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Summary: The Arthurian Legend told like never before
Review: I heard about this book from a employee at Borders books. He saw that i had was buying Mad Merlin by J Robert King(another 5 star book) and he recomended "The Mists of Avalon" to read afterwards to get a different perspective of the story of King Arthur and Camelot.
Who needs the big screen? Marion Zimmer Bradley puts you in the story. I really cared for the women behind the throne. The story is brillantly written. I read the book in 11 days at work, it takes awhile for you to get into the story but she captures you and you won't want to put the book down. I was filled with emotions: sorrow, fear, happiness...Her descriptive words put you in the story, you don't need much imagination to read this book, she has done it all for you. An excellant perspective in the tale of the great Arthur, Camelot, Merlin, Lancelot, and of course, the many women behind the making of the Great King. A must read
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Summary: an excellent read
Review: I thought this was a very good perspective of arthurian legend. While it took me a considerable amount of time to read it, I couldn't put it down. Some people seemed to dislike the book because of it's anti-christian view, but it isnt so much against christianity, but against christianity during the time period and the priests. I found it to be very well written, and though it is sometimes difficult to remember who is related to who or who specific characters are, it is definitely worth reading.
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Summary: interesting point of view, but boring...
Review: I have read many arthurian legends...from Morte'de Arthur to all the way to Isolde...and so when I heard about this book...i had to read it...but i was terribly diasppointed...
the book is about 900 pages...but even when i got to the 300th page...i found no climax...or even a hint of it. The story seemed to drag on forever...and i found myself just reading it so that i could be done with it...(i can never put a book down once i start>>>unfortunately...)
If you know the arthurian legend all too well...like me...than u will be disappointed because you end up anticipating every move of the author...
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Summary: I love this book!!!!!
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read! I love the way Marion Zimmer Bradley put a feminine spin on the old Arthur tales. She was able to recreate the fairy tale with more feeling and detail. The book adds an element of emotion to the old semi-macho stories. Also, the scenes involving magic rituals and such were very acurate and believable. This is a definite must-read, especially for women.
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Summary: Beautiful Fantasy
Review: I loved this book. So many wonderful aspects. Romance, adventure, history... and on and on... Evokes every emotion while you read it. Wonderful story you won't forget, and you must re read and re read
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Summary: A female fantasy-novel lover's dream
Review: I am at times prone to exaggeration. However, I am serious in saying this is the book that changed my life. I have, to date, read it three times... and I plan many more return trips to Avalon in the future. When I first read it, it spoke to me both as a fan of the fantasy genre in general (and of the Arthurian legends in particular), and as a pagan. As a female fantasy fan, it was refreshing to FINALLY see the story of Camelot told from the points of view of a few of the many women crucial to the legends. As a pagan, it was incredible to read a novel which was very even-handed in its treatment of differing religious viewpoints. In nearly all other accounts of the Arthurian cycle, the Christians are treated as the heroes and the Pagans as evil. Marion Zimmer Bradley, however, treats people of both faiths as exactly what they were (and are); people, both good and bad, well-meaning and ill-intentioned. Bradley approached the religious aspects with an open mind, and the end result is a novel which is not only an engrossing read but also educational. Be prepared to be completely swept up in the world of Avalon and of the strong and complicated character of Morgaine le Fey. If there was any possible way I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would. The Mists of Avalon is, without a doubt, at the top of my list of the best novels ever written.
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Summary: The Greatest Book of the Latter 20th Century
Review: Marion Zimmer Bradley, who passed away last year, left to her readers both old and new, one of the most enduring legacies of modern literature. The Mists of Avalon is a glorious retelling of the Arthurian saga by one of its most maligned characters--that of Morgan le Fay.To call this book a "feminist fable" is to do it a great injustice, and frankly, lends itself to charges of sexism. No one calls Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur a paen to masculine virtues; historically speaking, Malory's work was greatly influenced by Eleanor of Aquitaine's famous Courts of Love. Any spurious charges of feminism leveled against Ms. Bradley's book merely rise from the fact that the main characters of the book are all the women behind Arthur's throne; Morgan (called Morgaine in the novel), Guinevere (Gwenhyfar), and Viviane, Lady of the Lake. Morgaine has emerged as one of my all-time favourite characters in literature; she is a complex woman both ahead of her time, and yet greatly of her time. Gwenhyfar is just as complex, and at first reading, is a thoroughly disagreeable character. That is, until one realizes that she too, is as much a woman of her times. Much of Ms. Bradley's genius lay in her ability to fully flesh out her characters, to make them real to the reader. This novel also introduced many to the idea of a goddess-centered spirituality (i.e. paganism/wicca) without being preachy. To be honest, I found Morgaine's path to be just as trying and just as demanding as Christianity is to its adherents. A few detractors have claimed that Mists of Avalon was/is a "recruitment guide" to feminist spirituality, and that Christianity was painted as a hateful religion--unfortunately, these people are the victims of their own biases. Much of early Christianity was rather backwards in its views of women (a view which sadly hasn't progressed all that greatly). To be fair, Ms. Bradley once again proved her impeccable scholarship in showing the ties that early Christianity and the pagan faiths of Old Britain shared--the story of Joseph of Arimathea, who supposedly founded the first church upon Glastonbury Tor, and who worshipped alongside the Druids. I have read this book about a good 100 times (I'm not kidding), and with each re-read, I come away with more insight into the human condition. This is a novel that should be read and shared and discussed by everyone. It should be judged for the quality of the writing and for the depth of characterization it brings, both which are immense, and a lasting tribute to the brilliant mind who penned it.
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Summary: Mists of Avalon is a classic
Review: I read this book, and I thought it was great. I had heard about it on TV and thought it sounded good. I've seen the other movies about Arthur, the one title "Merlin" showed on NBC. I saw that one,and thought it was awesome, but it portrayed Morgaine as a sluty,power-hungry,evil sorceress. And she wasn't!! She didn't know that it was Arthur that she slept with, until it was too late! I loved this book for so many resons. In every story, Gwenhwyfar(welsh spelling) is always portrayed as the sweet and innocent woman. But in "Mists" she's seen as who she is, mean, spoiled, winey, and not the always beautiful, oh so sweet Queen. I recommend this book to everyone. Even if you don't believe in some of the things. Have an open mind! I feel that one of the themes in the book is that it doesn't matter what you call God, whether it be God, or Allah,or even if you call it a Goddess, it doesn't matter. Just have an open mind. And enjoy the book.
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Summary: Mists
Review: I had a brief background in Arthurian legend from an Anglo-Saxon Lit class, so I was quite interested in understanding more of the feminist slant in their retelling. I bought this book after seeing the TNT movie version, expecting (of course) to find differences between it and the book. While I did not think that I would find as many as I did, the differences were wonderful. _Mists_ is an extremely well-written book that grabs its readers, pulls them in, and doesn't let go until you finish reading the last page. As soon as I finished reading this book, I wanted to start reading it again. _Mists_ is not only a retelling of Arthurian legend, not only a tale expressing the dangers of human frailty. _Mists_ offers its readers a view of religion that I personally find extremely refreshing and liberating: no matter what name a religion gives to its higher power--be it God, Allah, Yahweh--the importance is believing in a God who reaches across religious lines and semantics to be involved in a human life. And in that same vein, it shows the dangers in confusing a higher power's intentions and our own human wishes...things I think it would do most people good to remember when desparaging remarks enter their minds.
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Summary: sorry but this book SUX!
Review: I had high hopes for this book, because I had heard all this good stuff about it and it SUX! I read about 200 pages of it and then I just dropped it flat. I completely lost interest in the first 50 pages or so but I was forcing myself to read more in case it got better later on, some books do u know? Well, that never happend. A lot of the reviews discuss the problems the book had with Chrisianity and such, which is cool, but my main problem with the book wasn't with the plot or the message/opinion's of the authur, it was that I hated most of the characters. All the characters that were supposed to be really cool in the real king aurthur story were really mean, horrible, backstabbing, immature ppl in this story which just totally ruined the real Aurthur story for me. I guess that's supposed to be the genius of the book or something, that the ppl are real and cruel instead of idealized creatures, but the ppl in this book are too stupid and mean to even identify with. They aren't making mistakes, they are intentionally ruining their lives and blaming it on someone else. Nothing about the characters was inspirational or redeeming once you got to know them, blah :P Read this book for fun if that's your kind of thing, but don't expect anything great from it.
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