The Mists of Avalon

Rating:
Summary: The dance of the proud
Review: This book is set dramatically in Camelot--how it came to be, how it was, and most amazingly, its downfall--told through the eyes of the women who lived, breathed, and made Camelot what it was. It covers the entire life of King Arthur--his conception, birth, life, and death. It not only tells the classic legend of Queen Gwenhwyfar, and Sir Lancelot, but the day-to-day lives of all who came into constant contact in that magical place. This book takes the readers on an overwhelming journey through the lands of Avalon. Bradley pierces the core of this mystical place, letting some of the atmosphere leak onto the pages, delivering to us a book so mind-racing it is hard to stop reading after the first page. It is a book one could lose sleep over, one could get so taken into the story that our own daily lives seem trivial. Above all, it is a story of conflict between Christianity and the old religion of Avalon.

The part of the book that took me in the most was not simply the characters but the setting. Bradley covers places of the world one has not ever heard of before. She goes into nooks and crannies of the old earth and pulls out a tale to wrap the reader in a blanket of strength, Celtic pride, and magic no one has ever had the pleasure of knowing before. This book keeps one on the edge of her seat, holding on, heart racing, thumbs numb from constant page turning. Bradley draws the reader in, making her a silent character. When the Knights and people of Camelot are gathered at King Arthur's dining hall, so are the readers. We are there, sipping, eating, and breathing the same air into our lungs that they are.

This book sweeps the readers off their feet and takes them on a magic ride. It is Arthurian through and through, and if one has ever wanted to know more about the legend of Camelot and King Arthur's court, this is the book to buy. If one has often wondered about the ancient place of Avalon, and any of the old Pagan rites, this book will unlock any of the ponderings in one's mind. It pushes the reader forward into battles surging with pride on both sides. Even if one is not of Celtic heritage, it is nothing. This book teaches to love and understand who you are, and where you come from. Bradley shows us that the past is not just in the past, but it is now also. It is now because our ancestors lead the way through war, heartache, and death to place us where we are now in life, helping us to develop our future.

Rating:
Summary: fun to read!
Review: I'm in high school, and this book was on my summer reading list. Seeing that the book was THICK and about Arthurian legends (which I was not familiar with), I moaned and groaned and left the assignment till late August. However, when I began to read this, I loved it. I read the entire 900 or so pages in four days. The characters just pull you in... This book is also good if you do not have a background about King Arthur (even though these stories are quite different from Sir Malory's). The characters are memorable and interesting... even though by the end, you'll feel like wringing Gwenhyfar's little neck! (The ending is a little strange... seems like Bradley just needed a quick way to end it.)

Rating:
Summary: A delightfully misty Avalon it is too
Review: I must say that having read fairly widely in the fiction that the Arthurian cycle has inspired over the last hundred years alone, I came to Marion Zimmer Bradley with a faint heart. Indeed, the book had been sitting handy for years before I took the plunge. Now I have to ask myself if it is not my favourite of all. It is such a good book, such an unusual one, that I shudder to think that I might have missed it. I thought Mary Stewart told a pretty good Arthurian tale, in which the good earth of the sixth century clung to Ambrosius' leather sandals and the ground was damp and musty behind the stone walls of the little hamlet where Arthur lay... and so on. Yes they were great books, well worth reading. I thought T.H. White magnificent; I loved Arthur being an ant or whatever he was at one stage in the "Once and Future King." I bought all of it and marveled at the spirit it invoked, of that faraway time. I enjoyed Chopra as well; thought it was excellent in fact. And many others...

But Bradley. Oh it is an outstanding book, in every sense. I am in Glastonbury, I am in faerie, I am in the Celtic lands for certain; and I do not want to come back. There is a woman's touch, no doubt, but I don't think it's a womanish book. It is a very human story, told with a women's gift, that of enhanced intuition, and without male bluntness perhaps. But why go on: just start reading. It is priceless.

Rating:
Summary: All the Gods are One God and all the Godesses are Marion !
Review: This book made me weep, made me smile, made me read it again, again and again. It is fantastic and Marion Zimmer Bradley enchanted me with all the magic of Avalon. Gwenhwyfar and Morgaine were wonderful, without forgeting Viviane, Igraine and Morgause.

It's beautiful; read it and worship it!

Rating:
Summary: One of my all-time favorites
Review: Zimmer Bradley's characters are multidimensional and the pace and plot are riveting. Not the typical Arthur story.

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece beyond all comparison.
Review: I read The Mists of Avalon in six days. That is how powerful a book it is-it draws in the reader and enthralls him or her with the very mastery of its design. Igraine, Viviane, Morgause, Morgaine, Niniane, Elaine, Gwenhwyfar, and especially the precocious Nimue-how can I ever forget them? That's only to speak of the women-there is also Lancelet, Arthur, Arthur's son Gwydion, Lancelet's son Galahad, Cai, Gawaine, Gareth, Gaheris, Lot, Uriens, Gorlois, Uther Pendragon, Balan and Balin, Taliesin the Merlin, Kevin Harper...

From the very beginning, The Mists of Avalon is a potent carrier of fierce human emotions-Uther's longing for Igraine; Gorlois' deathly jealousy; Morgaine's taut, controlled passion; Morgause's scheming; Viviane's majesty; the tragedy of Niniane's senseless death; Elaine's naivety; and Nimue and Kevin's suicidal bond.

I read it for hours on end. I cried over it, thought over it, and learned over it. The Mists of Avalon even convinced me to follow the Mother Goddess. I am eternally grateful to Marion Zimmer Bradley for her timeless tale of love, devotion, religious zeal, and betrayal.

Rating:
Summary: Stupendous!
Review: Look at everyone else's reviews! 5...5...5...5! What can I say? This book is fascinating, thought-provoking....a good book to reread..a King Arthur story...a feminist book...a book that looks deep into philosophy and religion of ANY time.... ....If I had to recommend to a stranger one book in the whole world to read, it would be THE MISTS OF AVALON.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite books.
Review: "Mists" was a wonderfully written account of the women in King Arthur's life. I enjoyed every minute of it and would read it for a third time! Although some of the characters got on my nerves, (Gwenhwyfar and Lancelet) I think that that's because the book was so well written that Marion Zimmer Bradley WANTED you to get that from the characters. It was obvious to me that she inteded them to be so. I would recommend this book to anyone who LOVES fantasy and/or King Arthur. It is unlike any other Arthurian Fantasy book I have ever read. Five stars doesn't do it justice.

Rating:
Summary: The Reviews of Avalon
Review: The Mists of Avalon is a fascinating novel about the women behind the Arthurian legend; Igraine, Arthur's mother,Vivane and Morgause, his aunts, Morgaine, his half-sister, and Gwenhwyfar, his wife. The epic tells of Arthur's birth, the deaths of Vivane, Igraine, and Uther Pendragon, the life story of Morgaine, and the powerful struggle between Christianity and The Old Faith. I would say that this book is as good as any of the reviews for it. At 874 pages, it makes a good read.... for a couple of months. You have to excercise some maturity because of several rather graphic scenes. The book is extremely well-written, and I think that it was genius to write about the Arthurian legend from the women's point of view. I give this book five stars, and would reccomend it to any mature adults

Rating:
Summary: A romantic's romance
Review: This book I read and re-read when I was a 20-something romantic. It is a feminist re-telling of the Arthurian legend, from the point of view mainly of the women, who in the 'traditional' tellings are either subsidiary or 'distaff', as in sinister or evil-doing beings. As a librarian I found high school girls were the main audience for this book, and budding pagan feminists. If I had reviewed it 20 years ago I would have said it was my favourite book at that time. It is still on my shelves, but I have read better since, hence the 4 stars.