Sword and Sorceress series

The Sword and Sorceress series is a series of fantasy anthologies originally edited by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley, and originally published by DAW Books. As she explained in the foreword to the first volume, she created the anthology to redress the lack of strong female protagonists in the subgenre of sword and sorcery. At the time, most female characters in sword and sorcery were little more than stock damsels in distress, or pawns who were distributed at the conclusion of the story as "bad-conduct prizes" (Bradley's term) for the male protagonists. Many of the early sword-and-sorcery works featured attitudes toward women that Bradley considered appalling.

As the Sword and Sorceress series grew in popularity with readers, she began to receive increasing numbers of excellent submissions. As a result, she had to become more selective, and to shorten her reading periods accordingly. For the eighteenth volume, which she was editing at the time of her death, she had enough material for three volumes. After her death, it was decided to take as many as possible of the stories she had tentatively chosen and publish them in three annual volumes, thus extending the series. After volume twenty was published, the publisher decided to extend an invitation for an additional volume under Diana L. Paxson, an editor who had worked with Bradley, with the possibility of additional volumes being published if it became a success.

The Sword and Sorceress series is noteworthy not only for its introduction of strong female protagonists into a subgenre previously dominated by male characters, but for its financial success. Unlike most anthologies of original fantasy short fiction, they routinely earned out their advances and continued to pay their authors royalties for years afterward, often on foreign sales. In addition, many authors who made their first professional sales in the Sword and Sorceress anthologies subsequently enjoyed successful careers as novelists.

In February 2007, the Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust, which holds her copyrights, negotiated a contract with Norilana Books to publish a new volume and proceed to elicit submissions.[1] The book was published in November, and the editor was Elisabeth Waters. Norilana Books has published four more books of the series, also edited by Elisabeth Waters. From 2012 to 2019 the Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust published the Sword and Sorceress anthologies.

Anthologies

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Sword and Sorceress I

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1984. ISBN 978-0-88677-359-5 (USA edition)
1986. ISBN 978-0-87997-928-7 (USA edition)
1988. ISBN 978-0-7472-3105-9 (UK edition)

Sword and Sorceress II

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1985. ISBN 978-0-88677-041-9 (USA Edition)
1986. ISBN 978-0-88677-360-1 (USA Edition)
1988. ISBN 978-0-7472-3106-6 (UK Edition)

Sword and Sorceress III

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1986. ISBN 978-0-88677-141-6 (USA edition)
1986. ISBN 978-0-88677-302-1 (USA edition)
1988. ISBN 978-0-7472-3107-3 (UK edition)

Sword and Sorceress IV

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1987. ISBN 978-0-88677-210-9 (USA edition)
1989. ISBN 978-0-88677-412-7 (USA edition)
1989. ISBN 978-0-7472-3364-0 (UK edition)

Sword and Sorceress V

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1988. ISBN 978-0-88677-288-8 (USA edition)
1989. ISBN 978-0-7472-3389-3 (UK edition)

Sword and Sorceress VI

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1990. ISBN 978-0-88677-423-3

Sword and Sorceress VII

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1990. ISBN 978-0-88677-457-8

Sword and Sorceress VIII

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1991. ISBN 978-0-88677-486-8

Sword and Sorceress IX

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1992. ISBN 978-0-88677-509-4

Sword and Sorceress X

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1993. ISBN 978-0-88677-552-0

Sword and Sorceress XI

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1994. ISBN 978-0-88677-614-5

Sword and Sorceress XII

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1995. ISBN 978-0-88677-657-2

Sword and Sorceress XIII

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1996. ISBN 978-0-88677-703-6

Sword and Sorceress XIV

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1997. ISBN 978-0-88677-741-8

Sword and Sorceress XV

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1998. ISBN 978-0-88677-768-5

Sword and Sorceress XVI

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1999. ISBN 978-0-88677-843-9

Sword and Sorceress XVII

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2000. ISBN 978-0-88677-891-0

Sword and Sorceress XVIII

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2001. ISBN 978-0-88677-996-2

Sword and Sorceress XIX

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2002. ISBN 978-0-7564-0049-1

Sword and Sorceress XX

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2003. ISBN 978-0-7564-0142-9

Sword and Sorceress XXI

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2004. ISBN 978-0-7564-0195-5. Edited by Diana L. Paxson.

Sword and Sorceress XXII

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2007. ISBN 978-1-934648-15-5. Edited by Elisabeth Waters.
2007. ISBN 978-1-934169-90-2. Edited by Elisabeth Waters.

Sword and Sorceress XXIII

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2008. ISBN 978-1-934648-78-0. Edited by Elisabeth Waters.

Sword and Sorceress XXIV

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2009. ISBN 978-1-60762-048-8. Edited by Elisabeth Waters.

Sword and Sorceress XXV

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2010. ISBN 978-1-60762-081-5. Edited by Elisabeth Waters.

Sword and Sorceress XXVI

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2011. ISBN 978-1-60762-096-9. Edited by Elisabeth Waters.

Sword and Sorceress XXVII

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2012. ISBN 978-1-938185-08-3. Edited by Elisabeth Waters.

Sword and Sorceress XXVIII

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2013. ISBN 978-1-938185-31-1. Edited by Elisabeth Waters.

Sword and Sorceress XXIX

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2014. ISBN 978-1-938185-39-7. Edited by Elisabeth Waters.

Sword and Sorceress 30

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2015. ISBN 978-1-938185-40-3. Edited by Elisabeth Waters.

Sword and Sorceress 31

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2016. ISBN 978-1-938185-45-8. Edited by Elisabeth Waters.

Sword and Sorceress 32

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2017. ISBN 978-1-938185-48-9. Edited by Elisabeth Waters.

Sword and Sorceress 33

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2018. ISBN 978-1-938185-58-8. Edited by Deborah J. Ross, Elisabeth Waters

Sword and Sorceress 34

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2019. ISBN 978-1938185595. Edited by Elisabeth Waters.

References

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  1. ^ "Sword & Sorceress 22". Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
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