Hawkmistress!
Balrog Award nominee 1983.
She had rejected her noble birthright and embraced the freedom only a man could claim. She was Romilly who lived among the beasts of hill and forest and communicated with them, who tried humanity and turned it down for its evils and jealousies. She had the MacAran Gift, the rare Iaran that conferred mastery over hawk and horse.
There was war in the lands of Darkover for this was the age of the
Hundred Kingdoms when usurpers took the throne and the true king
wandered in disguise with a price on his head. Romilly wanted none of
this, but there were those who shared her talents – the men and women
of the towers, and for them, Romilly was the key.
Whether male-garbed od beast-minded, she was also human. And duty to her own true kind pointed her to the ultimate decision.
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Zimmer Bradley was an American fantasy and science fiction author. She was born 1930 and died 1999 after suffering a major heart attack.
Writing for over 4 decades, Marion Zimmer Bradley is best known for her Darkover science fantasy series and her Arthurian masterpiece, The Mists of Avalon. She also edited anthologies for several years and published Marion Zimmer Bradley's FANTASY Magazine.
Darkover
Darkover consists of 28 total books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
Related series Darkover (anthologies)
Related series The Clingfire Trilogy
Related series Children of Kings