Most Popular Books by Marion Zimmer Bradley

After spending a year riding with the Amazon tribes, Kassandra, royal princess of Troy, returns to her city to dedicate herself to being a priestess of Apollo, in this retelling of the story of the Trojan War. Reprint.

Retells the legend of King Arthur as perceived by the women central to the tale, from the zealous Morgaine, sworn to uphold her goddess at any cost, to the devout Gwenhwyfar, pledged to the king but drawn to another.

A prequel to Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Forest House follows the story of the Roman conquest of Britain, a tale in which a Celtic princess becomes her people's defender against brutal conquerors while her priestess mentor becomes a guardian of Druid traditions.

In the long-awaited return to Avalon by the beloved author of The Mists of Avalon and her collaborator, bestselling author Diana L. Paxson, Marion Zimmer Bradley fuses myth, magic and romance in a spectacular unfolding of one woman's role in the making of history and spirit...

The New York Times bestselling science fiction and fantasy author of the Avalon series introduces the prequel to the beloved and enduring classic The Mists of Avalon in this mesmerizing epic of one woman’s legendary role at a turning point in history. In a Britain struggling to survive Roman invasion, Eilan is the daughter of a Druidic warleader, gifted with visions and marked by fate to become a priestess of the Forest House. But fate also led Eilan to Gaius, a soldier of mixed blood, son of the Romans sent to subdue the native British. For Gaius, Eilan felt forbidden love, and her terrible secret will haunt her even as she is anointed as the new High Priestess. With mighty enemies poised to destroy the magic the Forest House shelters, Eilan must trust in the power of the great Goddess to lead her through the treacherous labyrinth of her destiny.

Wycherly Musgrave is the perfect, drunken, ne'er-do-well youngest brother--and he fears he may have murdered a young women in a drunken blackout. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Bradley's follow-up to her popular "Ghostlight" is now in available in mass market paperback for the first time.

This is a classic science fiction novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley. This work tells the story of the Terran Empire and their quest to maintain a peaceful rule. However, on the planet Wolf something is afoot. They enlist the services of Race Cargill of the Terran Secret Service, and he goes undercover on Wolf to find the source of the problem. His mission doesn't go as planned and he becomes involved in a blood feud, but this leads him to the secret of THE DOOR THROUGH SPACE. This work is part of our Vintage Sci-Fi Classics Series, a series in which we are republishing some of the best stories in the genre by some of its most acclaimed authors, such as Isaac Asimov, Harry Harrison, and Robert Sheckley. Each publication is complete with a short introduction to the history of science fiction.

Fantasy.

Although the natives of Darkover are the descendants of a long-lost Terran colony ship, they distrust the Terran spacers who have recently taken up residence on their planet. Many feel that these strangers from space have the power to disrupt the entire society of Darkover. Yet despite the mutual prejudice between the peoples of Earth and Darkover, Terran Larry Montray and Kennard Alton, the heir to the Alton Domain, forge a bond of friendship which flourished even in the face of their families' disapproval. Will their personal alliance fracture the stability of both their cultures?

A tale of the origins and history of Avalon and the prophecy of the birth of the great King Arthur is revealed through the successive lives of three powerful priestesses--Caillean, Dierna, and Viviane, the Lady of the Lake.

In 'The Planet Savers' Marion Zimmer Bradley introduced the world to her amazing Darkover series. A disease threatens all of Darkover and the only man that can save Darkover has a multiple personality disorder. He is two distinct men, but two men who hate one another and vie for possession of their one body. But to save Darkover they must work together.

A daughter revisits the home of her occultist parents to learn why they were killed the night they tried to return the old gods to Earth. The house is occupied by new occultists, including one who sends her blood racing. Fortunately, the ghost of her father is around to protect her from him. By the author of The Mists of Avalon.

An exciting fantasy adventure set in Marion Zimmer Bradley's popular world of Darkover Court life for Prince Gareth Elhalyn, grandson of the legendary Regis Hastur, has become unbearable. In a desperate attempt to escape, Gareth appeals to his powerful grandmother, Linnea, and with her blessing, disguises himself and travels to the barbarous, warlike Dry Towns where no one will recognize a prince. In the Dry Towns, Gareth overhears rumors of deadly, illegal Terran blasters and stumbles upon a terrible reality no one could have suspected. Meanwhile, Linnea has never ceased to search for her lost daughter, Kierestelli, whom she and Regis were forced to send into hiding with the native chieri. Almost by chance, Linnea reconnects along the telepathic relays with Kierestelli, now called Silvana of Nevarsin Tower. Silvana, convinced that her parents abandoned her, rejects her mother’s overture and returns to her hidden home among the chieri. But the chieri once roamed the stars themselves, and they have no forgotten the terror of warfare in space—lessons that they pass on to Silvana. Unknown to the ruling Comyn, danger now fills the skies above Darkover, and Silvana holds half the key to protecting their world. Gareth holds the other half, if he can only stay alive long enough to discover where that key is....

Torn between love and duty, a reluctant young acolyte will be called on to magically save her imperiled world in this enthralling chapter of the Saga of the Trillium Of the three royal siblings who made up the Petals of the Living Trillium, only Lady Haramis survives nine hundred years after the events that nearly devastated their realm. But the Archimage is old and ill, and a successor must be found if Ruwenda is to remain safe and protected. In Princess Mikayla, Haramis recognizes the ideal candidate. However, the impulsive teenager must be carefully schooled in the magic arts—and the headstrong youth isn’t certain she even wants the responsibility, especially if it means abandoning her one true love. But time is running out—for Haramis and for the kingdom. And with disaster looming, the fate of Mikayla’s endangered homeland may soon fall heavily on the shoulders of a young, only half-trained rebel, ready or not. Revisiting the magnificent world she created with fellow fantasy luminaries Julian May and Andre Norton in Black Trillium, the remarkable Marion Zimmer Bradley joins coauthor Elisabeth Waters to gaze into the far future of the World of the Three Moons. Lady of the Trillium is an enthralling, unforgettable tale of destiny, duty, magic, love, and the seemingly unbridgeable chasm between old and young.

In the era of The Hundred Kingdoms, a time of war and unrest, King Carolin of Hastur and his friend Keeper Varzil Ridenow work selflessly to put an end to the destruction caused by the long range weapons of the magical matrix Towers. But Eduin Deslucido-who once called Carolin brother-has been consumed with a vengeful rage, and will stop at nothing to destroy the king and his plan for peace.

The Fall of Neskaya, Book One of the Clingfire Trilogy, marks the legendary author's final return to Darkover before her death. Set in the tumultuous era of The Hundred Kingdoms, a terrible time of strife and war, this unique fantasy world is divided into a mutlitude of small belligerent domains vying for power and land. One ambitious and corrupt tyrant will stop at nothing to control Darkover-even wield the terrifying weapons of the matrix.

The long-awaited continuation to Marion Zimmer Bradley's popular science fiction Darkover saga After generations of struggle to protect the unique native culture of Darkover from the ambitions of the ruthless Terran Federation, the Terrans have finally been forced to abandon Darkover due to interstellar civil war. As Lew Alton—returned home to the world of his birth after decades spent in exile as the Darkovan representative to the Terran Senate—wrestles with the dark shadows from his past, his daughter Marguerida’s psychic Gifts warn her of impending danger. But danger to whom? Her husband Mikhail, as powerful head of the Hastur Doman is her most obvious worry, for many would stand to gain from his demise. Meanwhile, unknown to Marguerida, her son, Domenic, searches for his place in a world of shifting loyalties, torn by love for two very different women, and troubled by his destiny as the heir to Hastur. But while Darkover’s powerful rulers face their personal demons, desperate refugees flood the streets of Thendara, Darkover’s capital city, for in the mountains an ancient menace is once again on the rise—a power against which neither sword nor the psychic sorcery of Darkover can prevail.

Bart Steele, the recent graduate of the Space Academy on Earth, learns that his father has been murdered but has sent him a message: "Bart, I send money and instructions by my friend. Do as he says. Don't go home, Dad." In a far future space travel is common, but the secret of traveling faster than the speed of light is jealously guarded by a non-human race, the Lhari. Lhari are the species that is color-blind in the sense that everything they see is monochromatic. The pace is relentless and Bart must extort the secret from the Lhari by going undercover as one of them.

While only women can command the power of the matrix and the secret sciences which keep Darkover from Terran hands, in most respects they are still chattels. But the Free Amazons are considered equal to men, and it is they who provide the key to the Terran-Darkover dilemma.

Somewhere on the Time Ellipse Mike Kenscott became Adric; and the only way to return to his own identity was to find the Keep of the Dreamer and loose the terrible FALCONS of NARABEDLA! As originally published in the June, 1957 issue of "Other Worlds" magazine, here is the original version of Marion Zimmer Bradley's classic DARKOVER novel.

Leonie Hastur, headstrong and lovely daughter of the Hastur Clan, most powerful of all the telepathic families who rule Darkover, is being escorted by her twin brother Lorill to Dalreuth Tower for training in the use of her psychic powers. Although this is the even she has long dreamed of - for her laran is so strong that she has been able to use it without benefit of training or the need of a matrix crystal - and she yearns for the power which will come to her if she succeeds in becoming a keeper, she is deeply disturbed. For she is plagued by a terrifying premonition that haunts her days and disrupts her nights, the inescapable feeling that something is about to happen - something monumental and dangerous which will descend upon her world and change it utterly. And all she knows for certain is that this something will be coming from one of Darkover's four moons...

Marion Zimmer Bradley is best known for her science fantasy series set in the Darkover universe and as the author of 'The Mists of Avalon.' A World Fantasy Award winner, her fiction is both memorable and powerful. This collection includes four novels and eleven short stories that helped make Bradley's reputation as one of the best writers the science fiction and fantasy field ever produced. 200,000 words and more than 500 pages of top notch science fiction and fantasy. Included are: 'Falcons of Narabedla,' 'Death Between the Stars,' 'The Dark Intruder,' 'The Door Through Space,' 'Black & White,' 'Treason of the Blood,' 'Jackie Sees a Star,' 'The Planet Savers,' 'The Stars Are Waiting,' 'Exiles of Tomorrow,' 'The Colors of Space,' 'The Crime Therapist,' 'Year of the Big Thaw,' 'The Wild One,' 'The Wind People.'

A follow-up to The Ages of Chaos omnibus, Thunderlord is a brand-new novel of the genre-bending Darkover universe, expanded by Marion Zimmer Bradley's collaborator Deborah J. Ross. Far in Darkover's past, the Ages of Chaos were a time of constant warfare, when immensely powerful psychic weapons ravaged the land and slaughtered entire armies. Perhaps none was more dangerous and unpredictable than the mental Gift to sense--and control--thunderstorms. When the realm of Aldaran and their Scathfell cousins came to blows, that Gift turned the tide of battle, and Aldaran prevailed. A generation later, the heir to Scathfell, Gwynn, has grown up in the shadow of that conflict, his life shaped by the loss of his entire family. Now he plots his revenge for his family’s humiliating defeat by seeking to marry a woman who carries the storm control Gift, so that his sons will be able to wield the terrible power of storms against Aldaran. Since childhood, Kyria has been able to sense approaching storms. She had never expected to marry a rich man; independent and athletic, she defied tradition by donning her brother’s castoff clothing and trapping small game to keep her family from starvation. When Gwynn’s emissary arrives with a marriage proposal that will secure her family’s financial future, she agrees. Along with her younger sister as her companion, she sets out for Scathfell, where she will be formally wed. During their passage through rugged mountains, a blizzard drives them to seek shelter in a traveler’s hut, where they meet Edric, the young heir to Aldaran. Edric has inherited the storm control, but he has never dared to use it. His whole life, he has been warned against the consequences, not just to his enemies but to everyone he loves. Now, disguised as an ordinary traveler, he journeys home after years of study, disciplining himself to control his powers. When he meets Kyria, he senses the presence of the same storm power, but unschooled and dormant. They know each other only as Edric and Kyria--for under shelter truth, all identities are concealed--and are drawn to one another. Thus begins the saga of two kingdoms, divided by bitter history and present-day suspicions, one armed with devastating power and the other determined to overcome it, no matter what the price. Can their love and resourcefulness overcome even the overwhelming power of a Thunderlord?

The full sweep of the rich history of Avalon -- from the fall of Atlantis to the founding of a new temple on the mist-shrouded isle of Britain -- is finally revealed in this magnificent tale.The priests and priestesses of Atlantis have known for many years that the Sea Kingdoms were doomed. But now the final destruction has arrived they find themselves less prepared than they had thought for what lies ahead.Micail and Tiriki, prince and princess of the last island to fall, as well as priest and priestess, are separated during the final escape. Micail and his cousin, Prince Tjalan, successfully arrive at their planned destination, a trading post in the Hesperides (the British isles) where Tjalan loses no time in taking charge. He dreams of continuing the traditions of Atlantis and founding a glorious new empire -- whether the local tribes like it or not. prophesy that they will build a great temple in this new land -- and set about finding a way to shift the huge blocks of granite that will become Stonehenge.Micail's beloved wife Tiriki also arrives in the Hesperides, but, blown off-course by a storm, her ship lands on the wrong shore. She and the elderly priest Chedan lead their small group in forming a new community in harmony with the local population at the sacred Tor (Glastonbury). Once the two groups become aware of each other, conflict will become inevitable.A deeply moving and utterly convincing tale of faith in the face of adversity, filled with memorable characters and haunting landscapes.

A feud between the Hammerfell and Stornleads to the murder of the Duke of Hammerfell.

Although Darkover was a world inhabited by humans as well as semi-humans, it was primarily forbidden ground to the Terran traders. Most of the planet's wild terrain was unexplored, and many of its peoples seclusive and secretive. But for Andrew Carr there was an attraction he could not evade. Darkover drew him, Darkover haunted him -- and when his mapping plane crashed in unknown heights, Darkover prepared to destroy him. Until the planet's magic asserted itself -- and his destiny began to unfold.

Return to the genre-bending world of Darkover, to a trilogy that follows the thrilling story of two Free Amazon women In the three novels which comprise THE SAGA OF THE RENUNCIATES, Marion Zimmer Bradley tells the masterful tale of two valiant women who face and try to break the invisible chains of custom, convention, habit and expectation with which society binds women, and women bind themselves. Magdalen Lorne is a Terran woman born and reared on Darkover. She thinks herself the perfect Terran undercover Intelligence agent, and disguises herself as a Free Amazon to enable her to fulfill a mission to free a Terran man from kidnappers. But when she herself is captured by a band of real Renunciates, she discovers they have a harsh punishment for any pretenders: she must swear the Oath of the Free Amazons, relinquish her former life, and become a Renunciate in reality. Jaelle has been raised in the harsh patriarchal environment of the Dry Towns. Her mother Mellora is a Comyn woman who has been kidnapped in order to breed laran-gifted offspring for her barbarian "husband." But when a desperate, pregnant Mellora dies in childbirth following a daring escape aided by a band of Renunciates, the still young Jaelle is adopted into the Guild, and becomes the Free Amazon Jaelle n'ha Mellora, a woman who has never known kindness from a man. Together Magda, now known as Margali n'ha Tsabet, and her Guild-sister Jaelle will follow a twisting course neither could have predicted. A course which will lead them to question every aspect of themselves and of their two so-different societies. And one which will eventually set them on a life-threatening journey not only to the frozen ends of the physical world, but to the perilous limits of the spiritual overworld as well.

The heritage of Hastur, longest and most intricate of the Darkover books, is a brilliant epic of the pivotal event in the strange love-hate relationship between the Terran worlds and the semi-alien offspring of forgotten peoples. This is the novel of the Hastur tradition and of the showdown between those who would bargain away their world for the glories of star-borne science and those who would preserve the special "matrix" power that was at once the prize and the burden of ruddy-sunned Darkover.