The Mists of Avalon

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book!
Review: This book was so fascinating, I wanted everybody else to read it too. Marion Zimmer Bradley's version of the Arthurian legend is exquisite! I read it two times, and am starting for the third time. Once you start page 1, you won't stop until you read all 876 pages!

Rating:
Summary: the book of my life
Review: «The Mists Of Avalon» were the first of Marion's book that i read, but since then i've been trying to read them all, and, of course, i've already read the «Mists» twice. I became so involved in the whole story that i just didn't want it to end. I loved the characters, the scenaries, the rituals, the magic... And most of all, i loved the way it taught me how to look in a different way at such things as life, death, love and spirituality. Definitely, the book that changed my life!

Rating:
Summary: r e v i e w
Review: After reading T.H. White's "The Once and Future King", my teacher recommended this book. Reading it in week, I found it "okay". It seems to be one of those poignant books where one's views shift by the time he/she finishes the book. If you are a big King Arthur fan, do not expect to find your usuall "daring duel" type action. This book is an escape from your everyday knights of the round table book, and it brings into light the women who were center to the Arthurian legend. Marion Zimmer Bradley has created a lovely ficticious book that does not add anything to the legend but is good in its own right. I will stick to Malory, but I strongly recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Arthur's court comes alive!
Review: How do you describe art in the written form? The Mists of Avalon! In these pages you'll find muder, mayhem and intrigue, all seen through the eyes of the women of Arthur's court! The characters are thouroughly alive and vibrant. The absolute lack of knowing what will happen next, leaves you breathless and awe struck at the same time. Keep up the great work Mrs. (Ms.) Bradley!

Rating:
Summary: Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Review: This book has a good mix of fantasy and real historical significance to the pagan religions and their comparisons to Christanity. I beleive that Ms. Bradley expertly pieced together history and fantasy to make this an interesting book set in the time of King Arthur. It was entertaining and let me see a new perspective on the King Arthur legend. It was very different from any other King Arthur legends I know of though. Still, I recommened this book for anyone interested in the mystical if not fantasy-like side of religion. She is a great storyteller.

Rating:
Summary: VERY good
Review: This book was very well written. I was enchanted by the events and characters and I quickly became so addicted to this book I read it twice. It gave new views of characters I had only heard of, like Morgan LaFey. After reading it a second time I quickly went out and bought the Lady of Avalon and am currently reading it. This book has to be one of the best ever written.

Rating:
Summary: A powerful and mystical retelling of the Arthurian myth.
Review: I would rate this book, along with Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles, as one of the best versions of the Camelot legend. I particularly liked the way MZB wove birth-names and "baptismal" names to get round the usual Lancelot / Galahad / Nimue / Vivianne confusion, and how she used the Merlin and the Lady of the Lake as titles rather than as one character's name. Virtually all the characters came over as being realistic, i.e. flawed - most notably Gwenhyfar (agarophobic, mindlessly Christian despite very real doubts regarding the nature of God - yet still generous and, at the end, strong and self-sacrificing). In fact, the only character shift I found unbelievable was Igraine, from semi-priestess, using sourcery to protect the man she loved, to canting Christian - and then back again! This was a traditionally "courtly" setting - as opposed to Cornwell's blood, guts and battles - but as the book focussed on Camelot's women, this was an acceptable slant. I found the treatment of Morgaine as a strong, misunderstood (by the Christians), devoted priestess, much preferable to the usual "evil witch-queen Morgan le Fey" portrayal. Even though we sense Morgaine is doomed to "fail", in the complete sense of her vision, there is hope at the end when she realises that she - or the Goddess - will always exist. Taliesin's philosophy of "all Gods are One" is proven to be true - a philosophy which makes more sense than the purely Christian vision! I found the fertility- Goddess / Mother Earth beliefs extremely valid and relevant today. Ultimately, then, an excellent reworking of a myth which asks as many questions as it answers.

Rating:
Summary: the humanist's viewpoint
Review: Now at first this book was hard to get through, I thought I'd never get into it enough to finish it. However, after the first chapter, I was spellbound (if you will!)...a beautiful struggle of age old issues from a humanist's point of view; religion, finding your place in the world, the age old guilt women seem to bear, the emnity between friends, life, love, finding your path, all that and more were in this book. A beautifully moving tale woven as it might have been; we see Gwenhwyfar as a malicious woman and Morgain Le Fay not as an evil enchantress, but someone who was doing what she thought right for the universe. From this book we can see that the heroes of legend were truly not the only ones to be accredited with the making of a legend; what surrounded the men made up who they were and how they made their decisions. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: this was a great work of imagination
Review: i enjoyed reading this book a lot, it isnt often that i come across a book that i like this much. i think it will become a classic. for those readers that rated this book very low because it did not correspond with the way things really were in that point of time, i just want to ask you who stole youre imagination?

Rating:
Summary: Magnificient
Review: I read the book when I was about 18 years old and it has changed the way I thought about my life as a woman,faith and religion. Although it is a tale, it can be a truth for the readers mind.