The Winds of Darkover

Blurb

The Winds of Darkover is a science fiction fantasy novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley in her Darkover series. It was first published by Ace Books in 1970, as an Ace Double bound tête-bêche with The Anything Tree by John Rackham.
This is the first Darkover novel to include references to the Sharra Matrix. In terms of the Darkover timeline, Bradley states in "Author's Notes on Chronology" that The Winds of Darkover occurs about four years after the events in Star of Danger.
One the underlying themes of The Winds of Darkover is rape. Bradley provides her readers with parallel experiences – the rape of Allira Storn by the bandit Brynat, and the psychic rape of Dan Barron by Loran Storn. Both Allira and Dan are overcome by force and their bodies made to do things they would not have done by choice. In both cases, the perpetrators justify their actions on the basis of need – Brynat needs to marry Allira to legitimize his sack of Storn, and Loran Storn needs to protect Storn Castle. The reader is left to consider the consequences.