{{Short description|1972 novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{infobox book | name = Darkover Landfall | title_orig = | translator = | image = Darkover Landfall.jpg | image_size = 200px | caption = Cover of the first edition | author = Marion Zimmer Bradley | illustrator = | cover_artist = Jack Gaughan | country = United States | language = English | series = ''Darkover'' | genre = Science fiction | publisher = DAW Books | release_date = 1972 | english_release_date = | media_type = Print (paperback) | pages = 160 | isbn = <!-- NA --> | oclc = 715454 | preceded_by = Chronologically first in the series | followed_by = Arilinn }} '''''Darkover Landfall''''' is a science fiction novel in the ''Darkover'' series by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley. It was originally published in 1972 by DAW Books.<ref>{{ISFDB title|5361}}</ref> It has since been republished several times and is included as part of the ''Darkover: First Contact'' omnibus. According to Bradley's obituary, the events of this book take place at the end of the 21st century.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1999-09-29 |title=Marion Zimmer Bradley, 69, Writer of Darkover Fantasies |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/29/books/marion-zimmer-bradley-69-writer-of-darkover-fantasies.html |access-date=2023-01-31 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Plot summary== ''Darkover Landfall'' concerns the crew and colonists of a spaceship that is forced to crash land on Cottman IV, an inhospitable planet in orbit around a red giant. The crew become accidental colonists when the ship loses contact with Earth and they realize rescue is impossible. The book introduces surnames, religious and cultural themes that echo throughout the ''Darkover'' series of books. This series spans millennia, as the ship's descendants populate the world and develop unique cultures and psi abilities. Though ''Darkover Landfall'' is not the first book written in the series, in the ''Darkover'' timeline its events are the beginning for all that follows.
==Reception== Of this book, J. John Jones, writing for ''Amazing Stories'', notes that<blockquote>''Landfall'' has been a disappointment for some women. I've read reviews by some feminist critics who have vilified the work, expecting something more radical, apparently, from a woman writer. I still find her ideas provocative. No doubt some women are offended by the roles of planned breeding that her women characters portrayed. Still, stimulating rage is one way to effect social change so you might suppose that her works still gave some impetus for social change even with the roles that her women characters portray in this imagined society.<ref>Jones, J. John, "''No. 14 Marion Zimmer Bradley, Darkover, and the Sexual Identity of Telepaths'', Amazing Stories, 28 Apr 2013</ref></blockquote>
==Major characters== * Captain Harry Leicester * Rafael MacAran, one of the ship's officers * Camilla Del Rey, one of the ship's officers * Ewen Ross, medical officer * Judith Lovat, biologist * Father Valentine, order of St. Christopher of Centaurus
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== * {{cite web | last = Brown | first = Charles N. | authorlink = Charles N. Brown | author2=William G. Contento | title = The Locus Index to Science Fiction (1984-1998) | publisher = | date = 2007-11-20 | url = http://www.locusmag.com/index/b63.htm#A752.32 | doi = | accessdate = 2008-09-03}} * {{cite book | last=Jaffery | first=Sheldon | authorlink=Sheldon Jaffery | title=Future and Fantastic Worlds | location=Mercer Island, Washington | publisher=Starmont House | year=1987 | isbn=1-55742-002-5 | page=13}} {{Darkover}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Darkover books Category:1972 American novels Category:1972 English-language novels Category:1972 science fiction novels Category:American science fiction novels Category:Religion in science fiction Category:Novels set on fictional planets Category:Fiction about interstellar travel Category:Novels by Marion Zimmer Bradley Category:DAW Books books