The Forest House

Rating:
Summary: Although not quite as good as MISTS OF AVALON
Review: this prequel is still excellent.

The story is set in the days of Roman occupation of Britain. Gaius, a young Roman officer and son of the local Roman commandant with his British wife has met and fallen in love with Eilan, the daughter of a powerful Druid family. Neither family approves of the match and forces the two apart. For the rest of their lives they met again and again only to be torn apart. Ultimately their unfulfilled love sets the stage for the events in MISTS OF AVALON.

The story is again told, at least in part, from a feminine point of view. As in MISTS there is a greek tragedy feel of unescapable doom. The characters are engaging and 'feel real', the plot is compeling making this a book that is hard to put down. It does not quite live up to MISTS due at least in part, to its more simplistic story line. Unlike MISTS' numerous story lines THE FOREST HOUSE focuses on Eilan and Gaius with Caillean, a priestess of the Forest House filling in gaps. This prequel is also significantly shorter. Still for any fan of MISTS OF AVALON this is a must read and would be enjoyable on its own as well.

Rating:
Summary: Women can be just as brutal as men
Review: This is the story Miss Bradley wrote as a prequel to her magnum opus: "The Mists of Avalon." This story takes place in early Britannia and centres around an arch-druid and his family. One day his daughters and son finds an injured traveler, who turns out to be of the much despised Romans. As in many sad and tragic tales, the daughter of the Arch-druid, Eilean falls inlove with the soldier. Of course any marriage is out of question. So in the midst of invasions these two try to keep their "illegal" love a secret, even as she starts to go into priestess training. This is an excellent tale of both sides of love, the happiness and the sorrow that it can bring, especially the kind looked down upon by families. Excellent story, and worthy of Bradley's name.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: The Forest House is the prequel to The Mists of Avalon, even though the "prequel" was written many years later than the "sequel." Like Mists, The Forest House is a wonderful book, one that I could not put down once I got past the slightly dry beginning. Never mind that the girl on the cover looks like a stoned Callista Flockhart/Ally McBeal. The main character, Elian, is just as engaging as Morgaine, the main character of Mists. Anyone who loved Mists will be delighted with this book, full of the same Druid mysticism and ancient Britainnian history.

The story is about Elian, and how she falls in love with a Roman soldier, torn between her love for him and her duties as a chosen priestess of the Forest House, a house where vestal virgins worship the goddess. The setting is when the Romans occupied what is now England, and ruled with an iron fist all of the native peoples, including Elian's family of Druids. The Druids have a tolerate-hate relationship with the Romans, mostly hate.

There are many fascinating characters in this book. The research that went into both this and Mists is staggering. To me it is amazing that Marion Zimmer Bradley had time to write both of these books in her lifetime.



Rating:
Summary: Although not quite as good as MISTS OF AVALON
Review: this prequel is still excellent.

The story is set in the days of Roman occupation of Britain. Gaius, a young Roman officer and son of the local Roman commandant with his British wife has met and fallen in love with Eilan, the daughter of a powerful Druid family. Neither family approves of the match and forces the two apart. For the rest of their lives they met again and again only to be torn apart. Ultimately their unfulfilled love sets the stage for the events in MISTS OF AVALON.

The story is again told, at least in part, from a feminine point of view. As in MISTS there is a greek tragedy feel of unescapable doom. The characters are engaging and 'feel real', the plot is compeling making this a book that is hard to put down. It does not quite live up to MISTS due at least in part, to its more simplistic story line. Unlike MISTS' numerous story lines THE FOREST HOUSE focuses on Eilan and Gaius with Caillean, a priestess of the Forest House filling in gaps. This prequel is also significantly shorter. Still for any fan of MISTS OF AVALON this is a must read and would be enjoyable on its own as well.

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.