Rating: 
Summary: Slow
Review: As a huge fan of Bradley's, and holding "The Mists of Avalon" up high as my favorite book of all time, I must confess I was very disappointed in this book. I was so excited when I heard there was a prequel to the "Mists of Avalon" I rushed out to get it. Owning and cherishing Bradley's other books. This book went along very slowly and did not keep my interest as does so many of her other books. I had to force myself to read it though.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: I just had to buy this book after I had read the other Avalon books. But this one sort of stood out. It's really well written and Bradley has this way of hooking you onto her books. It is really uncanny on how a person could have written something so incredible. It went really well but, I sort of thought Gaius as a sissy almost at the end because he just couldn't let go of the fact that it was beyond Eilan's wishes to marry him. Even though they loved each other to death. It was kind of a Romeo and Juliet drama thing. But I really do love this book. It does end in really sad ending, but thats what makes you love the book even more, because it makes you think and use your own mind and you can then relate it to yourself with the same event and see if you would've done the same thing. I do urge every Marion Zimmer Bradley fan to atleast read this book once in your lifetime. You probably won't regre it.
Rating:
Summary: Truly Wonderful!!!
Review: I loved this book. It was fantastic, thou maybe not a great as the Mists of Avalon it was amazing. I recommend it to people that are interested in early Britain times. And also I think that you will like it more if you read this book first. It is the story of Eilan Guis two people from completely different in a way, places and falling the love. The book then follows their lives, for around 30 years when they are reunited for one last time.
Rating:
Summary: Do yourself a favor and don't get the audio version
Review: I read the book and I also listened ot it on tape(I know go figure). The story is a classic forumla boy meets girl, girl loses girl and so on. It is excellent and a nessacary step for all "Avalon" lovers-5 stars for the book Now to the bad part The audio edition: Only problem is the narator. She just goes on and on in a monotone no vocie inflection(I don't even think she stopped to breath!). Overall-Read the book, don't get it on tape
Rating:
Summary: Not too bad, actually
Review: I'm not exactly sure why I read this book. While I enjoyed "The Mists of Avalon", I wasn't wild about it. Niether was I wild about this prequel. But I did enjoy it. While "Mists" is more of a fantasy, "The Forest House" delves into early A.D. history and European religions. It starts out as a cute, boy-meets-girl-and-falls-in-love-though-they-can't-be-together story, but evolves into a detailed story of religion and politics. I think Bradley put a bit too much religion in there, and even though she was showing how people back then felt towards Christianity, I kind of felt like she was pushing in her own opinions. Unfortunatly, there is too much material, and it gets extremely twisted up together in an unattractive knot. it set off at a good pace, slowed down, almost got miserable, but the last few chapters are almost worth it all. In fact, I was quite pleased with the ending. If you're pagan and/or interested in early european history, I'm not going to stop you from reading this. But I'm not going to insist you read it, either.
Rating: 
Summary: Historical Novel of Avalon & The Lady Of The Lake
Review: Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Forest House" is a prequel to her bestselling Arthurian novel, "The Mists of Avalon." Both novels revolve around the goddess religion in early Britain. "The Forest House," set in 1st century Roman ruled Britannia, is the home of Druidic priestesses who keep the ancient rites of learning, healing, and magic lore. Ms. Bradley writes of the Roman conquest of Celtic Britain and the political and religious implications of the occupation. Roman rule also impacted the role of women in Britain. Goddess worship, women's freedom and power waned under the Romans. This novel gives the author's historical version of Avalon and the Lady of the Lake. Eilan, the daughter of a Druidic warrior and granddaughter of Ardanos, Arch-Druid of Britannia, is gifted with the "sight" and has longed to serve the Goddess as a healer-priestess in the Forest House. She meets and falls in love with Gauis, a half Roman-half British youth, and son of the Roman Prefect Macellius Severus, second-in-command in Britainnia. They want to marry but are forbidden. Heartbroken, Eilan fulfills her original wish and dedicates herself to the Lady. Ms. Bradley blends a fascinating story with accurate research to give the reader a good picture of early Britain and the various political, cultural and religious factions, both local and Roman, which vied for power there. Bradley's narrative is clear and her plot is believable, as are her characters. I prefer "The Mists of Avalon," not just because of the subject matter, but because the plot and characters are more complex. However, this is a solid novel with a sound plot and worth the read.
JANA
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: The Forest House is the prequel to The Mists of Avalon, even though the "prequel" was written many years later than the "sequel." Like Mists, The Forest House is a wonderful book, one that I could not put down once I got past the slightly dry beginning. Never mind that the girl on the cover looks like a stoned Callista Flockhart/Ally McBeal. The main character, Elian, is just as engaging as Morgaine, the main character of Mists. Anyone who loved Mists will be delighted with this book, full of the same Druid mysticism and ancient Britainnian history.
The story is about Elian, and how she falls in love with a Roman soldier, torn between her love for him and her duties as a chosen priestess of the Forest House, a house where vestal virgins worship the goddess. The setting is when the Romans occupied what is now England, and ruled with an iron fist all of the native peoples, including Elian's family of Druids. The Druids have a tolerate-hate relationship with the Romans, mostly hate.
There are many fascinating characters in this book. The research that went into both this and Mists is staggering. To me it is amazing that Marion Zimmer Bradley had time to write both of these books in her lifetime.
Rating:
Summary: Go estrogen go!
Review: The set up-- that a young Druid Priestess shares a forbidden love with a half-breed Roman soldier that threatens to destroy both their worlds-- promises gory battles, love scenes, triumphs and tragedy. Marion Zimmer Bradley delivers all in spades. Focusing primarily on the females characters, she does a great job of arcing the main character, Eilan from care-free child to Warrior-Priestess. Zimmer Bradley gives us an interesting, extremely dense story that mixes action, magic and romance into a female-empowering tale. The characters are fairly sympathetic, especially when suffering frustrated love pangs, and thesub plots are just as intriguing as the main story line. Though the story sometimes strays too much into Female Empowerment Land (thanks to chapters devoted to menstrual blood rites and spell casting), Forest House presents lots of cliffhangers and surprises. MUCH better than its sequel, LADY OF AVALON.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This is a gorgeously written book, and I've been reading Marian Zimmer Bradley's work for years. It's not quite up to snuff with her masterpiece THE MISTS OF AVALON (for which it is a prequel) but it is still a gorgeously written, feminist examination of the conflict between Druidic and Roman cultures in early Britain. I recommend reading it after you read THE MISTS OF AVALON, because you'll get more out of this book and also color what you learned in MISTS in sharper focus. I also recommend reading one of Zimmer Bradley's early novels, THE FALL OF ATLANTIS, which was recently put back into print by Baen Books. THE FOREST HOUSE alludes to Atlantean culture as an ancient source for Druidism, and if you've read THE FALL OF ATLANTIS, you'll pick up on some of that. It's cool to see how Zimmer Bradley's books fit together, even if they were written thirty years apart.
Rating:
Summary: Women can be just as brutal as men
Review: This is the story Miss Bradley wrote as a prequel to her magnum opus: "The Mists of Avalon." This story takes place in early Britannia and centres around an arch-druid and his family. One day his daughters and son finds an injured traveler, who turns out to be of the much despised Romans. As in many sad and tragic tales, the daughter of the Arch-druid, Eilean falls inlove with the soldier. Of course any marriage is out of question. So in the midst of invasions these two try to keep their "illegal" love a secret, even as she starts to go into priestess training. This is an excellent tale of both sides of love, the happiness and the sorrow that it can bring, especially the kind looked down upon by families. Excellent story, and worthy of Bradley's name.
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