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Sword and Sorceress #6
Sword and Sorceress VI
FROM A ROYAL CITADEL...TO DEATH'S ENCHANTED REALM...
They rove the magic lands, defending those who cannot defend themselves, fighting against the forces of evil which, again and again, threaten to overwhelm the strongholds of light.
They are swords-women and sorceresses, were-women and wise women, and they will take on all challengers, working their spells and wielding their swords against masters of mayhem and chaos.
So rally to the banners of such seasoned campaigners as Jennifer Roberson, Mercedes Lackey, Diana Paxson, Elisabeth Waters, and their fellow strategists as they lead their troops to victory in the fantasy wars!
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress series has always featured the best in contemporary women's fantasy, and this outstanding new volume carries on the tradition! These original stories of brave, talented, and heroic women will take readers through enchanted realms of the imagination into danger both physical and mystical, where the only way to survive is through the power of sword and spell.
Introduction · Marion Zimmer Bradley
Equona’s Mare · Diana L. Paxson
The Hand of Fatima · Shariann Lewitt
Commencement · Lynne Armstrong-Jones
A Lesser of Evils · Morning Glory Zell
And Sáavüld Danced… · Kier Neustaedter
Stone of Light · Linda Gordon
Change of Command · Nancy Jane Moore
The Starry King · Vera Nazarian
Mirror Image · Nina Boal
Sleeping Dogs · Jennifer Roberson
Shadowlands · Elisabeth Waters
The Making of a Legend [Vows and Honor] · Mercedes Lackey
Burnt Offerings · Mary Fenoglio
Ratsbane [Cynthia] · Dorothy J. Heydt
Wolf Hunt · Bobbi Miller
Pearl · Carl Thelen
Name of the Demoness · Jessie D. Eaker
Hands · Lois Tilton
Wolfrunner · Mary E. Choo
Until We Meet Again · J.A. Brebner
Black Wolf · Gemma Tarlach
Artist: Corey Wolfe
They rove the magic lands, defending those who cannot defend themselves, fighting against the forces of evil which, again and again, threaten to overwhelm the strongholds of light.
They are swords-women and sorceresses, were-women and wise women, and they will take on all challengers, working their spells and wielding their swords against masters of mayhem and chaos.
So rally to the banners of such seasoned campaigners as Jennifer Roberson, Mercedes Lackey, Diana Paxson, Elisabeth Waters, and their fellow strategists as they lead their troops to victory in the fantasy wars!
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress series has always featured the best in contemporary women's fantasy, and this outstanding new volume carries on the tradition! These original stories of brave, talented, and heroic women will take readers through enchanted realms of the imagination into danger both physical and mystical, where the only way to survive is through the power of sword and spell.
Introduction · Marion Zimmer Bradley
Equona’s Mare · Diana L. Paxson
The Hand of Fatima · Shariann Lewitt
Commencement · Lynne Armstrong-Jones
A Lesser of Evils · Morning Glory Zell
And Sáavüld Danced… · Kier Neustaedter
Stone of Light · Linda Gordon
Change of Command · Nancy Jane Moore
The Starry King · Vera Nazarian
Mirror Image · Nina Boal
Sleeping Dogs · Jennifer Roberson
Shadowlands · Elisabeth Waters
The Making of a Legend [Vows and Honor] · Mercedes Lackey
Burnt Offerings · Mary Fenoglio
Ratsbane [Cynthia] · Dorothy J. Heydt
Wolf Hunt · Bobbi Miller
Pearl · Carl Thelen
Name of the Demoness · Jessie D. Eaker
Hands · Lois Tilton
Wolfrunner · Mary E. Choo
Until We Meet Again · J.A. Brebner
Black Wolf · Gemma Tarlach
Artist: Corey Wolfe
286 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 5, 1990
395 people want to read
About the author
Marion Zimmer Bradley
802 books4,900 followersMarion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley was an American author of fantasy novels such as The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover series, often with a feminist outlook.
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.
Her 1958 story The Planet Savers introduced the planet of Darkover, which became the setting of a popular series by Bradley and other authors. The Darkover milieu may be considered as either fantasy with science fiction overtones or as science fiction with fantasy overtones, as Darkover is a lost earth colony where psi powers developed to an unusual degree. Bradley wrote many Darkover novels by herself, but in her later years collaborated with other authors for publication; her literary collaborators have continued the series since her death.
Bradley took an active role in science-fiction and fantasy fandom, promoting interaction with professional authors and publishers and making several important contributions to the subculture.
For many years, Bradley actively encouraged Darkover fan fiction and reprinted some of it in commercial Darkover anthologies, continuing to encourage submissions from unpublished authors, but this ended after 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.
Bradley was also 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 male authors 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 September of 1999.
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; like the Darkover series, the later novels are written with or by other authors and have continued to appear after Bradley's death.
Her reputation has been posthumously marred by multiple accusations of child sexual abuse by her daughter Moira Greyland, and for allegedly assisting her second husband, convicted child abuser Walter Breen, in sexually abusing multiple unrelated children.
(from Wikipedia)
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.
Her 1958 story The Planet Savers introduced the planet of Darkover, which became the setting of a popular series by Bradley and other authors. The Darkover milieu may be considered as either fantasy with science fiction overtones or as science fiction with fantasy overtones, as Darkover is a lost earth colony where psi powers developed to an unusual degree. Bradley wrote many Darkover novels by herself, but in her later years collaborated with other authors for publication; her literary collaborators have continued the series since her death.
Bradley took an active role in science-fiction and fantasy fandom, promoting interaction with professional authors and publishers and making several important contributions to the subculture.
For many years, Bradley actively encouraged Darkover fan fiction and reprinted some of it in commercial Darkover anthologies, continuing to encourage submissions from unpublished authors, but this ended after 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.
Bradley was also 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 male authors 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 September of 1999.
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; like the Darkover series, the later novels are written with or by other authors and have continued to appear after Bradley's death.
Her reputation has been posthumously marred by multiple accusations of child sexual abuse by her daughter Moira Greyland, and for allegedly assisting her second husband, convicted child abuser Walter Breen, in sexually abusing multiple unrelated children.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 26, 2025
[Book #6 in a series of 34]
VERDICT: 3.2 daggers. Probably 3.5 to 5 for most lovers of this sub-genre.
A perfectly adequate collection, but only a couple of stories stood out.
VERDICT: 3.2 daggers. Probably 3.5 to 5 for most lovers of this sub-genre.
A perfectly adequate collection, but only a couple of stories stood out.
Read
July 3, 2016Well, this one had a lot of nice stories, but I was especially thrilled to read Equona's Mare. I like horses and magic mixed. The other stories were nicely balanced without a single clunker in the mix.
May 21, 2012
Fairly sure I read up to No 12 or so, but not dead certain. Loved them all, great to have females outside the box at the time.
January 6, 2021
Lest ihr gerne Kurzgeschichtensammlungen?
Ich zumindest ab und an eigentlich schon. Allerdings konnte diese mich nicht begeistern, denn die Geschichten waren mir fast alle zu bruchstückhaft und unfertig. Ich hatte meist nicht das Gefühl es mit einer fertigen Geschichte mit Anfang und Ende zu tun zu haben.
Ich zumindest ab und an eigentlich schon. Allerdings konnte diese mich nicht begeistern, denn die Geschichten waren mir fast alle zu bruchstückhaft und unfertig. Ich hatte meist nicht das Gefühl es mit einer fertigen Geschichte mit Anfang und Ende zu tun zu haben.
August 8, 2018
Not bad overall. Some stories better than others as is usual with this type of collection.
June 15, 2013
Twenty-one short stories, some DNRs, some DNFs, some interesting. I must say I bought this thinking "Ooh, Darkover shorts!" and realised when I got it home that it was no such thing -- so tried it anyway. Stories below the cut.
September 3, 2013
This was a pretty solid S&S. Some excellent stories, some with great plots but awful execution, and some that really aren't worth the paper they're printed on...you know, the usual. :P
This has one Cynthia story, one Shanna story, and one Tarma&Kethry story.
Worth a reread:
Equona's Mare, Diana L. Paxson (Shanna)
Stone of Light, Linda Gordon
Mirror Image, Nina Boal
Sleeping Dogs, Jennifer Roberson
The Making of a Legend, Mercedes Lackey (Tarma&Kethry; reprinted in Oathblood)
Burnt Offerings, Mary Fenoglio - this reads like part of a longer story, but I don't know if it is.
Ratsbane, Dorothy J. Heydt (Cynthia)
Wolf Hunt, Bobbi Miller - full of tropes! Not bad, for all that.
Name of the Demoness, Jessie D. Eaker
Hands, Lois Tilton
Of the rest of the stories in this one, a few are fairly straightforward (but more-or-less well-written) retellings of various fantasy tropes - the sorceress who realizes that true power isn't magic, a dragon-based con game, a moral dilemma between destroying dangerous beasts or evil humans, a quest to the underworld. Two or three of the rest are really good stories that are just badly-written enough for me to not want to reread them. Only one is really what I would consider a bad story, and that's the very last one of the anthology - because it's not only tritely-written with a bog-standard sword-and-sorcery plot, but the main character is a very obvious Mary Sue.
This has one Cynthia story, one Shanna story, and one Tarma&Kethry story.
Worth a reread:
Equona's Mare, Diana L. Paxson (Shanna)
Stone of Light, Linda Gordon
Mirror Image, Nina Boal
Sleeping Dogs, Jennifer Roberson
The Making of a Legend, Mercedes Lackey (Tarma&Kethry; reprinted in Oathblood)
Burnt Offerings, Mary Fenoglio - this reads like part of a longer story, but I don't know if it is.
Ratsbane, Dorothy J. Heydt (Cynthia)
Wolf Hunt, Bobbi Miller - full of tropes! Not bad, for all that.
Name of the Demoness, Jessie D. Eaker
Hands, Lois Tilton
Of the rest of the stories in this one, a few are fairly straightforward (but more-or-less well-written) retellings of various fantasy tropes - the sorceress who realizes that true power isn't magic, a dragon-based con game, a moral dilemma between destroying dangerous beasts or evil humans, a quest to the underworld. Two or three of the rest are really good stories that are just badly-written enough for me to not want to reread them. Only one is really what I would consider a bad story, and that's the very last one of the anthology - because it's not only tritely-written with a bog-standard sword-and-sorcery plot, but the main character is a very obvious Mary Sue.
December 13, 2018
One really really excellent story, many okay, one or two dull..I imagine that is what most anthologies turn out to be.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews