Warrior Woman

by Marion Zimmer Bradley

This is not a typical Marion Zimmer Bradley novel. This book is the result of a bet between Marion and Don Wollheim, her editor for the Darkover novels at DAW Books. In addition, it's her response to the Gor novels - where men were men and women were slaves - that were also being published by DAW Books.

Yes, this book does start out with a heroine who has been captured and is being sold as a slave, who has amnesia and remembers nothing of her life before the trip across the desert with the slavers - and, due to a head injury, remembers mercifully little of that. But she does know that she would rather fight in the arena than be a harlot for the men who do, and that choice changes the rest of the book. In a Gor-style novel the woman would become less her own person, eventually learning to be a contented and obedient slave. In this book, even while the heroine, called Zadieyek of Gyre, remains a slave, she is something quite different from the typical 'slave girl' - she grows and develops, always searching for her memory and her past, convinced that this is not how her life is supposed to be. And, of course, she's right.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adult, Action, LGBT

205 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 2, 1985

About the author

Marion 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)

Reviews

[Mae Crowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real talk: Warrior Woman hit the spot. I absolutely adore the pervading style of classic science-fiction novels, to the point where I'm willing to overlook sexist bullshit and objectification for the sake of story and implications, but damn. It was so nice not to deal with it for a change. I don't know why I waited this long to seek out female authors.

And also... Surprise sapphic relationships!!! I didn't sign up for it, but you'd better believe I'm going to eat that shit up. (And shut up shut up Zadi's a lesbian and that's another part of the reason being with men feels so wrong to her. The text doesn't fully disprove that reading, so shut up.)

I really appreciate Zadi as a character - willing to find comfort in parts of her situation, but still holding out for and working toward a better one. She cares deeply for her mistress and appreciates the comforts she grants, but she never lets go of the belief that her enslavement is wrong.

As for the "science-fiction" traits of the story, I regret to say that I didn't catch on sooner, but I did get there in the end. And it was done in a way that didn't cheapen anything, either.

Warrior Woman is an easily-read, quick-paced science-fiction novel where an amnesiac woman struggles with her condition in a world that's contrary to everything she knows and believes. She helps out other woman along the way, finding love and friendship of her own.

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short novel written in first person point-of-view of a woman with amnesia who is captured, raped and sold into slavery. Rather than submit to perpetual sexual abuse, she manages to grab a gladiator's sword and kill him. This gives her the "choice" as a gladiator in the Arena, provided she survives her first bought to the death. Zadieyek, as she is called, which means "dreadful woman," does survive and lives to fight another day, make friends, have adventures seeking other female warriors for her patron's tammarim (a word meaning fourteen or a group of fourteen gladiators). Zadieyek eventually remembers her real name but in her travels she finds no one that knows her and remembers nothing else of her past. Upon returning to the Arena, she has an exhibition bought with a novice fighter who turns out to be her sworn brother in arms. In a flash, her memory returns and she learns she crash landed on this barbaric planet and her peers have been searching for her for weeks.

The novel was a fast read, but very superficial. I made no connections with the characters, beyond the slight interest in the mystery of Zadieyek's past. I could have done with out the bisexual and homosexual romps, but that's just me.

[Bryan House · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book only by looking at the cover, and it did not dissapoint.

Short read, and wish it was longer, but it was about everything I was hoping for, can't wait to look up more from this author

[Magpie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel as though I've taken a peek into the sick recesses of a deranged person's mind, and I did not like what I found there. It distressed and angered me so much that it drove me to tears and so I refuse to finish it. I cannot put myself through more of this work that is full to the brim with sexual abuse and trauma.

No means no.

For a book about gladiators, there was a pitiful amount of fighting and for a sci-fi there was no science. The only thing that kept me invested was the mystery of Amber's past, I had no wish to read about her sex life. Apparently Hassim is the only good man in the world for he is the only one who did not force himself on her. It is a shame that the world is fully inhabited by horny slut bags and that the only person I respected still thought he could cure rape trauma with sex.

Really thinking about it, this book had no substance at all. It really was all about sex and nothing else. Vapid and hallow I can only be glad that it won't stay with me.

The very first scene describes the main character being raped. In fact she is raped repeatedly much to my distress.

Does everything in this book have to revolve around sex? I thought this book was about a feirce gladiator, I'm disappointed.

The grammar is so terrible that it trips me up and hurts my head. It's as if there was no editor and she turned in a first draft.

The use of trauma and sex in this book is so viscerally sickening that it has driven me to tears. I recognize it is meant to be powerful and empowering but the author is deluded. Or perhaps it is my asexual sensibilities being wounded that makes my skin crawl and makes me gag and beg for it to stop.

No matter how kind, no matter the misguided intention, unwilling sex is still rape. No means no. It is not a source of healing to continue the cycle of abuse.

I was unable to finish reading this book. Even though I tried to approach it as a challenge I found it too sickening to carry on. What was written and the intention behind those words are so distant I can no longer cope with this self inflicted torture.

I stopped reading on page 168, chapter 11 and I refuse to go back to it.

At least reading about the author I feel justified in my disgust as she was apparently a very sick individual. Which probably goes a long way to explain the implication that rape turns you into a lesbian and that if the act is not violent than it is not rape.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun read. First-person, present-tense narrative, which is rare. Story was good, characters were interesting, but the ending felt like a fumble. All told, I’d give it a 7/10.

[Randy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is made of poor concepts tied together with broken strings creatively. A lousily written story about a woman who looses her memory due to a later revealed crash landing; she's actually an alien and leaves the planet in the end. The book pushes tolerance of sexuality, not just in the sense of gay rights but in having sex in general. All of the characters are poor role models who do nothing but roll around together. I would give less than 1/5 stars if it were possible.
It continues to get worse as the story progresses. The style is written in a very simplistic, almost poetic format where it puts very large emphasis on verbs. Ex. "White fire explodes around me. A blow splits my head. Heat. Pain. I gasp, suffocate for eternities, die. Rough hands suddenly on me. I am not dead." To me, Bradley's style is lacking in intelligence or experience and the plot lacking in wisdom or importance. The book holds no value in my eyes as a good representative of anything except just how easy it is to publish concepts near garbage.
It hypes you up for an adventure and gives you nothing but a boring, orgy journey through the desert and jungle to find women for a gladiator ring, who's names are never important or even mentioned, in the end for the entire plot to be meaningless and lead to nothing but her finally finding out her past - she's an alien in a swords guild from outer space and her sword family members are named after jewels. I'm unimpressed.

[Rusty]

The adventures of Zadieyek of Gyre is quite different from other MZB books I have read. A young woman has lost her memory, recalling only a brilliant white light. She is captured by bandits and sold into slavery where her fierce refusal to couple with men kills a man and earns her the right to enter the arena as a gladiator. She is such a successful fighter that an admiring noblewoman purchases her to begin her own gladiator team composed only of women. She searches the world for other women to fight for Ifania, the noblewoman, and her identity. As she does so she experiences only brief flashes of memory which mean nothing to her. In her adventures, she relies again and again on her ability to fight, one of which is to remember her name, Amber. In her last fight all becomes clear when she meets her opponent but to divulge her identity would be to remove incentive to read the novel. Good read!

[stormhawk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat simplistic fantasy tale, better than you would expect when you find out that this novel was essentially written as a parody of/response to John Norman's Gor novels. There are some thematic similarities between this book and Bradley's Darkover novels, which gives a bit of a twist on woman-as-slave. The writing style does seem to self-consciously mimic Norman's rather stilted style, but with far less definition of the world at large.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of this book was vaguely written - rather in mirroring Zadi's lack of memory. There was a little action in the arena - a little adventure - a little romance and rather blurred sexual scenes. I would not have minded if the book were longer or more detailed. Before reading this I had never heard of 'Gor ' novels. Likely for good reason as I like women to have a spine and personality.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tad predictable but very good quality as we have come to expect from anything by this author. Glad it was on my vacation reading stack!

[Fey Kanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great sapphic beach read.
I mean look st this cover!
It needs no more enticing review than this cover😁

[Javier A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not an unenjoyable book, however it's one with little strengths, which feels like a perfunctory effort despite that I know for fact that it was not.

One of my biggest issues with this book is the main character, Zadieyek of Gyre, who has little to no agency during the tale. She is harried about by other characters, who have much more personality than her, told what to do at all times, and largely keeps her thoughts and ideas to herself, and . Just about the only thing she does out of her own volition is enter the arena, avoid the affections of men, and decide to accept her new lot in life —the latter of which is quite swiftly undermined. This would not be an issue in a number of stories, but for a tale that pridefully names itself 'Warrior Woman' to have such a meek and inactive main character seems to me an error.

As for the rest of the characters, I do not have qualms with. They are well-characterized —some quite briefly, but effectively— and most are likeable.

The book does have bisexual characters, and presents them in a positive light, though I think lesbians were done a bit dirty in the book, for the people with inclinations towards both seek to 'show' them what they're missing out on and a character who I though lesbian turned out to have sworn an oath to not lay with men in particular.

The prose was at times moving, at times exciting, and a few times awfully dull, though it moves at a brisk pace so one is never bored for long.

Overall, I can't say I will be recommending this one in particular. Not only does Bradley's name carry a loathsome stigma, but there's content in here that's bound to trigger someone, and the tale was not refreshing nor exciting enough for it.

[James]

This is not a typical Marion Zimmer Bradley novel. This book is the result of a bet between Marion and Don Wollheim, her editor for the Darkover novels at DAW Books. In addition, it's her response to the Gor novels - where men were men and women were slaves - that were also being published by DAW Books. Yes, this book does start out with a heroine who has been captured and is being sold as a slave, who has amnesia and remembers nothing of her life before the trip across the desert with the slavers - and, due to a head injury, remembers mercifully little of that. But she does know that she would rather fight in the arena than be a harlot for the men who do, and that choice changes the rest of the book. In a Gor-style novel the woman would become less her own person, eventually learning to be a contented and obedient slave. In this book, even while the heroine, called Zadieyek of Gyre, remains a slave, she is something quite different from the typical 'slave girl' - she grows and develops, always searching for her memory and her past, convinced that this is not how her life is supposed to be. And, of course, she's right.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read somewhere that this book was the result of a challenge, a response to the Gor novels. If so it is a uninteresting response to an uninteresting series.

It leads with what amounts to a setting spoiler and then proceeds to drag Zadi through the stages of personal discovery towards that revelation. Only that the revelation itself isn't all that interesting. The journey to it is--she puzzles out her amnesic past through the clues in her own instinctive reaction to events--but that journey is cut off by a person showing up and saying "no here is what is going on and who you are", and that annoyingly discounts the journey and some of the values she establishes.

[Cory Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard one to review! I have to remind myself that it was published in 1985, and for that decade this was a daring book. Lesbian undertones throughout, progressive at the time but today would be considered tame. Also the fighting and dangers were more implied and not impending. At one point a band of female fighters take a city by force, the city just gives up with no fight. The ending fell short considering the entire book was building up to it. No clever plot twists, just a tale of female fighters and their feelings. Not a bad read though!

[Morgan Lindey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a ton of fun. I really enjoyed the gladiator parts and the traveling parts. i though the author did a great job of throwing a lot of content into a small book. it didn't feel rushed or weirdly timed. I was not a fan of the ending though, I thought it came out of no where and was kinda just tacked on and not explained well. I feel if she would have taken some time to explain more at the end it would have been better. I still enjoyed the book though.

[Mark Isaak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantasy adventure about women who choose or are forced to become gladiators. Lesbian themes are prominent and, except perhaps for their repetition, are well handled. The whole book, however--including plot, characters, and writing style--is rather shallow. A short, generally entertaining read, but likely to be disappointing if you are used to good to great authors.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wish I had known this book was written on a dare before I picked it up. I've heard good things about Marion Zimmer Bradley and this probably isn't an exemplary book of hers. It was readable, but repetitive, rushed, and the ending fell flat for me.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this several times as a tween and I really loved it. Also, this was one of the early books that actually starred a queer woman and portrayed her in a positive way. I still love remembering this novel.

[Kitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never gets old

I first read this about 20 years ago I still love it. If you want a a sword or science fiction story with lots of humor. Look no further.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich hab das Buch vor Jahren schon mal gelesen und jetzt noch mal meiner Mama aus dem Regal gemobst.
Es konnte mich einfach wieder genauso einfangen und bezaubern, wie beim ersten Mal.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read a lot of books written by MZB. This book was a pleasant easy read with an ending I did not anticipate.

[Becky Carr · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 enjoyable read- switched to the audiobook and really liked it

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I found the concept fascinating and I definitely didn't expect the twist ending. I think it was a great find from a used book sale. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy, especially about alternate worlds and different societies.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not all bad, but not all good either.

Parts of the story were far too sparse; in the initial portion this works fine as it reflects Zadieyek's amnesia and confusion. However, as the story progresses details of the arena and cities could have been more fleshed out to reflect her focus and growing clarity on what is happening at present around her.

[SBC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't put this down but by the time I got to the end I was rather disappointed with it. Zadieyek is found with amnesia in the desert, drugged, repetitively raped on the camel-trail, then ends up in the city to be sold as a whore, grabs a sword and so becomes a gladiator instead. She's afraid of men but willingly has several female lovers, among them Beizun, a fellow female gladiator and Ifania her eventual owner. Her first trainer, the black Hassim, is in love with her and treats her really well but has other lovers because she won't have him, though she gets jealous. Eventually she and Beizun go on a journey to find other female gladiators and she hopes to find out her past as her fighting style is like that of the woman warriors of Gyre. She is in love with Beizun, but Beizun also sleeps with men and eventually makes Zadi sleep with Kerrak at which Zadi hates herself for feeling pleasure and she just feels incredibly uneasy about sleeping with men. The big reveal is that Zadi is an alien, one of a group of "sword-sisters and -brothers" who have come to the planet (I think Darkover, since called A Darkover Novel) to try to understand the gladiator arenas. She gets her memory back and so has to go. Her real name is Amber, her sword-sisters Beryl and Emerald, her sword-brothers Jade, Ivory, and Agate. It's a collective martial-arms guild and I presume they must have been renamed when they joined it. The guild have a vow of chastity and are absolutely abhorred by the thought of being intimate with someone of the opposite sex - yet the women can have as many woman lovers as they want. The plot and characters were interesting but I didn't enjoy the uneasy atmosphere.

[Erin Reilly-Sanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a fan of Marion Zimmer Bradley, I picked up this older title at a used bookstore for pretty cheap, as paperbacks are half the original price. It's pretty short, but surprisingly graphic and sexual, in a rather painful way. It starts with repeated rapes of the main character, which are pretty vague, but maintains sexuality and healing as a major plot line throughout the book. I'm sort of a sucker for the captive gladiator who wins her freedom storyline, even going as far as to create a Dungeons and Dragons character along those lines in high school. However, the book is not Bradley's best stuff with a fun but somewhat "standard" plot twist at the end and not really enough time to really investigate the women characters who dominate the book. I would have also probably have liked more fighting scenes but really it was interesting and good for a quick summer read.

[Mothwing · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't remember this book so much as what it represents in my biography, so the star rating is based on nostalgia. I read this based on the recommendation of my best friend's mother as a quite gormless teenage girl of fourteen. I never saw the world with the same eyes again. Both the novel and the conversations about it with this amazing woman taught me a lot about consent, that sex is an activity that can be enjoyed between two or more people or not at all (and that both is ok!).

I remember not being very impressed with the amnesia plot point, and being confused by the setting, and hating the fact that the heroine's journey has to start out with rape, but being intrigued by this fighting lady regardless.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK. Trying to separate out my annoyance that it is listed as a Darkover novel, which it is not, from the actual content. She does explore a lot of the same themes that she hits in some of the Darkover novels I have read, a woman trying to find empowerment in a man's world, for example, but I missed the familiar setting. Even after getting over that, I don't feel like the setting for this novel was ever really fleshed out. It felt like just the skeleton of a place. I'll just leave it at OK.

[GONZA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing special, I found it used and as a long time fan from MZB I decided to give it a chance even if I read the blurb....A couple of hours of fun in a "John Carter" way. But Edgar Rice Burroghs was much better.

Niente di speciale, l'ho trovato usato su una bancarella, e siccome sono una grande fans di MZB ho deciso di dargli una chance, anche se la quarta di copertina era piuttosto chiara sul fatto che fosse un'idiozia. Un paio d'ore alla "John Carter", anche se l'autore di Tarzan era decisamente piú divertente.