during the 1970s, Bradley’s fantasy fiction is domi-
nated by the AVALON SERIES, in particular The
Mists of Avalon(1982). The novels are a feminist
interpretation of the story of King Arthur, which
eventually reveals that the druids are descended
from the last survivors of Atlantis. They retreat
into a magical realm when the Romans invade
Britain but still interact with the outside world.
Her first fantasy novel, however, was The House be-
tween the Worlds(1980), whose hero travels men-
tally to the land of the fairies where he witnesses
the abduction of their queen by unfriendly goblins.
Eventually he gains physical access to the other
world and crosses over to rescue her.
Web of Light (1983) and Web of Darkness
(1983) constitute a somewhat tedious two-part ad-
venture story set on the lost continent of Atlantis,
published jointly as The Fall of Atlantis(1987).
Night’s Daughter(1985) is based on Mozart’s The
Magic Flute,but it is more interesting as a curiosity
than as fiction. More satisfying is Warrior Woman
(1985), the story of a female gladiator, and
Lythande(1986), a collection of related short sto-
ries about a female magician that first began ap-
pearing in the Thieves’ World shared universe
series. The Firebrand(1987) is a different take on
the Trojan War and also one of her better fantasies.
Bradley also collaborated with Andre NORTONand
Julian May for the interlocking Trillium series, but
her best cooperative work was Glenraven,written
with Holly LISLE, the story of a demonic force hid-
den in a remote part of Italy.
Bradley also spent considerable effort encour-
aging new writers. In addition to the long-running
series of “Sword and Sorceress” original antholo-
gies, she published Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy
Magazine.Bradley’s work varies greatly in quality
and tone. Her strongest assets were the ability to
people her stories with interesting characters. The
Mists of Avalon, which appeared as a television
miniseries, has already become a minor classic with
a strong following outside the genre, and several of
her other fantasy novels deserve a wider audience.
Bramah, Ernest(1868–1942)
Ernest Bramah Smith used this abbreviated version
of his name for all of his fiction, which included the
Max Carrados detective series and a few mainstream
novels. He is best remembered for Kai Lung, a quick-
witted Chinese gentleman set in a historically ques-
tionable ancient China. Kai Lung’s adventures were
collected in The Wallet of Kai Lung(1900), Kai Lung’s
Golden Hours (1922), Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat
(1928), The Return of Kai Lung(1937), Kai Lung
Beneath the Mulberry Tree(1940), and Kai Lung: Six
(1974), the last collected posthumously. The first
three volumes are unquestionably superior to the
later work. Although sometimes wrapped in a frame
story, all of the books are essentially short story col-
lections except for The Return of Kai Lung,which is
the weakest in the series. Several individual stories
were published as separate chapbooks, in fact.
Kai Lung is a quick witted adventurer and
also something of a rascal. He has a tale and an
aphorism for every occasion, and some of his re-
joinders have found their way into books of quota-
tions. Often his life is in danger, and he tells his
stories to delay his punishment or to put his
captors off guard. The frame story, when it exists
at all, is nonfantastic, but the individual tales he
tells often involve magic, strange creatures, super-
natural intervention, and other elements not nec-
essarily specific to Asian mythology. All of this is
conveyed in an artificially elaborate prose struc-
ture that has occasionally been imitated but rarely
successfully. Although more popular in England
than in the United States, his books, particularly
the later ones, have become collectors’ items in
both countries. He is perhaps best read in small
doses, but his intelligently plotted tales and bril-
liant prose will reward the effort.Brandner, Gary(1933– )
After writing several minor suspense novels, some
with marginal fantastic content, Gary Brandner
produced his first and still best-known horror
book, Howling(1977), one of the most successful
werewolf stories of all time. Horror writers have
rarely found sufficiently original interpretations of
the werewolf legend to produce memorable new
works. Brandner’s contribution was to portray
them as uneasy pack animals, a hidden society liv-
ing concealed within our own, gathering together
in disguise on a health farm, and preserving their34 Bramah, Ernest