NOTE: In the previous parts, I examined the questions important for particular worldview and set of values. I tried to prove (but this was by no means my main goal) that Darkover series is not as progressive as some people would think. That it is not feminist by the modern standards, that it has many classists and racists undercurrents, and so… But now I’ll examine such questions like insonsistent worldbuilding and literary cliches, which are issues regardless of the reader’s worldview.
Inconsistent and Illogical Worldbuilding
From the current perspective, the science background behind the Darkover books is not up-to-date. The planet orbits a red giant sun, is colder than the Earth and the orbital period counts for about 1.25 Terran years. And gravitation is about 0.95 the Terran one. All that information, put together, seems to be contradictory. There is a red giant star, and yet orbital period and gravity are quite close to the circumstances on Earth? Ok, maybe the star has roughly the Sun’s mass (it is possible), but still, the red giants are much more luminous than our sun. People wouldn’t be accustomed to such luminosity, and what is more, the planet would be fried. But OK, the series started in 1958, before all these researches about habitable zones and so. Well, when it comes to gravitation, gravity circumstances might be met, but what bothers me more is the planet’s climate. Darkover is said to be colder than our Earth, with roughly Norway-like climate conditions on its equator. And yet there is a great sand desert with Dry Towns, and this desert is by no means far away from other lands; it should be in the same climate zone in which the other parts of Darkover are! And yet it is hot at day and cold at night, like typical earth-like desert in Africa or Asia. Assuming that in our world there are no sand deserts in boreal and cool-temperate climate zone (which Darkover would suit into), the Darkovan desert shouldn’t exist at all. And, besides, green plants on a planet with red sun are not so obvious. But, again, the first books were published over sixty years ago, when nobody cared about hyphotethical mix of plants’ colour and received light.
Maybe I shouldn’t be nitpicky about some plot flaws and inconsistencies as well. Maybe I shouldn’t care about Cleindori and her two different biological mothers (it depends if you read The Bloody Sun or The Alton Gift). Maybe I shouldn’t care about Kermiac Aldaran and his daughter Thyra, who would be roughly about one hundred-and-thirty and ninety yers old in The Heritage of Hastur, if we took Rediscovery seriously. Maybe I shouldn’t care about how few information we have about Darkovan judical and tax system. Maybe I shouldn’t care about language mix leading to guys called Fransisco Alvarez and Gwyn-Alar Aldaran leaving in a very close neighbourhood. About talking that cahuenga language resembles pure Gaelic, and yet the given samples do not resemble it at all. About fashion mix when you have jerkins, vests, tunics and hooves in roughly the same period. Ok, I shouldn’t. Because there are other inconsistent universes like Middle-Earth and Hain of Le Guin, and yet I love them. Because not everybody is damned philologist like Tolkien. Because if I wrote a fantasy book, the fashion mess would be the same. So… Ok. Let’s don’t care about all these inconsistencies.
Literary Cliches
Having read The Bloody Sun, The Winds of Darkover and The Forbidden Circle omnibus, I noticed a pattern. The main Terrans characters are all male with some kind of a military or agent past. Their relationships with (often numerous) women used to be brief and trivial until they would meet a Darkovan True Love, usually a bit younger girl from an aristocratic family. Thanks to such a woman, our male protagonist finds a True Home on Darkover. In later books, we have another pattern – a rebellous, go-ahead girl from the commonfolk and a shy, unsure aristocrat like Domenic or Gareth. Honestly, even if this is also some kind of a cliche, I would still prefer such relationships to Experienced Men and Beautiful Virgins in the previous books. Maybe it is actually Deborah Ross’ merit? I found Thunderlord and The Children of Kings much nicer than some original books, so… Thunderlord is also a bit predictable – you have Different but Loving Sisters, a Marriage Shift, a Loyal Servant and Related Rivals. And yet it is more climatic and optimistic than Stormqueen!, and Edric is by no means a Toxic True Love, and even Gwyn-Alar has only one particularly stupid action. And what is more, finally the resolution for wife’s infertility (or, at whole, for marital problems) is not that Darkovan custom of sanctioned male infidelity! So, really, this is nice, easy and readable stuff. Also, at last we don’t have any stereotypical Womanizers-Bastardmakers like Bard di Asturien, Esteban Lanart or Mikhail and Kermiac Aldaran (maybe in this family it is some kind of tradition?).
The books about modern Darkover have some other cliches as well. In Part Two of my essay I’ve examined Regis Hastur as typical Mary Sue. I mentioned Lew Alton, too. He would be quite interesting as a Broken Ruler (really, this trope is very rare in fantasy), but instead he is typical foreground Broken Man character. He had had problems with drinking, he lost his arm due to Sharra’s outbreak, he feels guilty of Deeds From the Past, he is a widower… And Marguerida remembers him as a difficult father, when she was a small child. And here I have a problem. From Sharra’s Exile summary it seems to me that unconscious Lew had been raped by Thyra Darriell, and then Marguerida was conceived. Bradley? Do you really think that a man couldn’t be raped? That he couldn’t feel humiliated? That he might find difficult to love a child conceived of rape? Marguerida is by no means to blame. Yet I think that Lew had reasons, very terrible reasons to have some problems with instant and paternal love towards his child. Although Traitor’s Sun and The Alton Gift are full of retrospections, this particular question is never mentioned.
From these books we can soon acknoweladge that Regis is not the only Mary Sue in this universe. Marguerida is a talented composer, a local feminist and a capable Chatelaine at once, brought up out of Darkover. She has rare golden eyes (the Cullens send approval) and she is always loving and understanding towards her kids. She has shadow matrix imprinted into her hand, and thanks to their Great Love, she can work with Mikhail together without any real matrix stone. In The Alton Gift, the vaccine for dangerous trailmen fever is produced almost only by Marguerida’s effort. Her first son, Domenic, was conceived in The Other World, and he is able to sense the whole planet by his laran, which is Very Unique. And do not forget that he doesn’t want to be a Ruler, that he is always compassionate towards the commonfolk. And that he was a strange and aloof child. Well, I smell two Mary Sues. Not to mention stereotypical villains like Belfontaine or Embittered Old People like Javanne Hastur.
The problem with Darkovan characters (except from some early books like The Planet Savers, The Star of Danger or The World Wreckers) is not that they are really poorly written. They are usually quite believable and very often likeable. Some – like Melora or Gareth – are even original, at least by the series’ standards. But then these characters have very stereotypical Trauma, or they do something apparently too great for one person, and it is so Mary Sue-like.
Conclusion
Maybe it is my whole problem with the series: some things are interesting, fresh, considerate and vivid. And then, when you expect a consequent and consistent work, all the bias, discrimination and stereotypes attack from supposedly feminist and progressive books.
It is not like that I despise all the series. Thunderlord and Two to Conquer are ones of my favourite fantasy books. Darkover, cold, montainous and feudal, is a fascinating place itself. I’m just aware that this series begun as poorly written, typical “sword and planet” stories, and that they are many more progressive writers like Ursula K. Le Guin or China Mieville. If you want to read Darkover books just because you’ve heard that Bradley is feminist, then, well, you’d better pick up something else. If you just want some kind of science fantasy and dynastic family saga without class and racial issues highlighted, then these books would be perfect.
Left Hand of Fiction 