Rating: 
Summary: A refreshing fantasy...
Review: Marion Zimmer Bradley takes the reigns with contemporary Arthurian retellings using Morgaine, a female protagonist in this widely circulated book 'The Mists Of Avalon.' Throughout history, poets and authors alike have added their spin on the popular legend, ranging from Geoffrey of Monmouth, Thomas Malory to Mary Stewart and now Miss Bradley. Her talent of writ never wavers as the book progresses, and though the pages are large and numerous and the script small, one hardly takes notice as you become spellbound by her literary prowess. And like any accomplished Author, her resources are liberally extended, including ancient pre-Augustine christian manuscripts, Volumes of English mythology, to various covens rooted in traditional English heathenism...The Mists Of Avalon will rest comfortably atop my living room coffee table. If you don't mind looking through the soul of a woman who Marion Zimmer Bradley sees as criminalized in legend, I doubt you will find any fault with this book.
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Summary: History for Mythology
Review: Bradley's edition to the Arthurian Legend stands among the best. Its offering of the tale from perspective of women is an interesting and critical one, if often overlooked. Certainly women were present in the day of Arthur and, as is the case in much of history, women were one of the main motivations and justifications for action of any sort. The in depth look at the characters and their relationships with each other is fascinating and worthwhile. However the element in this book that is most intriguing is, perhaps, the attempt Bradley has made to strip away the mythology in order to reveal the history. As we well know, mythology--no matter how removed from reality--can be traced back to some very real event or person. Bradley, like a seasoned historical detective, finds many likely origins for things that have become towering myths. (For instance, young Arthur drawing the sword OUT OF THE STONE finds a much more humble--and likely--explanation...He draws his sword from a place WHERE IT LIES ON a ceremonial stone the night before his coronation...You can see how the story could be spun and spun again to become what we are most familiar with today..."He drew the sword out of the stone, establishing him as the king...")These de-mythologized moments in the book (and there are many) make the reality of King Arthur and his court all the more intriguing...Bradley has done a magnificent piece of work here, that transports the reader to a real time and place, outside of legend--truly parting the mists.
Rating:
Summary: Avalon comes Alive
Review: When I was eleven my elder sister (a junior in high school) handed me this book and said, "Read this, you'll like it," I did. Now, this book is the most read of my personal library. The power that lies beneath the words and the women is enveiling, giving you a sence that if you went to Braitin you would find the Isle of Glass. The Mists of Avalon opened the door to my imagination and now I have nearly every book in the series, gifts from all. If you a parent looking to read something to your daughter or a college English major looking for a report book, The Mists of Avalon will suit your need.
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Summary: My Favorite Book
Review: A book like this comes around once in a lifetime. I am an avid reader of historical fiction and this is my all time favorite book. Definitely the best telling of the King Arthurian legend ever. The descriptions are so rich and the characters are so realistic, it is truly mesmerizing. The magic entwined in the writing is almost palpable. The characters become friends that you don't want to let go when you are done reading. You will shed many tears and find yourself laughing out loud at times. If you have read other Marion Zimmer Bradley books and were not impressed, do not be put off .... this book is her masterpiece.
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Summary: Political agenda masquerading as storytelling.
Review: I read "The Mists of Avalon" a number of years ago and was, to say the least, underwhelmed. But I certainly understand why it became a best-seller: it was a thinly-veiled radical feminist, neo-pagan, anti-Christian screed. And I'm saying this as an agnostic, almost atheistic, Jewish woman who is certainly not anti-feminist. I'm very glad to see that a number of other readers -- though too small a fraction of the 700+ reviewers here -- share my opinion.Others have mentioned the factual arguments against "Mists": that by the time Arthur supposedly lived, Britain was already mostly Christian; that the "matriarchy" allegedly embraced by everyone in Europe before those eeeeevil Xtians came along has been greatly exaggerated by feminist scholars; and that paganism had its own shortcomings, notably human sacrifice. Everyone knows that the Church burned millions of "witches" in the Middle Ages; fewer know that the pagan Celts often locked their human sacrifices in giant wicker cages and burned them to death therein. I don't recall all that much about the female protagonists Morgaine, Morgause, Igraine, and Viviane, except that there was a fair amount of whining and other uncommendable behavior. I do recall, however, Bradley's malicious trashing of her male characters and also Guinevere ("Gwenhwyfar," which is the original Welsh spelling). Arthur, as someone else mentioned, is [so weak] that you wonder how such a character might have ruled a lemonade stand, let alone a feud-rent nation of disparate clans and tribes. Lancelot has about as much depth as a male Calvin Klein underwear model. Gwenhwyfar's father is the typical insensitive, domineering patriarch. And so on and so forth. The only man I seem to remember NOT getting savaged was Merlin -- and I'm hardly commending MZB's treatment of him, as he was reduced to nothing more than the doddering living representative of the Horned God with whom the priestesses mated during the fertility festivals. From Bradley's book, you'd never know of the awe-inspiring figure Merlin has traditionally cut as sorceror, sage, and protector of the infant Arthur. But the worst-treated character by far in "Mists" is Gwenhwyfar, who is little but stereotype: that of the naïve, narrow-minded, puritanical, high-strung, and ultimately deceitful Christian woman. Nobility and royalty are of course no guarantee of anyone's character, but highborn women of Britain and Europe (at least until Victorian times) were generally raised to command large corps of servants, oversee their many and varied duties, take charge when the men were away at war, and certainly pitch in with the work themselves. You'd think that a woman who in legend was queen for some 20 years, and whose country was in her day at the outer reaches of civilization, would have more resourcefulness, practicality, spine, and shrewdness, even if she wasn't an admirable character. Other readers have taken Bradley to task for the incest scenes, not realizing that Arthur's coupling with his half-sister (Morgause and Morgaine are sometimes merged into one character, as in Mary Stewart's books) that produces Mordred is central to the legend. Totally foreign to it, however, is the ménage-à-trois between Arthur, Gwenhwyfar, and Lancelot, justified in their minds by Arthur's inability to impregnate his wife. Though that scene mercifully stops short before Bradley could get into any graphic detail, to me it symbolizes everything that's wrong with this novel: the legend's best-known characters, already repeatedly depicted as lily-livered, are now painted as amoral hypocrites, just so Bradley can make the other female characters into heroines for the age of political correctness. And, like just about any book that runs for 800-odd pages and six decades, "Mists" is too damn long and rambling -- it's the "Shogun" or "War and Peace" of Arthurian fantasy. I wonder if Bradley's editor(s) simply trusted her work based on her reputation and didn't bother to examine it too closely, perhaps fearing that such a superstar of fantasy wouldn't have brooked the severe editing job the book badly needed, and just might have taken it to another publishing house out of pique. Given all the five-star reviews, I doubt my opinion will sway any of its fans among the teeny pagan set, or among adult women who loved it *because* of its polemics. So let me reiterate what others have suggested: that they read other retellings of the story such as Gillian Bradshaw's "In Winter's Shadow" (told from Gwenhwyfar's viewpoint); Mary Stewart's Arthurian tetralogy; Diana L. Paxson's own series on the subject, as well as her novel "The White Raven" (a reworking of the Tristan and Iseult romance narrated by Iseult's handmaiden); and, finally, a book by a (gasp!) male author, Parke Godwin, called "Firelord," which is from Arthur's perspective but is highly sympathetic to "Morgana," as he calls her.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow start but good ending
Review: I borrowed this from a friend and she bought me a copy of my own. This is a unique look at a different point of view during King Arthur's time. Once you get involved with this book it's difficult to put down at times. Slow beginning but amazing ending.
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Summary: Enchantment
Review: I read this book for the 1st time 12 years ago, and was completely enthralled by it, as the 'Camelot' story from Morgan's point of view. I re-read it a couple of years ago, and am still enthralled. Zimmer Bradley does an excellent job developing the characters, we only thought we knew. The attention to detail in this novel is extraordinary; you can almost see, smell and feel Avalon. This is a book I would recommend to any lover of good fiction.
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Summary: A most unique and moving retelling of the King Arthur legend
Review: I love this book and even though it is quite long, I have read it at least twice now! I always feel upset when I finish the book because I want to read more! Bradley retells the King Arthur stories from the perspective of the women in the tales.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional!
Review: Although of course it predates it, Bradley's "Mists" reminds me of an Arthurain version of "The Red Tent". The story flows effortlessly, drawing the reader in from beginning to end. It is truly a "storytellers" book, with rich details, characters who evolve, and some unexpected twists and turns. One aspect which particularly surprised me is how Bradley created a medieval feeling without getting overly bogged down in medieval language, wording, etc. Mostly, I found the writing to be fantastic. At times, for example, I was astonished by how subtly Bradley created a male character to mirror each female character. When we see how Gwen rails against her lack of freedom, we get the same counterpoint in Arthur. However, I found the dichotomies in the book occasionally obvious, and the last 1/6th of the book seemed to drag, probably because I knew what was going to happen. I recommend this book highly!!
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Summary: My Bible
Review: This was, by far, the most amazing book I have ever read. Not speaking facetiously, it changed my life! Ms. Bradley has such a unique and in-depth writing style. Each of the many characters retains their own personalites which are highly distinct, as opposed to many other fantasy books in which the characters are indefinable. The Mists of Avalon gave me a new perspective on the Arthurian legends, as well as the rich history which is intrinsically woven into it. It was so realistic and well researched, placing the whole story into the place in history in which it would have happened. Ms. Bradley also shows how though times have changed, the same basic conflicts remain; conflict of religion, of sexuality, of the role of women vs. men, and of the conflicts one experiences within themselves. Though it took me a long time to read, which was a joy in itself, this book has invariably become my Bible!
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