something like three thousand years. Yet elapsed time on Darkover was somehow more like ten thousand..." This is but one example of inconsistency. The Founding At the end of the 21st century, Earth sends colony ships out to the stars. One of these ships becomes disabled and crash-lands on Darkover, the fourth planet in a red giant solar system. Unable to repair their ship and equally unable to make contact with Earth, the survivors establish a colony. The colonists are primarily Celts and Spaniards, and this mix is reflected in the resultant blended culture. Bradley uses a standard "lost colony" trope: to maintain the available gene pool and maximize the chances of colonial survival, the colonists intermarry extensively and produce as many children with as many different partners as possible. Psychic and psionic abilities are acquired through interbreeding with the indigenous people, the Chieri. Bradley is silent about the developments that followed the first generation of the colony, and does not make clear how many years intervene between the founding and the Ages of Chaos. The novels Darkover Landfall and Rediscovery suggest that at least 2000 years have passed between the founding of the colony and Earth's recontact. The last sentence of "Darkover Landfall" states, "But Earth knew nothing of them for 2,000 years", but as Lew Alton says (above) the time on Darkover was perhaps 10,000 years. Books describing this era: Darkover Landfall (1972) – the first of the series, though not the first story published. Arilinn (2024), written by Deborah J. Ross Short stories describing this era: "Vai Dom", Diana L. Paxon, The Keeper's Price "The Forest", Cynthia McQuillin, The Keeper's Price "A Gift of Love", Diana L. Paxon, Sword of Chaos "The Tower at New Skye", Priscilla W. Armstrong, Leroni of Darkover The Ages of Chaos Bradley's books constantly refer back to the Ages of Chaos, but few books are actually set in this era. In this era, the descendants of the original colonists have organized themselves into a feudal-type society, with laran (psionic) abilities as the determiner of which individuals are part of the aristocracy and which are commoners. This period is marked by incredible creativity, the development of laran-based technology and weaponry, and the creation of the system of Towers, where those with exceptional laran abilities are housed and trained. All of these dominate political and social life. However these developments are accompanied by a