 ARKOVER
 lydien's second favourite otherworld lies on
the planet of Darkover, in a galaxy so far away it cannot be
reached on starships that can only travel at light-speed. The Darkover
novels were written by Marion Zimmer Bradley (RIP), Sci-fi-writer
extraordinaire - she is also the author of The Mists of Avalon,
The Firebrand and scores of other books. However, Llydien
maintains that her best work - and one of the most stunning sagas ever
written in the genre - is the series of novels set on Darkover,
the planet of the Bloody Sun. Altogether the original series
consists of nineteen books, one of them - Rediscovery -
co-written with Mercedes Lackey. MZB also edited a dozen or so
anthologies that fill in blank spaces in the storyline of the
original series - which, after all, spans thousands of years.
 he Darkover novels chronicle the development of a whole
civilisation. In the following chronology Llydien will generally
follow the structure of the ‘Reader's Guide to Darkover' which has
been kindly provided in the DAW Books edition of the series. However, the last two
sections of that 'official' structure are actually quite wrong, and whoever did the research on that one
made some serious mistakes. Anyway, here follows the amended version.
So, llend Llydien your ears, Gentle Readers...
he Founding:
In a time long, long before
the Empire existed (and yet over a hundred years from now),
overcrowded and polluted Terra dispatched starships to colonize
distant planets. Some of these ships disappeared in the infinite
dimensions of time and space and were not heard from ever again.
One of these lost ships crash-landed on a planet with a red sun
and four small moons......
he Ages of Chaos:
A thousand years after the original landfall
settlement the society on Darkover - which had originated,
it should be remembered, from technological and democratic Terra -
has returned to the feudal level. Terran technologies have been
consciously renounced soon after the settlement,
Darkover is a planet characterised by a fragile ecological system
and a scarcity of metal and does not support an advanced
technology. Their Terran roots forgotten, the people of Darkover
turned instead to matrix technology and psi-powers, living under
the domination of the Towers, in which the powers of the mind -
so much more powerful than crude technological structures -
are harnessed and perfected. A selective breeding program sought
to fix the different inborn ESP abilities, Laran, into the
racial heritage which resulted in dangerous recessive traits,
wielders of strange powers and psi weapons terrifying in their
destructiveness.....
- Stormqueen!
- Hawkmistress!
he Hundred Kingdoms:
An age of war and strife now follows, retaining
many of the disastrous effects of the Ages of Chaos.
The lands which will later become the Seven Domains are torn apart
by continuous border conflicts and divided into a multitude of
small, belligerent kingdoms, which give this era its name.
Towards the end of this period the Compact,
a central tenet of Darkovan existence, is instituted by Varzil
The Good. A landmark and turning point in the history of Darkover,
and one of the main sources of friction between the Terra and
Darkover in times yet to come, the Compact bans all long-range
weapons which includes the psi weaponry. From now on it a
matter of honour that the one who seeks to kill must face equal
risk of death........
- Two to Conquer
- The Heirs of Hammerfell
he Renunciates: During the Ages
of Chaos and the time of the Hundred Kingdoms, there were two
orders of women who set themselves apart from the patriarchal
nature of Darkovan feudal society: the Priestesses of
Avarra and the warriors of the Sisterhood of the Sword.
Eventually these two independent groups merged to form the
powerful and legally chartered Order of Renunciates,
a guild of women bound by an Oath as a sisterhood of
mutual responsibility. Their primary allegiance is to each
other rather than to family, clan or caste or any man save
from a temporary employer. Alone among Darkovan women,
they are exempt from the usual legal restrictions and
protections. Their existence provides the women of Darkover
with an alternative to their socially restrictive lives.......
- The Shattered Chain
- Thendara House
- City of Sorcery
 econtact - Darkover and the Terrans:
After the Hastur Wars the Hundred Kingdom had been
consolidated into the Seven Domains, and ruled by a
hereditary aristocracy of seven families, called the Comyn,
who were allegedly descended from the legendary Hastur,
Lord of Light. It is during this era that the Terran Empire,
a star-spanning confederacy re-discovers Darkover. The fact
that Darkover is a lost colony of Terra, and Terrans and
Darkovans are of one heritage is not easily or readily
acknowledged by Darkovans and their Comyn overlords.
Nevertheless, after the initial shock of re-contact wears off,
a tentative exchange of knowledge between the younger and
less traditional elements of the Darkovan society and Terra
is established. In this exchange, initiated by the
Renunciates or Free Amazons, Darkover learns Terran
technology and science while teaching matrix technology
in return. The Terran spaceport is a permanent establishment
on the outskirts of the city of Thendara, and Darkover and
Terrans live under a fragile truce.....
- Rediscovery
- The Spell Sword
- The Forbidden Tower
- Star of Danger
- The Winds of Darkover
econtact - Clash and Compromise:
The destruction of the Forbidden Tower and the murder of its
Keeper is a sign of the political swing to extreme
conservatism under the regency of Danvan Hastur. By the
time of The Bloody Sun the period of friendly and
reasonably peaceful co-existence of Terran and Darkovan
has ended. The Empire and everything it stands for, becomes
the target of hatred and scorn, relations between both
societies are strained in the extreme. At the same time
Darkover faces an internal crisis, the number of Comyn
overlords diminish and the Comyn increasingly loose power
and support among their own people. Dissatisfied with the
Comyn rule and the present circumstances, parts of the
population veer towards Terran values and goods,
the internal cohesion of the society of Darkover is
in danger of breaking apart. After the catastrophe of the
Sharra Matrix, a shocking reminders of latent destructiveness
of Laran powers and matrix stones, Regis Hastur,
grandson of Danvan, becomes the instrumental figure
in the return to an alliance with Terra. A compromise between
both worlds is established which holds great promise for a
peaceful future.....
- The Bloody Sun
- The Heritage of Hastur
- The Planet Savers
- Sharra's Exile
- The World Wreckers
- Return to Darkover
his, then, is a brief description
of the chronicles of Darkover. The incredible complexity and
imaginative range of this series is hard to explain, Llydien
recommends that you - Gentle Reader - read the books yourself.
She awards extra Brownie points to the Darkover series
because the single books are really as self-contained
as stated in the Author's Note in most of the novels - somewhat
of a novelty in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre
where long series and sagas abound in which each
single book builds on the previous one....
 n any case, the first Darkover novel MZB
wrote is thematically actually one of the very last
in the chronology According to the
author all the books were written in no particular order
- maybe this accounts for the admirably reader-friendly
structure of the series. The particular fascination of
these chronicles of Darkover lies in the web of storylines
and the depiction of a wealth of human levels,
both in society and individuals. A sociological case study
of the clash and subsequent compromises between two societies
utterly different in values, way of life, technology and
thinking; the deconstruction of society and gender roles
in the society of Darkover thrown in relief by the
existence of the Renunciates; the absolutely believable
concept of PSI powers and the ways in which they are
developed, used but also contained - Darkover's got it all.
And the continuity throughout the series, with multiple
touch and turning points over a period of several
thousand years is nothing short of astounding.
Another Llydien book edition tip: if you invest in the
1990's Darkover edition of DAW Books, you get some
beautiful Sci-Fi cover art, too.
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