Priestess Of Avalon

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good
Review: I glanced at a few of the reviews here before buying this book, and had low expectations. Perhaps that's why I enjoyed it as much as I did.

Contrary to previous comments, I thought this book provided fans of the series with some fascinating scenes regarding the making of a priestess, and Eilan's training. And latter two-thirds of the book, although not taking place in Avalon and focusing on Eilan's life in the Roman Empire, still addressed the Goddess and pagan religions and the spread of Christianity, which gave a wonderful historical perspective.

As a life-long fan of "The Mists of Avalon" and a non-Christian, I found the domination of Christianity depicted in this book to be oppressive, as did other reviewers. But it is historical, after all, and I would rather explore how such a thing came to pass and better understand it, in any case.

Let's face it, MZB fans: nothing in this series was ever going to be as great, as magical, as special as "Mists". It's a once-in-a-lifetime book, and it touched a lot of our lives. I though "The Forest House" was disappointing, and "Lady of Avalon" less so, but the comparison to "Mists" is what doomed both of them, for me at least. This book, "Priestess of Avalon", was from such a different perspective that I was less inclined to compare it to the progenitor of this series, and therefore I enjoyed it more, on the whole. Give it a chance, if you haven't read it yet, and just go in with an open mind.

Rating:
Summary: by the way
Review: After I read all of the reviews, I must add this. The whole point of this book is that we as humans impose labels and limitations upon our spirituality; that we cannot grasp the whole so we set up subgroups that describe our relation to Creator. What this book makes clear is the Universal truth that is inherent within all the world's religions. So although this book did not center on paganism, it did reveal the connection between the religions. We must bear in mind that the church as it is and was, is not who Christ was. He was the High King, following in the pagan tradition. What this book does do, is show how different the church became from the original teachings of the Christos. After all, if the lead character did not do what she did in Avalon , Avalon would have been the birth land of Christ. This book should be approached with religious tolerance which is what we all want anyway for our own beliefs.

Rating:
Summary: Slow start, big build up
Review: At first, I thought that my beloved series had taken a wrong turn somewhere. I persevered through the first hundred pages then suddenly got into the book. It began to get better and better. There are many truths in this book and I really enjoyed being with the lead character throughout her life, especially as a crone. There were tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat towards the end. Avalon is a place we carry within the altar of our hearts and through the way we live our lives. Stick with this book. It was not a disappointment. It gives me courage toward my senior years on this planet.

Rating:
Summary: Why did she have to die???
Review: I bought this book hoping for more about Avalon. As a previous reviewer has said, it doesn't have hardly anything to do with Avalon- it's about an ex-priestess and what her life is like after she "loses the blessing of Avalon". Most of the other priestesses in the other books returned home to Avalon and their stories continued. In this one, Helena doesn't return until she is very old, and then, that's it, the end of the book. It is though, an interesting view from someone who was right there when christianity was declared the "official" Roman religion. Not very happy that I had to find out by reading the introduction to the book that my favorite author had died 2 years ago without my hearing about it. The first-person perspective is a bit hard to get used to at first. There are subtle inconsistencies between this story and Lady of Avalon, especially when Dierna & Becca have their fateful night in the swamp. 4 stars because it is still an Avalon book mostly by MZB, but other than that I'd give it 3. Don't run out to get it, but don't let it stay off your bookshelf forever, either.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre entry in a wonderful series
Review: Boy was I excited when I saw there was a new entry in this series. Then I learned that MZB was dead and a co-author had worked on the book too. It shows. I almost quit this one in the middle, but persevered to the end. It had its ups and downs, and it was better than lots of stuff out there, but I did not like it as much as the other MZB Avalon books. It felt formulaic at times, but it also differed from the other books in some bad ways. I missed the Avalon setting, and the legendary feel that made the other books so good. Set in the cold light of the Roman empire, the story lost its sense of fantasy. And there was just not enough adventure going on. Even the big romance left me kind of cold. To rank the four books in this series: Mists is by far the best, then Lady, then Forest, then Priestess.

Rating:
Summary: A Worthy Addition to Bradley's Avalon Series
Review: I was thrilled to see this book in the bookstore. Marion Zimmer Bradley passed away last year, and the world lost a fabulous writer. I've always been a bigger fan of her Darkover series than the Avalon books. All told, though I love Mists of Avalon, I found it dark and depressing. This story, though it is not as overtly pagan as Mists, attempts to connect the historical elements of paganism succumbing to Christianity. And, it asks an interesting question that spiritual folks have been asking themselves for years...how does one live a life of "spirit" in the real world? Bradley's Elian (or Hellene) recognizes, as we all should, that all gods are one, and all goddesses as well. She takes the spiritual lessons learned at an early age from paganism, and carries that sacredness throughout all the days of her life. The book ends on a high note as the lead character realizes that this is the case, that from a spiritual perspective, she has never left Avalon. And truly, Avalon exists for all of us who wish it so.

Diana Paxson, an awesome writer in her own right, was thoughtful enough to complete Zimmer-Bradley's final work, a true friend's gift. And, of the Avalon novels, I believe this final one is the strongest. If you've loved the Avalon novels, definitely, this is a book you should get. And, if you've never read the Avalon novels, this book is a wonderful starting point.

Rating:
Summary: Not what I had hoped for
Review: But better than some of the reviews I read here. Being Wiccan, and 'Mists of Avalon' having been on my beginning 'required reading list', I've followed the series with anticipation for each prequel. However, this one, while the beginning was good, the middle and near the end left me disappointed. While I can understand the meaning behind the somewhat heavy christian influence [after all Constintine did bring christianity into the open as an accepted religion and that story did need to be told in the wider scheme of things], I admit it made me uncomfortable. The love story was the one bright spot, as that was classic MZB [first love lasting for years, only to be lost]. I don't think this hurt the series, as a whole, but if not read in full context, one could imagine this to be solely about the birth of christianity, not the showing of the beginning of the legend of Avalon and the coming role it played in the legend of Arthur. A passable effort....but not a re-read.

Rating:
Summary: Priestess of Avalon
Review: I am very diappointed with this book. With each page I turn, I get the impression that I have read this book before. It is very similar to the Forest House.

Rating:
Summary: No...No...NO MORE!!!
Review: I mourned MZB's passing in 1999, but also saw it as the end of the ongoing slew of Mists prequels which were, so far as I'm concerned, detrimental to the lustre of the original.

Now I get slapped with Priestess of Avalon. No, I did not like it, and yes, I could detect the absence of MZB's thought and skill. To be honest, I have a hard time fitting this one into the Avalon series--what with its first person narrative and overall different feeling. There's not much of a story here at all--and after reading Forest House and Lady of Avalon, that's pretty bad. In sum, I suspect the publishers sought to link MZB and Avalon one more time in search for the almighty dollar. That, I think, is the biggest shame of all.

Rating:
Summary: Fans of "Mists of Avalon," don't get your hopes up...
Review: I anxiously awaited this book as I own & reread Mists of Avalon, Lady of Avalon, and Forest House. I was extremely disappointed with this book, however.There is very little of Avalon or indeed Paganism after the first few chapters. The main character ends up basically turning to christianity. If I wanted to read about that, I'd go back to church. Gave the impression that worshipping the Goddess was not enough, though in the other 3 books in the series, it was the main idea. I skipped several sections and read it over the course of a week, when I usually read a book in a day or two. I also sold mine as "barely used" as soon as I finished it.