Darkover (Publication Order)

Series · 42

books · 1958-2016

By Rosemary Edghill, Cynthia McQuillin, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and more

Books in series

The Planet Savers

1958

Darkover was experiencing a flare-up of Trailmen's fever, an episodic disease that would decimate the entire human population of Darkover, from the Comyn to the Terrans. The Medical Branch at Terran HQ had the start of a cure, but in order to finish it, they needed Trailmen to come out of their homes in the trees in the Hellers Mountains and donate blood. Only one man on Darkover stood any chance of persuading the Trailmen to help, but he occupied the same body as the doctor capable of doing the medical side of the work, and he was the personality the doctor had utterly suppressed. Even with hypnosis, only one of them could be active at a time, and the solution would need both of them.

The Sword of Aldones

1962

Lew Alton was returning to Darkover - returning at the command of men who had once been all too glad to see him leave. For Lew, a Darkovan on his father's side, and a Terran on his mother's, had always walked between two worlds, accused by each of belonging to the other, and trusted by neither. Yet Lew alone had the power to understand both worlds and to save them from each other's unknown forces. That was the reason he had returned at last - armed with the legendary sword of the Sharra matrix, whose destiny was to cross forces with the equally mystic Sword of Aldones in one mighty battle that would decide Darkover's fate . . .

The Bloody Sun

1964

This is the re-written version of the original story. To Terran Jeff Kerwin the distant planet he remembered only as a childhood dream was home. But when years of planning finally brought him back to Darkover, ha found that there was no peace for him there—not for someone with both the red hair of a Com'yn lord and the bastard strains of Terrani in his blood; not for someone who carried a Darkovan matrix jewel without knowing where it came from; not for someone who managed to win the trust of the sacred Keepers and the secrets of their Tower, only to be accused of betraying them to his Terran masters...

Star of Danger

1965

First published in 1965, Star of Danger is a work that stands as a foundation for the bestselling Darkover series, introducing many loyal fans to this wonderful, mysterious world. Two natives of Darkover are forced to combine Darkover matrix magic with Terran technology to stand against a shared enemy.

The Winds of Darkover

1970

paperback

The World Wreckers

1971

Arrow Books, 1979. British paperback reprint. First published in 1971, a "Darkover" tale.

Darkover Landfall

1972

Darkover, planet of wonder, world of mystery, has been a favorite of science fiction readers for many years. For it is a truly alien sphere—a world of strange intelligences, of brooding skies beneath a ruddy sun, and of powers unknown to Earth. In this novel, Marion Zimmer Bradley tells of the original coming of the Earthmen, of the days when Darkover knew not humanity. This is the full-bodied novel of what happened when a colonial starship crashlanded on that uncharted planet to encounter for the first time in human existence the impact of the Ghost Wind, the psychic currents that were native only to that world, and the price that every Earthling must pay before Darkover could claim him for itself.

The Spell Sword

1974

Although Darkover was a world inhabited by humans as well as semi-humans, it was primarily forbidden ground to the Terran traders. Most of the planet's wild terrain was unexplored...and many of its peoples seclusive and secretive. But for Andrew Carr there was an attraction he could not evade. Darkover drew him, Darkover haunted him—and when his mapping plane crashed in unknown heights, Darkover prepared to destroy him. Until the planet's magic asserted itself—and his destiny began to unfold along lines predicted only by phantoms and wonder workers of the kind Terran science could never acknowledge. THE SPELL SWORD is a Darkover novel to stand with the great ones of the series.

The Heritage of Hastur

1975

Described as "Bradley's best novel" by Locus, THE HERITAGE OF HASTUR, longest and most intricate of the Darkover books, is a brilliant epic of the pivotal event in the strange love-hate relationship between the Terran worlds and the semi-alien offspring of forgotten peoples. This is the novel of the Hastur tradition and of the showdown between those who would bargain away their world for the glories of star-borne science and those who would preserve the special "matrix" power that was at once the prize and the burden of ruddy-sunned Darkover. A Note From the Author: To the faithful followers of the chronicles of Darkover, whose greatest delight seems to be discovering even the most minute inconsistencies from book to book: This book tells a story which a great many of the friends of Darkover have asked me to tell - the story of the early life of Regis Hastur, and of the Sharra uprising, and of Lew Alton's first encounter with Marjorie Scott and the man who called himself Kadarin. The faithful followers mentioned above will discover a very few minute inconsistencies between the account herein, and the story as Lew Alton told it later. I make no apologies for these. The only explanation I can make is that in the years which elapsed between the events in this book, and the later novel dealing with the final destruction of the Sharra matrix, Lew's memories of these events may have altered his perceptions. Or, as I myself believe, the telepaths of the Arilinn Tower may have mercifully blurred his memories, to save his reason. MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY

#10

The Shattered Chain

1976

Cover attributed to George Barr, but appears to carry Richard Hescox's signature.

#11

The Forbidden Tower

1977

This is the novel of four who defied the powers of the matrix guardians - fanatics who protected those powers so that the planet of the ruddy sun might never fall beneath the influence of materialistic Terrans. The four who found themselves fused into a terrifying unity in that defiancé were two men and two women. The men were Damon Ridenow, a Comyn of the ruling caste, and Andrew Carr, the Earthman who had won for himself the right of clan-entry.

#12

Stormqueen!

1978

The great epic of Darkover did not begin with the Terrans' arrival. For in those years, the power of the matrix was first learned—and misused in a power struggle that could have made Darkover a duplicate of Terra.

#13

Two to Conquer

1980

What forces would operate if there were two objects that were absolutely identical in form and substance? This problem has occupied both workers in magic and the scientists of physics and psychology. It is the pivot of Marion Zimmer Bradley's novel of Darkover during the final flaming days of the Ages of Chaos. This is the story of the era when the planet of the Bloody Sun was divided into a hundred warring kingdoms and civilization teetered on the edge of oblivion. It is the story of Bard di Asturien, ambitious soldier-outlaw, and of his opponent, Varzil the Good, who struggled to establish the Compact. And it is also the story of a man from distant Terra named Paul Harrell who was the exact duplicate of Varzil's enemy. Two to Conquer is a novel of social forces in combat, of the use and misuse of science, of war, of rape, and of witchcraft.

#14

The Keeper's Price

1980

From the back cover: The lore of the planet of the Bloody Sun, Darkover, with its human and semi-human peoples, its science of emntal powers, its loves and hates, its feuds and favors—all have grown into one of the greater classics of the imagination, comparable only to the Middle Earth of Tolkien. For so deep and complex has been the creation of this worlds that readers have sought to fill in the unknown spots of its saga. They, forming the Friends of Darkover, have joined with Marion Zimmer Bradley to create this anthology of new stories of Darkover, written by its most talented followers. Here are stories that span the whole of Darkover history—from the days after the original landfall, through the Ages of Chaos, the Pact of the Comyn, and the coming of the Terrans. Included are three original stories by Marion Zimmer Bradley and her editorial commentaries on each story.

#15

Sharra's Exile

1981

The sequel to Heritage of Hastur, perhaps the single most popular of Bradley's spectacular Darkover novels, Sharra's Exile is the story of Lew Alton's return to Darkover and his battle to destroy the deadly Sharra matrix.

#16

Hawkmistress!

1982

Bradley, Marion Zimmer, A Darkover Novel

#17

Sword of Chaos

1982

This second anthology of Darkover stories, first published in 1982, contains the following Lesson of the Inn, by Marion Zimmer Bradley A Sword Called Chaos, by Marion Zimmer Bradley Dark Lady, by Jane Brae-Bedell Of Two Minds, by Susan M. Hansen Through Fire and Frost, by Dorothy J. Heydt Way of a Wolf, by Lynne Holdom A Recipe For Failure, by Millea Kenin Where the Heart Is, by Millea Kenin Di Catenas, by Adrienne Martine-Barnes Camilla, by Patricia Shaw Mathews Skeptic, by Lynn Mimms Cold Hall, by Aly Parsons A Gift of Love, by Diana L. Paxson In the Throat of the Dragon, by Susan M. Shwartz Legend of the Hellers, by Terry Tafoya Escape, by Leslie L. Williams Rebirth, by Elisabeth Waters Confidence, by Phillip Wayne Wind-Music, by Mary Frances Zambreno

#18

Thendara House

1983

Bradley, Marion Zimmer, Thendara House

#19

City of Sorcery

1984

Haunted by mysterious images of hooded figures, Magdalen Lorne, chief Terran operative on Darkover, pursues a quest not only to the frozen ends of the physical world but also to the perilous limits of the spiritual world. And there she is tested by the evil sorcery of the Dark Sisterhood.

#20

Free Amazons of Darkover

1985

There is moderate shelf, creases on the side of cover. Has some stains on the bottom edges and the inside cover pages have turned brown from age. This is a first edition 1985.

#22

Red Sun of Darkover

1979

Spanning generations of Darkover history, this collection of stories journeys into the heart of Darkover power, from the ancient chieri, to the alliance of Ariada Aillard, to Regis Hastur's struggle to bridge the gap between Terrans and the people of Darkover

#24

The Heirs of Hammerfell

1989

Darkover—planet of the Bloody Sun, world of legend and mystery, the long-lost Terran colony where an ancient power has awakened humans to their own hidden talents of laran, that special magic through which those gifted enough can communicate directly mind to mind, call up fire, even link their thoughts to control bird and beast. Set in the age of The Hundred Kingdoms, The Heirs of Hammerfell takes place in a time of war and strife when Darkover was divided by border conflicts into numerous small, antagonistic kingdoms. Focusing on a devastating clan feud between two of these realms—Hammerfell and Storn—a feud which has seen the land soaked red with blood for countless generations. But now Storn has struck what may prove Hammerfell’s death stroke, setting the ancestral castle ablaze, slaying its lord, and sending its lady fleeing into the night with her twin infant sons, Alastair and Conn. Conn is separated from his mother and lost to her on that fateful night, but she and Alastair find sanctuary in Thendara City, among the wealthy and the laran-gifted, keeping the memory of Hammerfell alive with them in exile. Yet Conn, too, survives, rescued by a loyal servant and raised in secret among those who would see the might of Storn overthrown and the banner of Hammerfell flying proudly high once again. But it is not until Conn’s laran manifests that the fates of the twins are finally, inextricably linked in a pattern which could bring a new beginning or total ruin to Hammerfell and its heirs…

#26

Renunciates of Darkover

1991

From Guild House to lord's court, the Free Amazons ply their trade, serving as mercenaries wherever there is need, banding together in comradeship, setting themselves apart from the everyday rules of Darkovan society, earning their freedom with blade and deed, and freely giving shelter and assistance to any woman in search of a safe haven. From a fledgling matrix circle formed by Renunciates to a Free Amazon hired to protect Comyn Lord Varzil from an assassin's deadly threat to Marion's own recounting of a seemingly insurmountable conflict between Camilla and Rafaella—well-remembered characters from her magnificent novel, The Shattered Chain\—here are twenty-two brand new tales about those dauntless Darkovan heroines beloved by the countless readers who are always eager to return for new adventures on the world of the Bloody Sun. Introduction (Renunciates of Darkover) • essay by Marion Zimmer Bradley Strife • short story by Chel Avery Amazon Fragment (Excerpt) • short fiction by Marion Zimmer Bradley Broken Vows • short story by Annette Rodriguez If Only Banshees Could See • novelette by Janet R. Rhodes A Midsummer Night's Gift • short story by Deborah J. Ross \[as by Deborah Wheeler \] The Honor of the Guild • short story by Joan Marie Verba A Butterfly Season • short story by Diana L. Paxson Misjudged Situations • short story by Kelly B. Jaggers Awakening • novelette by Mary Fenoglio Carlina's Calling • short story by Patricia Duffy Novak A Beginning • short fiction by Judith Kobylecky Set a Thief • short story by Mercedes Lackey Shut-in • short story by Jean Lamb Danila's Song • short story by Vera Nazarian A Proper Escort • short story by Elisabeth Waters The Lesson in the Foothills • short story by Lynne Armstrong-Jones Summer Fair • short story by Emily Alward Varzil's Avengers • short story by Diann S. Partridge To Touch a Comyn • novelette by Andrew Rey About Time • short story by Patricia B. Cirone Family Visit • short story by Margaret L. Carter Dalereuth Guild House • short story by Priscilla W. Armstrong

#27

Leroni of Darkover

1991

A collection of tales set on Darkover, the world of the Bloody Sun, ranging from the creation of the Comyn Council to a Terran's first encounter with laran

#28

Towers of Darkover

1993

An anthology of stories set in the world of the Bloody Sun examines the those gifted with laran—the ability to communicate telepathically with birds and beasts. Original.

#29

Rediscovery

1993

Leonie Hastur, headstrong and lovely daughter of the Hastur Clan, most powerful of all the telepathic families who rule Darkover, is being escorted by her twin brother Lorill to Dalreuth Tower for training in the use of her psychic powers. Although this is the event she has long dreamed of—for her laran is so strong that she has been able to use it without benefit of training or the need of a matrix crystal—and she yearns for the power which will come to her if she succeeds in becoming a Keeper, she is deeply disturbed. For she is plagued by a terrifying premonition that haunts her days and disrupts her nights, the inescapable feeling that something is about to happen—something monumental and dangerous which will descend upon her world and change it utterly. And all she knows for certain is that this something will be coming from one of Darkover’s four moons…

#30

Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover

1993

Return to Darkover, the planet of the Bloody Sun, with this collection of stories written by the originator of this world. Free Amazons "To Keep the Oath" "Bonds of Sisterhood" aka "Amazon Fragment" (from the 1st draft of Thendara House) "House Rules" "Knives" Hilary "Firetrap", w/Elisabeth Waters "The Keeper’s Price, w/Elisabeth Waters "The Lesson of the Inn" "Hilary’s Homecoming" "Hilary’s Wedding" Rohana "Everything but Freedom" Dyan Ardais "Oathbreaker" "The Hawk-Master’s Son" "Man of Impulse" "The Shadow"

#31

Snows of Darkover

1994

Noted authors—including Mercedes Lackey, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Diana Paxson—return to Darkover, the planet of the Bloody Sun where a wall of ice separates man from the snowy wasteland

#32

Exile's Song

1996

Haunted by childhood memories of a strange silver man and a woman in flames, Margaret Alton returns to Darkover, the planet of her birth, where her memories lead her into a trap set centuries before her birth. Reprint.

#33

The Shadow Matrix

1997

After spending her youth in the Terran Empire, Margaret Alton returns to Darkover, the planet of her birth. There she discovers she has the Alton Gift—forced rapport and compulsion—one of the strongest and most dangerous of the inherited Laran gifts of the telepathic Comyn—the ruling families of Darkover. And even as she struggles to control her newfound powers, Margaret finds herself falling in love with the Regent to the royal Elhalyn Domain, a man she has been forbidden to marry, for their alliance would irrevocably alter the power balance of their planet!

#34

Traitor's Sun

1999

Traitor's Sun continues the epic saga of Darkover, the award-winning series by Marion Zimmer Bradley . Her most brilliant and popular creation, the Darkover books take readers to a planet torn by rebellion—and struggling for freedom...

#35

The Fall of Neskaya

2001

The Fall of Neskaya, Book One of the Clingfire Trilogy, marks the legendary author's final return to Darkover before her death. Set in the tumultuous era of The Hundred Kingdoms, a terrible time of strife and war, this unique fantasy world is divided into a mutlitude of small belligerent domains vying for power and land. One ambitious and corrupt tyrant will stop at nothing to control Darkover-even wield the terrifying weapons of the matrix.

#36

Zandru's Forge

2003

In the era of The Hundred Kingdoms, a time of war and unrest, a legendary friendship is forged between king and keeper which will lead to a new destiny for Darkover.

#37

A Flame in Hali

2004

In the era of The Hundred Kingdoms, a time of war and unrest, King Carolin of Hastur and his friend Keeper Varzil Ridenow work selflessly to put an end to the destruction caused by the long range weapons of the magical matrix Towers. But Eduin Deslucido-who once called Carolin brother-has been consumed with a vengeful rage, and will stop at nothing to destroy the king and his plan for peace.

#38

The Alton Gift

2007

The long-awaited continuation to Marion Zimmer Bradley's popular science fiction Darkover saga After generations of struggle to protect the unique native culture of Darkover from the ambitions of the ruthless Terran Federation, the Terrans have finally been forced to abandon Darkover due to interstellar civil war. As Lew Alton—returned home to the world of his birth after decades spent in exile as the Darkovan representative to the Terran Senate—wrestles with the dark shadows from his past, his daughter Marguerida’s psychic Gifts warn her of impending danger. But danger to whom? Her husband Mikhail, as powerful head of the Hastur Doman is her most obvious worry, for many would stand to gain from his demise. Meanwhile, unknown to Marguerida, her son, Domenic, searches for his place in a world of shifting loyalties, torn by love for two very different women, and troubled by his destiny as the heir to Hastur. But while Darkover’s powerful rulers face their personal demons, desperate refugees flood the streets of Thendara, Darkover’s capital city, for in the mountains an ancient menace is once again on the rise—a power against which neither sword nor the psychic sorcery of Darkover can prevail.

#39

Hastur Lord

2010

A never-before-published fantasy novel set in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover universe. The world of Darkover, a unique, isolated, and protected world, has long avoided becoming part of the technologically advanced Terran Empire. But things are about to change. Regis Hastur, lord of the most powerful of the seven Domains in Darkover, learns that the Empire is about to become a Federation, and is extending an invitation for all of the worlds to join. While the offer seems tempting to his people, Regis knows that Darkover would become little more than a military base, used for its unique planetary position, and would be sapped of its resources. He must now stop at nothing to save his world.

#40

The Children of Kings

2013

A Novel of Darkover® Millennia ago, the planet Darkover, a cold world orbiting a giant red sun, was settled by a lost colony ship from the Terran Federation. Alone on a new world, survivors interbred with the native chieri, psychically Gifted alien humanoids. The children of these matings were Gifted with telepathy and other psychic abilities, and their descendants, the aristocratic Comyn, forged a civilization in which the arts of the mind were cultivated and cherished. When the Terrans rediscovered Darkover, the seven Domains of the Comyn struggled to maintain their unique culture and independence, often at a terrible price. More than once, assassins and environmental saboteurs from the Terran Empire attempted to bring Darkover to its knees and erode the native culture for the benefit of the Federation—seeing Darkover as nothing more than a port of call for Terran mili-tary and trade. Eventually, a vicious interstellar war forced Federation forces to withdraw from Darkover, but Darkovans knew that it was only a matter of time before they would return. Prince Gareth Elhalyn has grown up in the shadow of his legendary grandfather, Regis Hastur, one of the greatest leaders Darkover has ever known. But he is also haunted by fear of the insanity that is so prevalent in his Elhalyn family line. His world has become an unbearable counterpoint of meaningless aristocratic frivolity and dangerous political schemes—plots in which powerful lords attempt to use him to further their own ambitions. Overwhelmed by the memory of his famously brilliant ancestor, and fearful of the family's genetic weakness, he tries his best to better himself through the study of languages, swordplay, and training his psychic laran with his grandmother, Linnea Storn-Hastur, Keeper of Comyn Tower. But Gareth cannot stop dreaming about a future without fame or family specters. His romantic spirit longs for escape from a life he feels is unfulfilling and limited. In a desperate attempt to remove himself completely from the restricted life of the Comyn,'Gareth confesses his desires to his powerful grandmother, and with her blessing, disguises himself as a simple trader and travels to Carthon, on the border of the barbarous, warlike Dry Towns. The Dry Towns do not live under the rule of the Comyn, and no one in this isolated part of Darkover will recognize a Comyn lord. In Carthon, protected by his guise of anonymity, Gareth overhears rumors of deadly, illegal Terran blasters being used in the barren lands beyond Shainsa—one of the main Dry Towns. If the Federation has returned and is now arming the bellicose Dry Towners with banned technology, it will mean a disastrous conflict for the Comyn of the Domains, who have long sworn themselves to the Compact, an oath of honor that forbids the use of distance weaponry. Venturing deeper and deeper into the desert lands, Gareth stumbles upon a terrible reality no one could have suspected and he is ill-prepared to deal with. But in fact Gareth holds the key to protecting his world, if he can only stay alive in the deadly Dry Towns long enough to discover what it is.... Cover art by Matthew Stawicki

#41

Music of Darkover

2013

An anthology of stories, songs, and articles about Darkover and its music. Contents include: The Ballad of Hastur and Cassilda, by Marion Zimmer Bradley The Outlaw, by Marion Zimmer Bradley Darkover through the Flowinglass, by Margaret Davis Right to Choose, by India Edghill All Who Breathe Are Chained, by Rosemary Edghill The Horsetamer's Daughter, by Leslie Fish Tower of Horses, by Leslie Fish Poetic Justice (reprint), by Mercedes Lackey Darkovan filksongs, by Cynthia McQuillin Danila's Song (reprint), by Vera Nazarian The Starstone and the Mirror Ball, by Raul S. Reyes The Music of the Spheres, by Michael Spence A Capella (reprint), by Elisabeth Waters A Song for Capella, by Elisabeth Waters

#42

Stars of Darkover

2014

Return to the world of the Bloody Sun... Over fifty years ago, master story-teller Marion Zimmer Bradley introduced readers to a compelling new world. Darkover, a distant planet circling a red sun, was home to telepaths and rebels, lovers and rivals, nonhuman races both friendly and deadly, ancient traditions and even more ancient feuds, and psychic gifts of unimaginable power, channeled through starstone gems and capable of changing not only individual lives, but the entire world. Generations of fans have fallen in love with Darkover, and many of them have gone on to notable literary careers of their own. Now editors Deborah J. Ross and Elisabeth Waters have gathered together luminaries of fantasy in this star-studded anthology of original stories that illuminate Darkover's rich history and culture. From the Ages of Chaos to re-contact with the Terrans, from the Dry Towns to the back streets of Thendara to the horse pastures of Armida, these tales offer action, courage, and humor, set in the wondrous world that is Darkover. This volume contains stories by Robin Wayne Bailey, Rachel Manjia Brown, Barb Caffrey, Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald, Rosemary Edghill and Rebecca Fox, Leslie Fish, Gabrielle Harbowy, Steven Harper, Shariann Lewitt, Vera Nazarian, Diana L. Paxson, Janni Lee Simner, Kari Sperring, Judith Tarr, Ann Sharp and Elisabeth Waters.

#43

Gifts of Darkover

2015

Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover remains one of the longest-running and best-loved series of all time, one that has touched the hearts and fired the imaginations of generations of readers. Now Darkover comes alive as never before in the hands of talented authors, many of whom found inspiration for their own careers in the world of the Bloody Sun. On a wondrous planet of telepaths and swordsmen, non-humans and ancient mysteries, a technologically advanced, star-faring civilization comes into inevitable conflict with one that has pursued psychic gifts and turned away from weapons of mass destruction. Darkover offers many gifts, asked for and unexpected. Those who come here, ignorant of what they will find, discover gifts outside themselves and within themselves. The door to Darkover’s magic swings both ways, however, and many a visitor leaves the people he encounters equally transformed. This anthology includes stories by Robin Wayne Bailey, Jane M. H. Bigelow, Barb Caffrey, Margaret L. Carter, Rosemary Edghill & Rebecca Fox, Jeremy Erman, Leslie Fish, Shariann Lewitt, Deborah Millitello, Ty Nolan, Diana L. Paxson, and Marella Sands.

#44

Thunderlord

2016

A follow-up to The Ages of Chaos omnibus, Thunderlord is a brand-new novel of the genre-bending Darkover universe, expanded by Marion Zimmer Bradley's collaborator Deborah J. Ross. Far in Darkover's past, the Ages of Chaos were a time of constant warfare, when immensely powerful psychic weapons ravaged the land and slaughtered entire armies. Perhaps none was more dangerous and unpredictable than the mental Gift to sense—and control—thunderstorms. When the realm of Aldaran and their Scathfell cousins came to blows, that Gift turned the tide of battle, and Aldaran prevailed. A generation later, the heir to Scathfell, Gwynn, has grown up in the shadow of that conflict, his life shaped by the loss of his entire family. Now he plots his revenge for his family’s humiliating defeat by seeking to marry a woman who carries the storm control Gift, so that his sons will be able to wield the terrible power of storms against Aldaran. Since childhood, Kyria has been able to sense approaching storms. She had never expected to marry a rich man; independent and athletic, she defied tradition by donning her brother’s castoff clothing and trapping small game to keep her family from starvation. When Gwynn’s emissary arrives with a marriage proposal that will secure her family’s financial future, she agrees. Along with her younger sister as her companion, she sets out for Scathfell, where she will be formally wed. During their passage through rugged mountains, a blizzard drives them to seek shelter in a traveler’s hut, where they meet Edric, the young heir to Aldaran. Edric has inherited the storm control, but he has never dared to use it. His whole life, he has been warned against the consequences, not just to his enemies but to everyone he loves. Now, disguised as an ordinary traveler, he journeys home after years of study, disciplining himself to control his powers. When he meets Kyria, he senses the presence of the same storm power, but unschooled and dormant. They know each other only as Edric and Kyria—for under shelter truce, all identities are concealed—and are drawn to one another. Thus begins the saga of two kingdoms, divided by bitter history and present-day suspicions, one armed with devastating power and the other determined to overcome it, no matter what the price. Can their love and resourcefulness overcome even the overwhelming power of a Thunderlord?

#1-2

The Planet Savers & The Sword of Aldones

1962

These two short novels are a welcome addition to any SF fan's library. The Planet Savers, the first Darkover novel, introduces the reader to the now legendary world of Gottman IV. The Winds of Darkover, also an early novel in the series, reveals the awesome and terrifying powers of the infamous Sharra Matrix.

Authors

Marion Zimmer Bradley

Author · 125 books

Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley was an American author of fantasy novels such as The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover series, often with a feminist outlook. Bradley's first published novel-length work was Falcons of Narabedla, first published in the May 1957 issue of Other Worlds. When she was a child, Bradley stated that she enjoyed reading adventure fantasy authors such as Henry Kuttner, Edmond Hamilton, and Leigh Brackett, especially when they wrote about "the glint of strange suns on worlds that never were and never would be." Her first novel and much of her subsequent work show their influence strongly. Early in her career, writing as Morgan Ives, Miriam Gardner, John Dexter, and Lee Chapman, Marion Zimmer Bradley produced several works outside the speculative fiction genre, including some gay and lesbian pulp fiction novels. For example, I Am a Lesbian was published in 1962. Though relatively tame by today's standards, they were considered pornographic when published, and for a long time she refused to disclose the titles she wrote under these pseudonyms. Her 1958 story The Planet Savers introduced the planet of Darkover, which became the setting of a popular series by Bradley and other authors. The Darkover milieu may be considered as either fantasy with science fiction overtones or as science fiction with fantasy overtones, as Darkover is a lost earth colony where psi powers developed to an unusual degree. Bradley wrote many Darkover novels by herself, but in her later years collaborated with other authors for publication; her literary collaborators have continued the series since her death. Bradley took an active role in science-fiction and fantasy fandom, promoting interaction with professional authors and publishers and making several important contributions to the subculture. For many years, Bradley actively encouraged Darkover fan fiction and reprinted some of it in commercial Darkover anthologies, continuing to encourage submissions from unpublished authors, but this ended after a dispute with a fan over an unpublished Darkover novel of Bradley's that had similarities to some of the fan's stories. As a result, the novel remained unpublished, and Bradley demanded the cessation of all Darkover fan fiction. Bradley was also the editor of the long-running Sword and Sorceress anthology series, which encouraged submissions of fantasy stories featuring original and non-traditional heroines from young and upcoming authors. Although she particularly encouraged young female authors, she was not averse to including male authors in her anthologies. Mercedes Lackey was just one of many authors who first appeared in the anthologies. She also maintained a large family of writers at her home in Berkeley. Ms Bradley was editing the final Sword and Sorceress manuscript up until the week of her death in September of 1999. Probably her most famous single novel is The Mists of Avalon. A retelling of the Camelot legend from the point of view of Morgaine and Gwenhwyfar, it grew into a series of books; like the Darkover series, the later novels are written with or by other authors and have continued to appear after Bradley's death. Her reputation has been posthumously marred by multiple accusations of child sexual abuse by her daughter Moira Greyland, and for allegedly assisting her second husband, convicted child abuser Walter Breen, in sexually abusing multiple unrelated children. (from Wikipedia)

Mercedes Lackey

Author · 231 books

Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music. "I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' — they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not. "I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes. "I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water: "There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good—they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race." Also writes as Misty Lackey Author's website

Vera Nazarian

Author · 24 books

Vera Nazarian is a two-time Nebula Award Finalist, award-winning artist, and member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, a writer with a penchant for moral fables and stories of intense wonder, true love, and intricacy. She immigrated to the USA from the former USSR as a kid, sold her first story at the age of 17, and since then has published numerous works in anthologies and magazines, and has seen her fiction translated into eight languages. She is the author of critically acclaimed novels Dreams of the Compass Rose and Lords of Rainbow , romantic Renaissance epic fantasy trilogy Cobweb Bride , as well as the outrageous parodies Mansfield Park and Mummies and Northanger Abbey and Angels and Dragons , Pride and Platypus: Mr. Darcy's Dreadful Secret in her humorous and surprisingly romantic Supernatural Jane Austen Series , and most recently the bestselling high-octane science fiction series The Atlantis Grail , now optioned for film. After many years in Los Angeles, Vera lives in a small town in Vermont, and uses her Armenian sense of humor and her Russian sense of suffering to bake conflicted pirozhki and make art. Take the fun quiz to find out Which of the Lords of Rainbow do You Serve?

Raul S. Reyes

Author · 1 book

Raul S. Reyes worked for Marion Zimmer Bradley from 1987 to 2000. It was a job more varied and hectic than his previous ones: Police Officer in Berkeley, CA, and accountant at the University of California/Berkeley. The latter, however, did serve him well the day one of MZB's children threatened to turn him into an accountant (perhaps a frog wasn't original enough) and Raul just smiled and said, "I am an accountant." Raul has been writing for most of his life, with a variety of published work ranging from science fiction and fantasy to mysteries. His interests range from Asian art and literature to technology (ancient and modern), the sciences, history, geography, military science and history, and television programs of the sixties and seventies, manga and anime, chambara and Wu Xia (Japanese and Chinese sword fight films). He had to give up his kimono collection when he moved to San Francisco and no longer had the room to keep it. He did manage to keep most of his library (the top priority for a writer), which has everything from pulp fiction murder mysteries to science fiction and fantasy, books on science and mathematics, and classics (Asian and Western). He hangs out at the Asian Art Museum, explores sushi bars, and has added some Chinese eateries. He is currently putting together notes for a hard science fiction story.

Leslie Fish

Author · 3 books

Leslie Fish is a filk musician, author, and anarchist political activist. In addition to her work as a filk artist, Fish is also well-known within the Star Trek fan community for her works of fan fiction, which include "Shelter" (1976), one of the first Kirk/Spock stories ever published, and the fan-published Star Trek novel The Weight. "In Textual Poachers, his landmark study of fan communities, MIT's Henry Jenkins described Fish's anarchist-feminist Star Trek novel The Weight as a 'compelling narrative' that's 'remarkable in the scope and complexity of its conception, the precision of its execution, and the explicitness of its political orientation.'" She has also written original novels and short stories, both alone and in collaboration with C. J. Cherryh and others. Her song, "Carmen Miranda's Ghost is Haunting Space Station Three," inspired a collection of short stories with the same title, edited by Don Sakers and featuring stories by Anne McCaffrey and C. J. Cherryh. She is an avid roleplaying gamer, especially in regard to LARPing. She has also been a member in the Society for Creative Anachronism since the 1970s. In recent years, she has been the driving force behind in the establishment of Fan Haven, a 230-acre (0.93 km2) private park in Arizona meant to serve as a safe space for LARPers, Pagans, naturists, SCAdians, and other marginalized groups associated with fandom. However, the Federal government has disputed the validity of the mining claim that she proposed to use to establish ownership. While Fish rarely discusses her private life, she had been in a romantic relationship with anarchist political activist Mary Frohman "from the late '60s through the early '80s." Together they were part of the "Dehorn Crew", the house band for the IWW. Leslie has often asserted that bisexuality is the human norm, and that the pervasive sexual repression she sees in current society causes many of the current social ills. She briefly worked as a dominatrix in San Francisco during the 1980s, and has since been (at times) a defender of the rights of sex workers. She was recently married to long-time friend, Robert "Rasty Bob" Ralston.

Deborah J. Ross writes and edits fantasy and science fiction. Her novels include Jaydium, Northlight, Lambda Finalist first-contact Collaborators, and The Seven-Petaled Shield epic fantasy trilogy. Besides continuing the "Darkover" series created by Marion Zimmer Bradley, she's edited the Darkover anthology series and the award-nominated Lace and Blade series. Her short fiction has appeared in Asimov's, F & SF, Realms of Fantasy, and many others, earning multiple Honorable Mention in Year's Best SF. When she's not writing, she knits for charity, plays classical piano, and goes hiking in the redwoods.

Michael Spence

Author · 4 books

Librarian Note: There is more than one author on goodreads by this name.