The next Darkover book, The Children of Kings,
was released on Tuesday, March 5, from DAW Books. Here and in the
following weeks, I'll also talk about how I met Marion Zimmer Bradley,
how we came to work together, and a few thoughts on "playing in her
sandbox."
Marion
Zimmer Bradley had published several novels set on the world of The Bloody Sun
when I first discovered Darkover with The World Wreckers (1971). The
Planet Savers and The Sword of Aldones had come out in 1962,
followed by The Bloody Sun (1964, revised in 1979) the YA Star of
Danger (1965) and an Ace Double, The Winds of Darkover (1970). The
early Darkover novels were action-adventures, solidly written but also well
within the fantasy genre. The World Wreckers (1971) pushed the
boundaries of acceptable topics. Although a secondary plot, the evocative love
story between a Terran man and a hemaphroditic chieri brought up issues
of sexuality and gender in ways I had never before read. I believe it was
Marion's first "breakthrough" in the Darkover series, and it firmly
established me as an avid fan.
The next
two Darkover novels added depth and complexity to my experience of Marion's
special world, and I admired Marion tremendously for not shrinking from
presenting provocative questions. In Darkover Landfall (1972), she
confronted a shipload of marooned colonists not only with a strange world and
their deepest fears, but the necessities of survival. To the outrage of many in
the burgeoning feminist movement, Marion depicted a situation in which, for the
human colony to have a future, every woman of child-bearing age must contribute
to the gene pool. She went on to ask what kind of cultural mores -- towards
monogamy, towards intergenerational sexual relations -- would then evolve. The
Spell Sword (1974) continued the idea of telepathic intimacy and
non-exclusivity.
The next
year, 1975, saw the publication of The Heritage of Hastur, considered by
many to be the definitive novel of Darkover. Marion had set out to write a
novel featuring a sympathetic and heroic gay protagonist: Regis Hastur. She
took a character from an earlier novel (The Planet Savers) and placed
him not only under the pressures of an heir-apparent, but in the cross-hairs of
a story of power and its abuses. She followed up the next year with The
Shattered Chain. Having created a world in which most women had little
power or freedom, she showed how even under the most oppressive circumstances,
women do have choices. Her depiction of the Free Amazons or Renunicates was so
compelling that women set up "Guild Halls" and even changed their
names to the Renunciate form of daughters of their mothers.
About 1980,
Marion and I became personal friends and soon thereafter, she bought a story
from me for the first SWORD & SORCERESS. 1984 marked my first sale to a
Darkover anthology. Marion had long considered fandom her community and
welcomed others to explore Darkover and edited a series of anthologies based on
that world until the increasing legal complications of copyright ended such
openness.
When I
heard Marion was reading for a Darkover anthology with a Free Amazon theme, I
concocted a tale of justice and revenge, impossibly grim and melodramatic. Luck
was with me, for I never submitted it. While visiting my mother, I was struck
by a hilarious idea--a Free Amazon, while traveling in the Hellers,
accidentally imprints a newly-hatched banshee chick. Banshees are giant
carnivorous birds, vile and smelly, who haunt the mountain passes and prey upon
unwary travelers. The idea of a hapless woman pursued by one of these
flightless monsters who thinks she's its mother, was too hilarious to resist.
The story wrote itself and Marion approved.
Other tales
followed, and another. Some were grim, others light-hearted, although none so
demented as "Midwife" (Free Amazons of Darkover, DAW 1986).
With each successive story for the Darkover anthologies, I ventured more deeply
into a new world. The challenge was to discern and remain true to Marion's
vision while also remaining true to my own creative voice, to tell the stories
that were mine to tell. Occasionally, a story would push and tug at me,
pleading to continue beyond its final pages. This was especially true for
"The Death of Brendon Ensolare" (Four Moons of Darkover, DAW
1988). Alas for the "inelasticity of typeface," to use Marion's
phrase.
Writing an
entire novel set on Darkover was another adventure entirely. In my own
novel-length work, I was used to world-building, creating cultures and
landscapes and histories as well as characters. When asked what it is like to
write "on Darkover," the only reasonable answer is that it is akin to
writing historical fiction. The world is there, so I cannot invent it as I go
along. Marion, on the other hand, did not always envision Darkover in the same
way she did when it was mature. So when I do research, I keep in mind when this
particular story was written. Marion never let details of geography interfere
with a good story, so she refused to create any maps. Others have attempted it,
always with imperfect results. I try to follow Marion's lead in focusing on a
satisfying and complete story experience, rather than trying to reconcile
incompatible details.
Following
Marion's example, I have tried to create each novel as complete in itself, even
when part of a larger story arc. So, although the first three we worked on
together, "The Clingfire trilogy" was marketed as a series,
the books can be read separately, with the one caution that it is best not to
read the third (A Flame In Hali) before the second (Zandru's Forge)
because they are chronological and involve many of the same characters.
Hi Deborah,
ReplyDeleteand thank you for a new doze of Darkover in the form of "The Children of Kings"! Can't wait to get a copy.
A question... and I know you have probably answered this a myriad times, but what next in Darkover? If I recall correctly, there is supposed to be one further novel in the Children of Kings trilogy. Can you tell anything about that?
And then, are we ever going to read what or who is "Thunderlord!"?
Best regards,
Piedro, the Supposed Fool of Valeron Plains
Hi Piedro, Next in the "modern" Darkover timeline will be a return of the Federation, but not in the form it's previously existed. Perhaps a clash of machine-based psi with natural laran psi powers.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Thunderlord!