Darkover [series]
Entry updated 20 July 2026. Tagged: Community.
Popular sequence of Planetary Romances by Marion Zimmer Bradley (whom see for fuller discussion), beginning with The Planet Savers (November 1958 Amazing; 1962 dos) and The Sword of Aldones (1962) – though these are preceded in internal chronology by Darkover Landfall (1972), in which the first human colonists (see colonization of other worlds) reach the planet Darkover, and by other prequel volumes. The flavour is of Science Fantasy, with much conflict revolving around Psi Powers and Psionic "matrix" crystals; strong Feminist themes also emerged. The series continued into the 1990s, latterly with help from collaborators – Mercedes Lackey, Adrienne Martine-Barnes and Deborah J Ross – who by the time of the final volumes may have been responsible for all the actual writing. Earlier, Bradley had opened up Darkover as a Shared World in a sequence of anthologies edited by herself, running from The Keeper's Price and Other Stories (anth 1980) to Snows of Darkover (anth 1994). [DRL]
see also: Board Game; Cthulhu Mythos; Series.
further reading
- Walter Breen. The Gemini Problem: A Study in Darkover (Berkeley, California: for the author, 1973) [nonfiction: chap: written 1971 for Marion Zimmer Bradley only: pb/Diana Paxson Studebaker]
- Walter Breen. The Gemini Problem: A Study in Darkover (Kansas City, Missouri: T-K Graphics, 1979) [nonfiction: exp of the above: pb/Bob Lewis]
- Walter Breen. The Darkover Concordance: A Reader's Guide (Berkeley, California: Pennyfarthing Press, 1979) [nonfiction: hb/Melisa Michaels]
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