Rating: 
Summary: Simply put, every woman should read this book
Review: A wonderful book that opened my eyes to the power of womanhood - and helped me identify some of the forces that have shaped the female experience today. Like all of the best of books, it will make you think, it will make you feel, it will open your head and open your heart. Best of all, it will change your view of yourself and all other women in very interesting ways. Obviously, I highly recommend this book!
Rating:
Summary: My favorite book!
Review: I always saw this book in the bookstore and would never read it because I was afraid the story of Arthur would be cliche and boring. Finally, a friend convinced me to read it and it proved me wrong! It is a fascinating and unique view of the story that drew me right in. My favorite aspect of the book was the way it really made me think, about life, religion, among other things. It is really a worthwhile read, I couldn't put it down once I started!
Rating: 
Summary: Very good
Review: I am quite obsessed with the legends about King Arthur and that sort of thing, and I have tried to read nearly every book written about the subject (needless to say, I haven't yet.) I thought that The Mists of Avalon could not possibly be as good as The Once and Future King. I was wrong. This is one of the best books ever written. You should read it immediately if you haven't! I especialy enjoyed the way that it focused on the women of the legend, mainly Morgaine and Gwynhwfar, instead of the men. There's only so much you can take of that bloody idiot Lancelot without feeling very annoyed. Luckily, this book skipped almost all of the shining chivalrous deeds and focused on the real people. Morgaine is the best character; she is usually portrayed as evil, but not here. Gwynhwfar, though, by the end of the book I was wishing she would fall off a high wall or have another terrible death. I don't feel that she got her just desserts. Oh well, you can't please everybody. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the obsession with sex. I mean, some romance is necessary, but the author way overdid it (thus the four stars.) However, this is a great book, and I definitely recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: The most amazing book I've ever read
Review: Wow. This is the most amazing story I've ever read. It is heart-breaking, and soul-wrenching, and absolutely beautiful. I was completely enveloped by this book. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. The writing is positively lyrical. Few books have affected me as deeply as this one. There is a feeling in this book that I feel I will carry with me forever. I am forever changed by this story. Five pages in, and you have already forgotten that it's fiction. The people and the places are real. Since finishing this book, I have been unable to start anything else. I fear that I will never be satisfied by another novel again. If you never do anything else in your life, read this book. You will not regret it.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic In Its Own Right
Review: As someone who loves Arthurian legend and mythology, I am always eager to read a new spin on an old story. I have read many versions of the myth, and when I picked up The Mists Of Avalon I expected more of the same. Instead, I got an invaluable surprise. With Mists, Bradley creates a story all her own; it stays true to the details of the King Arthur saga, yet it beautifully addresses the controversies, such as the treatment of the relationship between Gwenhwyfar and Lancelot. Not only will this near flawless retelling satisfy readers familiar with the Arthurian myth, it provides a wonderful insight into the hearts and minds of the women of the times, who, unbeknownst to most, had a huge effect on the political and religious undercurrents that defined and controlled Arthurian times. I was struck especially by the treatment of the female community of Avalon, a group of beautifully drawn women who are willing to risk their lives, if needs be, in order to achieve their goals, and protect those worthy of their favor. A must-read for all those enamored of Arthurian legend, Mists is also a wonderful introduction to the genre for those uninitiated into its myriad charms.
Rating:
Summary: Transport yourself away...
Review: This book is magnificent. I read it after reading the other 2 books in the trilogy & everything was so much richer, and made much more sense. I could feel the betrayal that Avalon felt from Arthur. Gwen was a perfect symbol for the rising "sect" of Christianity in that period---so much so that I honestly began to hate her--she used Arthur's guilt to get him to dishonor Avalon. Avalon wasn't blameless throughout the book, and I am happy that everyone was shown in equal light. The way that Vivaine used her sisters and niece took some getting used to--but it was necessary to make the events follow their plans. I am going to recommend this book to everyone I know. Even if you don't really like Athurian legend, this is still a great book.
Rating:
Summary: I see more than 5 stars through the mists...
Review: This is the third review I make for this book, but in the other two, I was not able to express what was so good about it. I have read "The Mists..." many times, and I have never been tired of it! It's a wonderful retelling of King Arthur's legend through the eyes of the women that somewhat had a part in his life: his mother, Igraine, his aunts, Viviane and Morgause, and most of all, Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere) and Morgaine, his wife and his half-sister. This story, filled with treasons, pain, Gods and Goddesses, is one of the masterpieces of the Arthurian Literature. Arthur, Lancelet, Mordred, Kevin and others are put here with a new perspective, spicing up the story, creating new consequences and recreating traditional facts. Gwenhwyfar and Morgaine are the protagonists of the conflicts between Christians and pagans, what is the main point of the book. Their discussions, added to the historical elements and the magic of Avalon make these two characters very interesting ones, and most of all, intriguing. How can they be so different and so the same? Either of them, based in their own beliefs, seek through Caerleon and Camelot's evolution, for love, attention, comfort... Acting behind the Round Table's curtains, making their own decisions, being strong to fight for the love they barely knew, being sometimes loving and sometimes hateful, actually having the Old Britain's power in their hands, Morgaine and Gwenhwyfar, in their both strange, different (and same) ways, struggle for power, and triumph. "The Mists of Avalon" is a novel like no other. MZB made classic characters be as alive as the readers.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome book, a definite must read
Review: This was a well written book that no fantasy lover should overlook, especially if your into Arthurian Legend. But this book goes far beyond telling the legendary story of King Arthur. It is told from the point of view of the women in Arthur's life. This book also highlights religious struggle at the time. The firm believers of the Old ways and the New Christianity that has drawn many Britons to it. I tended to take favor to the pagan side, but I thought both sides were written beautifully. You must read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading
Review: After much prodding by my friends, I finally read this, and I'm very glad I did. While there are very brief moments of "soap opera" plot turns, on the whole, the story is engaging. The characters are built beautifully, layer upon layer. I found the pagan descriptions to be lovely, while not denigrating the christian viewpoint at all. One small caveat - if you have any problems with strength, don't get the hard-cover. This is a large book, and the new hardcover is heavy.
Rating:
Summary: Worthy of Arthur
Review: The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley is a retelling of Arthurian legend through the eyes of the women surrounding Arthur. This sounds simple enough, but before this one is over, you'll need a scorecard to remember who is kin to whom and how. Once you figure that out, you'll want to learn more about the effects of inbreeding, since there is plenty of it here. Viviane is Lady of the Lake and of Avalon, a mystical island that only those with the Sight can find in the Mists; to those not gifted, it is merely an island with a Christian church and monastery. Taliesen is the Merlin of Britain, the messenger of the [Druid] gods. Viviane's half-sister and Taliesen's daughter, Igraine, is married off to Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, and in due course gives birth to a daughter, Morgaine. She also is foster mother to her younger sister (half-sister) Morgause, a teenage girl who has the combined gift of great ambition and little conscience and who will play a key role later. The young Igraine resents deeply how Viviane manipulates her, first into marriage with the much-older Gorlois. Later, Viviane's prediction, which Igraine also resents, that Igraine will fall for Uther Pendragon, comes true. Uther becomes High King after the death of Ambrosius, Gorlois rebels against him, and Igraine conceives Uther's son, Gwydion, or Arthur, the night before Gorlois' death. Arthur, as we know, is fated to become The Once and Future King in the Matter of Britain. The story is not so much about Arthur or Morgaine as about the struggle between paganism and the rise of Christianity, with Arthur as Christian king and Morgaine as pagan priestess. Arthur is installed in a pagan ceremony that leaves Morgaine pregnant with his only son, Mordred -- who in this rendering never plays quite the key role assigned him in other Arthurian tales. The plot points pretty much follow the tradition -- Arthur marries Guinevere, who has an affair with Lancelot, who ends up married to Elaine. Meanwhile, Viviane is killed, leaving a void in the office of the Lady of the Lake -- an office that will be filled, more or less, by another daughter of Taliesen. Bradley's sympathies toward the pagans (the feminine) are evident as Morgaine takes over Viviane's mission of trying to turn Arthur and Britain away from Christianity (the masculine) and back toward the Goddess. As the tale progresses, however, Morgaine becomes an increasingly ruthless and unsympathetic figure, while Arthur appears to be doing what is expedient for Britain; he even manages to make peace with and convert several Saxon kings. Morgaine is too single-minded and fanatical to listen to the counsel of the Druid who becomes Merlin after Taliesen's death, Kevin, and eventually punishes him for his "betrayal" of the Goddess. In the end, Arthur may die, but his legacy was already set, as many had already told Morgaine. She leaves her own legacy -- a trail of the murders and the deaths of nearly everyone important to her, including two of her lovers and Lancelot's daughter. Only at the very end does she realise she has lost; Christianity has won. Perhaps this was the way the Goddess wished it, after all, although the price she pays to learn this is very high indeed. She also learns that she has always had the love of a great man, the man who was son, brother, and lover to her -- Arthur, King of the Britons. The Mists of Avalon is a worthy addition to the Arthurian cycle, especially since it takes into account what must have been a very real struggle between the old pagans of Britain and the new Christianity of Rome. The plot is intricate and imaginative, the characters are well drawn (if erratic), there are a few moments of subtlety and beautifully written prose, and there is enough fantasy to make one wonder if there really is a supernatural intervention throughout. Even the lost continent of Atlantis is worked into the tale. Highly recommended for Arthurians and fans of science fiction/fantasy. But don't forget that scorecard.
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