The Mists of Avalon

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Summary: Best book i have ever read
Review: This truly is a great book. It is so supensful and draws you in so that you can feel for the characters. I am in 7th and love this book. Marion Bradley is a great author and i can't wait to read more of her books.

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Summary: "Sink into the Mists"
Review: The late Marion Zimmer Bradley was a prolific writer of the fantasy genre with all the required elements of magic, witchcraft, and intrigue. Her previous work however, tended to be lightweight. When she wrote "The Mists of Avalon" Mrs Bradley created a fantasy masterpiece of Arthurian legend.
The story is told from the feminine perspective without being a feminist diatribe. Morgaine le Fey is the main heroine of the story and brings the elements of magic and the beliefs of the old pagan religion in her character. The book starts with the child Morgaine being swept up in the turmoil of the seduction of her mother Igraine by the High King of Britain, Uther Pendragon. To win Igraine's love Uther must first rid her of her husband Galoise, Morgaine's father. With help from Merlin the mission was accomplished and the result was the birth of a boy child, Arthur.
The story leads the reader on a spellbinding tale of the two children Morgaine and Arthur and their eventual separation. Arthur to goes off with Merlin to learn to be a good king and Morgaine to be a priestess with Vivianne, Igraine's sister, (and the Lady of the Lake), in the magical realm of Avalon.
Their lives later become entwined and wise Morgaine helps Arthur to his king-hood . A king must have a bride and the Christian priests found such a one for Arthur. "Gwenhwyfar was young and dazzlingly pretty; she seemed all white and gold, her skin pale as ivory just stained with coral, her eyes palest blue, her hair long and pale and shining through the mist like living gold" (p157). Add the good knight Lancelot, Merlin the druid magician, Vivianne, the Lady of the Lake, a few knights and several villains and the story becomes a full-blown saga of love, deception, suspense, and a struggle for the rise of Christianity and the demise of the old ways of worship. The characters are beautifully constructed and real leaving the reader bereft when the story concludes.
"The Mists of Avalon" is an epic saga that tells of the struggles of the old pagan tribes inhabiting Britain in the middle of the first millennium and the new religion of Christianity. Morgaine le Fey was on a losing side but when Christianity got its grip on Britain the old religion slipped back into the Fairy realm to be visited only in dreams. The book is not based in historical fact by any means, but provides an alternative look at a legend that has been captivating and intriguing for over a thousand years. The story has two prequels provided in Bradley's next works of fantasy fiction "The Forest House" and "Lady of Avalon".

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Summary: As educational as it is entertaining
Review: The Arthurian theme has been done before, and I thought it had been exhausted until I read this book. Taking a viewpoint which had really not been much expored-- the female viewpoint-- and bringing the mythos to a more personal level, MZB created a tale of remarkable depth and power. Morgaine is presented as a wholly human character, not a caricature of evil, and Gwynhwyfar is treated to a warts-and-all portrait. One aspect of this book that had been glossed over in other versions is the atmosphere of a time when two religions struggled for dominance, including a (not very flattering) cameo appearance by St. Patrick himself. This religious turmoil is symbolized by Morgaine, the priestess of the old ways of magic and celebration of life, and by Gwynhwyfar, the fanatic product of a convent upbringing whose fears, guilt-feelings and repressed self-loathing are surpassed only by her intolerence for any beliefs not her own. Also interesting to note is that Merlin is not a person, but a title, inherited by very different men. The book never gets lost in unnecessary detail for all its length, and the wealth of information about medieval life is well worth the read. You will be sorry when it's over and will want to read it again and again.

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Summary: Wonderful!!!!
Review: If you love authurian tales, or even if you have never even read one, this is the book for you.
Marrion Zimmer Bradley had a new and invigorating idea to tell the 'true' tale of Arthur through the eyes of the many women in his life such as Igrain, Vivian, Morgain, and a few others.
Beautifully writen, new portrails of characters long ago forgoten like Merlin, gives a new view on the life of avalon and all it's surroundings in the time of Arthur.

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Summary: A MUST BOOK
Review: this book is GREAT!!!!!!
at the begining i didn't like it a lot but after a few pages,WOW!
i actually lost a few pounds while reading it becaus i read it instead of eating.
besides the fact that it is a very fllowing book and very intresting to read. it also turns your atention to the celtic and christian religeon witch are very interesting. i also recomend to read the ledgends of king arthur, the "proper" ones, it is very interesting.
all in all, A MUST BOOK!

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Summary: Fiction and Fact
Review: Fiction and fact have been bound together in an epic tale of the reign of King Arthur, all taken place from the perspective of the women. Avalon is slipping into the mists, and the old religion is being overcome by Christianity. The old religion, believing in the Great Goddess, or Mother Goddess was a feminine based religion, and was a real part of the world. The natives of the land before the Greeks and Romans came were followers of this religion, which is the basis for The Mists of Avalon.

This story is not the tale of King Authur, it is the story of his sister, Morgain. It is not only her life, but before hand, beginning with her mother's life. In other Arthurian legends Morgain is thought to be a witch - an evil person. But Marion Zimmer Bradley looked at it from a different angle, where Morgain is not evil, but simply from another religion. In the story there are characters, (Gwenhwyfar, for instance), who believe Morgain to be evil. Gwenhwyfar is pious, and devoted to Christianity, and she is rather narrow minded. She sees the ways of Avalon to be witchcraft.

Another key component of this story is fate. The Goddess plans what is to be done, and characters such as The Merlin and Viviane, Lady of the Lake, act out the wishes of the Goddess. How Aurther came to the throne is highly organized, and all decided and planned by Viviane and The Merlin, (though Gwenhwyfar refuses to believe this, and says it is the will of God -- being the Christian God -- that did so). Morgain is at first outraged by Viviane's use of people as pawns, but she comes to learn and accept the will of the Goddess.

Morals and ethics clash with the old religion and Christianity. What in the Christin releigoin is a sin is accepted in the old religion. King Aurther, who was sworn to both religions, is torn between the two. The two religions cannot live in harmony, and one is eventually destroyed.

Love and lust fill this book. All the love and pain brings characters to madness, and morals are again questioned with the clash of religion.

An epic novel that is sure to please the female reader. I am sure a male reader could too enjoy it, but being all from the perspective of the women, a male reader would be held back and not see it in the same light.

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Summary: My Favorite Book Ever!
Review: This is my favorite book of all time. I got it for my birthday a year ago, and haver read it many, many times since then. The cover of my copy is falling off.
This book has completely changed my view of the Arthurian legend. Before this I had read T.H. White's The Sword In the Stone, which I also enjoyed, but this book expanded the legend so much, revealing a side of the story which is very rarely talked about. The imagery is lovely, and the story itself is fascinating.
One note. In a catalouge a few months ago, I saw this book and the reccomended age was 11 up. This is not a book for 11 year olds. Mature 13 year olds at the youngest. Besides the fact that it is sexually explicit (not, however, in a pornographic way), the story itself is advanced.
But overall, I wholeheartedly reccomend this book.

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Summary: Unforgettable imagery
Review: I first wandered into the Mists of Avalon during my senior year at high school. I had never cared much for King Arthur or those ridiculous Mallory translations except to watch Monty Python illustrate their absurdity. This book took me by surprise. I could not do anything til I had finished reading it! (To the 13 yr-old reviewer, I say -- wait a few years.) I picked it up again twice during my 20s, because so many of the images remained in my mind, and coming back to the world of Morgaine was a welcome respite from demands of life & work. Now in my 30s, and though I find the attitude of the women in here to be too negative for my taste anymore (I guess women have become so much more liberated that we don't feel like complaining as much?) I still believe it is one of the most mystically inspired books ever written. I put this book up there with Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Bridges of Madison County, The Joy Luck Club and all other books that just seem to pour out of the Universe onto the pages. Others of Ms. Bradley's books are child's play in comparison, and do not even merit reviews. But this one -- obviously written at a time (it seems) of uninhibited creativity -- is a rare and wonderful work. Read it if you're a woman, read it if you aren't. Read it if you love the Arthurian legends, read it anyway if you couldn't care less. Allow yourself to be led into the mists, and go on an unforgettable journey into this imagined past ... when you come back to the present, you'll have experienced a strange initiation and life will never be the same.

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Summary: Breathtaking series!!!
Review: The fourth book in the series. Wonderfully written by MZB. My favorite fantasy author. I purchased this book as well as The Forest House, Lady of Avalon & Priestess of Avalon. They are spellbinding! They draw you in & you can't put them done! If you love MZB you must buy the series! You will not be sorry you did!

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Summary: A wonderful book!
Review: I am quite a Camelot fanatic and loved this book. In all of the versions of the Arthurian legend that I have read, Guinevere has been portrayed as a strong, self-assured woman who is as diplomatic as Arthur; Morgaine has been portrayed as the King's harlot sister, an evil witch. The Gwenhwyfar in The Mists of Avalon, to me, seems a lot more realistic. She is pious and quiet, always wishing to do right by her God and husband. As much as I am a feminist, this was unfortunatly more typical of women in that era. As for Morgaine, I found her quite lovable and find myself understanding how some judgements about her might have been formed. This is an excellent book. It seems like a much more realistic version of the Camelot story and I find myself both loving and hating each of the characters. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves the Arthurian story. This is that and so much more.