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. ( )
A collection of short stories based on MZB's Darkover series. These stories focus on the women who become renunciates (Free Amazons) and the women in the history of the world who helped create an escape for the abused or misfits within that patriarchal society. I can not say whether this book would work for anybody who is not familiar with the world.
For those interested in collaborative world building, MZB has written brief introductions to each story explaining how and why the story (and its author) fits into her world, both the imaginary world of Darkover and her own life. ( )
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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. (