# I'm looking for the author of a barely-remembered story. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 23, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-the-author-of-a-barely-remembered-story/669540 "2013-09-23T20:02:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-the-author-of-a-barely-remembered-story/669540/1 "2013-09-23T20:02:13Z")
the tale in question was published in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s annual _Sword & Sorceress_ anthology. Like nearly all stories in that series, they had a female protagonist. The protagonist of the story was a remarkably ugly but very strong woman. Early in the story she is ambushed and raped, conceiving a child whom she loves despite its origin. The woman is soon heartbroken when her daughter dies of a fever in agony. She seeks out the anthropomorphic incarnation of Death, who is cruel, and challenges him to a duel for the life of her daughter. She defeats Death but learns she cannot resurrect her daughter. Even so the story has a somewhat happy ending, as the protagonist replaces the current Death and, in her new office, is merciful to those she must usher out of life; with her acting as the Grim Reaper, no one perishes in agony any longer. The story MAY have been set in Robert Asprin’s Thieves’ World. I’m not sure about that, but I seem to remember that the only explicit clue that the protagonist was raped was that, during the scene in question, her rapist says to his fellows “I told you I could fuck the ugliest woman in Old Gandrin!” Anybody remember this story and its author? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-the-author-of-a-barely-remembered-story/669540/2 "2013-09-23T20:08:20Z")
Wikipedia says there have been 27 volumes in the [Sword & Sorceress series](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_and_Sorceress_series). Could you narrow it down a little? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-the-author-of-a-barely-remembered-story/669540/3 "2013-09-23T20:12:32Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Wikipedia says there have been 27 volumes in the [Sword & Sorceress series](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_and_Sorceress_series). Could you narrow it down a little? Would if I could. All I remember is that it was in that series, not a volume number. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-the-author-of-a-barely-remembered-story/669540/4 "2013-09-23T23:27:49Z")
I googled your search terms and got this [pdf](http://bandi.dyndns.tv/E-bookok/Angol/Marion%20Zimmer%20Bradley/Marion%20Zimmer%20Bradley%20-%20Lythande.pdf). Maybe this will narrow it down. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-the-author-of-a-barely-remembered-story/669540/5 "2013-09-23T23:45:34Z")
It doesn’t sound like a Lythande story, AFAIK, “he” continued to travel and have adventures. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-the-author-of-a-barely-remembered-story/669540/6 "2013-09-24T01:19:04Z")
What year did you read the story? That would help narrow down which volume it’s in. I have the entire series, and if you’ll narrow down what you know more I can check through the books. Do you have a picture in your head of the cover art? Do you remember any other stories in the same volume? ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-the-author-of-a-barely-remembered-story/669540/7 "2013-09-24T01:32:03Z")
Death and the Ugly Woman, Bruce D. Arthurs, in Sword and Sorceress IV. Found due to the excellent group on LibraryThing “Name That Book” - I’m a member there (a different handle) and remembered the query from a few months back. [This](http://www.librarything.com/topic/153727#4075114)should take you to the thread in question, but the group itself has an amazing track record if you happen to need something else. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-the-author-of-a-barely-remembered-story/669540/8 "2013-09-24T02:00:31Z")
Wow that’s some impressive sleuthing. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-the-author-of-a-barely-remembered-story/669540/9 "2013-09-24T02:08:22Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > Wow that’s some impressive sleuthing. Thanks, but it’s not as impressive as it seems - my memory for the written word is freaky like that, but it’s not something I control. In addition, I only have a few boards online that I frequent, and they’re all really different from each other, so it’s pretty easy to suss out where I would have read something. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-the-author-of-a-barely-remembered-story/669540/10 "2013-09-25T17:28:03Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It doesn’t sound like a Lythande story, AFAIK, “he” continued to travel and have adventures. Oh, I know it wasn’t a Lythande story. Couldn’t be, at least not with her as a protagonist. > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > What year did you read the story? That would help narrow down which volume it’s in. I have the entire series, and if you’ll narrow down what you know more I can check through the books. Do you have a picture in your head of the cover art? Do you remember any other stories in the same volume? I have no idea what year it was. I looked over the Wikipedia entry on the series… > [@Lasciel](#): > > Death and the Ugly Woman, Bruce D. Arthurs, in Sword and Sorceress IV. … and yet, somehow, missed this. Many thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-the-author-of-a-barely-remembered-story/669540/11 "2013-09-26T03:22:35Z")
Skald the Rhymer writes: \> I have no idea what year it was. No idea whatsoever? The first book in the series came out in 1984 and the last one came out in 2012. So you saying, “There’s this story I read once. It could have been last year. It could have been 29 years ago. I can’t remember.” ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-the-author-of-a-barely-remembered-story/669540/12 "2013-09-26T20:34:40Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > No idea whatsoever? The first book in the series came out in 1984 and the last one came out in 2012. So you saying, “There’s this story I read once. It could have been last year. It could have been 29 years ago. I can’t remember.” I’m not the OP, but yep. It happens all the time to me. I read at least a book a day, and while all of them are not adult books, they do have plots and individual bits that stick in my mind (or not) as the case may be. I have often found myself thinking about a setting or a plot, and I KNOW I must have read it somewhere, but damned if I can remember anything else about it - if I could remember more about it, I’d likely actually remember it, or at least remember enough about it that I can find it on my own. If I’m just clutching a barely-there thread of story or setting, it’s often all I can do to make sure I’m not overly embellishing or conflating the memory! (And I often fail at that attempt.) ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-the-author-of-a-barely-remembered-story/669540/13 "2013-09-26T21:16:39Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > Thanks, but it’s not as impressive as it seems - my memory for the written word is freaky like that, but it’s not something I control. In addition, I only have a few boards online that I frequent, and they’re all really different from each other, so it’s pretty easy to suss out where I would have read something. Did this play into your choice of user name? ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-the-author-of-a-barely-remembered-story/669540/14 "2013-09-26T21:55:10Z")
Not for this handle, no. If I were playing on my freaky brains, I probably would have gone with **ArcIvy** , but I don’t usually think about aspects of myself when I’m picking user names for places.