(
June 3 ,
1930 –
September 25 ,
1999 ) was an
American author of
Fantasy novels such as ''
The Mists Of Avalon '' and the
Darkover series, often with a
Feminist outlook. In literary circles, she is often referred to by her initials, "MZB," a nickname reinforced by her friend and editor,
Donald A. Wollheim .
Born on a farm in
Albany, New York , during the
Great Depression , she began writing in
1949 and sold her first story to ''
Vortex '' in
1952 . She was married to Robert Alden Bradley from
October 26 ,
1949 until their divorce on
May 19 ,
1964 . During the
1950s she was introduced to the cultural and campaigning
Lesbian group the
Daughters Of Bilitis .
After her divorce she married numismatist
Walter Breen on
June 3 ,
1964 . They separated in
1979 but remained married until their divorce on
May 9 ,
1990 . Breen was afterward convicted of child molestation and sentenced to prison for three years; he died in
1993 while serving his sentence.
Obituary: Marion Zimmer Bradley One of Breen's victims accused Bradley of knowing about and facilitating Breen's criminal behavior.
Stephen Goldin's website on the Breen/Bradley case FindLaw article mentioning the suit accusing Bradley
In
1965 , Bradley graduated with a
Bachelor Of Arts degree from
Hardin-Simmons University in
Abilene, Texas . Afterward, she moved to
Berkeley, California , to pursue graduate studies at the
University Of California, Berkeley between
1965 and
1967 . Her first child,
David Bradley , and brother,
Paul Edwin Zimmer are published science fiction & fantasy authors in their own right. Her daughter,
Moira Stern , is a professional
Harpist and singer.
In 1966, she helped found and named the
Society For Creative Anachronism and was involved in developing several local groups, including in New York after her move to Staten Island.
After suffering declining health for years, Marion Zimmer Bradley died at
Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley on
September 25 ,
1999 four days after suffering a debilitating
Heart Attack . Her ashes were scattered at
Glastonbury Tor , in
Somerset ,
England , two months later.
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.
She created the planet of
Darkover as a setting for her own series, writing a large number of Darkover stories as a solo author and later collaborating with other authors to produce Darkover anthologies, where once again she encouraged story submissions from unpublished authors. For a time, Bradley actively encouraged fan fiction within the Darkover universe, but this came to an end following 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. The Darkover novels may be considered fantasy with
Science Fiction overtones or science fiction with fantasy overtones, as Darkover was a lost earth
Colony where
Psi Powers had developed to an unusual degree.
In
1966 , Bradley became a cofounder of the
Society For Creative Anachronism , and is credited with coining the name of that group.
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.
Bradley was 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 males 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
2000 , she was awarded the
World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement.
- '' Falcons of Narabedla ''( 1957 )
- '' The Door Through Space ''( 1961 )
- '' Seven from the Stars ''(1961)
- '' The Colors Of Space ''( 1963 )
- '' Castle Terror ''( 1965 )
- '' Souvenir of Monique ''( 1967 )
- '' Bluebeard's Daughter ''( 1968 )
- '' The Brass Dragon ''( 1970 )
- '' In the Steps of the Master - The Sixth Sense #2 '' ( {Link without Title} ) (based on television series The Sixth Sense, created by Anthony Lawrence)
- '' The Jewel of Arwen ''( 1974 ) (novelette)
- '' The Parting of Arwen ''(1974) (novelette)
- '' Can Ellen Be Saved? '' ( {Link without Title} ) (adaptation of a teleplay by Emmett Roberts)
- '' The Endless Voyage ''( 1975 )
- '' Drums of Darkness ''( 1976 )
- '' Ruins of Isis ''(1978)
- '' The Catch Trap ''( 1979 )
- '' The Endless Universe ''(1979) (rewrite of The Endless Voyage)
- '' The House Between the Worlds ''( 1980 )
- '' Survey Ship ''(1980)
- '' The Colors Of Space ''( 1983 ) (unabridged edition)
- '' Night's Daughter ''( 1985 )
- '' Warrior Woman'' ( 1987 )
- '' The Firebrand'' (1987)
- '' Black Trillium'' ( 1990 ) (with Julian May and Andre Norton )
- '' Lady of the Trillium'' ( 1995 )
- '' Tiger Burning Bright'' (1995) (with Mercedes Lackey and Andre Norton )
- '' The Gratitude of Kings'' ( 1997 ) (with Elisabeth Waters )
- '' The Dark Intruder and Other Stories'' ( 1964 )
- '' The Best of Marion Zimmer Bradley'' ( 1985 )
- '' Jamie and Other Stories'' ( 1988 )
- Atlantean Series
- ---'' Web of Light '' ( 1983 )
- ---'' Web of Darkness '' ( 1983 )
- ---'' The Fall of Atlantis'' ( 1987 ) (omnibus edition of Web of Light and Web of Darkness)
- for complete details)''
- ---'' The Planet Savers'' ( 1958 )
- ---'' The Sword of Aldones'' ( 1962 )
- ---'' The Bloody Sun'' ( 1964 )
- ---'' Star of Danger'' ( 1965 )
- ---'' Winds of Darkover'' ( 1970 )
- ---'' World Wreckers'' ( 1971 )
- ---'' Darkover Landfall '' ( 1972 )
- ---'' The Spell Sword '' ( 1974 ) (with Paul Edwin Zimmer (uncredited))
- ---'' The Heritage Of Hastur '' ( 1975 )
- ---'' The Shattered Chain'' ( 1976 )
- ---'' The Forbidden Tower'' ( 1977 )
- ---'' Stormqueen! '' ( 1978 )
- ---'' The Bloody Sun'' ( 1979 ) rewritten and expanded edition
- ---'' Two To Conquer '' ( 1980 )
- ---'' Sharra's Exile'' ( 1981 )
- ---'' Hawkmistress! '' ( 1982 )
- ---'' Thendara House'' ( 1983 )
- ---'' City of Sorcery'' ( 1984 )
- ---'' The Heirs of Hammerfell'' ( 1989 )
- ---'' Rediscovery'' ( 1993 ) (with Mercedes Lackey )
- ---'' Exile's Song'' ( 1996 ) (with Adrienne Martine-Barnes )
- ---'' The Shadow Matrix'' ( 1997 ) (with Adrienne Martine-Barnes)
- ---'' Traitor's Sun'' ( 1999 ) (with Adrienne Martine-Barnes)
- ---'' The Clingfire trilogy''
--'' The Fall Of Neskaya '' ( 2001 ) (with Deborah J. Ross )
--'' Zandru's Forge'' ( 2003 ) (with Deborah J. Ross)
--'' A Flame in Hali'' ( 2004 ) (with Deborah J. Ross)
- --- ''Modern Darkover'' (also known as ''The Children of Kings trilogy'') (written principally by Deborah J. Ross )
-- ''The Alton Gift'' ( 2007 )
-- ''The Children of Kings'' (forthcoming) Deborah J. Ross's Darkover website
-- ''(not yet titled)'' (forthcoming) Deborah J. Ross's Darkover website
- --- Omnibus Editions
- --- Omnibus Editions
--''The Children of Hastur'' (omnibus edition of The Heritage of Hastur and Sharra's Exile) ( 1982 )
--''The Oath of Renuciates'' (omnibus edition of The Shattered Chain and Thendara House) ( 1984 )
--'' The Darkover Saga'' (a slipcase set containing Hawkmistress, Sharra's Exile; The Shattered Chain; Stormqueen!; Sword of Chaos) ( 1984 )
--'' The Ages of Chaos'' (omnibus edition of Stormqueen! and Hawkmistress!) ( 2002 )
--'' The Forbidden Circle'' (omnibus edition of the Spell Sword and The Forbidden Tower ) ( 2002 )
--'' Heritage And Exile'' (omnibus edition of The Heritage of Hastur and Sharra's Exile) ( 2002 )
--'' The Saga of the Renunciates'' (omnibus edition of The Shattered Chain, Thendara House and City of Sorcery) ( 2002 )
--''A World Divided'' (omnibus edition of Star of Danger, Winds of Darkover and The Bloody Sun) ( 2003 )
--''First Contact'' (omnibus edition of Darkover Landfall and Two to Conquer) ( 2004 )
--''To Save a World'' (omnibus edition of The Planet Savers and World Wreckers) ( 2004 )
- Darkover Anthologies (edited by MZB , with some short stories by her, but mostly by other writers)
- ---'' The Keeper's Price'' ( 1980 )
- ---'' Sword of Chaos'' ( 1982 )
- ---'' Free Amazons of Darkover'' ( 1985 )
- ---'' Other Side of the Mirror'' ( 1987 )
- ---'' Red Sun of Darkover'' (1987)
- ---'' Four Moons of Darkover'' ( 1988 )
- ---'' Domains of Darkover'' ( 1990 )
- ---'' Leroni of Darkover'' ( 1991 )
- ---'' Renunciates of Darkover'' (1991)
- ---'' Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover'' (anthology) ( 1993 )
- ---'' Towers of Darkover'' (anthology) (1993)
- ---'' Snows of Darkover'' (anthology) ( 1994 )
- '' Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Worlds '' ( 1998 )
- Writing under the Pseudonym
- --- ''I am a Lesbian'' ( 1962 )
- Writing under the pseudonym
- --- ''No Adam for Eve'' ( 1966 )
- Writing under the pseudonym
- --- ''My Sister, My Love'' ( 1963 )
- --- ''Twilight Lovers'' ( 1964 )
- --- ''The Strange Women'' ( 1967 )
- Writing under the pseudonym
- --- ''Spare Her Heaven'' ( 1963 )
- --- ''Anything Goes'' ( 1964 )
- --- ''Knives of Desire'' ( 1966 )
- '' The Maenads '' ( 1978 )
- Bradley, M.Z. "Feminine equivalents of Greek Love in modern fiction". ''International Journal of Greek Love'', Vol.1, No.1. ( 1965 ). Pages 48-58.
- ''Checklist: A complete, cumulative checklist of lesbian, variant, and homosexual fiction in English'' ( 1960 ).
- ''A Gay Bibliography'' ( 1975 ).
- ''The Necessity for Beauty: Robert W. Chambers & the Romantic Tradition'' ( 1974 )
She also contributed to '' The Ladder '' and '' The Mattachine Review ''.
