Customer Reviews

Sword and Sorceress XVI

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The "Sword And Sorceress" series is a series of collections of short stories set in the "sword and sorcery" genre, but with all female protagonists. Marion Zimmer Bradley always explains, in her introductions, that she began the series because in traditional "sword and sorcery", female characters wer relegated to the role of "bad conduct prizes" for the (male) protagonists.

It's a fine series, and this is one of the better books in the series. Number 15 is still my favorite, but this one is in the top three, possibly second-best. There's a nice mix of continuing adventures of characters we've seen in earlier volumes and totally new stories. I didn't care at all for "A Sister's Blood", by Patricia B. Cirone, but that was essentially because I didn't care for the conclusion it reached. I will, however, concede that it was well-written, and could be the catalyst for an interesting discussion or two with someone who disagreed with me. "Moonlight On The Water", by Carol E. Leever, was excellent, as were "The Wishing Stones", by Lisa S. Silverthorne, and "A Fool's Game", by Selina Rosen. "The Anvil Of Her Pride", by Lawrence Schimel, was a bit predictable, but good nonetheless, and "The Day They Ran Out Of Princesses", by Gail Sosinsky Wickman, was just plain fun.

Okay, this book is set up just like all the others in the Sword & Sorceress series. However, this one seems to be one of the better ones of the series. Marion Zimmer Bradley seems to know what her readers/fans like to read. Excellent stories!

There are 26 short stories in this 16th addition to the female-oriented fantasy anthology, Sword & Sorceress, as summarized below:

A Japanese woman encounters a turtle-like creature whose fate is in her hands when she accidentally injures it in Fujiko's "The Kappa's Gift". >> A mythical room known as "The Changeless Room" (by Charlotte Carlson) materializes in a young girl's family cellar one day. Marion considers this one horror, but I don't. It's not very scary, just confusing. >> "Isabelle and the Siren" by Mary Catelli -- A woman with acute depression avoids the fatal song of a siren, though the townsfolk aren't as lucky. People with depression can probably relate to this one. >> "Dragon's Tear" by Sonya Fedotowsky -- An elf and her three companions travel to a dragon's cave in search of a jewel that will save her island. A good one. >> "A Sister's Blood" by Patricia B. Cirone -- Confined in a dungeon, two sisters--one a swordswoman, the other a sorceress--try to find a way out of their prison cell. >> "Changed" by Lisa Deason -- A woman visits a magician, known as the Collector, who shapeshifts her--as well as others--into half-human/half-animal creatures, then keeps them as caged circus freaks. Vaguely reminded me of Peter S. Beagle's "The Last Unicorn". >> A ruthless king demands a sorceress to help him attain "The Power to Change the Shape of the Land" in Dayle A. Dermatis' story. The ending was a bit unfinished. Not bad though. >> "The Frog Prince" by Linda J. Dunn -- A princess is forced to kiss frog after frog in a king's attempt to find his shapeshifting son. A unique twist on the same-named fable. >> "Honey From the Rock" by Dorothy J. Heydt -- A sorceress tries to heal a dying Greek goddess, Artemis.

"The Will of the Wind" by Christina Krueger -- A teacher ignores the regulations and traditions of her school in order to initiate one of her talented students into the Priesthood. Bittersweet ending. >> A martial arts student is asked to judge a kata contest in Carol E. Leever's "Moonlight on Water". Cat & martial arts lovers should like this one. >> "Nine Springs" by Kathleen M. Massie-Ferch -- A warrior searches for a sacred spring that will heal her dying friend. Another good one. >> This poetic story deals with the reincarnation of a "Mistweaver" (by Terry McGarry). >> "Waking the Stone Maiden" by Cynthia McQuillin -- A young woman searches for the Stone Maiden. Another good one. >> "City of No-Sleep" by Vera Nazarian -- A city is transformed every night when the king falls asleep. Imaginative setting. >> "Daughter of the Bear" by Diana Paxson -- When a woman is blamed for killing a man, she calls on a Viking bear god to prove her innocence. >> "The Wishing Stones" by Lisa S. Silverthorne -- A captured sorceress plots her freedom through three little wishing stones. Nice & short. >> "A Fool's Game" by Selina Rosen -- A woman seeks the teachings of a legendary swordswoman. Good lesson on life in general.

"The Anvil of Her Pride" by Lawrence Schimel -- A swordsmith's profession proves to be the demise of the man she loves. >> "The Dancing Men of Ballyben" by Laura J. Underwood -- A mageborn woman attempts to rescue a young man who's been transformed into stone during the day. >> "Salt & Sorcery" by Elisabeth Waters & Michael Spence differs from the others, in that it's more of a present-day story set on a college campus. Some spellwork/magic. >> "Weaving Spells" by Lawrence Watt-Evans -- A woman searches for her missing fiancee in a wizard's castle. >> "Enaree: An Azkhantian Tale" by Deborah Wheeler -- A woman tires to break her traditional role in this desert setting. >> "The Day They Ran Out of Princesses" by Gail Sosinsky Wickman -- A servant is ennobled as a princess in order to sacrifice her to a tyrannical winged slug. (laughing) Yes, a flying slug. :) Glad we don't have those in the Northwest. >> "Taking Flight" by Susan Wolven -- A woman's sister's hawk returns with a message for her. >> Katherine L. Rogers' "The Vision That Appeared" I had to read twice, even though it was, like, 2 pages. It's about a woman who attempts an old family spell. Not a terrific ending to this book, but it'll do.

As with most short story anthologies, this collection has a mixture of excellent stories, mediocre ones, and ones that are easily forgotten by the next page. But what probably bugged me the most in this book was how Marion had to give her two cents in every author bio. Still, fans of fantasy should like this series, not just feminists/women readers, though it tends to attract a female audience.

Maybe I've read one too many similar short stories lately, or maybe everything's lagging with Y2K on the horizon, but S&S16 was a fine, comfy book with a few fun pieces, a few stories that were eh, one or two polite chuckles, and a couple of oh neat tales. "The Dancing Men of Ballyben" was a fun romp in Keltora, and Cynthia makes an appearance by renaming the Greek gods, and there's a highly unusual contemporary piece ("Salt & Sorcery") that would normally appear in her magazine but somehow found its way into the anthology. The focus seems to be shifting from Celtic Medieval to Oriental Medieval as "Moonlight on Water" and the one about the K-- creature with the bowlshaped head prove. All in all, number 16 isn't too bad, but there isn't quite the thrill some of the stories in numbers 9-12ish. The wonder just isn't there anymore. Authors are routinalizing their own worlds. Readers...demand greater!

As usual MZB came out with another enjoyable collection of Sword & Sorceress. # 16 isn't quite as good as 8 or 9, my favorites, but it's still great fun. My favorite story in this volume is Choices by Lisa Deason, a really original take on shapeshifting that entertained me and made me think. Also worthy of special mention are Moonlight on Water by Carol Leever and Enaree by Deborah Wheeler--it's refreshing to read great fantasy stories based on ethnicities other than Western European. The only reason I'm not giving this anthology five stars is because of the sprinkling of mediocre, highly forgettable stories in among the gems--so forgettable I've already forgotten what they were called. There's nothing truly bad here, however, and this is a very solid entry in the series.

Okay, this book is set up just like all the others in the Sword & Sorceress series. However, this one seems to be one of the better ones of the series. Marion Zimmer Bradley seems to know what her readers/fans like to read. Excellent stories!

Our of 26 stories in this, the 16th of the Sword & Sorceress series, I can only say that 6 of them really impressed me. Impressing me means that the characters were interesting and I wanted to keep reading. It also means that these six were stories that I could understand the first time through and which I could enjoy and relax with. Yes, sometimes it is good to have something to think over and chew on but sometimes I just want a good story. There are several stories in this collection that if the characters had been more appealing I could chew over and enjoy but frankly I was disappointed this time around by the types of stories and the writing.

Yup, it's me again... What can I say, THIS BOOK DID NOT LIVE UP TO MY EXPECTATIONS. I am VERY DISAPPOINTED, Marion! :^(