History Literature / Darkover

* DoubleStandard: It's complicated. In general, men and women are both free to have extramarital sex, but if a child has [[MamasBabyPapasMaybe uncertain parentage]], it's embarrassing to the woman. Also, the rules for gay marriage are different between women and men -- women can simply get freemate-married (a rule established by the Renunciates), while male partners can only [[BloodBrothers swear brotherhood]] [[note]]The Forbidden Tower is a polygamous foursome, but legally they're two sworn brothers married to two sisters[[/note]]. Conversely, women aren't allowed to take concubines, while men are.

* HeroesWantRedheads: Nearly all those with psychic talent have red hair, which means that the love interests and heroines are almost always redheads.

* ScienceFantasy: Is ''laran'' sorcery, or just matrix mechanics? Well, objectively it's the latter, but it's [[ClarkesThirdLaw sufficiently advanced]] to most people that it's the former. Many of the novels show ''laran'' in a mystical and spiritual light even as Tower workers discuss their jobs in technical terminology. And then the LostTechnology of the Sharra Matrix, and its counterpart the Sword of Aldones, are both portrayed as manifest deities rather than simply ancient machines gone haywire.

This series provides examples of:

* FeudingFamilies: The Aldarans were ostracized by the rest of the Comyn so long ago that nobody is really sure why.

* ScifiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: In the earlier novels, the Terran Empire's culture was very similar to that of the early 1980s. She got better.

* ShoutOut: One of the main families of nobles is called the "Hasturs". There is a minor family of nobles called the "Alars". There is a place called Carcosa. There is also a lake called "Lake Hali", which is misty. According to Wiki/TheOtherWiki, this was a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcosa#Other_appearances deliberate shout-out]] to Robert W. Chambers' book ''Literature/TheKingInYellow'' (which also inspired parts of the Franchise/CthulhuMythos).

* HumanMomNonhumanDad: This is the most common scenario for crossbreeds between humans and the chieri, although there are exceptions.

* FilkSong: Quite a few. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFbUStD1D-A Crystal Silver Blue and Gold]] is a canon example, while [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeyM8CLeaCg Horse Tamer's Daughter]] is of uncertain canonicity. [[note]]Marion Zimmer Bradley didn't accept it as canon, but it was added to an official anthology after her death.[[/note]]

* SocietyMarchesOn: The social and sexual values of the Terran Empire are very blatantly those of 1970's-80's America despite this being an interstellar society thousands of years in the future. Married women take their husband's names, men tend to predominate and homosexuals are mostly closeted. Darkover's fantasy culture, often used for contrast, is presented as more restrictive in some ways (the role of women) and progressive in others (acceptance of homosexuality). But to present-day readers some aspects that seemed progressive at the time, such as Darkovan women (but not men) being able to take each other in freemate marriage, may actually come across as retro, especially to readers living where things like same-sex marriages in general are legal. Likewise, the Terran Empire as a whole often looks visibly dated.

* MixedAncestry: Lew and Marius Alton get a lot of grief for having a Terran mother.

* FirearmsAreRevolutionary: This trope is the reason why FantasyGunControl is enforced by everyone: war with firearms would be just too damned lethal.

* {{Transgender}}: Intersex people (''emmasca'') have a special status on Darkover, due to the trait being associated with ''chieri'' blood. They tend to be LongLived but sterile. In addition, women who have undergone hysterectomies are also referred to as ''emmasca''. Some ''emmasca'' are nonbinary, but some aren't, and ''emmasca'' women are accepted among the [[AmazonBrigade Renunciates]] (who have no use for Darkover's traditional gender roles).