Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress series has always featured the best in contemporary women's fantasy, and this outstanding new volume carries on the tradition! These original stories of brave, talented, and heroic women will take readers through enchanted realms of the imagination into danger both physical and mystical, where the only way to survive is through the power of sword and spell.

    They are many heroines of SWORD AND SORCERESS - brave women who have adopted the daring roles so often deemed to be the exclusive province of men.Join Diana L Paxson, Esther M Friesner, Rosemary Edghill, Leslie Fish, Dorothy j Heydt and their fellow spell-weavers as they carry on Marion Zimmer Bradley's proud, feminist tradition in the twenty-three original, swashbuckling and magical stories of SWORD AND SORCERESS XXI, where:A family of thieves is sorely disappointed by their daughter's wizarding ambitions...A warrior with amnesia is taught a lesson she could never have learned if she remembered her past...A girl is turned down by a school of magic because of her sex, only to become the disciple of a far more powerful mentor...An arrogant mage is taught that even the most powerful of sorcerers sometimes needs the help of material weapons...The best-selling "Sword & The Sorceress series continues with this thrilling 21st edition of all-original stories of action-packed adventure, ultimate magic, and fearsome, sword-wielding women by some of the best names in fantasy today.

    But the power of an Adept was always bound to a Secret, and whoever discovered this sorcerer's Secret could steal away the Blue Star power, leaving the Adept defenseless, fit only for death.And Lythande's secret was perhaps the most dangerous of all, setting the mage apart from all humanity, forcing Lythande to war against spell beast, sorcerer, thief, swordsman, and the magic of the gods themselves.…As an added bonus, Lythande includes a special guest appearance by Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Vonda N. McIntyre.Contents:The Secret of the Blue Star • (1979) • novelette by Marion Zimmer BradleyThe Incompetent Magician • (1983) • novelette by Marion Zimmer BradleySomebody Else's Magic • (1984) • novelette by Marion Zimmer BradleySea Wrack • (1985) • novelette by Marion Zimmer BradleyThe Wandering Lute • (1986) • novelette by Marion Zimmer BradleyLooking for Satan • (1981) • novella by Vonda N. McIntyre

    Authors who have appeared within the pages of Sword and Sorceress represent the full spectrum of some of the brightest talent working today -- from C.J. Cherryh, Charles de Lint, and Emma Bull . . . to Deborah J. Ross, Diana L. Paxson, and Laurell K. Hamilton.We are proud to continue the classic and vibrant feminist tradition with this twenty-fourth volume of new magical adventures edited by Elisabeth Waters, secretary and co-editor to Mrs. Bradley.Here are seventeen original stories of remarkable women of power, swashbuckling and magic, spells and duels, arcane sorcery and fabled heroism, written by familiar word-weavers of excitement and adventure, and bright newcomers who are sure to become favorites.Enter a wondrous universe . . .Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and SorceressSword and Sorceress 24 includes stories by Deborah J. Ross, Helen E. Davis, Elisabeth Waters & Michael Spence, Brenta Blevins, K.D. Wentworth, Teresa Howard, Catherine Soto, Josepha Sherman, Cate McBride, Cynthia Ward, Jonathan Moeller, Dave Smeds, Therese Arkenberg, Michael H. Payne, Annclaire Livoti, Julia H. West, and Melissa Mead.

    And here they must face great challenges: recontact with Terra, the native chieri, and the laran powers they must control at all costs.

    In these magical citadels, those gifted with telepathy join together, sometimes for good, sometimes in fantastic power struggles.

    Here dwell the Free Amazons, who have set themselves apart from their male-ruled world, owing loyalty only to each other, living their lives as free citizens, equal to any man or woman, soldier or lord. The eighteen tales in this collection, including two by Marion Zimmer Bradley herself, tell the story of these Free Amazons, and are certain to enchant anyone who has fallen under the spell of the Amazon heroines of Thendara House and City of Sorcery.On the Trail - Barbara ArmisteadTactics - Jane M.H. BigelowThe Meeting - Nina BoalKnives - Marion Zimmer BradleyThe Legend of Lady Bruna - Marion Zimmer BradleyThe Oath of the Comhi Letzii, Or "Order of the Renunciates" - Walter BreenHer Own Blood - Margaret L. CarterThe Camel's Nose - Susan HoltzerThe Oath of the Free Amazons: Terra, Techno Period - Jaida n'ha SandraThe Banshee - Sherry KramerA Different Kind of Courage - Mercedes R. LackeyThe Mother Quest - Diana L. PaxsonTo Open a Door - P. Alexandra Riggs Growing Pains - Susan M. SchwartzRecruits - Maureen ShannonGirls Will Be Girls - Patricia Shaw-MathewsCast Off Your Chains - Margaret SilvestriThis One Time - Joan Marie VerbaChild of the Heart - Elisabeth WatersMidwife - Deborah J. Wheeler

    A woman who can change into a leopard is pursued by a hunter who is more than human. Occult detective Diana Tregarde trails a very unusual vampire. Four SKitty stories, and more!ContentsIntroduction --Werehunter --SKitty --A tail of two SKitties --SCat --A better mousetrap --The last of the season --Satanic, Versus --Nightside --Wet wings --Stolen silver --Roadkill --Operation Desert Fox --Grey --Grey's ghost.

    1979 ACE mass market paperback,2nd impression, no ISBN. Robert Asprin, Lynn Abbey. A fantasy anthology with a twist. All different stories from different authors, all in the same town.

    "Bradley's Darkover series grows richer by the book."--Science Fiction Review.Introduction: And Contrariwise by Marion Zimmer BradleyAcurrhir Todo; Nada Perdonad by Deborah J. RossObject Lesson by Mercedes LackeyBeginnings by Cynthia DroletClingfire by Patricia Duffy NovakDeath in Thendara by Dorothy J. HeydtFiretrap by Elisabeth Waters & Marion Zimmer BradleyFriends by Judith KobyleckyManchild by L.D. WoeltjenJust a Touch… by Lynne Armstrong-JonesMind-Eater by Joan Marie VerbaMist by Meg MacDonaldOur Little Rabbit by Mary FreyGift from Ardais by Barbara DenzHorse Race by Diann PatridgePlague by Janet RhodesTapestry by Micole SudbergTo Serve Kihar by Judith Sampson

    And now, the latest tale in this epic, generations-spanning saga is sure to become a favorite of both long-time readers and newcomers.

    They, forming the Friends of Darkover, have joined with Marion Zimmer Bradley to create this anthology of new stories of Darkover, written by its most talented followers. Here are stories that span the whole of Darkover history -- from the days after the original landfall, through the Ages of Chaos, the Pact of the Comyn, and the coming of the Terrans. Included are three original stories by Marion Zimmer Bradley and her editorial commentaries on each story.

    Enter a world of mystics and unicorns, angels and kings -- all realized with the same dazzling style and imagination that has made Stephen R. Donaldson a modern master of the fantasy genre.Daughter of Regals is a fantasy novella concerning a unique royal line and an unusual conception of magic.The Conqueror Worm is a deliciously creepy "horror" piece in which havoc is wreaked by one lowly centipede.Ser Visal's Tale begins as a simple story told over several flagons of wine at the local inn, this novella ends with a surprising twist.Gilden-Fire is the famous chapter about Korik of the Bloodguard and his mission to Seareach that was part of the original manuscript of The Illearth War, but omitted from the published version.

    Here is a society as complex and troubled as any on our world, peopled with unforgettable characters struggling to become fully human. For the disgraced revolutionary Abberkam, the callow "space brat" Solly, the haughty soldier Teyeo, and the Ekumen historian and Hainish exile Havzhiva, freedom and duty both begin in the heart, and success as well as failure has its costs.CONTENT Betrayals Forgiveness Day A Man of the People A Woman's Liberation Notes on Werel and YeoweIn this stunning collection of four intimately interconnected novellas, Ursula K. Le Guin returns to the great themes that have made her one of America's most honored and respected authors.

    Master fantasy writer Anne McCaffrey has chosen 20 short tales and poems of wonder and awe, written by the finest writers of fantasy today, including Robert Silverberg, L. Sprague de Camp, R. A. Lafferty, Gene Wolfe, Carol Emshwiller, Sonya Dorman, and others.Contents: Foreword / Anne McCaffrey — The dance of the solids / John Updike — A mess of porridge / Sonya Dorman — The Institute / Carol Emshwiller — Condillac’s statue / R. A. Lafferty — The sorcerers / L. Sprague de Camp — The weed of time / Norman Spinrad — Night and the loves of Joe Dicostanzo / Samuel R. Delany — Come up and see me / Daphne Castell — Shut the last door / Joe Hensley — Big Sam / Avram Davidson — More light / James Blish — The man who could not see devils / Joanna Russ — The Key to Out / Betsy Curtis — Ringing the changes / Robert Silverberg — In a quart of water / David Telfair — Morning-glory / Gene Wolfe — Ascension: a workday arabesque / Virginia Kidd — The Devil you don’t / Keith Laumer — The triumphant head / Josephine Saxton — Mainchance / Peter Tate