Sword and Sorceress III

Sword and Sorceress #3

by Deborah Wheeler (Contributor), Jennifer Roberson (Contributor), Dana Kramer-Rolls (Contributor)

Book by

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Anthologies, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fiction, Sword and Sorcery, Magic

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

She has also published as Deborah J. Ross

Reviews

[Eliška · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Took me a long time to get into it, because the first story is long and plodding and poorly-written. I initially coveted this one because it has the very first appearance of Mercedes Lackey's Tarma and Kethry, who were my childhood favorite protagonists (and are still pretty high on the list). It's got some really excellent stories in it, but it also has more than a couple of duds, which seem to be front-loaded in the book - I didn't like many of the first stories, but all but one of the final seven were quite good. In my opinion, the ones worth another read are:

Valley of the Shadow, Jennifer Roberson
The Song and the Flute, Dorothy J. Heydt (a Cynthia story)
Fresh Blood, Polly B. Johnson - this was the first one to really hit me as a Good Story
The Mist on the Moor, Diana L. Paxson - a Shanna story, Bera's predecessor
A Woman's Privilege, Elisabeth Waters
Tupilak, Terry Tafoya
Sword Sworn, Mercedes Lackey (of course!)
S.A.R., Patricia B. Cirone
More's the Pity, L. D. Woeltjen
Marwe's Forest, Charles R. Saunders
The Hunters, Mavis J. Andrews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good collection! I adore this series. I remember being in elementary school and seeing a few volumes of S&S in the school library but feeling like it was too advanced for me (plus my very religious parents would have freaked). There's definitely a nostalgia factor! I am trying to read these in order whenever I get that hankering for some Sword and Sorcery so I can see the evolution of the series.

Summaries & thoughts for my reference:

Dragon-Amber by Deborah Wheeler - Forest mage Merren combats an evil sorcerer to save a prince who lost his memory and has a dragon companion.

Thoughts: I didn't really care for this one, it was kind of boring. Like a lot of these stories, there is a lot crammed into a few pages so it feels really rushed. One of those ones that seems like it should be a novel, not a short story. The magic was weird though, especially the sorcerer's magic; it was described a little awkwardly in my opinion.

Enter the Wolf by A.D. Overstreet - Megarin is part of a "Pack," a group of warriors that can shift into wolves. They used to be special warriors for the king, but he died or was overthrown or something and a guy named Gam took over. The pack has been mostly wiped out, because one of their own betrayed them and Gam and his army killed and raped most of them. The Wolf Mother, leader of the Pack, initiates Megarin and she gets powers. She sends her off to retrieve their crystal cup (a sacred item) from Gam and save the prince, who Gam has kidnapped. Megarin hangs out with some wolves in the forest and hunts with them. She finds Gam and sneaks into his stronghold, fights the one who betrayed the pack, but she's a better fighter and Megarin knows she isn't there to best her or to kill Gam, but to get the cup and the prince. With the help of the forest wolves she befriended, she does so. She vows to return to kill Gam and defeat the traitor.

Thoughts: This one was okay, I do like a good story about women and wolves. I liked Megarin's struggle to focus on her assigned task rather than get caught up in vengeance, and I thought it was a neat twist that the traitor was a better combatant than her. In other words, she's not a Mary Sue, but she still gets her job done.

Valley of the Shadow by Jennifer Roberson - A mysterious woman enters a tavern. A guy, Ugo, wants to sleep with her and she rejects him. There's trouble. She meets another man, Mattias, who isn't obnoxious and tries to be friendly with her. She asks him to go back to his room. He finds out she is an assassin and she doesn't have any morals about who she kills. He is also an assassin. She kills him, but when he asks who sent her and what they paid, she says no one did, she does it for herself.

Thoughts: I don't understand this one. The last line is, "he knew who she was at last." Who? That wasn't made clear to me. There weren't enough details. I missed whatever I was supposed to get from this.

The Song and the Flute [Cynthia] by Dorothy J. Heydt - Cynthia and two other people are in a boat. I think they just escaped from somewhere where war was happening. They pass a ship and are worried they will be attacked, but a siren lures the ship to its demise and Cynthia and her companions struggle against it.

Thoughts: I guess this was an homage to Greek mythology, especially around the siren (siren as in the original bird-woman, not a mermaid). I do like sirens but this was a little hard to follow and boring for me.

Journeytime by Dana Kramer-Rolls - A nun-mage named Ezme gets shipped off to the border where battles start happening. She's sent there because she isn't good with magic and mages are kind of just like priests/bureaucrats so she's really only there for appearances, and so the common people feel they are being heard by the government. During the skirmishes, she takes part, and begins to change from a snooty rich girl to an actual person with compassion. The temple where she was raised is destroyed and the female mages all raped; the guy who's attacking their county is a misogynist who dislikes their worship of both a male and female god, as he thinks they should only worship the male god. She sleeps with one of the soldiers who is also part mage, who she had originally looked down on because he wasn't as educated as her, and in doing so she gains control of magic. She decides not to be a snooty nun-mage anymore and instead wants to travel as a mage-soldier like him.

Thoughts: This was the first one of the stories I liked. Though it, too, could have been a novel, it didn't feel rushed like the other stories. The pacing was good, characterization was good, magic workings was fun. I like the male/female balance for magic and I liked how sexual intimacy played a part, but in a sincere way. Definitely liked the main character's growth; makes me want to see more of her!

Orpheus by Mary Frances Zambreno - Mercenary partners Jennet (The Berserker) and Sylvia (the werewolf) take a job from a woman who wants her husband brought back from the underworld (if I am understanding correctly, it's a Greek underworld). He will be brought back as kind of a zombie, but she doesn't mind apparently. The pair get past the Cerberus but the king of hell refuses to let them take the husband back with them, even though the wife is offering part of her life for it. Jennet bests him in combat and they take the husband back with them. Because they had so much trouble, they joke about castrating him so she can't use him for what they know she wants to use him for.

Thoughts: Didn't care for this one, too fast paced and kind of trips over itself. Felt trite to me.

Scarlet Eyes by Millea Kenin - A mage from the future escapes her bleak fate (getting married off or something) by transporting herself into the body of an ancestor. It turns out to be a man who protects and later marries a powerful and influential mage. They go to save the mage's father and some stuff happens, and she comes to terms with being in his body and being both her and him simultaneously. They rescue the father but one of them has to give up their sight; she offers, but the mage does it instead, which is hinted to alter the future horribly.

Thoughts: Too science-fiction-y for me. An interesting idea, but I felt like things weren't fleshed out enough. Like why Gar and Lysse are important, what they've done, etc. And how her being there is going to affect the future. I think it was hinting that Lysse goes blind and that's different from how things went according to history, but I didn't know for sure, so the ending didn't really have a big impact.

The River of Tears by Anodea Judith - Subhana is a healer in training and she's burnt out. She's worried about a dying patient and runs to her side, but while trying to heal her ends up in an in-between place and converses with death. It seems like she will die, but then she comes back and is considered a full-fledged healer since she met death and came back. She learns a lesson about over-extending herself.

Thoughts: I didn't really care for this one. It seems counter-intuitive for me that giving in to death wouldn't kill you.

Fresh Blood by Polly B. Johnson - Naila is the princess of an aztec-like society that sacrifices people to the Jaguar, their god. She is only princess as a formality, though - the priest and advisor actually run the kingdom and she is only expected to play her part for appearances. She questions their society, though, and when men from another kingdom are captured and kept in the dungeon, she gets her "slave" caretaker Maruha (who was taken from this other kingdom when she was enslaved) to take her to talk with the prisoners. Two of the prisoners are princes from the opposing kingdom. She talks with them and eventually rebels against the adviser and priest in order to stop the human sacrifices. She wants to adopt the other kingdom's god for some reason, even though it's patriarchal still. Anyway, she becomes queen in more than just show, and marries the younger brother to unite their kingdoms.

Thoughts: I really liked this one; my favorite in the book. I liked that it was based on a different culture than just standard European stuff. I also loved the ending, that Naila did not marry the older brother since that would make her subordinate to him and put her kingdom under his. Naila is a great character, always questioning and never settling.

The Mist on the Moor by Diana L. Paxson - Shanna is on a quest or something, like a revenge quest I think. The foreword said she'd been in stories in the first two volumes, too, so I guess this is an on-going adventure. In this, she gets caught up in a misty land, where she finds a house inhabited by two old people. The old woman allows her to stay and will heal her horse, whose leg is injured, if she completes certain tasks for her. She completes the tasks but each one seems to have a lesson ingrained in it. In the end, she discovers that this was a challenge set upon her by her goddess, to help her figure out her resolve.

Bargains by Elizabeth Moon - A woman and her friend enter a town and buy stuff. The woman buys herself a horse, and the friend buys some magical items. Shortly after they leave the town, a sound goes off and it causes the horse to flee; the women were set up by the merchants so they could be robbed. However, it turns out that the women were actually there to catch the merchants, and they set them up.

A Woman’s Privilege by Elisabeth Waters - Acila is the daughter of a lord, and knows magic for some reason. She can turn herself into animals. She discovers that some mercenaries joined up with some guy and killed her dad, and now they're here at his estate to take over. Acila devises a plan with her "simple" brother; she makes a deal with the guy, saying if he wins in a sword-fight against the mercenary who betrayed their father, he gets to walk away with some items (she can't get away because he wants to marry her) She creates a potion to turn herself into a sword, thinking she'll be able to help in the fight and then her brother just needs to throw her into water later and she'll change back. However, she loses consciousness, being a sword, and changes back just after her brother has won the fight; the blood counts as water I guess. The guy was a shape-changer, too, so he had thought she wouldn't be able to outsmart him, but he acknowledges the bargain and lets her leave with her brother, thought he is disappointed since they are both shape-changers.

Thoughts: I really liked this one! Acila was fun and I love a good deal/outsmarting story. I felt like this actually could have made a great basis for an erotic novel, given Lord Ranulf's interest in her and their shared ability to shape-change.

Talla by J. Edwin Andrews - Talla is a dragon mistress, a healer with a steep price. A man comes to her to save his companion/lover from poison, and she does, but the price is that he has to come work for her for like five years or something. The healing process temporarily melds her with the lover, so she develops and interest in him and wonders what might happen over the course of five years.

Thoughts: Liked this one well enough. Could be a good book!

Tupilak by Terry Tafoya - Based on eskimo mythology. A man is destined to become a shaman, and goes to another shaman for training. However, she killed his father, so he wants to kill her. She teaches him how to be a shaman, and he meets with his spirit animal or whatever, that tells him to kill her while she's making a tupilak because she will be vulnerable while she puts her life force into it. He does so, but part of her soul is left so she comes to him in the form of his spirit animal and kills him. Turns out she only killed his father because he wouldn't sleep with her, so that's disturbing.

Thoughts: Didn't care for this one. Too rushed and clunky. And I didn't really understand the ending; is she dead, and only in this form temporarily? Is her body dead? Is she dead? Not sure. Also I didn't like that she killed the guy's father because he wouldn't sleep with her.

Sword Sworn [Vows and Honor] by Mercedes Lackey - Tarma is part of a nomadic merchant clan that gets wiped out by an army of bandits. She is also raped, and left as the only survivor. She finds refuge in a related clan and they help her appeal to their gods to become "sword-sworn," a fully fledged warrior, so she can invoke a blood-feud against the bandits. She succeeds, and as she tracks the bandits over the course of a year she is trained nightly by the spirits of other sword-sworn. She tracks them to a village where she meets a mage named Kethry. Kethry is a mage but carries a sword; she is under a "geas" which forces her to help any woman in need. The sword activates when a woman is in mortal danger and makes her an expert swordsman, but only in that scenario. Anyway they join forces and over a period of time kill off all the bandits, making it looks like a series of accidents, until only three remain. Then they go in for the kill. Tarma is almost killed but Kethry, aided by the sword, saves her, and they become blood sisters.

Thoughts: I absolutely loved this one. I love the geas, I love the sisterhood. I think I saw some reviews mention these characters are in a book, so I definitely want to find and read whatever they star in.

A Tale from Hendry’s Mill by Melissa Carpenter - Roona is the daughter of a very successful mill-owner. Her family hears rumors about a demon wandering around raping and killing women in the area. Roona is kind of the black sheep of her family, not really taken seriously, naive, with a big imagination. She is visited by the demon, but he decides not to kill her, and instead wants her to tell everyone he's around so they get scared. Roona defiantly decides not to tell anyone, so when he shows up again no one knows who he is. He tells her family that they have to decide who will die; Roona says his name, so that he has to kill himself. Bested, he leaves, though it is not clear whether he has to actually make good and kill himself.

Thoughts: This one was okay. Interesting twist, even though I think the way Roona outsmarted him was a bit of a stretch. I love that she refused to tell anyone so his big dramatic plan was ruined.

S.A.R. by Patricia B. Cirone - A woman in presumably modern times is breaking into a house to steal something and is transported into another world. She helps a lady transport a baby into another country and dies in the process. She wakes up and someone tells her she has a special ability to jump between worlds. Too science fiction. Didn't care for this one.

More’s the Pity by L.D. Woeltjen - liked this one (Battle, is she his mother?)

Marwe’s Forest by Charles R. Saunders - liked this one (African-esque, with lesbians)

The Hunters by Mavis J. Andrews - short, it was okay (wolves)

Ran out of room so I can't summarize the last three :(

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

The more of these I read, the more it seems that Bradley had an entire ecosystem of writers that remained in her orbit for decades. Many had multiple contributions to the Sword and Sorceress series or other Bradley-edited collections and little elsewhere. Which is fine I guess but in many cases the stories were never collected elsewhere and promising characters never had further adventures.

It includes a number of high-fantasy-romantic-fantasy sort of pieces that all seem to play out the same way, with a POV character of competence and magical puissance staged in a way that success is certain. They're just not very interesting, and the collection leads off with two of them, which is disheartening.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

As problematic as MZB is, this specific book will always hold a special place in my heart, since it's the book that first introduced me to Mercedes Lackey and the joy of discovering new authors through anthologies. As a result, I have "met" so many amazing new (to me) authors. I looked forward to each new S&S book, always finding someone new to read more of.

[danica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dragon-Amber by Deborah Wheeler — ★★☆☆☆
Enter the Wolf by A.D. Overstreet — ★★☆☆☆
Valley of the Shadow by Jennifer Roberson — ★☆☆☆☆
Journeytime by Dana Kramer-Rolls — ★☆☆☆☆
Fresh Blood by Polly B. Johnson — ★★☆☆☆
The Mist on the Moor by Diana L. Paxson — ★★☆☆☆
Bargains by Elizabeth Moon — ★★★☆☆
A Woman's Privilege by Elisabeth Waters — ★★★★★
Marwe's Forest by Charles R. Saunders — ★★★★☆
The Hunters by Mavis J. Andrews — ★★★☆☆

[Craig Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any collection of short stories by different writers is likely to be a mix of hits and misses (though which ones are hits and which misses are likely to vary between readers.) This one is no exception, but it has enough good stuff to make it absolutely worth reading.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like other reviewers, I read this book solely for Mercedes Lackey's story Sword Sworn which is her first story about Kethry and Tamra. I enjoyed many of the other stories, too, although some were better than others (as is always the case with these types of anthologies).

[Anna Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great collection of stories about powerful women.

[Nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of Sword and Sorceress stories. I really enjoyed finding new authors to read. All also rather fast paced and exciting.

[Nibrock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good short stories. Liked some more than others. Loved the introduction!

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, but nothing really spectacular.

[Niniane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story "Fresh Blood" was incredible

[Wise_owl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've perhaps said this before, but anthologies are always a grabe-bag. Some good. Some Bad. Usually most contian a mixture of the good, the bad with occasional true stinkers or beautiful gems shining forth. Sword and Sorceresss 3 has far more gems than it does 'bad' stories. Indeed i"m not sure I'd call any of them bad, though some of them are more or less memorable.

This volume is fascinating for it's exposure of talent that was than new, but which went on to great prominent(Elizabeth Moon and more prominent Mercedes Lackey.) The later especially was one of the authors I hit on in my teenage years once alot of the 'classics' had been absorbed and the young adult fare of the time began to look tame.

I wont' go into the stories themeselves suffice to say that they were all decent reads, and none dragged, which is a blessing. It's interesting as well to see the transformation of the series. The self admitted emergence of tropes, the identification or rejection of those tropes. Bradley identifies the 'Rape and Revenge' motif that runs through so much of fiction and calls it out as terribly cliche. She also in this volume does osmething I like, which is reject the notion that the principal story that can or should be told about a 'female' character in a Fantasy genre is her over-coming sexism. That's certianly something I like seeing, but it's something we've seen dozens of times, and at a point it too becomes cliche. Bradley is right in that stories of the Female Warrior or Sorceress or whatever should be able to stand apart from her havin to convince everyone she can be what she is.

So yeah, from a historical point of view, interesting read. Just from an enjoyement point of view, a good book to take with you on the subway. You'll be able to finish alot of the stories in a single decent trip, or two at most. If you like good fantasy, or like seeing how the fantasy genre evolved over time, it's a good place to look.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dragon-Amber • (1986) • novelette by Deborah J. Ross [as by Deborah Wheeler ]
Enter the Wolf • (1986) • shortstory by A. D. Overstreet
Valley of the Shadow • (1986) • shortstory by Jennifer Roberson
The Song and the Flute • [Cynthia, Daughter of Euelpides] • (1986) • shortstory by Dorothy J. Heydt
Journeytime • (1986) • novelette by Dana Kramer-Rolls
Orpheus • (1986) • shortstory by Mary Frances Zambreno
Scarlet Eyes • (1986) • shortstory by Millea Kenin
The River of Tears • (1986) • shortstory by Anodea Judith
Fresh Blood • (1986) • novelette by Polly B. Johnson
The Mist on the Moor • [Shanna of Sharteyn] • (1986) • shortstory by Diana L. Paxson
♦Bargains by Elizabeth Moon RE-read 8/25/2015
A Woman's Privilege • (1986) • shortstory by Elisabeth Waters
Talla • (1986) • shortstory by J. Edwin Andrews
Tupilak • (1986) • shortstory by Terry Tafoya
Sword Sworn • [Vows and Honor] • (1986) • novelette by Mercedes Lackey (variant of Sword-Sworn)
A Tale from Hendry's Mill • (1986) • shortstory by Melissa Carpenter
S.A.R. • (1986) • shortstory by Patricia B. Cirone
More's the Pity • (1986) • shortstory by L. D. Woeltjen
Marwe's Forest • [Dossouye] • (1986) • shortstory by Charles R. Saunders
The Hunters • (1986) • shortstory by Mavis J. Andrews

[Nik · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of 20 short stories of women in fantasy settings (one more sci-fi than fantasy though) weither they be wielding a sword in battle or conjuring magic each has her own strength and character.
As each story is written by a different author there is a small introduction to each written by Marion, and a brief explanation as to why their story was chosen to be published in this edition.
I completed reading this over a long period of time, allowing myself to read other books in between short stories or groups of short stories.
Each story deserves its own rating as some were brilliant and some not so good, but they were all entertaining and those I didn't like were over soon enough.
If you want to know about an individual story I wrote a little about each one as I read in my status updates.

[Marco · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very interested to learn more about the feminist fantasy movement. I discovered the existence and the historical importance of this movement only recently, even if I grew up reading novels of Marion Zimmer Bradley and Jennifer Robertson. This anthology of short stories is a good introduction. It is rather interesting that all the main authors belonging to this movement lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and I find rather intriguing to be living where my favorite childhood authors wrote the stories that kept me enthralled as a child. As a grown up I can now appreciate the courage of some of the plots, how the movement revolutionize a sexist and macho-oriented genre and helped bring forward the image of modern women, free to express themselves and pursue their dreams.

[Toni Zavadil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually recently got vol. I but this wouldn't let me choose that one so... There is also a volume entitled Sword and Sorceress without a number that is different. Marion edited the first of these up until the late teens or early twenties volumes when Elizabeth who worked with her took over when Marion became ill and eventually passed on. These are available, some with different covers so beware when collecting. As a fan of Sci Fi/Fantasy and short stories it is great to discover authors you like and find them in the other collections.

[Geoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this by way of the Introduction to Mercedes Lackey's 'The Oathbound'. And I dislike starting a story in the middle; I want to read 'Sword Sworn' which is the prologue to this first book of the Vows and Honor trilogy.

[Maree]

This book contains a short story by Mercedes Lackey called "Sword Sworn" which tells the sotry of hoow Kethry and Tarma of the Oathbreakers duology met. I've been meaning to read this book for years.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few more stories in this one were enjoyable and interesting. Enough to continue to next book.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

this had the best story from all of the anthologies. this had the first tarma and kethry story