Marion Zimmer Bradley

//Marion Zimmer Bradley
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  • Endless voyage...that's an old saying in the Explorers. But for every Explorer there is, somewhere, a planet he will not leave. For some, the cause is love. For others, the desire to give up the strange roving life of the star wanderers who live outside of planet-time. Even for the ones who love the metal ships that are their only home there is still a planet waiting, a planet that will hold them forever - in the final clasp of death. But until then, life is adventure and wonders undreamed of by mere planet dwellers, an Endless Universe of the unknown.  Cover art by Lombardo.  Later re-written and published as Endless Universe.
  • Narabedla...where the Rainbow Cities gleam in every colour imaginable under the light of twin suns; where lush flowers croon a song of death in the gardens of Karamy the Golden, where their victims are never found; where falcons with human intelligence hunt in the forests, but seek no ordinary prey; where the mutant Dreamers sleep fitfully in their dark keep, dreaming of power lost long ago, and soon to be reclaimed...Cover art by Melvyn Grant.
  • She had rejected her noble birthright and embraced the freedom only a man could claim. She was Romilly, who spurned humanity for its evils and jealousies and lived among the birds and the beasts of the forests. There was war in the lands of Darkover - but Romilly wanted none of it. Yet, dressed as a man or mindful of the creatures, she was also human. And duty to her own kind pointed her to the ultimate decision. Cover art by Bruce Pennington.
  • Book II of Avalon. Three remarkable women will alter the fortunes of Roman Britain as they fight to reclaim the magic and traditions of a once glorious past: Caillean, the young priestess fated to become Lady of Avalon, who rescues and raised the orphaned Gawen - heir to a mystic and dangerous royal line... Dierna, who must use all her strength and wisdom to guide Avalon through treacherous political waters and veil the island from a hostile world... and Viviane, the Lady of the Lake and Keeper of the Grail, destined for true greatness as she prepares Avalon for the coming of a legendary king...Cover art by Jude Palencar.
  • SInce Haramis and her sisters Anigel and Kadiya unified the kingdoms of Ruwenda and Labornok, Haramis has lived several lifetimes as Archmage and Guardian of a land now blooming with the mystical and once-rare black trillium. But high in the Tower of Orogastus, the evil sorcerer of technology she once defeated, Haramis is plagued by dreams that drive her to seek a successor.  The Princess Mikayla, still a child, knows nothing of her kinship to Haramis. When she and her cousin, Lord Fiolin, go on an adventure that leads them into peril, it is Haramis who rescues them.  Mikayla finds herself a privileged - if reluctant - captive, as she must abandon her dream of marriage to Fiolin and dedicate herself to the magic arts. Haramis finds that training and installing her successor the most difficult challenge of her life. Cover art by Mark Harrison.
  • Book IV of The Saga Of The Trillium. Haramis – the White Lady – has lived several lifetimes as Archimage and Guardian of a land now abloom with the mystical Black Trillium, once thought extinct. But now she is plagued by disturbing dreams that will drive her to seek a successor – Mikayla, who knows nothing of her fate or kinship with the great Haramis. The challenges ahead will be more difficult than either Haramis or Mikayla could ever imagine. For installing a successor may be the most difficult fight they’ve ever had to face…Cover art by Geoff Taylor.
  • Thieves' World sequence. A Pilgrim Adept of the Blue Star, Lythande had mastered all the true magics of the world. 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... Other Lythande stories in this volume: The Incompetent Magician; Somebody Else's Magic; Sea Wrack; The Wandering Lute; Looking for Satan by Vonda McIntyre. Cover art by Stephen Bradbury.
  • Book III of Avalon series. With her mother's dying breath, Eilan, fifth child of the High Priestess of Avalon, takes life. The baby is taken to her father, King Coel, and raised in the Roman way as Helena, but in A.D. 259 the ten year old girl is returned to the mystical place of her birth. There she begins her training as a priestess, in the face of her Aunt Ganeda's determination that she shall fail. Despite her aunt's  hostility, the child becomes a gifted Priestess and on the night of her initiation she has a vision of the Roman, Constantine, the man she will love for the rest of her life. Her vision also reveals that he is the one who will father a child who will free Britain from Roman tyranny.  But to be with him she must betray her sisters and turn her back on Avalon, to build a new life in the dangerous city of the enemy. Cover art by Paula Lewis.

  • The natives of Darkover were human but hostile to the Earth colonists who had come to their planet. Larry Montray, however, was able to become friendly with the Altons, an important clan, and was one of the few Terrans ever to observe Darkovan life and customs at first hand. But Larry would get much more than he bargained for - he found himself in the middle of a feud older than memory; a feud fought by unknown beings, deadly beasts and alien intelligences - and his actions would determine the fate of every Terran on the planet of the blood-red sun. Cover art by Michael Whelan.
  • Six of Earth's finest young people, perfect in mind and body, have been trained from the cradle for one task - to brave the infinite dangers of space in order to find new homes for Man. But once alone in the pitiless universe, they are betrayed by their ship and plagued by space hazards; their voyage becomes a grim test of survival. In order to survive, they must tame their wild talents and turn their training into skill, with no margin for error. They must conquer their fears, longings and nightmares; they must become a team; they must learn how to love. Or they will die. Cover art by Paul Alexander.
  • Book XVIII of DarkoverFor Jeff Kerwin, Darkover meant home, the home he had left as a child, the home he had longed for through the many years. When he finally returned, it was to mystery.  There were no records of any kind of either his birth or childhood.Then after he renounced his Terran allegiance and joined the natives attempting to free Darkover from Earth's control, the Darkovans accused him of being a spy. Had Jeff been conditioned on Earth to betray Darkover? He was no longer sure of who - or what - he really was. Cover art by Melvyn Grant.
  • Barry Cowan woke up screaming in a hospital room with a nightmare where his memory should have been.  There was also a curious brass figurine in his pocket that made the nightmare seem likely to be true.  Yet for all the emptiness there was a familiarity about the stranger who appeared, claiming to be his father - a horrific familiarity, somehow linked to the dreams of another world that invaded his sleep.  Where had he been?  What had shocked his mind so deeply that it refused to remember? Cover art by Ken Barr.
  • Kassandra, Princess of Troy, High Priestess of Apollo, Amazon warrior -  is cursed when she refuses the advances of Apollo - ever will she tell the truth and never will she be believed.  This is a grand re-telling of the tragedy of the Trojan War and its characters from the point of view of Kassandra. They are all here - Priam, King of Troy; Hecuba, the Queen, also an Amazon; shallow Paris and the fateful, beautiful Helen; valiant Hector, the mad Achilles, Odysseus the peace-maker. An epic from the author of The Mists of Avalon. Cover art by Wilson McLean.
  • An interesting re-telling of Homer's epic poem, the Iliad from the point of view of Kassandra, daughter of King Priam of Troy. Trained as an Amazon and a priestess of Apollo,  she is doomed to have her visions dismissed as lunatic ravings and she is powerless to avert the fall of Troy. The Trojan War is seen and experienced through the eyes of not only Kassandra, but her mother Hecuba, her sister Andromache, Helen, wife of Paris and Klytemnestra. Blending archaeological fact and legend, the myths of the gods and the feats of heroes,  the classic tale of the Trojan War is larger-than-life, as living people engaged in a desperate struggle that dooms both the victors and the vanquished. Cover art by Mel Flatt.
  • Book II of Avalon. Eilan, daughter of the Druids, is destined to serve the Great Goddess as a virgin priestess. Gaius, son of a Roman father and British mother, serves with the legions. Trapped between a love that can never be permitted and duty to their irreconcilable cultures, their hearts and minds are in turmoil as the waning power of Rome and the rising rebellion of the tribes clash in the bitter struggle for Britain. Yet it is foretold that from their tragic union of Eagle and Dragon will one day come a defender of the land...Cover art by John Jude Palencar.
  • Book VI of Darkover. Alastair and Conn, the infant twins of Hammerfell, were separated and cast into the night in the fatal blow of a clan feud which raised Hammerfell against Storn and soaked the land in blood for countless generations. Now the time has come for the banner of Hammerfell to rise once more against the might of Storn. Brother will reunited with brother in a test of buried loyalty that will decide the fate of a dynasty. Cover art by Peter Jones.

  • A collection of stories spanning Darkover  history. In this volume: THE SETTLEMENT: Vai Dom, Diana L. Paxson; The Forest, C. McQuillin. THE AGES OF CHAOS:  There Is Always An Alternative, Patricia Mathews; The Tale of Durraman's Donkey, Eileen Ledbetter; The Fires Of Her Vengeance, Susan M. Shwartz; Circle Of Light, Kathleen Williams; The Alton Gift, Elisabeth Waters; The Answer, Jacqueline Lichtenberg and Jean Lorrah. UNDER THE COMYN:  The Rescue, Linda MacKendrick; The Keeper's Price, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Elisabeth Waters; The Hawk-Master's Son, Marion Zimmer Bradley; A Simple Dream, Penny Ziegler, M.D.; Paloma Blanca, Patricia Mathews; Blood Will Tell, Marion Zimmer Bradley. AFTER THE FALL OF THE COMYN: Ambassador to Corresanti, Linda Frankel; A View From The Reconstruction, Paula Crunk. Cover art by Don Maitz.
  • The timeless story of Camelot, Arthur, Guinevere, Launcelot and the Knights is told through the eyes of the women of Arthur's life from their childhoods through the ultimate fulfillment of their destinies. His mother, Igraine; Viviane, High Priestess of Avalon and Lady of the Lake who helps Arthur to the throne; Guinevere, his wife, who marries Arthur yet who is in love with Launcelot; and Morgaine, his half-sister, separated from Arthur while both were still children, only to meet again at Arthur's king-making without recognising each other.  Morgaine, small, dark, intense, who has the Sight and loves Launcelot passionately.   The Knights of the Round Table take on their infamous quest, as the Merlin and Viviane wield their magics for the future of Old Britain and the Isle of Avalon slips further into the impenetrable mists of memory...Cover art by Braldt Bralds.
  • Book IX of Darkover. Earthmen on Darkover stayed in the shelter of their specially-constructed spaceport - beyond lay wild, uncharted, inhospitable territory. But for space traveller Andrew Carr the desolate planet held an attraction he could not resist.  Darkover drew him and haunted him.  It was this irresistible force that lured his craft to destruction among the unexplored mountains, leaving him alone among the magical people of the ancient planet. Cover art by Melvyn Grant.
  • Book II of The Hunters; the sequel to Hunters of the Red Moon. Dane, Rianna and the monster Aratak were the survivors of the terrible hunt of the Red Moon. They had lived to achieve fame and fortune untold.  But life in the Starways was rather colourless - until they were asked to investigate a Closed World. What they had not counted on was this world was the only one known where two dominant ruling species lived in precarious harmony - with the dread ghosts which threatened to shatter that peace. Cover art by Peter Jones.
  • Zadieyek of Gyre - a dangerous fighter, a star gladiator who is greatly feared - has been captured and sold as a slave. Suffering from amnesia, she remembers nothing of her life before the trip across the desert with the slavers - and, due to a head injury, remembers mercifully little of that. But she does know that she would rather fight in the arena than be a harlot for the men who do...Cover art by Peter Jones. N.B. This is NOT a typical MZB - legend tells that she wrote it as a result of a bet with her son and in response to the Gor novels.
  • Book I of The Fall Of Atlantis. Domaris, disciple of the Temple of Light, was wrenched from her peaceful life by the arrival of the Atlantean prince Micon, whose powers over wind and sun, earth and fire are coveted by the sorcerers of the dark who would harness his gifts for their own evil ends. Soon, out of a tender, earthly passion, would rise forces that might decide the final victory.  Soon, Domaris would bear Micon a son - but Deoris, her sister, would be enthralled by the forces of darkness.