Sword and Sorceress III by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Bradley invokes Moore a few times in her introduction, and the book is dedicated to both Moore and Jirel. Moore started with her amazing - especially for the time - Jirel of Joiry stories of the 1930s. Strong female heroines are now a key part of the genre, completing what C. That the first volume in the series bears a Roman numeral shows that she did believe the anthology would see at least two volumes that it now reaches into the mid-twenties (with the twenty-fifth due this year) shows just how much sword-and-sorcery has embraced inclusiveness during the last three decades. The late author and editor Marion Zimmer Bradley probably could not have dared to guess in 1984 that her anthology series, Sword and Sorceress, would turn into a yearly and best-selling institution of fantasy short stories that would extend past her death.

Ryan Harvey reviewed the first volume for us way back in 2010:

That’s a heck of a bargain for a lot of great reading. I found the above collection of the first nine volumes (plus VIII and XV) in great shape on eBay, and bought it for $20, about two bucks per book - about half the original cover price. So I missed out on al the excitement, but it’s not too late to catch up. The first volumes of S&S came out just as I entered grad school and my reading time dropped precipitously. You could make a pretty compelling case that Sword & Sorceress (together with its sister publication, Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine) dramatically remade modern fantasy, and may be the single greatest influence on 21st Century American fantasy so far. Underwood, Rosemary Edghill, Syne Mitchell, Devon Monk, Carrie Vaughn, and many, many others. Ross, Elizabeth Moon, Janet Fox, Laura J. Hamilton, Phyllis Ann Karr, Rachel Pollack, Vera Nazarian, Deborah J. Numerous young writers who would go on to great things, many of them women, were discovered or promoted very early in their career in the pages of S&S, including Emma Bull, Mercedes Lackey, Jennifer Roberson, Diana L. Unlike Carter and Offutt, who invited established authors to fill their pages, Bradley and her fellow editors opened their volumes up to submissions, and the results were pretty extraordinary. The series is critical to the history of the field for more than its longevity, however. Last year’s Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Sword and Sorceress, edited by Elisabeth Waters, was #31.

The first one appeared from DAW Books in 1984, and there’s been a new volume every year since, with a single three-year gap between 2004-07. Lin Carter’s seminal Flashing Swords and Andy Offutt’s Swords Against Darkness are probably the most famous examples, but in terms of longevity and influence on the field I think they’re both eclipsed by Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Sword & Sorceress anthologies. Sword and Sorcery has a rich history of anthology series.

Sword and Sorceress III by Marion Zimmer Bradley