Greyhaven: An Anthology of Fantasy

by Marion Zimmer Bradley (Editor / Contributor), Robert A. Cook (Contributor), Randall Garrett (Contributor)

Somewhere in Northern California there is a house where all the dimensions of time and space and distant worlds come together: This house, whose exact location is known to a very special few, is called Greyhaven..it is the spiritual home of an ever-growing 'family' of imaginative writers. Diana Paxson, Paul Edwin Zimmer, Susan Schwartz, Elisabeth Waters, Randall Garrett, Patricia Mathews, and a host of others are part of this high-fantasy circle. Let Marion Bradley guide you through its rooms, help you join in spirit the amazing group of world-builders, and feed your appetite on the stunning products of their Darkover-born imaginations. 'Greyhaven' is a fantasy anthology unlike any other!

Impressions of House Greyhaven • interior artwork by Diana L. Paxson
Greyhaven: Writers at Work • essay by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Kindred of the Wind • story by Diana L. Paxson
They Come and Go • story by Joel Hagen
Cat Tale • novelette by Vicki Ann Heydron
Bedtime Story • story by Anodea Judith
Wrong Number • short fiction by James Ian Elliot
The Bardic Revel • essay by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Serpent's Lullabye • poem by Diana L. Paxson
Morning Song • poem by Robert A. Cook
The Berserk and the Bear's Sark • poem by Diana L. Paxson
Sad Memories • poem by Fiona Lynn Zimmer
Reflections from a Hill • poem by Ian M. Studebaker
Tell Me a Story • story by Elisabeth Waters
Just Another Vampire Story • story by Randall Garrett
Wildwood • story by Adrienne Martine-Barnes
The Tax Collector • story by Phillip Wayne
The Woodcarver's Son • story by Robert A. Cook
The Incompetent Magician • novelette by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Cantabile • story by Jon DeCles
Dagger Spring • story by Susan Shwartz
Lariven • story by Patricia Shaw Mathews
The Ring • story by Caradoc A. Cador
The Hand of Tyr • story by Paul Edwin Zimmer

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Anthologies, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

240 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 5, 1983

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

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this way back in my early MZB reading tween years and don't remember any of the stories except that one featured Lythande, a character of MZB's who appears in some other stories of hers.

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this book ages ago on the strength of it being edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley, one of my favorite authors back when this book was published in 1983. "Greyhaven" is one of the homes that MZB lived in, and "the spiritual home" to a community of writers, friends and family of the author who write speculative fiction. The publisher even grandiosely compared them to the Bloomsbury group of Virginia Woolf. No, just no. A really fine short story is as memorable or more than any novel. I recently reread an anthology of shorts by Isaac Asimov which I hadn't read in decades. I remembered most stories just from their titles, and the rest within paragraphs. These weren't memorable at all, and on reacquaintance a large number struck me as amateurish to undistinguished--the kind of stories I can't see as published professionally had the writers not been connected to a bestselling writer.

"They Come and Go" and "Wrong Number" inspired only a huh??? and many of the stories struck me as weak. In particular Anodea Judith's "Bedtime Story" She also provided the weakest story in the first Sword and Sorceress anthology, otherwise a collection much, much stronger than this anthology. There was only one story I can say I truly enjoyed, Vicki Ann Heydron's "Cat Tale" about a woman transformed into a puma. That was light-hearted and fun with enough vivid details and strong storytelling to really put me into the story. Too many of the other stories struck me as, oh RenFaire, Pagan clap trap, including one that took seriously the efficacy of human sacrifice. Even Marion Zimmer Bradley's own contribution wasn't one I cared much for--her Lythande story titled "The Incompetent Magician" which can also be found in the anthology Lythande collecting stories with that character. Besides MZB, the only names here I think fantasy readers will likely recognize are Randall Garrett (Heydron's husband) and Diana L. Paxson--I admit not a favorite author of mine and I didn't find her contribution, "Kindred of the Wind" very striking. I (mildly) liked Garrett's contribution, "Just Another Vampire Story" which I found aptly named. Just don't see this collection as a keeper.

[Todd R · Rating 1 out of 5]

Easily one of the worst anthologies I have ever read. One or two of the stories were well written, possibly one I liked. The feel of this book is as a bardic circle - sharing stories with friends in an informal manner - unfortunately these stories are mostly amateur in affect.
There are a few well known authors presented in this one - but the tales told are early works and just not good.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another interesting anthology of short stories collected by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I always enjoy her introductions to each story that reveal excellent tidbits and, particularly in this collection, her personal connections to each writer.

[Gmc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greyhaven by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Diana L. Paxson, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Paul Edwin Zimmer, Susan Scwartz, Elizabeth Waters, Randall Garrett, Patricia Mathews, Joel Hagan, Vicki Ann Heydron, James Ian Elliot. A great anthology well worth reading:)(5*****)

The Kindred of the Wind by Diana L. Paxson
They Come and Go by Joel Hagan
Cat Tale by Vicki Ann Heydron
Bedtime Story by Anodea Judith
Wrong Number by James Ian Elliot
Tell Me a Story by Elisabeth Waters
Just Another Vampire Story by Randall Garrett
Wildwood by Adrienne Martine Barnes
The Tax Collector by Phillip Wayne
The Woodcarver's Son by Robert Cook
Cantabile by Jon de Cles
Dagger Spring by Susan Schwartz
Lariven by Patricia Shaw Mathews
The Ring by Caradoc A. Cador
The Hand of Tyr by Paul Edwin Zimmer.

[Kalessin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessant. Nicht alle Geschichten haben mir gefallen, aber es waren einige sehr schöne dabei. Manchmal merkt man allerdings, dass dieses Buch schon von 1983 ist - wenn einem in der Einleitung eine ungewöhnliche Wendung versprochen wird und man diese Art 'ungewöhnliche' Wendung schon dutzende Male in anderen Geschichten gesehen hat.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has been on my shelves for decades. I finally decided to read it and send it on its merry way. I'd only heard of a couple of the authors, so assume success didn't happen for the others. Most of the stories were enjoyable but forgettable, but I did very much like Cat Tale by Vicki Ann Heydron. One treasure in an anthology like this isn't bad.