Guinevere (Guinevere)

Rating:
Summary: The Golden Girl
Review: Guinevere is a great book. I read it in a day. I couldn't put it down. Sharan Newman's use of descriptive words had me feeling like I was living in that era. I read the second book "The Chessboard Queen" when I was younger. It was refreshing to be able to read about Guinevere's childhood. Please read all 3 books. I am about to begin on the third.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre Read
Review: I could not say this book was a good or bad read. There are treasures inside every book ever written, it just takes a while to find them. In this version of the King Arthur story, you are first taken through a passage into the life of a young, beautiful, selfish Guinevere. You enter her life as she grows and changes, as well as see the things around her channge. You feel her ignorance as she is sheltered from the gruesome world around her. Most times you feel like knocking sense into her.
Then we are taken to the adult Guinevere. Simple, compassionate (I think), Guinevere. A visit with her relatives in the woods and she is brought into a harmony with the land and life given to her. She fades into that part of her life that mystically involves a unicorn. Their love binds them together as they watch the world go by in unison and feel the changes sweeping over them.
Guinevere must face disasters, heartbreak, betrayal and love.
Positive Sides of this story include: St. Geraldus, someone possessed with "singing voices", takes the spotlight in this read. I would love reading primarily about him. His character was very well done.
Negative sides: Personally, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't relate to Guinevere at all. Her character seemed distant and simple...only loved because of her beauty. Second, I felt that her bond with the unicorn wasn't drawn on enough. Not saying I could do better, I just wish that I had learned more about that relationship. Arthur seemed foolish and stumbly...which does make him human, but too human to contain and order the attention of his soldiers, much less a kingdom. Though he is apparently said to have done this.
The main plot? I'm not quite sure.
Recommended? Sure, if you want to read it once. Be warned that if you are like me, you'll be wanting it finished halfway through. It does have plenty of gems, just not as easily found as other books.
Age Range: 10 and up. [PG] ;) Not many sexual references that could be understood by children. Guinevere was too simple herself to know what was going on half the time.


Rating:
Summary: good book!
Review: I first read this book in my teens (about 10 years ago), but recently re-read the trilogy. This is an intersting twist on a classic tale. Although the characters (like Guinever) can sometimes be annoying, it is an overall good read for those intersted in Celtic myths and tales of Camelot.

Rating:
Summary: Too simplistic
Review: I found this book a bit to simplistic. The writing was rather...basic. I would have found this book simple enough for a young teenager to read. I just didn't feel that the talent was there in comparison to Miles, McKenzie, Cornwell and Zimmer-Bradly. The story gets across, but it is filled with silly childish things like the unicorn - a total waste of pages. I also found the development of characters like Caet, Flora and the brother and sister living alone in the wilderness are all very poorly done. I didn't "KNOW" them and therefore, their motivation for doing things was also not well understood.
If you are looking for a fast read (short book) and like the Arthurian legends - you may find some interest here. However, there are about 10 books I'd suggest before this one.

Rating:
Summary: Too simplistic
Review: I found this book a bit to simplistic. The writing was rather...basic. I would have found this book simple enough for a young teenager to read. I just didn't feel that the talent was there in comparison to Miles, McKenzie, Cornwell and Zimmer-Bradly. The story gets across, but it is filled with silly childish things like the unicorn - a total waste of pages. I also found the development of characters like Caet, Flora and the brother and sister living alone in the wilderness are all very poorly done. I didn't "KNOW" them and therefore, their motivation for doing things was also not well understood.
If you are looking for a fast read (short book) and like the Arthurian legends - you may find some interest here. However, there are about 10 books I'd suggest before this one.

Rating:
Summary: I didn't like it.
Review: I loved Sharan Newman's Guinevere Triology (Guinevere, The Chessboard Queen, Guinevere Evermore) though I wasn't too crazy about Guinevere herself. But the author puts so many neat twists into the plot. All the classic legends by Mallory, Tennyson, White, etc. are intertwined in the story, including some new characters (St. Gerraldus and his mystical choir, for example). One thing I really liked about the trilogy was Newman's portrayal of Guinevere. In a lot of legends and stories told about Camelot, Guinevere is shown as a wicked, conniving seductress, whose irresponsible behavior is the downfall of Camelot and Arthur's dream. Newman shows the queen as a very naive, and not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but by no means a horrible person. Mostly, Guinevere makes some bad decisions, but is also a victim of fate and circumstance. My favorite character in the trilogy is Sir Gawain, who is introduced to Guin during her fostering.

I won't give the plot away, because it's better to read it yourself! But read the whole trilogy, and in order. I will say, I cried at the end of Guinevere Evermore, and I am not one ot cry over books. But the emotion Newman weaves into her tale made me want ot weep for the fallen dream of Camelot. If Amazon had more stars available for ranking (more than five, that is), I'd give the trilogy even more. This is such a good read!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but I Hated Guinivere Herself
Review: It's interesting, I actually liked the book, although I couldn't stand Guinevere herself. She was kind of wimpy, with no real clue about the real world, and incredibly selfish. However, I actually enjoyed the book quite a bit, because of the characters surrounding Guinevere. I really liked Arthur, Mark and Guinevere's mother, among others. These people actually made it worth the read. Guinevere's obsession with herself and her unicorn became extremely obnoxious after a while, however. All the unicorn did, as far and I could tell, was put his head in Guin's lap and let her pet him. Oh, and complain a whole lot about not knowing other unicorns. Read this book for it's supporting characters, if you're willing to ignore an obnoxious heroine.

Rating:
Summary: A Mix of the Romantic and the Mythical
Review: This is a great read for anyone who's into mythical legends. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! Newman knows how to weave the Celtic myths together very well - the characters stayed with me after I finished reading this book. What is interesting is her exploration of the intimate relationship Guinevere has with her unicorn. This book is for all the romantics who enjoy the Arthurian legends.