I found this book as a whole to be quite disappointing. The stories are mostly very short -- there are 25 stories in a book a bit more than 100,000 words long. Now there are plenty of outstanding stories at lengths less than 4,000 words, but in this case too many of the stories are sketches. Often, key details are baldly told, not shown. Often, the backstory is quickly sketched in, not developed. Often, the heroine's abilities are arbitrarily revealed, not in any sense organic or believable. Most of the pieces are competently assembled sentence by sentence, but too many are poorly structured scene by scene, or are unconvincing as to plot logic.

I'll mention a few of the better pieces. Dorothy J. Heydt's "Lord of the Earth" has Cynthia travelling to Corinth, and there encountering Poseidon in a bad mood. Two stories use very similar twists involving magical familiars, though they are otherwise quite different: both were light and enjoyable: "Familiars" by Michael H. Payne, set at a magic school with a squirrel as the familiar; and "All too Familiar" by P. Andrew Miller, in which a hedge witch inherits a variety of familiars whose wizards and witches have been killed by an evil sorcerer. Laura J. Underwood's "The Curse of Ardal Glen" is a bit darker than most of these stories, about a town which has had to sacrifice a young woman to a mysterious smith every seven years for decades. Dorothy J. Heydt's daughter Meg Heydt contributes "Openings", which I liked for its engaging main character and her slightly unexpected talent. Esther Friesner is usually reliable, and her story, "Grain", is solid entertainment, about a girl apprenticed to a brewer woman, who encounters a goddess with a god problem. But these storeis, the best in the book, are no better than decent -- there is not a single excellent story in the book, no story that thrilled me.

So if the book isn't entirely a loss, it is very disappointing. I think Bradley had rigid ideas about story structure, and about story content, and her editing projects suffer from including too many stories that read too similarly, and from being too forgiving of competently written stories which fit her template but which have no fire -- no originality -- no special reason to make one want to read them. If you've been reading these books with enjoyment all along, this one may satisfy, though I don't think it's as good as some of the earlier volumes. Otherwise, I can't really recommend the book.

A wonderful collection, and a wonderful tribute to Marion Zimmer Bradley. Too bad there's only one more to come. Her skill for finding new talent will be missed.

This series of fantasy stories with women as the heros is as good as ever. This years mix of tales has a lighter more upbeat feel. All of the stories are good. Some years it seemed as if the editor was trying to do stories with a certain type of message, which always annoyed me, but not this year. Or, at least not that I could tell. In the intro it is stated that MZ Bradley has passed away. I hope her ideas for more collections hasn't.

I am quite fond of Msrion Zimmer Bradley's world of Darkover, and have read almost all of the books set in it, even including the "Friends of Darkover" fan fiction anthologies edited by Ms. Bradley. It is, however, noticeable that the quality of the writing improved markedly as the series progressed (in real time; the stories were not written chronologically, so many of the earlier-written stories were set later in the history of Darkover). Ms. Bradley learned a great deal about the craft of writing as she matured, and as she wrote. This book is not one of her earliest books, but it isn't one of her latest, either, and so, not surprisingly, the quality of the writing is middling by her standards, which is fairly good by general standards.

One thing that bothered me about the story (which was, in general, a fairly gripping mystery story) was that the love interest, which was central to the plot, was a typical Harlequin-style love interest -- two people, who have absolutely NO reason for falling in love: nothing in common, have barely spoken a civil word to one another, and have very strong taboos AGAINST falling in love, suddenly fall madly in love. Why? Just because. After all, love is irrational, and needs no justification.

Frankly, that is hooey, no matter how popular the notion is, and I find it jarring when as intelligent a woman as Ms. Bradley was falls back on it. I'll chalk it up to immaturity; she generally treats the subject somewhat better in later books, although I have the definite impression that by the time she wrote this book, she OUGHT to have been old enough to know better.

This is my second Darkover novel, and it's very different from the first one I read ('The Shattered Chain'), but much more gripping--I had to force myself to put it down and go to sleep at 2am (I recommend waiting to start this til the weekend!).

This is the mysterious story of an orphaned boy, raised in a Terran orphanage on Darkover, and shipped off to his Terran grandparents when he's 13. Yet, he can't forget Darkover, and makes his way back to what he feels is his home planet--though he doesn't really feel that he fits in anywhere.

He wears a mysterious jewel, that he secretly hope will unlock his hazy past, reveal his heritage--and maybe even establish him as the long lost heir to a kingdom. Turns out he isn't far from the truth, and as the adventure unfolds the mysteries become increasingly complex.

This novel focuses on the Comyn, the noble caste with psi powers, and their fascinating world. Darkover's rich heritage and hidden powers are revealed in a gripping tale of intrigue, politics, and betrayals.

I am now completely hooked on Darkover and its tales!

The content of this book was interesting, but the thing that really stood out for me was the number of grammatical errors, particularly in subject-verb agreement and apostrophe use. In some cases, the errors were so egregious that I had to read the sentence two or three times to figure out what the authors meant. Everybody makes mistakes, but in the publishing world, that's what editors are for! I hope some of these mistakes are caught before the paperback printing.

Complaint aside, I did find the book rather interesting. I learned a fair amount about feminine figures in myth, history, and literature, although a majority of the figures covered are pretty well-known to most people. I also learned a bit about myself, via the warrior-type quiz at the back of the book.

The final thing I would like to note about this book is that the title is a bit of a misnomer. The authors spend almost as much time discussing male warrior archetypes as they do female archetypes. I understand that this is necessary in order to create a precedent on which to build the female archetypes, but then why is the warrior-type quiz and the chaper explaining how to interpret your results written towards both men and women? If the authors expect men to benefit from this study as well as women, then maybe they should change the title to reflect this.

This book is fantastic. Not only does it give a in-depth history of Women Warriors, it also takes the historical characters and relates them to present day women. The personality quizes in the back tie it all together helping you to realize which warrior personality you have and how that fits in to your daily life.

But for the most part, these are enjoyable, reasonably well-written stories. It seemed to me that they got better as the book went along; one of the earlier stories, "A Dance For Darkover", by Diana Perry and Vera Nazarian, was the one true clunker in the lot, one of the worst stories to show up in any of these "Friends of Darkover" anthologies. I can't imagine what Ms. Bradley was thinking when she included it. The characters were two dimensional and behaved in ways that simply made no sense; their actions seemed noticeably forced in order to get the plot where the authors wanted it, rather than flowing naturally from their established personalities. But given that Ms. Bradley DID include it, I must conclude that she saw something in it she liked; there's no accounting for taste.

Some of the other early stories were also a tad weak, but only a tad. And just about everything in the last half of the book was excellent; on balance, I recommend this book highly. We even get a story about Magda Lorne, (one of my favorite canonical Darkovan characters) even if it is a fairly short one that breaks little new ground.

"Leroni of Darkover" is another of Marion Zimmer-Bradley's anthologies edited by herself and written by new writers. It's already out of print, as it was collected in 1991. I wrote a review for another anthology, "The Four Moons of Darkover" but apparently, it doesn't seem to help buyers all that much as I was afraid to give away too much. Instead, indeed it was too little. In this collection, Zimmer-Bradley makes it a point to say that the collection does not include a single feminist tirade, (at that time, a lot of people were getting into issues that got way out of hand, and put too much meaning into things that were meant to be enjoyed). "Leroni of Darkover" is much better and more entertaining than most of the other collections because the contributors have gotten pretty good at their craft. For instance, Dorothy Heydt's story "Avarra's Children" is another short story that involves Marguerida Elhalyn, the Keeper and Donald Stewart, her Terran paxman (who by the way gets sworn to her in "The Four Moons" anthology). They're kind of like the Mulder and Scully of Darkover, and get into the most interesting situations. I looked forward to their continuing adventures (well, when they were still having them, that is). "The Speaking Touch" by Margaret Carter is also okay, mainly because it deals with characters introduced in "World Wreckers," the first Darkover novel I ever read. As for the rest...Did anyone ever miss Andrew Carr when he disappeared? How did Varzil Ridenow find his path to become "the Good?" Are Darkovans great dancers? What does baking bread have to do with laran? There are 20 (yes, TWENTY) stories in this collection, and most of them quite enjoyable. If you can get a copy, it is well worth it, especially for a Darkover fan. Although where you can find a copy is another story...

For those who have been reading the "Friends of Darkover" collections of fan fiction that MZB has edited, most of these stories will be familiar; only a couple of them are new. These are the stories, written by MZB herself, that have appeared in the various collections, collected here in one place for those purists who refuse to read the Darkover fan fiction but want to read everything that herself has had to say. They include "To Keep The Oath", the story of how Camilla came to be a renunciate; "The Keeper's Price", written in collaboration with Lisa Waters about the failed keeper Hillary Castamir, "Everything But Freedom", about the Lady Rohana, and several tales of Dyan Ardais.

The writing is excellent, as any regular reader of Marion Zimmer Bradley could have guessed, and the stories give us interesting glimpses into the interstices between the full-length Darkover novels.

If you've collected all of the Friends of Darkover Collections, you may not feel that it's worth the price of a whole book just for two new stories (although the new ones -- "Hillary's Homecoming" and "Hillary's Wedding" -- are both quite good) but if you have not been willing to buy collections of fan fiction for the one or two actual MZB stories per book, this is the book for you.

I've organized my comments by author rather than in order of presentation. The essays are all right, but aren't of particular interest to me; I've included them for completeness. The stories are a mix of styles and themes, ranging from creepy to hilarious. The poetry involves some in-jokes at the expense of some contributors to this anthology. :)

Barnes, Adrienne Martine "Wildwood" - Tale of a girl caught between the magic of the Wildwood and the ritual magic of her father's people. The world shown here has no depth (forest people good, logging/stripmining city folk bad), and the buildup to the ending is *very* rushed.

Bradley, Marion Zimmer "Greyhaven: Writers at Work" - Essay, discussing the Greyhaven circle (Bradley's immediate family and friends).

Bradley, Marion Zimmer "The Bardic Revel" - Essay, describing the local bardic revel (amateur night, you might call it).

Bradley, Marion Zimmer "The Incompetent Magician" - Also appears in the collection _Lythande_ (see my review). Very good story, as are all Lythande's adventures.

Cador, Caradoc A. "The Ring" - Fiachra is the only fisherman in the village who walks the beach for pleasure, so it is he who finds the dead man, washed ashore wearing a ring decorated with roses. His mother calls it bad luck, and won't let him give it to his sister for her handfasting. Soon he discovers one of its properties: it grants visions of the Uttermost West, where no man born of woman may come living. But it does not do to dwell in dreams too much, and forget to live.

Cook, Robert "The Woodcarver's Son" - The unicorns are hungry, so the wizard attempts to arrange matters so that a woodcarver's son, out of love, might provide them with the sustenance they need.

de Cles, Jon "Cantabile" - The Beast Who Wept was an experiment, the product of a mind in chains, an arrow shot into the air that came to rest in favorable conditions. So it is that the Baron's daughter finds a small stranger in her father's rooftop garden, a Beast who hasn't lived long enough to learn human speech. Told from the Beast's inarticulate perspective, this is the story of a lifetime measured in weeks, but a full life for all that. Very good story.

Elliot, James Ian "Wrong Number" - A 1-page story of a wrong number with dramatic results.

Garrett, Randall "Just Another Vampire Story" - The narrator has just picked up a young man in a bar who affects to be a vampire, giving logical reasons for most of the trappings of myth. How much of it is a pose, if any?

Hagen, Joel "They Come and Go" - A creepy 2-page story, told by a kid who helps the *things* that sometimes appear in his house.

Heydron, Vicki Ann "Cat Tale" - Kathy Christopher is spending the evening alone in her apartment, summoning the courage to confront her boss about updating the antiquated system *he* designed but *she* has to maintain. Her cat finally distracts her, harassing a small creature cornered near the balcony - a sprite-like creature with wings! She can barely believe in it, even after it speaks (something about 'gratitude' and 'lunar-solar juxtaposition'). Before she finally seeks sleep that night, she wishes she were more like her cat - strong and beautiful, able to cope with her problems. And in the morning, she wakes as a mountain lion, with a *REAL* problem - does this 'gratitude' only last until the next full moon, a year, or a full eclipse cycle?! One of the two or three best stories in here.

Judith, Anodea "Bedtime Story" - Johnny's mother is exasperated with his fears of monsters in the closet and under his bed. He quickly regrets saying to himself that he'll show her the monsters are real, when the words call one up. (The monster's not happy either; he was on his way to a hot date.)

Mathews, Patricia Shaw "Lariven" - When one of the Queens beyond the River sends a dream to Terran Survey, they come running (they need telepaths desperately for space communications).

Paxson, Diana L. "The Kindred of the Wind" - The kindred in question are were-eagles, born in human shape but able to take on bird form, if properly taught, and if they can conceal themselves from human persecution. Orik, born in a human community, was not so taught - and was cast out when an accidental shape change revealed his heritage, leaving him with a wing in place of one arm. If you like this one, try Paxson's "Sky Sister" in _Moonsinger's Friends_.

Paxson, Diana; Cook, Robert; Studebaker, Ian Michael; Zimmer, Fiona "From Various Bardic Revels" - some short poetry, some of it funny, e.g. "Morning Song", describing Paul Zimmer before his morning coffee, and "Serpent's Lullabye" (Robert Cook slept through both a fire and flood at Greyhaven).

Schwartz, Susan "Dagger Spring" - This story eventually grew into the novel _Queensblade_.

Waters, Elisabeth "Tell Me a Story" - The unnamed narrator, a writer, has been kidnapped by the 'time warp' on her desk, into which manuscripts have often vanished. It's impatient to find out what happened next...

Wayne, Phillip "The Tax Collector" - The local lord has been taxing his people outrageously to finance his wedding celebration. Gyllan knows a few things about him - for instance, that his ability to make impressive kills while hunting vanished abruptly when his chief huntsman quit. :) Since Gyllan (and his partner, a linkwolf) are just passing through, they decide to give the tenderfoot a taste of his own medicine: they kidnap him, haul him out into the woods, then 'tax' him in return for food and shelter.

Zimmer, Paul Edwin "The Hand of Tyr" - Odin called the warrior Farin from Valhalla to be reborn in the world of men for a certain task. But of course, after his rebirth, he forgot his mission, and who he was. One of best stories in the collection.

Nobody had reviewed this book, so I thought I would. This was one of the first Darkover books I read, and I enjoyed it very much. The Darkover books seem to vary in quality from slightly interesting to absolutely fabulous, but I'd rate this one as very good. It was first written in 1962, so it's a little dated, but the main character was interesing and it gives true Darkover fans some insights into some little-explored areas of Darkovan life.

A very readable anthology.All the stories deal with the "free amazons" but are not in any certain order, each story takes a different view. There were a couple that dealt with the begining of the order that were very well written.Hard to find but worth it.

Marion Zimmer Bradley has been getting better and better through the years, and this latest series (Exile's Song, The Shadow Matrix, and Traitor's Sun) is my favorite of all the Darkover material. I care about even more of the characters than I did in earlier books, and I find the action most satisfying. I bought these books in hardback, since I just couldn't wait till they came out in paperback, and I've read them 3 or 4 times already, each time with enormous satisfaction. I particularly like the beginning of this book; remembering it is almost enough to make me get the book out and begin it again. I earnestly hope MZB has not stopped writing these. I want to know what happens to Alanna, Domenic, Mik, Marguerida, and the young Traveller girl.

This exciting new novel is set 15 years after THE SHADOW MATRIX and is a direct sequel to it. While the Premier of the Terran Federation suspends the legislature of the Federation and tries to establish a tyrannical rule, Lyle Belfontaine, the Terran station chief on Darkover, plots to grab control over Darkover by force. But his plans do not remain a secret and the Comyn have their own plans to meet Belfontaines conspiracy. Regis Hastur, who suffered a stroke at the beginning of the book, is unable to lead the Comyn, so Mikhail and Marguerida take over, despite the heavy opposition of the Comyn Council. The Darkovans have to struggle hard to rescue their world, because they not only have to fight against the Terrans, but they also have a traitor in their own midst. This book is full of wonderful, engaging and powerful characters. It has a complex and interesting story (that ends with the most important historical event since the rediscovery of Darkover). It is extremely fast-paced; all the action takes place within a tenday. And finally it is a real page-turner. No fan of Darkover or Marion Zimmer Bradley would want to miss this new chapter in the history of Darkover. It's great!!!

This book finally sees the terranian leaving Darkover. New leaders Marguerida and Mikhail deal with the various crises arising from inheriting the leadership of the Comyn counsil upon the death of Regis. New forms of laran, and possibly old forms, begin to emerge, opening the way for new plot devices and storylines in future books. I really enjoyed the increased number of female characters who have power, thought I must admit that Marguerida Alton has been made a weaker character in this book due to her lack of envolvement in government. Except for this weakening of her character the book was very enjoyable, because now the stage is set for a new post-terran Darkover. What will hapen now? Will the Domains become more ballanced toward women with the introduction of Katherine (from a matriarchal culture) and reformation of Gisela as powerful characters? Will the federation be back, and if so when? I can't wait to see what happens next after this excellent transition novel.

I enjoyed Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mist of Avalon years ago and saw the TNT miniseries. Pretty good. However, I was keen to read "The Priestess of Avalon" until I researched the main character's real history. I do understand why MZB wrote this Helena character as a fantasy and a closure to her great Avalon series. The real Helena (St. Helena) was nothing like MZB's Helena in her last novel. In fact, she was not even a British princess. Helena originally came from Bithynia (northern part of Turkey) or near the Black Sea region, her father was an innskeeper and may have been a prostitute. The rest of the story with her relationship with Constantius Chlorus is true and gave a son who would change the world forever: Constantine the Great.

This is a fantasy of MZB's desire to associate the great St. Helena with the Avalon series and the relationship with the Goddess in nature. The historical Helena never even set foot in British Isles. Sorry to rain on the fans of MZB over this. "The Mist of Avalon" still stands as one of the greatest Arthurian classics. "The Priestess of Avalon" goes nowhere near that.

Thís fourth and final "Avalon" novel tells the life story of Eilan, a Priestess of Avalon, who becomes the wife/concubine of the Roman soldier Constantius Chlorus and mother of the legendary Emperor Constantine the Great, who later will be worshipped as a Christian saint. Known as Helena to the Romans, Eilan has to leave the isle of Avalon, because she wants to follow her heart. Her way leads her to Roman Germania, Rome and eventually the Holy Land. But her true home is elsewhere. Bradley's novel is a careful reimagination of a historical character that sometimes captures the reader with its atmospheric descriptions and lush storytelling. Written from Helena's first person point-of-view, Bradley adds another chapter to her popular series of pre-Arthurian historicals. Most of the time it is an entertaining read, but really too much happens off-stage or is simple recounted in dry sentences. Helena's story would have had the potential to rival THE MISTS OF AVALON, and it would have demanded a truly epic treatment. There are far too many time jumps and too much is left out. I think this novel could easily have been twice as long. Overall, this is a good book for MZB/Avalon fans, but not for people who have yet to encounter the magic of Marion Zimmer Bradley.

I am so sad to realise that this is the final Avalon book.It's also hard for me to guess whether or not a reader who isn't INTO the old Celtic religions would find this an interesting read, but for me, it was another wonderful, absorbing and magical read involving the occupants of the mystical island of Avalon and the gentle, loving form of their religion.A young priestess, Eilan, falls in love with a handsome Roman soldier named Constantius, and forsakes her home on Avalon for love of him and also because she believes that her future is inextricably bound with his.
She bears a son who becomes the Emperor Constantine who eventuually caused the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity.Eilan,or the Empress Helena as she is known when she becomes the mother of the Emperor,somewhat reluctantly accepts Christianity as she realises that much of the new religion is based on the old and, because of pressure from her son, tours his Empire on his behalf. As a very old lady, she stages her own death in order to return to her true home, the Isle of Avalon.As always when I read books about Avalon, I feel a tremendous sense of deja vu....perhaps in a former life???