Exile’s Song[1] is a science fantasy novel by American writers Marion Zimmer Bradley and Adrienne Martine-Barnes, part of the Darkover series.
The book is part of a trilogy within the series comprising Exile's Song, The Shadow Matrix and Traitor's Sun.
Exile's Song represents a dramatic alteration of Bradley's view of the masculine/feminine, technological/ecological, Terran/Darkover dichotomies that she has explored throughout the Darkover series.
In her earliest Darkover writing (1960s), she portrayed the planet's semi-feudal culture as played-out and in need of saving by the technologically superior Terrans.
[4] In Exile's Song, Bradley reverses direction exclusively in favor of the feminine/ecological/Darkover view, describing the Terran Federation as played-out.
At Rafe's suggestion, Marguerida hires Rafaella n'ha Liriel, a Renunciate guide, to assist her in her folk music gathering project.
They successfully gather many songs, but Marguerida's dreams begin to be troubled by long-repressed memories of her childhood on Darkover.
When the illness appears to be Threshold Sickness lasting several weeks, her host, Lady Marilla Aillard, sends for Istvana Ridenow, keeper of Neskaya Tower.
With Istvana and Marilla's assistance, Marguerida confronts the presence, which turns out to be the will of a long-dead Keeper, Ashara Alton.
At Armida, she finds her aunt and uncle, Javanne and Gabriel Lanart-Hastur, to be conservative, and they are shocked by her unconventional life and opinions.
More to her liking are her uncle, Jeff Kerwin (from The Bloody Sun), and cousin, Liriel, a matrix technician from Arilinn Tower.