A Heat Wave in the Hellers: and Other Tales of Darkover

by Deborah Ross

In 1985, Deborah J. Ross sold her first Darkover short story to Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Free Amazons of Darkover. “Midwife” relates the adventures of a young woman who inadvertently becomes the surrogate mother of a banshee chick -- a smelly, sightless, carnivorous bird. Bradley featured Ross’s short stories — dramatic, bittersweet, romantic, and humorous — in subsequent anthologies, and often cited Ross’s turnabout-twist story, “The Death of Brendon Ensolare,” as one of her favorites. Eventually the two collaborated on novel-length works set in the world of the Bloody Sun. Following Bradley’s death in 1999, Ross has continued the series, including The Fall of Neskaya, The Children of Kings, and Thunderlord, as well as editing six more Darkover anthologies. For the first time, here are all of Ross’s Darkover short stories, some of them previously unpublished, now collected in one volume....A pair of City Guards cadets invent an imaginary recruit in order to avoid their chores, and then must face the consequences… In the Ages of Chaos, a young wizard must rely on his uncertain powers to survive a haunted Tower… When the new lord of a captured castle is found murdered, the all-too-obvious suspect is an Aldaran assassin… Only the legendary Keeper could save her circle under the onslaught of forbidden weapons, but the results would cripple generations of women to come… …and in the title story, written as a birthday gift, Ross sends Marion Zimmer Bradley herself to Darkover to solve a crisis in “A Heat Wave in the Hellers”…

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy

189 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2019

About the author

She has also published as Deborah Wheeler

Reviews

[Ronald Spitzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the stories. The last one was funny. There are plenty of in jokes so it helps to have read lots of Darkover. I read several Gor books in the 1970s, so I got that also. Currently there is a Gor book at the used bookstore I go to. I have not run across one of those books in many years. They are not missed. Deborah Ross does a good job on Darkover and it nice the world is still in publiction.

[Curtis A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A visit to Darkover

It was delightful to revisit this universe again with one of its perennially great authors! The final, title named story is a true treat.

[Freyja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story collection is like the other Darkover collections in their diversity. The last story was a howl! It was hilarious! I won't spoil the surprise, but haggis is involved.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories that place in the world of Darkover. Most good reads and firmly within the parameters as outlined in the original books.

[Susanna Duffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

more darkover - sigh