Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Domaris of Atlantis


Marion Zimmer Bradley didn't just write Darkover or Mists of Avalon books. She cranked out a large amount of verbiage, some of it because she wanted to and much more of it because she needed the money. Her Atlantis series, which was originally published in 1983, seems to be a bit of both. It is essentially a fantasy soap opera about the travails of a pair of noble sisters in the days just before Atlantis sank beneath the waves. Domaris, the elder sister, has the requisite flame-red hair of a fantasy heroine (remember, "IFRR," or "In Fantasy, Redheads Rule"). Deoris, her younger sister, has black curly hair, which probably means they had different fathers, something which was common in ancient Atlantis, according to author Bradley.

I read this book in the late 1980s when I was moving to the Washington DC Metro area. My character portraits from Bradley's Atlantis were among the first art pieces that I produced in my new home, now 25 years ago. 

"Domaris" is ink and watercolor on Fabriano paper, 5 1/2" x 9", fall 1988.

No comments: