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Sword and Sorceress #20
Sword and Sorceress XX
It's the 20th anthology featuring fantasy's fiercest sword-swinging, magic-slinging females. The bestselling Sword and Sorceress series continues with this exciting 20th edition of all-new stories. It's all here: hard-hitting action, spellbinding magic, butt-kicking heroines... and some of the most popular names in fantasy today.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 2003
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About the author
Marion Zimmer Bradley
811 books4,914 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
January 22, 2016
I've been reading this slowly over the years as this was the last one that Marion Zimmer Bradley edited. I always enjoyed these collections because they reminded of authors I'd met before in the pages and told of new offerings and authors to come. Marion Zimmer Bradley is sorely missed, but her work lives on in the authors she fostered. If you haven't found this series, get started. They are awesome.
November 23, 2023
I have super mixed feelings about this collection. The first half was sort of a hot mess. Boring characters, same-old plots, nothing I haven't read before. I was especially tired of the "women can be warriors too!" energy. Like, we know. Say something more nuanced than that. BUT. About halfway through the book the stories took a huge turn for the better. Suddenly there was worldbuilding, lyricism, really intriguing characters that made me want to look up the authors' other work. I really really enjoyed some of the connections to various mythologies, and of course the fantasy classic of exciting and impossible to pronounce names. The "story" at the end in honor of the late author was wonderfully touching. So despite the rough start, I'm delighted to have discovered this series.
October 26, 2011
This was a perfectly serviceable entry in a fine series; it is neither the best nor the worst of the lot. This is true both in terms of the quality of the stories in it, and in terms of the smoothness of the editing, in spite of what some of the other reviewers have said.
One quibble that I have is that I would have preferred to see the homily spoken at MZB's funeral as a prologue or introduction, rather than in place of the traditional (short, funny) final story; I understand that as a few last words on MZB, it seemed appropriate for it to appear at the close of the book, but I think we lost more than we gained by that placement.
I am very glad to hear that the series will be continuing; I look forward to reading volume XXI.
One quibble that I have is that I would have preferred to see the homily spoken at MZB's funeral as a prologue or introduction, rather than in place of the traditional (short, funny) final story; I understand that as a few last words on MZB, it seemed appropriate for it to appear at the close of the book, but I think we lost more than we gained by that placement.
I am very glad to hear that the series will be continuing; I look forward to reading volume XXI.
March 22, 2008
This is the last volume that Bradley edited prior to her death. I have all but three of the twenty years worth of collections. This volume contains the typical blend of stories ranging from those so juvenile I can barely stomach them to the really compelling tales. It's amazing how the stories can be so similar to earlier editions, but my response to them so different. It really highlights how I have changed over the past twenty years. I think the main difference is my reluctance to search through the dross to get to the gems. Marion Zimmer Bradley will be missed in the science fiction/fantasy world.
December 30, 2018
Published in 2003 and poorly edited. Very noticeable number of mistakes/typos etc. Stories remain good, if uneven in enjoyment as usual but that is a matter of taste. I have noticed in the last ten or more years that books are full of errors but until today I had not found a demarcation so clear between the one book/year and the next.
February 5, 2010
most of these stories weren't as good as I'm used to from this series
March 29, 2012
Solid set of stories on the theme of finding yourself, a very acceptable listing in this series. Editor's notes are charming, sometimes poignant, and and filled with memories of MZB.
September 12, 2012
Enjoyed all the stories, wanted more from some.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews