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Summary: A new twist on Camelot
Review: Let me just start out by saying that this is an AMAZING book. I laughed, I cried, I read it again! This book was hard to put down. The story puts Morgaine le Faye as the heroine of the book and gives a refreshing look at the beliefs of the Druids. I wouldn't recommend it for devout Christians...but anyone that loves a great story and has great imagination will love the book! Dont rent the movie, buy the book!
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Summary: A New Twist on an Old Legend
Review: The Mists of Avalon is essentially, as my title states, a new twist on an old legend.
Bradley takes her ideal of feminism and places it in the book, with the world of Avalon being based around female dominance, and queens having heavy infulence over their respected kings.
But in essense, the book keeps the historic story of King Arthur and adds modern twists that keep the plot fresh and sets new suprises around every corner. The size of the book is somewhat daunting, as i saw it when i first got the book, but you soon ignore the size, and as you reach the end, you may even wish it were longer. The story pulls you in, detail is very high, letting your imagination roam and gives your mind a tool in which to pull you into the story, making you feel like you really are there.
The story, save for the first hundred pages or so, never dies down, there's always conflict and it dosen't bore you to the point where you want to skip pages. Often I read over pages because a certain scene is so mind boggling or wild that I double-take and read it again. My only dislike for the book was the prominance of religious speak, which I personally am not a fan about, but can understand it's place in the book, due to the time period. Bradley really did her homework although in this section, there's plenty of Christian vs Pagan arguments where the facts each character throws at another seem so real. I really give credit for her in-depth research of both the story of King Arthur and the religious aspects of that time period.
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Summary: Journey Through The Mists Of Avalon
Review: The Mists of Avalon is a great spin off the old Arthurean legend. Even through a womens point of view, the story takes you 3 generations and how Arthur came to the throne and how he was removed. The main conflict was not of the battles between the saxons and the britons but of the "Old Religon" and the rise of Christianity. Although the novel is 876 pages long many readers can tackle the book in a few days to a few weeks depending on how much time you dedicate to the book. Overall the Novel is outstanding in the retelling of the Legend that is long since due of a revision.
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Summary: Excellent Story with an imaginative twist
Review: A strong feminist view point guided this story. Aside from the alternative take it was well written. I could hardly put the book down finishing in a 14 hour reading marathon. The book is a retelling of the Aurthurian Legends from King Arthur's sister (Morgan le Fay) point-of-view.
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Summary: Magick and Beauty
Review: I love this book, and I can not stress that enough. If you are a female, and a fan of Arthurian Legend, I am also sure you will love this book. It is a twist from the original, and it is written from the woman's point of view (Morgan). Although this book will be a favorite among woman, I am more than sure men will love it as well. Bradley, goes indebt with each of her characters, making you feel as though you know them, as though you are them. This book has become a favorite of mine. I can read it again, and again and still I never bore of it. It is obvious that Bradley did much research on the Old Religion, and the time frame this book takes place in. It is magick, and beauty.
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Summary: Loved it!
Review: Morgaine is probably one of the best female characters that I've read (Only Pride & Predjudice's Liz Bennett sticks out in my mind more). Morgaine has attitude but can show her sensitive side. The Church vs. Goddess worship theme did get old (which is the only reason it didn't get a five). But I guess even that was a sub-theme of the idea of a world going through change and the accounts of those who doesn't want that change and the suffering that results.
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Summary: Tho I read this book about 20 yrs ago, I remember it vividly
Review: I was working as a midwife in Berkeley when this book was published. One of my patients was a friend of Marion Zimmer Bradley - and she came to the home birth. Whoa, were the rest of us impressed to have her among us? Yup! I'd already read the book, and although it was about 20 yrs ago, I still remember many of the details vividly. And I'm not even a fan of fantasy books.
Bradley took the liberty of recreating the Arthurian legend with the women as the main characters. They are the creators of like, the keepers of knowledge, the fonts of spirituality, the holders of the keys to the kingdom. The Mists of Avalon, however, is more than a rewrite of the old legend. It's a scholarly exploration of the lesser known issues of religion, medicine, and power during the Middle Ages. The author accomplished a spectacular success in this book not just by weaving an expertly told story, but also by constructing a mythical time and place so effectively that readers have trouble believing that every detail is not the literal truth. The quality and depth of the research that obviously went into this book is astounding, and it can therefore be read on many levels. Where truth, myth, legend, and pure fiction meet and diverge is very difficult to say.
If you haven't already read this masterpiece, do it now.
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Summary: A classic.
Review: This book is a classic. I have read other accounts of Arthurian legend, but this book has remained, in my mind, the quintessential archetype and the standard against which all else, be it modern or ancient, must be judged. Check out her book the Firebrand, in which she tells the Trojan war through the eyes of Kassandra. It's not as good as this, but still good.
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Summary: My First Marion Zimmer Bradley Book
Review: I read "The Mists of Avalon" about 10 years ago, sometime during my freshman or sophomore year in high school. I really didn't know very much about the whole Arthurian legend, but I was interested in Paganism at the time, so I decided to give it a try. Even after all this time, I'm still impressed by this book. However, I wasn't about to reread it in order to write this review, because, if I remember right, it took me a couple months to finish it, seeing as how it's nearly 900 pages. But I'll try to recap as best as I can, starting with a phrase that pretty much sums up a major theme in "Mists": Behind every great man stands a great woman. Or, in this case, about four great women, all of whom are relatives of King Arthur's in some way: Morgan (his half-sister & lover), Viviane (his aunt), Igraine (his mother), and Guinevere (his wife). Yet the story is primarily shown through the eyes of Morgan and Guinevere, two complete opposites of each other--Morgan being the yin (dark Pagan energy), while Guinevere is the yang (light Christian energy). Out of the two, Morgan was definitely my favorite; Guinevere was just utterly annoying. Separately, these two try to sway the power and balance in Avalon via King Arthur. If you're familiar with Arthurian myth, then I don't have to explain further; but if not, it couldn't hurt you to pick up a copy--that is, unless you drop this 2-pound epic on your toes. ;) Almost 20 years after it was published, "The Mists of Avalon" was made into a movie in 2001, starring some of my favorite actresses (Anjelica Huston being one of them). I haven't seen it yet, but from what I've heard, I haven't missed much. Still, I'd recommend it if you enjoyed the book (Hint: read the book first). I'd also recommend the other two Avalon books by Bradley: "Lady of Avalon" and "The Forest House." You don't have to be an Arthurian/fantasy buff to enjoy this book, but you do need a great deal of patience to finish it.
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Summary: A brilliant work of historical fiction!
Review: Even though the legend of King Arthur has always been fascinating to most people, I was never too hot about it.
Most books on Camelot are written in a boring, uninspired and in every way unappealing manner.
However, Marion Zimmer Bradley's classic is completely different. First of all, the magical and fairytale themes that some might expect do not exist here. They are explained in a more historical way, and the author distinguishes magic from religion.
The main character is Morgaine, priestess of Avalon and sister of Arthur. She is an intriguing, dynamic character and this is one of the elements that make the book so good: all of the characters are so interesting and real that one simply cannot help feeling excited about all the things that happen to them. The history of Camelot unfolds before the reader, exciting and full of twists and the writer makes it all extremely appealing.
The events that happen are always breathtaking, while there are some funny moments, some touching ones and some very dark and scary.
The game of power played by the characters starts becoming messy, alienating people from each other.
Bradley's magic lies in her supreme cast of characters: Each and every one, even the dark, destructive ones, have many aspects, they are full of both faults and virtues, and we see the reasons behind each one's course of action.
The book might seem a little large at first, but it's a real page-turner, every bit being worthwhile, and Marion Zimmer Bradley writes beautifully!
I would simply like to add that despite certain supernatural elements, it is not a book for children under the age of 13, or a fairytale.
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