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Sword and Sorceress #2
Sword and Sorceress II
What better guide could there be through the realms of witchery and wonder, of combat and danger, of romance and magic than the hand and mind of Marion Zimmer Bradley, author of best-sellers CITY OF SORCERY, THENDARA HOUSE and MISTS OF AVALON? So come with her now through the second convocation of swordswomen and spellbinders.
Here you will meet dragons and goddesses. Here you will venture forth with priestesses and assassins. Here be unicorns and mythical beasts of darkness.
Here is adventure!
Fifteen original tales by such writers as C.J. Cherryh, Diana Paxson, Phyllis Ann Karr, Charles Saunders, Jennifer Roberson, and more, selected and introduced by the Wise Woman of Darkover, Marion Zimmer Bradley herself.
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
A Night at Two Inns · Phyllis Ann Karr
The Red Guild · Rachel Pollack
Shadow Wood · Diana L. Paxson
Unicorn's Blood · Bruce D. Arthurs
The Unshadowed Land · C.J. Cherryh
Shimenege's Mask · Charles R. Saunders
The Black Tower · Stephen L. Burns
The Lady and the Tiger · Jennifer Roberson
Fireweb · Deborah Wheeler
Cold Blows the Wind [Angharad] · Charles de Lint
Sword of the Mother · Dana Kramer Rolls
Hunger · Russ Garrison
On First Looking into Bradley's Guidelines, or Stories I Don't Want to Read Either · Elizabeth Thompson
The Chosen Maiden · Raul Reyes
Red Pearls · Richard Corwin
Wound on the Moon · Vera Nazarian
Here you will meet dragons and goddesses. Here you will venture forth with priestesses and assassins. Here be unicorns and mythical beasts of darkness.
Here is adventure!
Fifteen original tales by such writers as C.J. Cherryh, Diana Paxson, Phyllis Ann Karr, Charles Saunders, Jennifer Roberson, and more, selected and introduced by the Wise Woman of Darkover, Marion Zimmer Bradley herself.
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
A Night at Two Inns · Phyllis Ann Karr
The Red Guild · Rachel Pollack
Shadow Wood · Diana L. Paxson
Unicorn's Blood · Bruce D. Arthurs
The Unshadowed Land · C.J. Cherryh
Shimenege's Mask · Charles R. Saunders
The Black Tower · Stephen L. Burns
The Lady and the Tiger · Jennifer Roberson
Fireweb · Deborah Wheeler
Cold Blows the Wind [Angharad] · Charles de Lint
Sword of the Mother · Dana Kramer Rolls
Hunger · Russ Garrison
On First Looking into Bradley's Guidelines, or Stories I Don't Want to Read Either · Elizabeth Thompson
The Chosen Maiden · Raul Reyes
Red Pearls · Richard Corwin
Wound on the Moon · Vera Nazarian
287 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1985
4 people are currently reading
471 people want to read
About the author
Marion Zimmer Bradley
800 books4,884 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 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 20, 2020
Part of my 2020 Social Distancing Read-a-thon
Life right now is very much about what appeals in the moment. Although I'm not usually into short stories, I'm finding them easier to deal with some days during this pandemic.
I really liked several of these stories and not always the ones that I expected to. I loved the Charles de Lint selection, but wasn't fussed about that by C.J. Cherryh. I suppose a lot of the stories remind me of Fritz Lieber's *Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser* because his are some of the seminal Sword & Sorcery texts.
I can appreciate the effort that the authors went to in order to give their female characters agency and prowess. Thankfully, we've improved at this since this anthology was published in 1985. It's stories like these that paved the way for the wonderful urban fantasy heroines that I so enjoy today.
Life right now is very much about what appeals in the moment. Although I'm not usually into short stories, I'm finding them easier to deal with some days during this pandemic.
I really liked several of these stories and not always the ones that I expected to. I loved the Charles de Lint selection, but wasn't fussed about that by C.J. Cherryh. I suppose a lot of the stories remind me of Fritz Lieber's *Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser* because his are some of the seminal Sword & Sorcery texts.
I can appreciate the effort that the authors went to in order to give their female characters agency and prowess. Thankfully, we've improved at this since this anthology was published in 1985. It's stories like these that paved the way for the wonderful urban fantasy heroines that I so enjoy today.
February 10, 2022
It's a shame that not only is the series out of print, but out of the stable of authors that Bradley cultivated, many never independently collected their stories. I wonder if there's a background to that.
There's a bit of drifting into the purely character-driven stories that are more about the characters than the plot. By design, if I'm reading Bradley's introductions correctly.
There are quite a few good ones. If I have to choose, I'd point out "Unicorn's Blood", which takes the saccharine unicorn imagery and gives it a few good shivs with a dose of brutal realpolitik. And of course Charles R Saunders delivers with "Shimenege's Mask". And one of the few Clea the thief stories, "The Black Tower", where Clea grandly bluffs the evil wizard.
There's a bit of drifting into the purely character-driven stories that are more about the characters than the plot. By design, if I'm reading Bradley's introductions correctly.
There are quite a few good ones. If I have to choose, I'd point out "Unicorn's Blood", which takes the saccharine unicorn imagery and gives it a few good shivs with a dose of brutal realpolitik. And of course Charles R Saunders delivers with "Shimenege's Mask". And one of the few Clea the thief stories, "The Black Tower", where Clea grandly bluffs the evil wizard.
September 22, 2018
Adventure, creatures, wizards, witches, thieves, swordplay, love & loss, and some light humor.
Three standout stories, one that was almost nonsensical, and the rest somewhere between adequate and good. Authors both established and first-time published here, as of 1985.
Overall it feels like a 3.5 to me, but I'm rounding to 4 as I'm no expert on the fantasy genre. I thought it a bit better than Book #1, which I gave 3 stars.
Three standout stories, one that was almost nonsensical, and the rest somewhere between adequate and good. Authors both established and first-time published here, as of 1985.
Overall it feels like a 3.5 to me, but I'm rounding to 4 as I'm no expert on the fantasy genre. I thought it a bit better than Book #1, which I gave 3 stars.
November 30, 2016
As is the case, it's always difficult to rate an anthology. Like all such, some stories I found boring, some engrossing, and some just fun. The Sword and the Sorceress series, which I have been reading some-what out of order, is an interesting case.
By now I feel I kind of know Bradley's editorial voice, and yet it's also clear that voice changes over the course of what would be a decades long anthology series. Initially this series exists as a response to the Sword and Sorcery genre than experiencing a resurgence in the late 70's early 80's. That resurgence is perhaps best encaptualted by the iconic 'Heavy metal Van' of some Bull-chested Barbarian holding a sword aloft that is being struck by lightning while a barely clothed woman clutches at his leg and monsters surge around the pair. Even stories with female protagonists often followed a very forumalic structure; The Barbarian Woman, the Woman avenging her own rape or the murder of her children, the Virgin Sorceress who finds love, etc. etc.
What's interesting is these tropes haven't necessarily gone away, though they don't exist as ubiquitously as they did in the early 80's. They have been joined by others though, some shaped in part by reactions like Bradley's against that genre. What is remarkable to me however, is how fresh some of these stories still feel, decades later. One, about a mercenary woman who hunts unicorns was very refreshing. Another, about a Sword-wielding woman who challenges a whole bar of men to best her in duels was an interesting array of tropes very cleverly done. All in all Bradley's editorial voice continues to try and smash certain roles and tropes, but it also continually seeks quality work. She hasn't disappointed me yet.
By now I feel I kind of know Bradley's editorial voice, and yet it's also clear that voice changes over the course of what would be a decades long anthology series. Initially this series exists as a response to the Sword and Sorcery genre than experiencing a resurgence in the late 70's early 80's. That resurgence is perhaps best encaptualted by the iconic 'Heavy metal Van' of some Bull-chested Barbarian holding a sword aloft that is being struck by lightning while a barely clothed woman clutches at his leg and monsters surge around the pair. Even stories with female protagonists often followed a very forumalic structure; The Barbarian Woman, the Woman avenging her own rape or the murder of her children, the Virgin Sorceress who finds love, etc. etc.
What's interesting is these tropes haven't necessarily gone away, though they don't exist as ubiquitously as they did in the early 80's. They have been joined by others though, some shaped in part by reactions like Bradley's against that genre. What is remarkable to me however, is how fresh some of these stories still feel, decades later. One, about a mercenary woman who hunts unicorns was very refreshing. Another, about a Sword-wielding woman who challenges a whole bar of men to best her in duels was an interesting array of tropes very cleverly done. All in all Bradley's editorial voice continues to try and smash certain roles and tropes, but it also continually seeks quality work. She hasn't disappointed me yet.
currently-reading-anthcoll
July 31, 2022A Night at Two Inns • (1985) • novelette by Phyllis Ann Karr
The Red Guild • (1985) • novelette by Rachel Pollack
Shadow Wood • [Shanna of Sharteyn] • (1985) • novelette by Diana L. Paxson
Unicorn's Blood • (1985) • novelette by Bruce D. Arthurs
The Unshadowed Land • (1985) • shortstory by C. J. Cherryh
Shimenege's Mask • [Dossouye] • (1985) • shortstory by Charles R. Saunders
The Black Tower • (1985) • shortstory by Stephen L. Burns [as by Stephen Burns ]
The Lady and the Tiger • (1985) • shortstory by Jennifer Roberson
Fireweb • (1985) • novelette by Deborah J. Ross [as by Deborah Wheeler ]
♥Cold Blows the Wind • [Angharad] by Charles de Lint RE-read 6/20/2015
Sword of the Mother • (1985) • shortstory by Dana Kramer-Rolls
Hunger • (1985) • shortstory by Russ Garrison
The Chosen Maiden • (1985) • shortstory by Raul S. Reyes [as by Raul Reyes ]
Red Pearls • (1985) • shortstory by Richard Corwin
The Wound in the Moon • (1985) • novelette by Vera Nazarian
The Red Guild • (1985) • novelette by Rachel Pollack
Shadow Wood • [Shanna of Sharteyn] • (1985) • novelette by Diana L. Paxson
Unicorn's Blood • (1985) • novelette by Bruce D. Arthurs
The Unshadowed Land • (1985) • shortstory by C. J. Cherryh
Shimenege's Mask • [Dossouye] • (1985) • shortstory by Charles R. Saunders
The Black Tower • (1985) • shortstory by Stephen L. Burns [as by Stephen Burns ]
The Lady and the Tiger • (1985) • shortstory by Jennifer Roberson
Fireweb • (1985) • novelette by Deborah J. Ross [as by Deborah Wheeler ]
♥Cold Blows the Wind • [Angharad] by Charles de Lint RE-read 6/20/2015
Sword of the Mother • (1985) • shortstory by Dana Kramer-Rolls
Hunger • (1985) • shortstory by Russ Garrison
The Chosen Maiden • (1985) • shortstory by Raul S. Reyes [as by Raul Reyes ]
Red Pearls • (1985) • shortstory by Richard Corwin
The Wound in the Moon • (1985) • novelette by Vera Nazarian
November 3, 2008
I'm not really sure how I missed reading this, but it was on my bookshelf and when I opened it, I turned out not to recognize any of the stories in it. I must have bought it and forgotten I hadn't actually read it, since I'd read all the other S&Ss on the shelf. Anyway, fun, with lots of good stuff, as with the rest of the series. I think the demise* of this series was my main reason for mourning when MZB died. (She is strangely one of my favorite editors and least-favorite authors, since I could never get into the Darkover novels and The Mists of Avalon gave me nightmares.)
*Technically, there are still new anthologies coming out every year, but last I heard, they were exclusively made up of stories MZB requested from already discovered authors, rather than stories submitted for selection from both known and unknown authors. I never did actually get around to submitting one, but it was one of my adolescent dreams.
*Technically, there are still new anthologies coming out every year, but last I heard, they were exclusively made up of stories MZB requested from already discovered authors, rather than stories submitted for selection from both known and unknown authors. I never did actually get around to submitting one, but it was one of my adolescent dreams.
May 22, 2023
Segunda entrega de la muy longeva antología de Sword and Sorceress, editada por Marion Zimmer Bradley y menos enfocada esta vez en el tema de mujeres guerreras. De hecho hay una mayor variedad de temas en esta ocasión, aunque no hay que olvidar que cuando esta antología surgió a principios de los ochenta lo hizo como respuesta al auge de la fantasía de espada y brujería, dominada en aquel entonces casi por completo por personajes y perspectivas masculinas. Hoy en día dicho género ha cambiado mucho y por esto mismo algunas de las historias de este volumen han perdido algo de fuerza. Con todo y eso lo más interesante ha sido descubrir autores que no siempre tuvieron una gran trayectoria posterior. Dentro de los relatos específicos hay ejemplos que me gustaron mucho como "Unicorn's Blood" de Bruce D. Arthurs, "Sword of the Mother" de Dana Kramer-Rolls y "The Wound in the Moon" de Vera Nazarian, quien para entonces tenía solo 17 años pero que ya apuntaba como una promesa del género.
October 31, 2025
A Night at Two Inns by Phyllis Ann Karr — ★★☆☆☆
The Red Guild by Rachel Pollack — ★☆☆☆☆
Shadow Wood by Diana Paxson — ★★★☆☆
Unicorn's Blood by Bruce D. Arthurs — ★☆☆☆☆
The Unshadowed Land by C. J. Cherryh — ★☆☆☆☆
Shimenege's Mask by Charles R. Saunders — ★★★☆☆
The Black Tower by Stephen Burns — ★★★☆☆
The Lady and the Tiger by Jennifer Roberson — ★☆☆☆☆
Fireweb by Deborah Wheeler — ★★★★★
Cold Blows the Wind by Charles de Lint
Sword of the Mother by Dana Kramer Rolls — ★★★★★
Hunger by Russ Garrison
On First... by Elizabeth Thompson — ★★★☆☆
The Chosen Maiden by Raul Reyes
Red Pearls by Richard Corwin
Wound in the Moon by Vera Nazarian
The Red Guild by Rachel Pollack — ★☆☆☆☆
Shadow Wood by Diana Paxson — ★★★☆☆
Unicorn's Blood by Bruce D. Arthurs — ★☆☆☆☆
The Unshadowed Land by C. J. Cherryh — ★☆☆☆☆
Shimenege's Mask by Charles R. Saunders — ★★★☆☆
The Black Tower by Stephen Burns — ★★★☆☆
The Lady and the Tiger by Jennifer Roberson — ★☆☆☆☆
Fireweb by Deborah Wheeler — ★★★★★
Sword of the Mother by Dana Kramer Rolls — ★★★★★
On First... by Elizabeth Thompson — ★★★☆☆
Red Pearls by Richard Corwin
Wound in the Moon by Vera Nazarian
August 18, 2017
Ich habe das Buch aus einem öffentlichen Bücherschrank mitgenommen, weil ich "Marion Zimmer Bradley" gelesen habe und die Avalon-Reihe als Kind ganz gerne mochte. Ich weiß ja nicht mal, ob mir ihre eigenen Werke heute noch gefallen würden, aber vieles, von dem, was sie hier als Herausgeberin herausgesucht hat, taugt mir nicht.
Denn: Die meisten dieser Geschichten tropfen leider vor Klischees, sind langatmig und wenig innovativ. Auch finde ich es fragwürdig, dass in dem Buch mehrmals Frauen als "Hündin" oder "undankbare Hündin" bezeichnet werden. Es spricht nicht für die Übersetzungsqualität.
Es gibt ein paar positive Ausnahmen: "Die rote Gilde", "Shimenenges Maske", "Der schwarze Turm" und "Die Erwählte" bieten zumindest einmalig eine ganz nette Unterhaltung. Die einzige Geschichte, von der ich mir vorstellen kann, sie nochmal zu lesen, ist "Die Wunde im Mond".
Wenn man wie ich kostenlos darüber stolpert, kann man es sicher mal lesen, aber Geld ausgeben, würde ich dafür nicht.
Denn: Die meisten dieser Geschichten tropfen leider vor Klischees, sind langatmig und wenig innovativ. Auch finde ich es fragwürdig, dass in dem Buch mehrmals Frauen als "Hündin" oder "undankbare Hündin" bezeichnet werden. Es spricht nicht für die Übersetzungsqualität.
Es gibt ein paar positive Ausnahmen: "Die rote Gilde", "Shimenenges Maske", "Der schwarze Turm" und "Die Erwählte" bieten zumindest einmalig eine ganz nette Unterhaltung. Die einzige Geschichte, von der ich mir vorstellen kann, sie nochmal zu lesen, ist "Die Wunde im Mond".
Wenn man wie ich kostenlos darüber stolpert, kann man es sicher mal lesen, aber Geld ausgeben, würde ich dafür nicht.
December 5, 2017
"Shimenege's Mask" by Charles R. Saunders, "The Black Tower" by Stephen Burns, "The Lady and the Tiger" by Jennifer Roberson, "Fireweed" by Deborah Wheeler and "The Wound in the Moon" by Vera Nazarian were memorable.
July 10, 2018
MZB is an excellent editor and succeeds again with this collection of stories.
December 21, 2014
It's an older collection, but the names in this volume of Sword and Sorceress are very much top-listed authors today. With stories by C. J. Cherryh, Jennifer Roberson, Charles de Lint, and more, there are bound to be a few names familiar to those who give fantasy more than a passing glance.
My favorite story in the volume was The Black Tower, by Stephen Burns. Clea takes the somewhat-predictable plot and elevates it with a level of sheer guts not found in any of the heroines in the rest of the volume. The alien creatures were also well fleshed out for a short story, and Fail in particular gave off the perfect vibe of being non-human intelligence.
Other notable stories include: The Red Guild by Rachel Pollack, a story about an assassin, a dragon, and the way destiny and desire can fight each other; Red Pearls, by Richard Corwin, a story about a sorceress come back from the grave to take her sworn vengeance against her murderer; and Wound on the Moon by Vera Nazarian, a story about the son of the Moon who rules a perfect city by an iron fist and what happens to the woman who dares look upon his face (this one wins extra props for the unexpected twist at the end).
By and large, however, the stories were mostly the sort I would not care to read again. Some, like Shadow Wood by Diana Paxson, are so obviously a chapter out of the main character's journey that it feels like jumping in at the middle and ending still in the middle, even though the event portrayed has a beginning, middle, and end. Some, like Fireweb by Deborah Wheeler, are just clunky: the different kinds of beasts never get enough description, so my mental images defaulted to horses-with-spines and horses-with-sharp-teeth, and the plot jerks and stutters similarly. And some, like Cold Blows the Wind by Charles de Lint, are simply not to my taste; I dislike both ghosts and fey folk in traditional stories.
Overall this is a mediocre collection of stories. The Black Tower is the only story I would read more than once, because Clea's character deserves a novel for herself. The rest I could shelve without regret. I rate this book Neutral.
My favorite story in the volume was The Black Tower, by Stephen Burns. Clea takes the somewhat-predictable plot and elevates it with a level of sheer guts not found in any of the heroines in the rest of the volume. The alien creatures were also well fleshed out for a short story, and Fail in particular gave off the perfect vibe of being non-human intelligence.
Other notable stories include: The Red Guild by Rachel Pollack, a story about an assassin, a dragon, and the way destiny and desire can fight each other; Red Pearls, by Richard Corwin, a story about a sorceress come back from the grave to take her sworn vengeance against her murderer; and Wound on the Moon by Vera Nazarian, a story about the son of the Moon who rules a perfect city by an iron fist and what happens to the woman who dares look upon his face (this one wins extra props for the unexpected twist at the end).
By and large, however, the stories were mostly the sort I would not care to read again. Some, like Shadow Wood by Diana Paxson, are so obviously a chapter out of the main character's journey that it feels like jumping in at the middle and ending still in the middle, even though the event portrayed has a beginning, middle, and end. Some, like Fireweb by Deborah Wheeler, are just clunky: the different kinds of beasts never get enough description, so my mental images defaulted to horses-with-spines and horses-with-sharp-teeth, and the plot jerks and stutters similarly. And some, like Cold Blows the Wind by Charles de Lint, are simply not to my taste; I dislike both ghosts and fey folk in traditional stories.
Overall this is a mediocre collection of stories. The Black Tower is the only story I would read more than once, because Clea's character deserves a novel for herself. The rest I could shelve without regret. I rate this book Neutral.
July 28, 2019
I remember that I read this anthology 30+ years ago and loved it. However, although I enjoyed some of the stories in this collection, most did not stand up well to the test of time.
December 11, 2018
Still a struggle, still not to my taste. One enjoyable to ten uninteresting. I read these books 30 years ago and liked them well enough to keep them and to continue buying them. I can only conclude that I have changed.
May 17, 2015
There are some really wonderful stories in this collection, and then there are some I didn't care that much for. The story by Charles De Lint is my favorite.
July 26, 2016
Books of my childhood heart; I have no idea how well it would hold up for me today, but at the time, the whole Sword and Sorceress series were my LIFE.
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June 8, 2016"The Unshadowed Land", C.J. Cherryh
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews