Remembering the Queen of Darkover


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	Remembering the Queen of Darkover By Jonquil Wolfson Special to space.com posted: 09:35 am ET 22 October 1999

Remembering Darkover's Queen

Marion Zimmer Bradley never intended to write science fiction. Her teenage fantasy was to become an opera singer, and when that didn't pan out, she went to teacher's college, writing romances and Gothics to pay the rent. But Bradley will be remembered as one of the grand dames of the SF world.

Bradley, who died on September 25 at age 69, was best known for her series of books about the planet Darkover and for The Mists of Avalon, a complex retelling of the Arthur legend touching on many feminist themes.

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She wrote more than fifty novels and edited dozens of anthologies over nearly five decades. Bradley also inspired generations of fans, founded and edited Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine, and helped launch the careers of many younger writers.

As fellow author Robert Silverberg said of her, "She had a very humble start as a writer. What is impressive . . . is how she came out of that grimy world of low pay, turn-'em-out-fast to write major material like Mists of Avalon."

About Darkover
About The Mists of Avalon
Humble beginnings
A feminist by any other name?
Cultivating the future
Bibliography