Marion Zimmer Bradley

Marion Zimmer Bradley is an American author who writes in the fantasy and science fiction genres. As an author she is best known for writing the Avalon series which began with The Mists of Avalon. She was born in 1930 in Albany, New York and started writing at the age of just seventeen.

The best place to start is the Lythande Short Stories/Novellas series, the earliest of Marion Zimmer Bradley's multi-book series: it opens with Bird of Prey (1957) and runs to 6 books across 1957–2012, ending with The Once and Future Merlin (2012). Marion Zimmer Bradley's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Marion Zimmer Bradley has 189 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1954 and 2024. 95 of them belong to 14 named series — the largest being the Darkover series with 32 books — and 94 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Marion Zimmer Bradley's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Lythande Short Stories/Novellas (1957–2012, 6 books), Darkover (1962–2024, 32 books) and Claire Moffatt/Occult Tales (1972–1990, 3 books), plus 10 more.

This guide splits Marion Zimmer Bradley's 189 books into 14 named series and 94 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Darkover (32 books, 1962–2024); Avalon (7 books, 1979–2009); Lythande Short Stories/Novellas (6 books, 1957–2012); Trillium (5 books, 1990–1996); Darkover (5 books, 1985–2010), plus 9 further series.