I'm a fan of Marion Zimmer Bradley, but my affection for her rests not on the Avalon books, which I didn't care for, but her Darkover series. Darkover is a "lost colony" of Earth that falls back into a medieval society. Ruled by a psychically gifted aristocracy, after centuries it's rediscovered by a star-spanning high-tech human federation, giving the series a feel of both science fiction and fantasy. Most books focus on the clash between the two cultures. This is one of the exceptions, set before the time of rediscovery, in the "Age of Chaos." The Darkover series as a whole features strong female characters, but it has enough swashbuckling adventure to draw the male of the species, and indeed this series was recommended to me by a guy (when we were in high school!)
This book is centered on one of the more memorable female characters in the series, Dorilys Aldaran, the "stormqueen" who has power over the weather. Although some of the Darkover books are loosely connected, having characters in common, they were written to be read independently and were written out of sequence. This makes it difficult without a guide to know what story to start with. Stormqueen was published in 1978, when MZB was at the height of her powers, and of the 18 Darkover novels written solely by MZB, is one of my favorites--easily top five. Early chronologically in the timeline of the series, and with no recurring characters, it makes a fine introduction to a beguiling world.
