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Darkover (Publication Order) #20
Free Amazons of Darkover
There is moderate shelf, creases on the side of cover. Has some stains on the bottom edges and the inside cover pages have turned brown from age. This is a first edition 1985.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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701 people want to read
About the author
Marion Zimmer Bradley
800 books4,881 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fan fiction and reprinted some of it in commercial Darkover anthologies, continuing to encourage submissions from unpublished authors, but this ended after a dispute with a fan over an unpublished Darkover novel of Bradley's that had similarities to some of the fan's stories.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 - 21 of 21 reviews
May 24, 2013
The collection gives some background on the Amazons of Darkover, including an explanation of the oath. Bradley’s story “The Legend of Lady Bruna” has a wonderful framing device and includes Magda. Her “Knives” is a dark story but looks at the meaning of the oath. “Cast off Your Chains” by Margaret Silveslri looks more closely at the Dry Towns women. It offers a rather historically reverent view from a Terran.
“The Open Door” is perhaps the weakest story because it is the most symbolic. Mercedes Lackey’s story “A Different Kind of Courage” might be the best one simply because it stays true to its title. It actually takes a closer look at how the Amazons might actually think of themselves.
“The Open Door” is perhaps the weakest story because it is the most symbolic. Mercedes Lackey’s story “A Different Kind of Courage” might be the best one simply because it stays true to its title. It actually takes a closer look at how the Amazons might actually think of themselves.
January 24, 2018
I have loved this world that Marion Zimmerman Bradley wrote about in the dark over series and most especially the Amazons. These women helped explain much of the exploitation that we experience in real life and provided some level of catarsis smoothie stories.
Read
February 22, 2020Yo Estefanía y lee Amazonas libre
January 1, 2018
I'll admit it: I'm not one of those readers that was particularly thrilled by the turn toward tales of the Renunciates in the Darkover series in the mid-1980s. Part of that was that I was a young teenage male with little life experience...I just didn't see the kind of systemic discrimination that so many women felt (and continue to feel) in my particular corner of American society. But part of it was also that I didn't think the story-telling was very well-done, nor were the plots very interesting. With the death of Jaelle in _City of Sorcery_, too, I was even less interested in the characters than I had been (her appeal being:: a Renunciate who married that idiot Peter Haldane and went to live with the Terrans? How intriguing!). So I entirely skipped this volume at the time. In some ways I think my opinion is still justified. So many of the plots revolve around the convergence of two factors: liberation (which I can totally get behind, but reading 18 of them in a row the theme begins to get a little tedious) and some strange form of reactionary imaginary that, in effect, argues that women would have had it better in a medieval, nontechnological society (which I don't for one minute believe; true, ALL social roles from the "modern" point of view _might_ have been more fluid and open to negotiation...but men still would have held the power and I don't for one second believe that a patriarchal society would have allowed anything like the Renunciates to hold the status of a Guild in their society; the revolutionary potential is too apparent to ignore).
Also, many of the stories in this collection suffer from their amateur origins. Bradley is to be applauded for offering a high-profile market for inexperienced writers, but even assuming she picked the most polished pieces for each collection, the ham-fistedness of plotting, characterization, and other elements tends to bring down the overall quality of the collection. Of note in this regard, however, is a very early story by a still amateur Mercedes Lackey which might be of interest to her fans (though to few others; the story itself is unexceptional). Because I was never much interested in the medieval trappings of much of the non-Terran Darkover stories, I think many of the tales presented here are kind of tedious and uninteresting. Having said that, however, there are a few stories toward the end that make this collection something I will keep on my shelves: Susan Holtzer's "The Camel's Nose" is the highlight of the book for showing the possible effects of introducing bicycles into Darkovan society (the story idea is one of the more original I've read); Patricia Shaw-Mathews's "Girls will be Girls" is entertaining and liberatory in a somewhat different way than the usual Free Amazon story (although also somewhat unbelievable: Terran Intelligence would value three riotous adolescent Amazons _for_ their tendency to ignore orders, lack discipline, and play pranks? On _DARKOVER_? I don't think so); and Susan Schwartz's "Growing Pains" is notable for telling a story that Bradley never did (or at least, not explicitly and not well in her added "Prologue" to _The Bloody Sun_), relating as it does the linkages between the Margali/Jaelle stories and the Forbidden Tower stories and relating the ultimate tragic end to the most revolutionary social movement Darkover ever saw (as well as providing an alternate ending to Margali's story).
Also, many of the stories in this collection suffer from their amateur origins. Bradley is to be applauded for offering a high-profile market for inexperienced writers, but even assuming she picked the most polished pieces for each collection, the ham-fistedness of plotting, characterization, and other elements tends to bring down the overall quality of the collection. Of note in this regard, however, is a very early story by a still amateur Mercedes Lackey which might be of interest to her fans (though to few others; the story itself is unexceptional). Because I was never much interested in the medieval trappings of much of the non-Terran Darkover stories, I think many of the tales presented here are kind of tedious and uninteresting. Having said that, however, there are a few stories toward the end that make this collection something I will keep on my shelves: Susan Holtzer's "The Camel's Nose" is the highlight of the book for showing the possible effects of introducing bicycles into Darkovan society (the story idea is one of the more original I've read); Patricia Shaw-Mathews's "Girls will be Girls" is entertaining and liberatory in a somewhat different way than the usual Free Amazon story (although also somewhat unbelievable: Terran Intelligence would value three riotous adolescent Amazons _for_ their tendency to ignore orders, lack discipline, and play pranks? On _DARKOVER_? I don't think so); and Susan Schwartz's "Growing Pains" is notable for telling a story that Bradley never did (or at least, not explicitly and not well in her added "Prologue" to _The Bloody Sun_), relating as it does the linkages between the Margali/Jaelle stories and the Forbidden Tower stories and relating the ultimate tragic end to the most revolutionary social movement Darkover ever saw (as well as providing an alternate ending to Margali's story).
November 20, 2025
Marion Zimmer Bradley, and her literary work, must be viewed through two, often competing, lenses.
First, she was writing stories with strong, relatable female protagonists battling male oppression at a time when very few other authors were prepared to do so. Many modern readers cannot conceive of a time when women were not allowed to have a credit card in their own name, which was but one of the policies Bradley was dealing with in her time. She was a feminist long before it became fashionable. She was one of a very few voices that spoke powerfully to young women about their own worth. Much of her writing, read today, can be seen as trite, obvious, or overbearing, but it must be remembered that it was none of those things at the time it was written. This was a woman who co-founded, and named, the Society for Creative Anachronism, who championed pagan rights when the mainstream saw them as satanic, and who encouraged and published unknown female authors like Mercedes Lackey. Viewed through this lens, Bradley was a progressive woman to be lauded, as she was, posthumously, when she received the World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement in 2000.
Second, and hideously, Bradley was a pedophile, who molested her own children. She also procured and groomed children for her husband, Walter Breen, to assault. She admitted to knowing what he was doing to these children, but refused to stop helping him, much less report him or interfere with his desires. Her own daughter was her accuser, so we can be assured this is not a "he said, she said" situation. Viewed through this lens, then, her life and work become irredeemably tainted.
We are, perhaps, used to evaluating art for art's sake, commenting on Ender's Game, or Harry Potter, as though their authors' views, hateful as they are, should not condemn the output of their minds and hands. Perhaps we are right to do so; after all, these views are only beliefs and words, no matter how widespread a bully pulpit their famous speakers are able to command. However, when beliefs and words turn into actions, we must draw the line. Since 2014, when definitive proof finally came to light, I have found myself unable to recommend anything written by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I remain so appalled by her actions that I can never give more than one star to anything she has written, no matter how groundbreaking, how heartfelt, how astounding it may be. I urge everyone reading this to join me in boycotting her work forever.
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* (extremely rare) There is something very wrong with this book &/or this author; never again.
** (seldom) Has flaws, or I just couldn’t get into it; no thanks.
*** (usual) Not great, not bad; no need to return to it.
**** (often) Better than average; I’d read it again.
***** (rare) A superb example of the genre, &/or an incredible piece of art; I re-read it often.
First, she was writing stories with strong, relatable female protagonists battling male oppression at a time when very few other authors were prepared to do so. Many modern readers cannot conceive of a time when women were not allowed to have a credit card in their own name, which was but one of the policies Bradley was dealing with in her time. She was a feminist long before it became fashionable. She was one of a very few voices that spoke powerfully to young women about their own worth. Much of her writing, read today, can be seen as trite, obvious, or overbearing, but it must be remembered that it was none of those things at the time it was written. This was a woman who co-founded, and named, the Society for Creative Anachronism, who championed pagan rights when the mainstream saw them as satanic, and who encouraged and published unknown female authors like Mercedes Lackey. Viewed through this lens, Bradley was a progressive woman to be lauded, as she was, posthumously, when she received the World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement in 2000.
Second, and hideously, Bradley was a pedophile, who molested her own children. She also procured and groomed children for her husband, Walter Breen, to assault. She admitted to knowing what he was doing to these children, but refused to stop helping him, much less report him or interfere with his desires. Her own daughter was her accuser, so we can be assured this is not a "he said, she said" situation. Viewed through this lens, then, her life and work become irredeemably tainted.
We are, perhaps, used to evaluating art for art's sake, commenting on Ender's Game, or Harry Potter, as though their authors' views, hateful as they are, should not condemn the output of their minds and hands. Perhaps we are right to do so; after all, these views are only beliefs and words, no matter how widespread a bully pulpit their famous speakers are able to command. However, when beliefs and words turn into actions, we must draw the line. Since 2014, when definitive proof finally came to light, I have found myself unable to recommend anything written by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I remain so appalled by her actions that I can never give more than one star to anything she has written, no matter how groundbreaking, how heartfelt, how astounding it may be. I urge everyone reading this to join me in boycotting her work forever.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* (extremely rare) There is something very wrong with this book &/or this author; never again.
** (seldom) Has flaws, or I just couldn’t get into it; no thanks.
*** (usual) Not great, not bad; no need to return to it.
**** (often) Better than average; I’d read it again.
***** (rare) A superb example of the genre, &/or an incredible piece of art; I re-read it often.
April 5, 2020
Quel dommage que la fin de la dernière nouvelle soit si déprimante d'un point de vue lesbien féministe sinon j'aurais mis cinq étoiles. L'univers des Amazones Libres ou Renonçantes est passionnant et les relations entre les femmes intéressantes. Mais mon coeur de lesbienne se brise face à la chétivité de ses espoirs de vie gynocentrées où le lesbianisme est toujours vu avec méfiance et où les hommes gagnent encore trop. Néanmoins, je lirai tous les autres tomes du cycles des Amazones, il y a des passages tellement intenses et je réécrirai les fins, comme toutes les lesbiennes !
July 7, 2025
Once upon a time I liked Marion Zimmer Bradley...until I found out she was a pedophile. Now I can never look at her work the same way without that haunting me. There are some things about an author I can ignore while reading - but that is not one of them.
July 11, 2020
Terrific gathering of stories written in MZB's Darkover world. So many talented writers and views on her Free Amazon's.
Want to read
January 24, 2024A
June 23, 2024
I love these stories.
Read
August 29, 2014I was going to include a table of contents, but others already have. I'll just point out that the Walter Breen who analyzes the Oath was Bradley's husband.
One measure of how successful an author's world-building is is how readers become co-creators, writing their own commentary and divergent views of the world. This was true of the Witch World, and it's also true of Darkover. Not all of the writers here agree with Bradley. Bradley herself often embodied different viewpoints from the perspective of different characters, or of characters questioning axioms in crisis times.
One point I would make: at one point Regis Hastur argues that the Darkovans are not violent people, and therefore they don't have wars. I would argue the reverse: that the Darkovans ARE violent people--and therefore they don't have wars. Warfare, as Richard Leakey once pointed out, is a COOPERATIVE act. Even before the Compact, Darkovans had difficulty mobilizing armies, because the people were too individualistic, and it was very difficult to get them to sublimate personal feuds in search of collective goals. Alliances were rare, and transient.
In a sense, the Compact reinforced this 'fortress household' mentality, by making it a matter of direct, personal involvement to kill someone. It would be interesting to consider whether poisoning was ever part of Darkovan politics. It's jokingly suggested at one point, but not as an act of Darkovans. One would like to think that such things would induce the same horror as the general disgust expressed over things like bonewater dust and clingfire--but interpersonal poisoning is rarely even mentioned, so it's hard to tell.
The Free Amazons form a collectivist society. Though most of them are NOT warriors (note that the origin of the term Amazon is 'breastless', because the Greeks claimed that the Amazons amputated one breast so they could fire bows more effectively on horseback. I've never tried it on horseback, but I can't say I ever found breasts much of a hindrance in archery--but anyway, the Darkovans have (mostly) not gone that far), the Free Amazons are required to be skilled at armed and unarmed combat. If anything were to prevent them from becoming the nucleus of an army, it would be a change from elected to appointed leaders--so it would be worth considering if this had ever been suggested--and with what results. Apparently they DIDN'T form an army, so if the attempt was made, it failed.
Several of these stories are only tangentially about the Free Amazons, and are really only a corrective to the 'another planet without women' tendency. Bradley wasn't extremely subject to such womanless worlds even at the start, but there was a tendency to form all-male enclaves, at least at first.
Bradley's editorial comments tend to be defensive. She argues at one point that Darkovan society 'works' as a technophobic and libertarian society, even though that's alien to her own ethos. It doesn't, of course. The tragedies that too many people become Free Amazons to escape are in many ways a microcosm of the general societies' problems, which result in frequent upheavals and dissolutions. Far from being a stable society 'disrupted' by the arrival of the Terrans, Darkovan societies were always at BEST barely squeaking by.
One point that's apparently bothered a lot of people is the notion of the banshee birds as mindless, ravenous predators. There are several stories in this book that comment on and question that view. They don't necessarily succeed in questioning the absurd notion that a creature that large could be 'mindless' and 'acting on instinct alone', but they do at least manage to question the 'ravenous' part. I've repeatedly pointed out that any creature that behaved the way the banshees are rumored to behave would starve to DEATH in very short order. This is true of all creatures larger than a penny piece, in any environment. There's simply no way they could absorb enough nutrient to offset the energy they waste in such profligate behavior. This is especially true for creatures that live in very cold, nearly sterile environments. The stories in this book are a partial corrective for this nonsense--but until or unless the argument is more thoroughly critiqued, and the case is made that they COULDN'T be as stupid as they're presented and still survive, they remain
fairy-tale ogres, not believable as real animals.
Note on title: there are at least two anthologies about the Comi'i Letzi'i. This is the one I have, but I have yet to acquire the other, which is entitled Renunciates of Darkover.
One measure of how successful an author's world-building is is how readers become co-creators, writing their own commentary and divergent views of the world. This was true of the Witch World, and it's also true of Darkover. Not all of the writers here agree with Bradley. Bradley herself often embodied different viewpoints from the perspective of different characters, or of characters questioning axioms in crisis times.
One point I would make: at one point Regis Hastur argues that the Darkovans are not violent people, and therefore they don't have wars. I would argue the reverse: that the Darkovans ARE violent people--and therefore they don't have wars. Warfare, as Richard Leakey once pointed out, is a COOPERATIVE act. Even before the Compact, Darkovans had difficulty mobilizing armies, because the people were too individualistic, and it was very difficult to get them to sublimate personal feuds in search of collective goals. Alliances were rare, and transient.
In a sense, the Compact reinforced this 'fortress household' mentality, by making it a matter of direct, personal involvement to kill someone. It would be interesting to consider whether poisoning was ever part of Darkovan politics. It's jokingly suggested at one point, but not as an act of Darkovans. One would like to think that such things would induce the same horror as the general disgust expressed over things like bonewater dust and clingfire--but interpersonal poisoning is rarely even mentioned, so it's hard to tell.
The Free Amazons form a collectivist society. Though most of them are NOT warriors (note that the origin of the term Amazon is 'breastless', because the Greeks claimed that the Amazons amputated one breast so they could fire bows more effectively on horseback. I've never tried it on horseback, but I can't say I ever found breasts much of a hindrance in archery--but anyway, the Darkovans have (mostly) not gone that far), the Free Amazons are required to be skilled at armed and unarmed combat. If anything were to prevent them from becoming the nucleus of an army, it would be a change from elected to appointed leaders--so it would be worth considering if this had ever been suggested--and with what results. Apparently they DIDN'T form an army, so if the attempt was made, it failed.
Several of these stories are only tangentially about the Free Amazons, and are really only a corrective to the 'another planet without women' tendency. Bradley wasn't extremely subject to such womanless worlds even at the start, but there was a tendency to form all-male enclaves, at least at first.
Bradley's editorial comments tend to be defensive. She argues at one point that Darkovan society 'works' as a technophobic and libertarian society, even though that's alien to her own ethos. It doesn't, of course. The tragedies that too many people become Free Amazons to escape are in many ways a microcosm of the general societies' problems, which result in frequent upheavals and dissolutions. Far from being a stable society 'disrupted' by the arrival of the Terrans, Darkovan societies were always at BEST barely squeaking by.
One point that's apparently bothered a lot of people is the notion of the banshee birds as mindless, ravenous predators. There are several stories in this book that comment on and question that view. They don't necessarily succeed in questioning the absurd notion that a creature that large could be 'mindless' and 'acting on instinct alone', but they do at least manage to question the 'ravenous' part. I've repeatedly pointed out that any creature that behaved the way the banshees are rumored to behave would starve to DEATH in very short order. This is true of all creatures larger than a penny piece, in any environment. There's simply no way they could absorb enough nutrient to offset the energy they waste in such profligate behavior. This is especially true for creatures that live in very cold, nearly sterile environments. The stories in this book are a partial corrective for this nonsense--but until or unless the argument is more thoroughly critiqued, and the case is made that they COULDN'T be as stupid as they're presented and still survive, they remain
fairy-tale ogres, not believable as real animals.
Note on title: there are at least two anthologies about the Comi'i Letzi'i. This is the one I have, but I have yet to acquire the other, which is entitled Renunciates of Darkover.
April 21, 2010
Marion Zimmer Bradley is famous for her Avalon books, but I'm a fan of her Darkover stories, set in an original world and a blend of science fiction and fantasy. I was impressed on reread of the first Darkover short story anthology, The Keeper's Price--basically a collection of "fan fiction" by other authors based on MZB's world. Enough I ranked it just below five stars, and was tempted to give it full marks. Not that I would argue it's deathless literature, but as a Darkover fan I loved it, and was surprised how memorable the various stories were even decades after I first read it--there were some I remembered just from the title, and no story I didn't completely enjoy.
The second collection, The Sword of Chaos, though still enjoyable, didn't impress me as much. I'm afraid I feel the same about Free Amazons of Darkover. The first collection seemed mostly taken from a contest, and perhaps that pushed the quality up. So many in the contents page of the next two anthologies seem the usual suspects. Besides two stories from MZB, Diana L. Paxson, Susan M. Shwartz, Elizabeth Waters and Patricia Matthews all appeared in the first two volumes. I think I also found myself rather irritated with the whole concept of the Free Amazons on reread. My first Darkover book as a teen was The Shattered Chain, which heavily features them--a "sisterhood" of woman who take oath to become family to each other, renouncing their own, and among other things--no son can be kept in the guildhouses beyond five years old. I just recently read Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Infidel about the plight of contemporary Muslim women, and I think that influenced how I read this. It no longer seems heroic to me that women would seclude themselves together to escape forced marriages, rape, incest and battery. Why aren't they fighting instead to make that every women's right? And how can they expect to change their society if they send their sons away? So I feel out of sorts with the theme. But it's also that I just can't pick out any story here as outstanding--even if all were enjoyable. I'd still recommend this to a Darkover fan, but with less enthusiasm than the first anthology.
The second collection, The Sword of Chaos, though still enjoyable, didn't impress me as much. I'm afraid I feel the same about Free Amazons of Darkover. The first collection seemed mostly taken from a contest, and perhaps that pushed the quality up. So many in the contents page of the next two anthologies seem the usual suspects. Besides two stories from MZB, Diana L. Paxson, Susan M. Shwartz, Elizabeth Waters and Patricia Matthews all appeared in the first two volumes. I think I also found myself rather irritated with the whole concept of the Free Amazons on reread. My first Darkover book as a teen was The Shattered Chain, which heavily features them--a "sisterhood" of woman who take oath to become family to each other, renouncing their own, and among other things--no son can be kept in the guildhouses beyond five years old. I just recently read Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Infidel about the plight of contemporary Muslim women, and I think that influenced how I read this. It no longer seems heroic to me that women would seclude themselves together to escape forced marriages, rape, incest and battery. Why aren't they fighting instead to make that every women's right? And how can they expect to change their society if they send their sons away? So I feel out of sorts with the theme. But it's also that I just can't pick out any story here as outstanding--even if all were enjoyable. I'd still recommend this to a Darkover fan, but with less enthusiasm than the first anthology.
January 20, 2016
THE MOTHER QUEST:
I liked the interesting and wise Trailmen who are native to Darkover, but the Renunciate mother, freemate, and son relationship was expected. However, it remains to be a strongly emotional story.
CHILD OF THE HEART:
So much is talked about the Renunciate mother having to give up their son. Now, a son whose feeling of abandonment is able to give his strong point of view that gives thought that the Oath as not entirely right for all.
MIDWIFE:
Renunciate Gavriela finds herself attached to most unlikely of Darkover’s ravenous beasts, a banshee.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF COURAGE:
For a Free Amazon can there be any other kind of courage besides that of a swordswoman? What about for one who was trained in a Tower, and is useless for any other kind of duty of a regular Renunciate.
KNIVES:
Marna comes to the Guild House of Aderes for safety from her step-father’s sexual abuse. She’ll learn more than how to protect herself. She’ll learn to heal from her mother’s lack of care, love, and protection.
THIS ONE TIME:
The people are starving. Allira Alton and Bruna defend themselves when attacked by a small band of Baldric Kadarin’s men.
HER OWN BLOOD:
Gwennis will rise above the life-threatening physical and verbal abuse of her father, to learn more about herself, her lineage, and chose for herself who she wants to be.
I liked the interesting and wise Trailmen who are native to Darkover, but the Renunciate mother, freemate, and son relationship was expected. However, it remains to be a strongly emotional story.
CHILD OF THE HEART:
So much is talked about the Renunciate mother having to give up their son. Now, a son whose feeling of abandonment is able to give his strong point of view that gives thought that the Oath as not entirely right for all.
MIDWIFE:
Renunciate Gavriela finds herself attached to most unlikely of Darkover’s ravenous beasts, a banshee.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF COURAGE:
For a Free Amazon can there be any other kind of courage besides that of a swordswoman? What about for one who was trained in a Tower, and is useless for any other kind of duty of a regular Renunciate.
KNIVES:
Marna comes to the Guild House of Aderes for safety from her step-father’s sexual abuse. She’ll learn more than how to protect herself. She’ll learn to heal from her mother’s lack of care, love, and protection.
THIS ONE TIME:
The people are starving. Allira Alton and Bruna defend themselves when attacked by a small band of Baldric Kadarin’s men.
HER OWN BLOOD:
Gwennis will rise above the life-threatening physical and verbal abuse of her father, to learn more about herself, her lineage, and chose for herself who she wants to be.
April 5, 2007
Darkover is one of those utopias.....I'm not sure I would want to live there, but there's a decent logic to it. There are no projectile weapons on Darkover. All weaponry MUST bring the attacker within range of the victim. All adults carry short-range weaponry (knife, sword) as a matter of course, and are expected to know how to use it. It is no crime to prevail over someone who attacked you. It IS a crime to attack someone who cannot defend themselves, whether they are unarmed, injured, sick, etc. There are some sexism issues (women are generally held to be unable to defend themselves), but the Renunciates are an option--if a woman is willing to give up the protections generally afforded Darkovan women, she can also break free of the restrictions. Not exactly a societally approved option, but...
October 28, 2008
On the Trail Armistead, Barbara
Tactics Bigelow, Jane M.H.
The Meeting Boal, Nina
Knives Bradley, Marion Zimmer
The Legend of Lady Bruna Bradley, Marion Zimmer
The Oath of the Comhi Letzii, Or "Order of the Renunciates" Breen, Walter
Her Own Blood Carter, Margaret L.
The Camel's Nose Holtzer, Susan
The Oath of the Free Amazons: Terra, Techno Period Jaida n'ha Sandra
The Banshee Kramer, Sherry
A Different Kind of Courage Lackey, Mercedes R.
The Mother Quest Paxson, Diana L.
To Open a Door Riggs, P. Alexandra
Growing Pains Schwartz, Susan M.
Recruits Shannon, Maureen
Girls Will Be Girls Shaw-Mathews, Patricia
Cast Off Your Chains Silvestri, Margaret
This One Time Verba, Joan Marie
Child of the Heart Waters, Elisabeth
Midwife Wheeler, Deborah J.
another great cover by Richard Hescox that is a true seeming depiction of a Renunciate
Tactics Bigelow, Jane M.H.
The Meeting Boal, Nina
Knives Bradley, Marion Zimmer
The Legend of Lady Bruna Bradley, Marion Zimmer
The Oath of the Comhi Letzii, Or "Order of the Renunciates" Breen, Walter
Her Own Blood Carter, Margaret L.
The Camel's Nose Holtzer, Susan
The Oath of the Free Amazons: Terra, Techno Period Jaida n'ha Sandra
The Banshee Kramer, Sherry
A Different Kind of Courage Lackey, Mercedes R.
The Mother Quest Paxson, Diana L.
To Open a Door Riggs, P. Alexandra
Growing Pains Schwartz, Susan M.
Recruits Shannon, Maureen
Girls Will Be Girls Shaw-Mathews, Patricia
Cast Off Your Chains Silvestri, Margaret
This One Time Verba, Joan Marie
Child of the Heart Waters, Elisabeth
Midwife Wheeler, Deborah J.
another great cover by Richard Hescox that is a true seeming depiction of a Renunciate
November 12, 2014
I kind of wanted to give this book three stars because there are some pretty decent short stories in here, but there were also a number of stories that, to be blunt, sucked and were rather tedious to read through. The two MZB authored stories were great as well as the ones by Mercedes Lackey, Diana Paxson, and a couple other of the author in the middle section of the book. The beginning analysis of the oath felt kind of pointless and self-explanatory. And the end "updating" of the oath was kind of weird too. So a couple good stories, but overall not that great.
January 6, 2021
Many readers might agree that the stories are sexist because of women objecting to objectification. However, it goes the other way too. Not all women are simpering idiots. Not all men are bullies.
These stories fit in the middle for the most part.
These stories fit in the middle for the most part.
January 27, 2019
Another anthology, fewer continuing characters. Women centric stories as expected. I think one of the stories is about the younger Bruna before she became Lady Bruna. I particularly loved the baby banshee story.
Read
July 15, 2011The books with multiple authors I liked less than the first seven or eight of the series.
January 4, 2021
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
Read
March 10, 2019Interesting different stories
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