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INTRODUCTION | BIO |
ABOUT | THE WRITING OF
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Many Science Fiction and Fantasy writers have been lauded
with the comparison to Tolkein, and Marion Zimmer Bradley, the creator of the Darkover , Sword and Sorceress novels, as well as the Avalon series, has the marvelous ability to bring into her stories (in other periods, on other planets, including other planes of existence) issues that effect us in this world. From colonial power struggles, to the issue of the empowerment of women, does Mrs. Bradley address the issue, it is done in a realistic manner via her multi-dimensional characters, without the soapboxes, and lectures that so many authors are unable to avoid. She is a reader's writer. For this reader the discovery of Marion Zimmer Bradley was
a two fold boon. Fourteen year old "book a holic" who only read
"serious" literature, meets "Darkover" and my love affair with Fantasy
Fiction began. Of course, I had read CS Lewis as a child and loved it - I still do, but in
Darkover the characters were real. They loved, fought, warred, were religious, prejudiced,
caring, and there was a form of believable magic, with astral projection, and healing done
visa vi a blue matrix stone. This is the first reason that I shall be grateful to Mrs.
Bradley as a writer, the introduction into Fantasy as more than a past-time for pimply
teenage boys in the basement flipping dice. Secondly for her infamous characters, The Free
Amazons of Darkover, preferably known as The Renunciates. Women not attached or beholden
to any man, some lesbian, others heterosexual, that was the point: The women had the
choice to defend themselves, to decide for themselves. For in the primitive world of
Darkover the chains of society upon women, are more than illusory suggestion, they are
real. Marion Zimmer was born in Albany, NY, on June 3, 1930, and married Robert Alden Bradley in 1949. Mrs. Bradley received her B.A. in 1964 from Hardin Simmons University in Texas, then did graduate work at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1965-67.
She has been a science fiction/fantasy fan since her middle teens, and made her first sale as an adjunct to an amateur fiction contest in FANTASTIC/AMAZING STORIES in 1949. She has also been writing as long as she can remember, but wrote only for school magazines and fanzines until 1952, when she sold her first professional short story to VORTEX SCIENCE FICTION. She has written everything from science fiction to Gothics, but is probably best known for her Darkover novels. Over the years she turned more to fantasy; THE HOUSE
BETWEEN THE WORLDS, although a selection of the Science Fiction Book Club, was
"fantasy undiluted". She wrote a novel of the women in the Arthurian legends --
Morgan Le Fay, the Lady of the Lake, and others -- entitled MISTS OF AVALON, which
remained four months on the NY Times best seller list, and she has also written THE
FIREBRAND, a novel about the women of the Trojan War. Her historical novel, THE FOREST
HOUSE, is a prequel to MISTS OF AVALON, and her newest book, which fits between them, is
called LADY OF AVALON. Marion Zimmer Bradley suffered a major heart attack on Tuesday, September 21, and died Saturday, September 25, 1999. At the critical age of fourteen, my attitudes towards the relationships between men and women were certainly formed. I must admit, however, that reading the trials and tribulations of the women of Darkover, and paralleling the "hidden" chains of my own society, made me adjust certain views I held concerning relationships. As a young woman, who's self esteem was at about 'naught' I took pride in the characters achievements, and they gave me inspiration to go forward in my own life with courage and determination. Because the Renunciates, were not superwomen, they were real women. They too had fears, wants, needs, failures, sorrows and great joys. I learned a lot about being a modern woman through those characters. I am thankful to them for egging me on to learn to enjoy being me, which was very different from what my society told me to be. On top of that the women in the books were warriors too! Protagonists that fought their own battles, they didn't need to be rescued! That was far too exciting to put down. Adjusted as they are, my choices in life are of course my own, but I feel that the bud that flowered into the woman I am today was in a small way shaped by the Free Amazons. Their ability to choose to take a man into their lives or not, opened a teenagers' eyes to the fact that marriage is a choice and not a necessity for identification, or gratification. I hope someday that I will be a wise enough mother to share these characters with my own daughter.
Themes concerning the rights of women to
choose their paths in life are often a focal point in Mrs. Bradley's
works. Women are central always to Mrs. Bradley writings, however she is
not a one dimensional writer, and all her characters both hero and villain
are striking in character. She is able to tackle with honesty, and
unaffectedly issues that affect all people in her writing without the
reader being completely aware of being drawn into the debate. She also
tackles the political diversity of our own planet, including
socio-economic problems, caste systems, the conflict between retaining
culture and progressing into a new era, the ramifications of intergalactic
colonialization, as well as cross-cultural understanding.
Having always been a lover of myth, I have enjoyed reading, and reading this classic tale told quite believably from the stand point of the female characters. When reading the book one almost feels the mists floating across the flood plains, and swirling through the pages. Mrs. Bradley's form of magic is intensely beautiful, she creates female characters that are both feminine in grace and beauty, but more importantly full strength, vigor, and intelligence. In the 'Mists of Avalon' one gains a certain perspective as to the "whey's" of the story, rather than the "how's" of the battles. Mrs. Bradley's gift is most centered in her ability to portray both hero and villain alike as human. Their achievements, errors, loves, hates, are all branded in the legitimacy of being all but human. When reading her version of the myth of Arthur you certainly feel that her version is more realistic than those worked in the past. I found myself in tears more than once
reading 'Firebrand', Mrs. Bradley's novel on Kassandra and Helen of Troy.
The feel of ancient times electrifies each page, Mrs. Bradley's quiet
mentioning of the beginnings of myths and legends comes so matter of
factly, but whisper-like that you learn historical fact without the burden
of having suffered ennui. In all of her books you can be at liberty to
enjoy well written fiction, fabulous characters, and believable plots and
settings written by one of the finest hands in publishing today. From the
heroes of Darkover with its rich and complex histories, to Avalon and it's
mystical webs to ancient Troy with Kassandra in "Firebrand" you
can wander many lifetimes through Mrs. Bradley's writings. Though I could end this article with the above paragraph, I would like to mention my last reason for choosing Mrs. Bradley as my favorite author. It is the fact that she has had the dignity, humility, and honor to assist other writers. I remember reading a short paragraph, a publishers note if you will in the back of one her books when I was a teenager. The paragraph gave advice to budding authors. I was so impressed that a successful author should take the time to care about others who wished to numb their fingers over the keyboards. 'Marion Zimmer Bradley has launched the
careers of at least a dozen authors. Including mine.' Stated Ms. Elisabeth
Waters in a statement to me, when I contacted the Fantasy Magazine on line
for information. That is what impresses me most about the exceptional
writer; she has extended her talent, and hand to those who, like her, love
writing, and has not pulled the ladder up behind her. For the last several
years Mrs. Bradley has not been able to write as frequently as she would
like, due to several strokes, and other illness. I for one am grateful for
her writings, they inspired a budding female writer to go beyond the
romance. This list is current as of May 1998.
MZB insists that the Darkover novels are not a series and can be read in any order, since none of the books assume that you are familiar with any other of the books. If you simply MUST have an order in which to read them, it is better to read them chronologically by publication date, rather than in chronology of Darkovan history; that way you will follow MZB's thought processes as her concept of Darkover grew and expanded. (Also, her later books are generally better written than her earlier ones.)
In Order of Publication:
Darkovan Chronology
Mini-Series Or Direct Sequels To One Another:
Darkover Anthologies
Non Darkover Science Fiction
Fantasy/Occult
Anthologies
Mainstream
Magazine
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INTRODUCTION | BIO |
ABOUT | THE WRITING OF
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CS Lewis, and so many aspire
to write in this medium. Few if any are compared to Marion Zimmer Bradley, one of the
great mistresses of the art, for that it is a shame. Of course, few writers have the vast
imagination, and skill to create world's and characters that seem to breathe life upon
their own. So much so, that other authors delve into the murky world of fantasy and choose
Mrs. Bradley's planets and planes as settings for their own works.
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