Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't Finish
Review: This novel tells the story of Guenevere and Arthur. I started with high hopes, but those were quickly dashed. I kept trying, but the going got slower and slower and finally stopped altogether. The two main characters didn't interest me a lot, and when they did catch my attention they only irritated me. Several of the side characters seemed like they had potential to be deeper and more satisfying, but the book didn't focus much on them. The main reason I didn't finish was that the romance aspect of the novel was too much for me. It distracted me from the storyline (which itself was interesting) and again, made the characters less likeable to me. On the bright side, I did find the story fascinating and this book prompted me to try more books that tell the story of Camelot.
Rating: 
Summary: Some nice new twists on Arthurian Legend
Review: I've always been a huge fan of Arthurian legend, so I was tickled to pick up Guenevere: Queen of the Summer Country. The first in a trilogy, this books follows Guenevere from her reign as Queen of the Summer Country, through her marriage to Arthur, wars, childbirth, and finally her affair with Lancelot. I expected this book to be another regurgitation of the same old legend, but there were some very interesting twists. I found the characters to be very three dimensional and interesting and came to deeply care for, or despise, all of them. I also enjoyed the fact that the story comes from Guenevere's point of view. I found her to be a strong character, but alas, a little frustrating (as in most Arthurian legend). I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy and anticipate more twists and turns.
Rating:
Summary: A simply wonderful new take on Camelot!
Review: This isn't the first book about Guenevere out there, but it is by far the best! I spent an afternoon reading this and the time just flew by! Rosalind Miles really knows how to recreate a distant time and place with just enough magic to make you want to stay and just enough humanity to make it real. As a woman I completely identified with Guenevere's longing for love, her inner struggles and her sense of power and destiny in the world around her. Her love affair with Lancelot has earned her a bad reputation in the (male-dominated) literary tradition but this author presents an intelligent and plausible answer to Guenevere's critics with her literary creation.
And it's a really entertaining read, to boot! [...]
Rating: 
Summary: moderately successful, in the literary sense.
Review: Miles provides some interesting twists on the ARthurian tradition. To begin with, she is closer to the tradition, on the issue of Guenevere's "barrenness," which contemporary accounts deal with ad nauseaum. Secondly, the combination of the loss of Amir and the love affair with Lancelot have an achingly real psychic symmetry. That being said, I think its unfair to call this a "feminist" text. If Miles is writing from a feminist perspective, she might do what feminist scholars have always done so movingly-- to liberate the reader from an oppressive history. Instead, she plows the common field of Guenevere's story. I can think of an infinite number of texts with Guenevere as the protagonist-- Sharan Newman's trilogy, Persia Woolley's trilogy, Nancy McKenzie's terrible series, Parke Godwin's *Beloved Exile*. They have each created a strong, compelling, and utterly individuated Guinevere. If Miles were liberating women's history from the shroud of misogynic Arthurian representation, I would prefer to see a sensitive dealing with the female kin of Arthur. The brief moment in *Guenevere* where the reader sees Igraine is moving and intense, but Miles quickly falls back into a demonic portrayal of Morgan Le Fay, and a virtually invisible Morgause. Miles' true revolution is her twist on Arthur's culpability in the incestuous liason. To write the incest as an act of will is remarkable, it gives Arthur the depth of a Shakespearean hero, with a huge and tragic flaw. Furthermore, it doesn't fear the shocking behavior-- it shows it to the reader with absolute clarity. In Newman, Woolley, and McKenzie, the authors squeamishly avoid the subject by giving us Arthur in medias res. Not since Rosemary Sutcliffe's startling human Arthur has the treatment of the incest question been so compelling. However, after Mordred's conception, Arthur as a full character is almost entirely absent. Why is a he a good king, a good man? Why does Guenevere stay with him? Why did she fall so quickly in love with him-- is it passing infatuation? Each of these questions were raised and unanswered by Miles' narrative. Interesting, but rated 3 for some major flaws. The story is certainly compelling enough to warrant reading the whole trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting take on the Legend of Camelot
Review: Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country provides some different and interesting takes on the Camleot legend. In this book Guenevere is a Queen in her own right. She meets Arthur, the new High King when he rescues her from the marriage plans of her evil cousin Malgaunt. There begins the story of Arthur and Guenevere. Merlin is portrayed here as magical, and willing to do anything to make and keep Arthur king. Morgan Le Fay is both mad and witch like. Morgause is not heard from much. In a different twist Guenevere and Arthur have a child, Amir. The story of the child directly impacts why Guenevere risks all for Lancelot's love. The story does provide more human faces for most of the characters, and at times you can understand Guenevere, Arthur and Lancelots pain and longing. However a good deal of the love scenes were written in a 'romance book' style that was very distracting for me, and veered from the usual tone of the book. Towards the end I skipped over most of these scenes. I did enjoy the book enough to purchase the second book in the trilogy, The Knight of the Sacred Lake.
Rating: 
Summary: A view from Quenevere
Review: I was suprised by this book. I have never been a huge fan of Athurian legends but when I saw this book I had to try it. You get to see the world through Guenevere's eyes and what a great new perspective. Remember 1 thing Athurian legends all have a slightly different point of view and this is Guenevere's angle. Because of this book I have started my own quest for other versions of this legend. The first half of the book was slow moving. It was loaded w/facts and backgound that you were familiar w/but w/a new angle. Once you hit the halfway hump the book flew by. You were swirling w/new facts and great scenary. You felt Guenevere's pain and saw Arthur's breakdowns. There were surprises around every corner and passion w/every touch & kiss. The passion between Lancelot and Guenevere is breathtaking and the tension will bring tears to your eyes. The end of the book was slightly disappointing. It seemed that she went opps! I have to bring you back for 2 other books and we haven't heard about these other characters in awhile. So here they are and come pack for more. It worked I'll be back for more and I learned a lot about Guenevere and gained more respect for her. Read this book.
Rating:
Summary: A new Guinevere
Review: I enjoyed this book for a number of reasons. I t was great to see Gwen portrayed as something more than a devotely Christian queen and/or a traitorous harlot. There was also a great deal of Pagan/Goddess lore in the book. I thought the writing itself was good also. There were new things to learn about Guenevere that haven't been said in other books of this kind. The other characters portrayed were a little dissapointing. Merlin and Morgan were up to their typical evil hijinks. I personally don't care for that portrayal on either character, but take them for what they are in this book, and you definitley can't help but love their juicy maliciousness. So all in all a good read and I was hooked enough to buy the second one in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth your time.
Review: I wanted to read about Guinevere (I prefer this spelling) because I just loved her in First Knight. This book boasted of a strong heroine, one for all ages and so I was eager to read all about the Arthurian legends through her point of view. Unfortunately, the book turned out to be a big disappointment. The basics of the story had been twisted and told with little skill. Perhaps Guenevere would have been better without her redundant thoughts and complaints. Lancelot was NOT very likable at all. The antagonists, Malgaunt and Morgan, were pretty true. But I think that's about it, this isn't worth reading to me.
Rating:
Summary: Very Disapointing
Review: I have a penchant for books about the Arthurian legend and really tried to like this one. But, it was such a harlequin romance barely disguised as historical/mythological novel that I couldn't stomach it. Just so smarmy! Read the Mists of Avalon instead: granted, Guenevere is not given much sympathy in that novel, but it's better than this...
Rating:
Summary: A very nice re-telling of the life of Guenevere.....
Review: Rosalind Miles has done a very good job presenting Guenevere as a smart, intelligent queen....no matter how much her idea of love is confused. In this book, Guenevere is not the daughter of a "knight" or "lord" or whatever the majority of the bios on her are these days...she is a crown princess (by today's standards) in the Summer Country, a country which celebrates the pagan religions and "THe Mother". Guenevere is swept off her feet by Arthur when he interrupts her coronation and saves her from her uncle who is in love with her (sick, isn't it?!). They get married, go to Camelot, blah blah blah. There is a lot of war in this book, and also a lot of lude sex interludes between Guenevere/Arthur AND Guenevere/Lancelot (they ruin the book, skip over them like i did & u'll be fine). What's different about this book is that Guenevere loves ARthur but is IN love with Lancelot, which is different from the books where she's in love with both men at the same time. It also tells about her childhood and relations. The big difference in here, however, is that Guenevere and Arthur have a child- WOW! Mega-difference. Other characters include Merlin (who is weird and wacked out, as usual) and Morgan le Fay (evil as ever), along with Morgan's older sister Morgause who is somewhat of a double agent. Many more characters make the book interesting. This book is excellent for people interested in mythology and the Camelot legends. History teachers could do with brushing up on their legend knowledge as well.
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