diversion.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Besides writing science fiction and fantasy, the ever-popular Bradley also pens gothic romances, of which this is the first to debut in hardcover. Young Truth Blackburn lost her parents in the late 1960s to an occultist experiment. Now, a quarter-century later, some New Agers mess around with the same experiment, and Truth ends up with the job of preventing a second disaster. Bradley is a master storyteller, and her latest proves thoroughly absorbing. Like the plot, the characterization is stock but good, not likely to surprise or displease anyone familiar with Bradley's other gothics. There are so many Bradley fans that even though this book hardly reaches out to win new readers, it just doesn't have to. Roland Green

Review
"Shivery [with] quite a few surprises."—The San Francisco Chronicle

"Fascinating . . . Bradley's tales may not begin 'Once upon a time...' but they have that ambiance, the suspension of disbelief, the immersion in story which is the hallmark of all good [fairy tales]. Ghostlight is no exception." --Rockland Courier-Gazette
-- Review

Customer Reviews

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It's too late for me to read HEARTLIGHT first because I didn't find out that it existed until after I'd read GHOSTLIGHT, WITCHLIGHT, and GRAVELIGHT. I've never gotten around to reading my copy of MISTS OF AVALON, so I won't be making comparisons. My previous acquaintance with Ms. Bradley's writing was with her earlier Darkover novels. Yes, Truth is almost as annoying as The X-Files' Scully when it comes to denying the existence of magic. Yes, Truth often acts about as dim-witted as many gothic romance heroines were back when heroines were expected to be innocent and helpless. Yes, there were times when I wanted to reach into the book and shake her and scream out the obvious truths she was missing, but... This was still a gripping novel. I didn't suspect the whole truth about Thorne Blackburn's fate. I loved the house and its grounds. The occult trappings were very interesting. The characters came alive for me and I found myself impatiently waiting for each new twist to be revealed. One final note: My compliments to Carol Russo and Mark Hess. I LOVE a cover that accurately portrays the characters and surroundings in the book. Don't let its beautiful serenity fool you. This book is far from serene.

still excellent after all these years
I read this years ago, and recently re-read it. It's always interesting to read a book you loved in the past to see if your perceptions or tastes have changed. In this case, I still enjoyed it immensely.

Truth Jourdemayne is the daughter of notorious psychic con-artist Thorne Blackburn, who started an occult movement in the 60s and who killed her mother during one of his rituals, then disappeared.

So she's dedicated her life to showing the truth about such things, scientifically, and put the past, and her father, behind her.

But now she's been asked to write her father's biography, and her aunt Caroline gives her Thorne's grimoire, and Truth decides it's time to go back to Shadow's Gate and write the true story.

When she gets there, she discovers a cult trying to recreate her father's work, and everything becomes much more confusing.

I think I liked this so much because I'm a huge sucker for gothics. The creepy old house, the intrepid heroine, the two men--one good, one evil, but you don't find out until the end which is which, and the whole air of mystery.

The twists and turns in this one were both surprising and logical, and I was sucked right in. I really enjoyed Truth--sure she knows what's real, desperate to distance herself from her father, but deep down even more desperate to know her father and for him to be someone she can love and admire.

I laughed, I cried, I wanted more...
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Ghostlight is an excellent book that looks at the world of the Occult through the eyes of a scientist plunged into Magick. Truth Jourdemayne is the daughter of the notorious "occult TV evangelist," Thorne Blackburn, who perforemd bizarre rituals on stage with traveling bands and started an Occult movement back in the 60s.

Growing up knowing her father was a lunatic and a scam artist, Truth modeled her life as a skeptic--knowing that the man who took her mother's life during one of his so-called rituals had to be out of his mind and demented. She became a parapsychologist--a scientist who investigates the evidence of paranormal psychological phenomena (ESP, telepathy, etc.).

Going back to the place of her childhood, she plans on writing a biography about the real Thorne Blackburn who used people to get money. But what will she believe when she find out that magick really is afoot?

The book centers about Truth Jourdemayne and her search for knowledge about her father and the truth behind her mother's death. Along the way, MZB has a cast of characters that she develops into very complicated individuals. The storyline is beautiful, and I love the names she gives her characters. (Like Fiona Cabot, Ellis Gardner, Caradoc Buckland, Hereward Farrar, etc.--all last names of famous witches and Wiccan writers.)

I hope the memory of MZB will be engraved into the minds of future generations of readers. Blessed be