Orthe
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Orthe is a series of science-fiction novels by Mary Gentle.
The Orthe series consists of the books Golden Witchbreed (published 1983) and Ancient Light (1987).
The story takes place on a distant planet called Orthe, which is visited by Lynn de Lisle Christie, an envoy from a future Earth that has developed a spacefaring civilization. She is sent to the technologically backward planet of Orthe ("Carrick V") to evaluate whether it is suitable for contact with Earth. But Orthe turns out to have reverted to more primitive technologies after a catastrophe brought about by a previous technologically advanced race, the "Goldens" - whom Christie is taken to be a member of.
In Ancient Light, Christie returns to Orthe, this time as a representative of an Earth company that is looking for the lost technological secrets of the almost-extinct race that had destroyed its own civilization in the distant past of Orthe. At the same time, war is developing between two groups on Orthe, worsened by the introduction of high-technology weapons.
