The Mists of Avalon

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Summary: Thank you, Marion Zimmer Bradley
Review: This book changed my life forever. It expressed feelings I didn't have the words for, and turned a giant page in my search for religion. I recommend this book with all of my heart and soul to everyone, everywhere. Good bye, Marion, and thank you. Thank you for everything.

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Summary: pretty one-dimensional...
Review: Nothing new here, Marion doesn't add much to this legend, and altogether while readable, lacked a certain je ne sais quoi. Flair perhaps. I recommend Stephen R. Lawhead's Pendragon cycle. This is the critically acclaimed Benchmark of Arthurian fantasy.

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Summary: FABULOUS
Review: One of the best books I have ever read. Marion Zimmer-Bradley takes the legend of King Authur and makes it real. Her talents will be greatly missed. But I would like to believe she is at peace somewhere.....perhaps beyond the mists of Avalon.

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Summary: An author who influenced my life.
Review: The Mists was a truly influencial book in my life. It introduced me to MZB and to a world which I felt very much a part of. The Mists and the Firebrand are two of my most favorite books of all time. And this review is my tribute to an author whom I loved and will miss very much.

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Summary: wonderful take on old legends!
Review: I read this for a school assignment, and was expecting feminist drivel, but was pleasantly surprised. This book shows what is usually a man's world from the point of view of the women, yet doesn't complain. It still has everything you expect from a great fantasy novel, but shows it from a more realistic point of view than the romanticized Disneyfied novels you often find. I highly reccommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy or romance.

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Summary: This is the best book ever!!
Review: This book is a beautiful tale of love, power, and conflict that make you feel for the characters, and let you lose yourself in the world of King Arthur. I think that everyone should read this book, because it is just amazing!!!

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Summary: The best book I have ever read
Review: This book touched my soul and made me feel dreams I didn't even realize I had. I just learned that Marion Zimmer Bradley died this week. Though I never met her, I feel as though I have lost a friend. I am sorry and I will miss her, but I am thankful that through her writing we are allowed to glimpse some of the beauty in her heart. Thank you, Marion. I recommend this book in the highest possible terms.

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Summary: Once in a lifetime book
Review: Since Marion was definitely not a "once-born" we will surely meet her again in her next life. Hopefully she will grant us another masterpiece as wonderful as this one. Arrivaderci, Marion.

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Summary: The Stuff of Legends and Dreams
Review: Marion may have left us (September 25, 1999), but she will live forever through this one book.

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Summary: Gwen's a whiner & Lance is a sap...
Review: I'm a big Arthur fan (fictional and historical), and read this because of its popularity and subject matter. Very disappointing in its two dimensionality. To sum up: Christianity = bad, men = bad, women = good, earthy-crunchy women = better, godesses = best. The book is too long to carry such a one-note theme.

For anyone seriously interested in actual Arthurian literature rather than Arthur-inspired drivel, I would recommend _The Once & Future King_ as the best of the genre, any books by Geoffrey Ashe on the historical Arthur, Susan Cooper's _The Dark is Rising Sequence_ as a good intro to Arthurian legend and characters for children (or adults who know that good literature is good literature, regardless of intended audience), and would marginally recommend books by Jack Whyte and Guy Gavriel Kay (_The Fionavar Tapestry_).

And lastly (to address the subject line), yes, Gwenhwyfar is a prissy whiner and Lancelot doesn't have any personality. I could have forgiven all sorts of offenses against Arthurian tradition if the characters had been in the least bit engaging.