Darkover

The Darkover books are a series of novels and short stories set primarily on the fictional lost colony planet Cottman IV, also known as Darkover. Because they take place on another planet, and canon includes space ships and interstellar travel, these novels are sometimes called science fiction; but because they also involve societies whose main transport is the horse and who rule by telepathic aristocracy, it is also fair to call the series fantasy.
The works in this series were written out of time-order and span several hundred years, and so have many protagonists. Bradley explored several topics that were quasi-taboo at the time, including homosexuality (male and female) and polyamory, and was influential on the role of feminism in science fiction fandom.
==Synopsis==
Darkover is a planet with a reddish sun and a fairly cold climate, on which humans were stranded early in the history of interstellar travel. The Darkovans quickly discovered that many of their number had laran, a multivariate power, channeled through personalized blue crystals, that manifests as telepathy, telecontrol, empathy, and several other supernormal ways of relating to the world.
The novels cover periods in Darkover history when society has become basically medieval, with warring kingdoms restricted by powerful custom against major (or laran-based) weaponry. Women are historically subjugated, and several of the novels describe how individual female protagonists find their ways in the world: through an all-female guild called the Renunciates, through polyamory, through study and development of laran, and once contact is re-established with other worlds, through space travel.
==Characters==
The include:
* Dyan Ardais
* Regis Hastur
* Henry Levich
* Danilo Syrtis
==Copyright Issues and Fanfiction Controversy==
Darkover fandom and Marion Zimmer Bradley's intense involvement in it has been a long-running cautionary tale of the complications and boundaries that creators straddle regarding their fans.
The Darkover Newsletter is one example of how closely entwined she was with her fans. The newsletter documents Bradley's interest and encouragement in fans' Darkover fiction and describes fan gatherings at her home. It was difficult, at times, to draw a line between her professional life and her private life and how it all related to fans and the creative lines that divided them.
A fan in 2008 speculated on that fine line between the creator and fans, and canon and fanon: 
In the end, Bradley's declining health, her professional obligations, and complicated relationships came to a head with the publication of the fan novel Masks. The legal fallout and ensuing events led to a controversy that is commonly cited by anti-fanfiction authors to this day.
A statement regarding Darkover fanworks, updated in 2017: 
For more on the various accounts of what happened, see: Marion Zimmer Bradley Fanfiction Controversy. For more recent controversy, see Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust and Unauthorized Fanworks.
==Darkover and Other Fandoms==
===Darkover and Star Wars===
From a statement in 1977 in Darkover Newsletter #6: "After all, "Alderaan" is a name lifted from Darkover, accidentally or otherwise, the rebel base was on the Red Moon, Tatooine resembles the Drylands almost as much as it does Arrakis, the Force is not very far removed from certain manifestations of laran, and a local Council member who calls himself "Chang," our martial-arts expert, is a Mark Hamill look-alike."
From the 1977 essay by Ted Bryan in Darkover Newsletter #8: "...yes, it HAS been pointed out that laran is a manifestation of the Force, and that evidently Lucas was familiar with some of the Darkover books."
===Darkover and Star Trek===
In the 1980 author's foreword to The Keeper's Price, MZB wrote: 
===Kraith as "Star Trek plus Darkover"===
Lichtenberg credits Marion Zimmer Bradley with many of the ideas behind Kraith. An anonymous article on the simegen.com websiteThe Kraith Premise, author unknown (possibly Jean Lorrah). describes Kraith as having been conceived specifically because Lichtenberg had noticed Bradley had done no writing for the show, that Gene Roddenberry asked Bradley to write a Star Trek script and she turned him down. The article further claims that Bradley's "laws of ESP" (presumably this refers to the definitions and limitations of the laran gifts) were "lifted" by Roddenberry and woven into Star Trek. 
The resemblance to Darkover is particularly noticeable in Kraith Vulcans' use of psionic devices and the hints of what the ancient, pre-Surak Vulcan "Top Of World" culture was like. The idea of a telepathic aristocracy, of leaders being those who could coordinate and channel other telepaths, and of pon farr originally being related to the blooming of a particular flower, are all similar to ideas found in Darkover. (None of these elements are found in any episode of Star Trek.)
Lichtenberg was also said in this article to have conceived Sime-Gen by combining Darkover elements with Star Trek's various Effects as noted in the book Star Trek Lives!: and that "Star Trek + Darkover (Marion Zimmer Bradley) = Kraith".
In the foreword to The Keeper's Price (1980), Marion Zimmer-Bradley played down the supposed relationship between Star Trek, Kraith and Darkover, claiming that Kraith originated as an independent paracosm of Lichtenberg's which she mapped onto Star Trek as a method of practice writing:
In Darkover Newsletter #11, talking about encouraging beginning writers to develop their own unique styles, Zimmer-Bradley says "one of the first things I ever wrote to Jacqueline was that she would never do anything worth doing, professionally, until she got out of Roddenberry's Star Trek universe and started creating her own."
===Darkover and Sime~Gen===
The "Darkover" series of books and fandom is heavily entwined, not just by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (Kraith and Sime~Gen's creator), but also by fans of all three book sereis.
See Sime~Gen and Ambrov Zeor!.
==Darkover Fandom==
While fairly robust in the late 1970s and 1980s, Darkover fandom was pretty much killed off in the early 1990s due to the Marion Zimmer Bradley Fanfiction Controversy. 
With the zines no longer being published and the newsletter gone, fans didn't have a meeting place anymore. The threat of legal action against fans was, and is, almost a complete damper on Darkover fandom.Fan Fiction and Copyright: Outsider Works and Intellectual Property Protection By Aaron Schwabach (2011). "The fanfic ban had killed Darkover fandom. Although there are several Darkover reference sites on the web, the fanfic ban has prevented the active online life that many other fandoms enjoy ... Darkover has faded from the prominence it enjoyed in genre fiction in the 1970s and 1980s." page 117. 
A search on fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own turns up only a small number of fics based on Bradley's work.
As of February 20, 2012, for example, FanFiction.net only lists 109 stories based on all of Marion Zimmer Bradley's works. Considering the volume of her work, the length of her career and the original popularity of her books, the number is low. 
A comparable author who began with similar anti-fanfiction policies is Mercedes Lackey who has around 1000 fanworks in her Valdemar universe currently on FanFiction.net. Mercedes recently softened her stance on fan fiction in her universes. In comparison, Harry Potter has over a half a million stories on FanFiction.net. 
In 2012, a fan explained to others (and included some oft-repeated rumors): 
For a more recent threat, see Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust and Unauthorized Fanworks.
===Pairings===
Regis/Danilo
===Fanzines and Fanfiction===
See :Category:Darkover Zines.
Bradley herself contributed to some fanzines until the early 1990s. See Marion Zimmer Bradley Fanfiction Controversy.
Some prominent zines were Contes di Cottman IV, Darkover Newsletter, Starstone, and Jumeaux.
Online fanfiction is sparse, due to Bradley's stipulations and threats, and later that of Trust.
There are a few at Archive of Our Own: Darkover.
===Filks===
Bradley herself did not generally approve of, or like Darkover filks and filking, which is one reason why there is not a lot of it. From her newsletter in 1986: 
See more at Bradley's Attitudes Regarding Filks.
Some examples of Darkover filks:
* Arilinn Tower
* The Terranan's Lament ("I had no Laran at all") It was recorded at Boskone 1984, and is listed as "author unknown" in SWIL Filkbook #1. The fan who wrote the filk said: "That's because Erwin S. "Filthy Pierre" Strauss published it wiithout bothering to ask who the author was - he did that a lot. It's the same author as Arilinn Tower (i.e. me) and the correct title is "The Terranan's Lament". Judy Gerjuoy, aka Jaelle of Armida, asked me to write a song about some poor shlub who goes to Darkover, does all the usual things, but never develops laran. The SWIL misinformation has gone uncorrected for far too long." -- Darkover Wiki
* Lullabye for a Chieri from One Filk, Two Filk, Old Filk, New Filk
* An Exile's Lament, scroll down a bit.
* The Horse-Tamer's Daughter
* Consenting Adults of Darkover is filk/original music
* Leronis' Dilemma
* Music of Darkover, a for-profit publication (2013)
===Fanart===
 
File:Alienorgy.jpg|by 	Pyracantha, for Gregg Press (1979)
File:Greggpressspellsword.jpg|by 	Pyracantha, for Gregg Press (1979)
 
File:Starstone2inside3.jpg|by Walter Breen, from Starstone #2 (1978)
File:Starstone1inside3.jpg|by Diana Paxson, from Starstone #1 (1978)
File:Talesfreeart3.jpg| by Patricia Munson, from Tales of the Free Amazons (1980)
File:Contes9art2.jpg|by Melody Rondeau, from Contes di Cottman IV #9 (1986)
File:Contes10art2.jpg|by Hannah Shapero, from Contes di Cottman IV #10 (1987)
File:Contes11art3.jpg|by Randym, from Contes di Cottman IV #11 (1987)
File:Moonphases9art4.jpg|Chris Soto, from Moon Phases #9 (1987)
File:Masks-8.jpg|from Kiri Namtvedt, from Moon Phases #12 ("Masks") (1991)
===Fan Clubs===
:Category:Darkover Fan Clubs
===Mailing Lists and Websites===
There's a bunch here, but most need to be Waybacked: Darkover Webring
* Darkover Mailing List
* In 1996 Fabrice Rossi created the originally French Ténébropédie, later Ténébreuse le site, which was translated into English as The Tenebropedia, later the Darkover Site.
Several mirror sites all over the world were created. Fabrice dropped the site in 1999 after the death of Marion Zimmer Bradley. The last updates to the site in September, 1999, were the summaries of Traitor's Sun and The Shadow Matrix by Leigh Kimmel.
===Adopting a Darkovan Name===
Some fans of Darkover adopted (formally or informally) the name-structure of the Renunciates/Free Amazons, signifying their independence from the influence and protection of men. This elocution is generally written as Firstname n'ha (daughter of) Mothersfirstname, following the part of the Oath that a Renunciate woman is not known by any man's name, but only as the daughter of her mother.
Marion Zimmer Bradley often commented that one of the most-asked questions about Darkover was "what's my name in Darkovan?" 
Bradley herself fanned some of this interest herself; "What's My Name in Darkovan" is the very title of a 1978 article in Darkovan Language Review, a work that explained in great detail how one's name could be translated to a version that would fit in with her world.
In 1980, she wrote about a variation of this custom in the editorial for Tales of the Free Amazons: 
Also from Bradley, some comments between 1978 and 1980: 
===Mapping Darkover===
Walter Breen wrote in 1976: "No maps of Darkover have been authorized by Marion Zimmer Bradley. While she does not wish to dispute the validity of maps produced by scholars and friends of Darkover, she feels that no true map of the planet can be made until the Darkover series is completed. Therefore any maps which appear must by their nature be conjectural and partial." from The Darkover Concordance in 1979
MZB never drew a map of Darkover, nor did she want to, citing in Darkover Newsletter many times her reluctance to put its geography down on paper. While she did not condemn the practice of fans mapping Darkover entirely, she also was not supportive. She also disapproved and did not accept the maps drawn for her professional novels; in 1978 she dismissed the one published three years earlier in "The Heritage of Hastur," saying "The map in HH was fortunately inaccurate enough to be ignored.Bradley's comment in Darkover Newsletter #15/16
BUT, while Bradley constantly scorned maps of Darkover, she apparently didn't have a problem with the maps that appeared in the 1978 "Gregg Press" editions of her books: " ...there comes a time when we want to see books in hard covers, and now the company that brought Andre Norton's WITCH WORLD books into special hardcover editions has done the same for DARKOVER. HERITAGE OF HASTUR, THE SWORD OF ALDONES and DARKOVER LANDFALL are already out in Gregg Press editions, with new introductions by Susan Wood, Dick Luroff and Theodore Sturgeon. In February, 1979, THE SPELL SWORD, FORBIDDEN TOWER, THE SHATTERED CHAIN and WINDS OF DARKOVER will be issued in a new uniform edition, with cover-jackets and illustrations by Hannah Shapiro and a new approved and authentic map of Darkover by Diana Paxson. Each volume has a new introduction specially written for the Gregg Edition by Marion Zimmer Bradley; and they will be followed, in May, by THE WORLD WRECKERS, THE PLANET SAVERS, THE BLOODY SUN and STAR OF DANGER.from a flyer in Darkover Newsletter #15/16, see that page for more
In 1978, a fan attempted a project, and was told Bradley would not give her approval for it: "Having now spent at least several dozen hours trying to come up with such a beast, I've just about concluded that it can't be done (at least without ignoring some of the statements about relative locations scattered through the books). For instance... [much snipped] . But enough! If I ever come up with a map I like I will send it in. [The editor adds: "Don't hold your breath waiting for MZB to approve it. She has said that an "approved" map of Darkover would be too constricting to her imagination for future novels."] from Darkover Newsletter #15/16
In 1986, Bradley responded to a fan who tells her of his Darkover club that meets every Friday evening to talk about the books and draw maps about the books: "I've always refused to accept any maps, first because I dislike filling in 'blank spaces' -- perhaps some day I'll need to put up a city or a forest or a tower or even a lake there. I much dislike fake maps anyhow; maps of non-existent places are just an attempt to map out and colonize a non-existent place in the brain. Leave something to the imagination -- it's what the whole game is about.from Darkover Newsletter #31
Bradley seemed to be a bit more tolerant of maps in 1989: "As of this writing, Darkover has many unmapped area, which MZB prefers to continue to explore, preferable in the company of enthusiastic fans. There is now an "official" map of Darkover.from Darkover Newsletter #45
In 1990, there is some conflicting info about Darkover maps. When a fan asks about Darkover maps, Bradley responded: "If you want a map, you're on your own. The one in Heritage was done from some rough notes I scribbled at eighteen or so." Elisabeth Waters, who must have crossed wires with Bradley, wrote a contradicting reply directly under Bradley's: "The map that appeared in some of the Darkover books is not authorized by Mrs. Bradley—she refuses to accept a map of Darkover because she says she never knows where she'll need to put a new city in." from Darkover Newsletter #48
Bradley's statement in 1992: "You can't get an official map because I hate maps of Darkover. Suppose I want to put something in a future book just where the map calls for a desert?" from Darkover Newsletter #58
In 1993, both Elisabeth Waters and Ann Sharp mix up the message when they answered another fan's questions about maps. Waters said that "Mrs. Bradley is not a particullary graphically-orineted person...so she has never made or authorized a map of Darkover." Bradley piped up: "That's not quite true -- "Heritage of Hastur" had a map." Ann Sharp said: "She CONFESSED! A map! A map! Or at least some artist's unauthorized conception of what a map of residential Darkover might have looked like at the time." all comments from Darkover Newsletter #62 Waters and Sharp appear to not remember Bradley's own previous statement in 1990 that the map in "Heritage to Hastur" was drawn by herself, and therefore somewhat "authorized."
In 1995, Waters repeats: "Mrs. Bradley has repeatedly refused to authorize any map of Darkover—she says she never knows where she'll need to put a city; so writing about Darkovan geography is a pretty clear violation of her expressed wishes as well as her copyright." from Darkover Newsletter #70 (September 1995)
Despite Bradley's virulent non-encouragement, fans of Darkover, like fans everywhere, however, did their best to create as they pleased.
* a detailed map of Darkover by Thorsten Renk
* Pellennorath was a map-focused zine and issue #4 was a Darkover special issue
===Darkover Gaming===
While MZB was supportive of fan fiction and the fan art that went with it and cold to fans drawing maps, she was openly hostile to those who were interested in creating or playing Darkover games.
In 1986, MZB had this response to a fan regarding one of her characters in respect to a game he was making with friends: 
And when a fan in 1986 wrote: "Since I.F.G.S. deals with fantasy games, a number of Darkover fans in the organization have decided to develop a group of characters using the Darkover theme. Any help that the council can provide wold be greatly appreciated. We are interesting in costuming, language, mannerisms, religion, etc," the editor responded: 
A 1995 example of some Darkover gaming is Darkover Manual.January 4, 1995 post to alt.shared-reality.sf-and-fantasy
===Darkover Language Analysis===
* See 
===Darkover and Film===
In 1986, a fan asked Bradley if there were "any plans for a 'direct-from-the-most-popular-novel MOVIE." Bradley replied: "Some Darkover stories Bradley writes in 1988 that the two stories were "Star of Danger" and "Forbidden Tower." -- Darkover Newsletter #41 (June 1988) have optioned for movies. None has materialized. We'd like it too." from Darkover Newsletter #32 (March 1986)
There is some discussion in June 1988 about filming Darkover and The Mists of Avalon. A fan asked: "A while back there was a mention of the possibility of a Darkover film. Anything further on that? Seeing such films as "Excalibur" and "Merlin and the Sword" which had such potential with directors and cast and fell flat on their faces with screenplay, I kept saying, "Why couldn't they have used Mists of Avalon?" Any hope of a film there?" Ann Sharp replied: 
On February 13, 2012, two television producers, Ilene Kahn Power and Elizabeth Stanley, announced they had optioned the rights to turn the Darkover series into a television series. Significant funding still remains to be secured and as of 2012 the project is still in the early planning stages.
* 'Darkover' novels pitched as TV series, published in Variety magazine February 13, 2012
* Marion Zimmer Bradley's DARKOVER May Head to TV, dated February 14, 2012
* 'Darkover' novels to become TV series - TV News - Digital Spy, dated February 14, 2012.
Fannish reaction to the 2012 proposed series: 
==Fan Comments==
==Meta/Further Reading==
See :Category:Darkover Meta.
* Darkover and Kraith by Amy Falkowitz (1975)
* DARKOVER SPINOFF. Or maybe that should read CONTRARY MOTION—VERY. Ted Bryan (1977)
* WHO ARE WE?, or, NOT A CAPE IN A CARLOAD by Ted Bryan (1977)
* Why Should I Encourage People to Write Darkover Stories? by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1978)
* Adventures in Reading Darkover Stories Without Having to Write Them First. by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1978)
* Darkovans Invade Boskone! by Catherine Filipowicz (1978)
* What’s My Name in Darkovan? by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1978)
* Fantasy Worlds Festival Dead Dog Party Incident by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1980)
* A Darkover Retrospective; archive link by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1980) "Some portions of "A Darkover Retrospective" were adapted from an article titled "My Life on Darkover" published in the amateur magazine Fantasiae, edited by Ian Miles Slater, c/o The Fantasy Association, Box 24560, Los Angeles, CA 90024. Copyright © 1974 by The Fantasy Association and used by permission of Ian Miles Slater" 
* Confessions of a Terranan Keeper, or, An Untrained Telepath is a Danger to Herself and Everyone Around Her by Elisabeth Waters (1982)
* Where do you get your ideas? by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1988)
* My problem isn't (necessarily) Marion Zimmer Bradley by limyaael (2004)
* A literary genre that may be a lawyer’s fantasy – Biederman Blog (2012)
* Okay, some fandom history, why show writers and authors say "for legal reasons" they can't read fan fic. by freifraufischer (2016)
* Media Fandom Oral History Project Interview with Roberta Rogow (2017)
==See Also==
* Marion Zimmer Bradley
* Marion Zimmer Bradley Fanfiction Controversy
* Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust
* Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust and Unauthorized Fanworks
==External Sources==
* link to some 1978 fan art for the "The Spell Sword" (Gregg Press Edition): 
* link to Alien Natives Orgy, a 1979 Gregg Press illo
* Darkover Non-Guidelines written in 1999, accessed 5.27, 2011
* The Charms of Darkover by Jo Walton/papersky posted February 20, 2006, accessed February 20, 2012
* Darkover art by pyracantha/WebCite
==References==
*
*