Rating: 
Summary: Historical Novel of Avalon & The Lady Of The Lake
Review: Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Forest House" is a prequel to her bestselling Arthurian novel, "The Mists of Avalon." Both novels revolve around the goddess religion in early Britain. "The Forest House," set in 1st century Roman ruled Britannia, is the home of Druidic priestesses who keep the ancient rites of learning, healing, and magic lore. Ms. Bradley writes of the Roman conquest of Celtic Britain and the political and religious implications of the occupation. Roman rule also impacted the role of women in Britain. Goddess worship, women's freedom and power waned under the Romans. This novel gives the author's historical version of Avalon and the Lady of the Lake. Eilan, the daughter of a Druidic warrior and granddaughter of Ardanos, Arch-Druid of Britannia, is gifted with the "sight" and has longed to serve the Goddess as a healer-priestess in the Forest House. She meets and falls in love with Gauis, a half Roman-half British youth, and son of the Roman Prefect Macellius Severus, second-in-command in Britainnia. They want to marry but are forbidden. Heartbroken, Eilan fulfills her original wish and dedicates herself to the Lady. Ms. Bradley blends a fascinating story with accurate research to give the reader a good picture of early Britain and the various political, cultural and religious factions, both local and Roman, which vied for power there. Bradley's narrative is clear and her plot is believable, as are her characters. I prefer "The Mists of Avalon," not just because of the subject matter, but because the plot and characters are more complex. However, this is a solid novel with a sound plot and worth the read.
JANA
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I am a fan of MZB chiefly through her Darkover books. I started this with only medium expectations, just looking for a good weekend read. I didn't feel it even came up to that. I was hoping for a story and a world that would grip and engage me. It just didn't happen, and after the first few chapters, I gave up and skimmed the book.
Three things were to blame: The characters, including the two main characters, Eilan and Gaius, were not particularly interesting or given enough development. I never got swept up into the love story, maybe because they seemed so spiritless, submitting without protest to their parents, or in the case of Dieda and Cynric, to Avalon (if she and Eilan looked so much alike, what would have been simpler that to have Eilan take her place?) And Goddess forbid they force their parents' hands by becoming lovers! Caillean and Lhiannon, the priestesses, are each in their separate ways, too depressed and/ or powerless to make good characters to identify with. Gaius' wife Julia could have been a strong, interesting character, but she tapers out. I didn't feel the ancient worlds were evoked very realistically either (although I admit I skimmed most of the Avalon sections). Sometimes it reads more like someone displaying their research than creating a world (which MZB is fully capable of doing.) The final problem I had, which led to my skimming most of the book, was the strain of sexual puritanism in the portrayal of Druid/Goddess culture. The emphasis on virginity for women (to the point of fathers killing women who "shame" themselves) has more to do with patriarchal cultures and religions than Goddess-centered ones. Certainly there is no research I know of to back up this view. From what I know of the Darkover series, this seems to have more do with MZB than ancient religion. Ancient artwork shows that Giving Birth, Mother and Child, and God and Goddess Making Love, were among the most sacred symbols of Goddess cultures. It seems the height of absurdity to imagine, then, that women called to serve the Goddess would be required to forswear both love and children. That would be like stopping the circle of life itself. Toward the end of the book, Gaius says sensibly to a young Christian: "I find it hard to believe in a god who would condemn his followers for creating children, or for the act that creates them." Or a Goddess, either. Perhaps the saddest thing is that earlier in her career, MZB would have created characters, especially female characters, who wrestled with these questions, rebelled, even left to create lives for themselves. Hawkmistress is about a young girl who does just that. Stormqueen, though not a feminist novel per se, certainly has women (and men) who ask themselves hard questions about the world they live in. And it is hard to imagine Jaelle, of the Shattered Chain and Thendara House, submitting meekly to her father's decrees, although Jaelle has her own problems from being raised in a fundamentalist-Islam type society. I also hated the requirement about Forest House, that only the "most beautiful" women were allowed to serve. What a slap in the face! That's like saying "only the most handsome men are allowed to train as bards." What has one thing got to do with the other? Well, I know for many women their only taste of the Goddess comes through MZB's Avalon books. That's fine; I'm sure they contain some good things. I felt a little of that tug myself when I started the book, but it was quickly outweighed by what annoyed me. If you are interested in another perspective, try MZB's central Darkover books (from the '70s). Or Cerridwen Fallingstar's The Heart of the Flame.
Rating: 
Summary: Truly Wonderful!!!
Review: I loved this book. It was fantastic, thou maybe not a great as the Mists of Avalon it was amazing. I recommend it to people that are interested in early Britain times. And also I think that you will like it more if you read this book first. It is the story of Eilan Guis two people from completely different in a way, places and falling the love. The book then follows their lives, for around 30 years when they are reunited for one last time.
Rating:
Summary: Wow.
Review: This book really stayed with me. I received it as a gift, and since I do not normally enjoy British/Druidic lore, I really started reading it out of politeness. But almost as soon as I began it I was hooked. Extremely well written, encompassing fascinating themes, and with a haunting reality to the characters and to pagan lore and rituals, it was riveting throughout. I also found the Roman history and politics involved interesting, and the changing/dying role of the 'old' religion with the onset of Christianity. I have now read it twice, and will definitely be reading Mists of Avalon, since I feel as though I would like to "stay in touch" with the characters and their descendants. I am very interested to see how this book will tie into Bradley's retelling of the Arthurian legend for which I understand it is the precursor. I reccomend it highly!
Rating:
Summary: Spell-binding!
Review: I read the series backwards, and all three books were equally wonderfull. The Mists of Avalon I actually think is the best one, but the Forest House is the first in the series and is positively beautifull. I wish I would have started out in the right direction. This book practicly glues you to the story in the first chapter and keeps you there till the end. You endur the trials and feel the strength of the characters as if you were really there. Bradley works her magic bringing you into a realistic story that spins you into a world full of magic, action and romance. This is a can't miss book.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This is a gorgeously written book, and I've been reading Marian Zimmer Bradley's work for years. It's not quite up to snuff with her masterpiece THE MISTS OF AVALON (for which it is a prequel) but it is still a gorgeously written, feminist examination of the conflict between Druidic and Roman cultures in early Britain. I recommend reading it after you read THE MISTS OF AVALON, because you'll get more out of this book and also color what you learned in MISTS in sharper focus. I also recommend reading one of Zimmer Bradley's early novels, THE FALL OF ATLANTIS, which was recently put back into print by Baen Books. THE FOREST HOUSE alludes to Atlantean culture as an ancient source for Druidism, and if you've read THE FALL OF ATLANTIS, you'll pick up on some of that. It's cool to see how Zimmer Bradley's books fit together, even if they were written thirty years apart.
Rating:
Summary: Historical Novel of Avalon & The Lady Of The Lake
Review: Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Forest House" is a prequel to her bestselling Arthurian novel, "The Mists of Avalon." Both novels revolve around the goddess religion in early Britain. "The Forest House," set in 1st century Roman ruled Britannia, is the home of Druidic priestesses who keep the ancient rites of learning, healing, and magic lore. Ms. Bradley writes of the Roman conquest of Celtic Britain and the political and religious implications of the occupation. Roman rule also impacted the role of women in Britain. Goddess worship, women's freedom and power waned under the Romans. This novel gives the author's historical version of Avalon and the Lady of the Lake. Eilan, the daughter of a Druidic warrior and granddaughter of Ardanos, Arch-Druid of Britannia, is gifted with the "sight" and has longed to serve the Goddess as a healer-priestess in the Forest House. She meets and falls in love with Gauis, a half Roman-half British youth, and son of the Roman Prefect Macellius Severus, second-in-command in Britainnia. They want to marry but are forbidden. Heartbroken, Eilan fulfills her original wish and dedicates herself to the Lady. Ms. Bradley blends a fascinating story with accurate research to give the reader a good picture of early Britain and the various political, cultural and religious factions, both local and Roman, which vied for power there. Bradley's narrative is clear and her plot is believable, as are her characters. I prefer "The Mists of Avalon," not just because of the subject matter, but because the plot and characters are more complex. However, this is a solid novel with a sound plot and worth the read.
JANA
Rating:
Summary: Go estrogen go!
Review: The set up-- that a young Druid Priestess shares a forbidden love with a half-breed Roman soldier that threatens to destroy both their worlds-- promises gory battles, love scenes, triumphs and tragedy. Marion Zimmer Bradley delivers all in spades. Focusing primarily on the females characters, she does a great job of arcing the main character, Eilan from care-free child to Warrior-Priestess. Zimmer Bradley gives us an interesting, extremely dense story that mixes action, magic and romance into a female-empowering tale. The characters are fairly sympathetic, especially when suffering frustrated love pangs, and thesub plots are just as intriguing as the main story line. Though the story sometimes strays too much into Female Empowerment Land (thanks to chapters devoted to menstrual blood rites and spell casting), Forest House presents lots of cliffhangers and surprises. MUCH better than its sequel, LADY OF AVALON.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow
Review: As a huge fan of Bradley's, and holding "The Mists of Avalon" up high as my favorite book of all time, I must confess I was very disappointed in this book. I was so excited when I heard there was a prequel to the "Mists of Avalon" I rushed out to get it. Owning and cherishing Bradley's other books. This book went along very slowly and did not keep my interest as does so many of her other books. I had to force myself to read it though.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: I just had to buy this book after I had read the other Avalon books. But this one sort of stood out. It's really well written and Bradley has this way of hooking you onto her books. It is really uncanny on how a person could have written something so incredible. It went really well but, I sort of thought Gaius as a sissy almost at the end because he just couldn't let go of the fact that it was beyond Eilan's wishes to marry him. Even though they loved each other to death. It was kind of a Romeo and Juliet drama thing. But I really do love this book. It does end in really sad ending, but thats what makes you love the book even more, because it makes you think and use your own mind and you can then relate it to yourself with the same event and see if you would've done the same thing. I do urge every Marion Zimmer Bradley fan to atleast read this book once in your lifetime. You probably won't regre it.
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