Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding Guinevere
Review: Alice Borchardt has a gift for presenting vivid images and extraordinary characters. This fantasy is the first of a triology that takes the legend of King Arthur and Guinevere to new heights. Unlike a different interpretation, Borchardt creates an entirely unique story of fantasy with Arthur and Guinevere as the main protagonists. Guinevere has magical power, fears nothing and is extremely intelligent. Arthur is honorable, clever and courageous. An evil Merlin and Igraine may be difficult for some Arthurian fans to accept. Other phenomenal characters are Maniel, a man who changes himself into a wolf at will, and Kyra, a powerful woman with magical abilities of her own. Despite the wonderful characters and excellent description, the plot becomes confusing as Arthur and Guinevere undergo trials in unusual fantasy worlds. There does not appear to be any transition from one world to the next. Also, this is an obvious first book in a triology because the ending is far from satisfying. Guinevere becomes the queen of the dragons but is not reunited with Arthur. High school libraries may wish to note that some of the sexual content, as well as, the attitude toward Christian religion might be offensive to some parents.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Concept, Hard to Read
Review: Alice Borchardt presents an interesting take on the Arthur/Guinevere story in The Dragon Queen. Guinevere is the daughter of a Celtic queen. She is hidden from the arch-druid Merlin at an early age and is raised by a druid and family of wolves and werewolves. During the story, she grows into powerful magic and fearlessly confronts every situation that she is thrown into. Merlin and Igraine are cast as evil sorcerers who torment the young Arthur and plot for power. Guinevere and Arthur must navigate the trials that they are thrown into by Merlin and Igraine if they are to win their thrones and be reunited. Borchardt paints a vivid picutre of Britian in the Dark Ages. She has no trouble setting up scenes of legendary castles and fantastic worlds populated with dragons and goddesses. However, the plot often bounces around abruptly, which may leave you confused about which characters you are following. I found myself having to go back and re-read paragraphs and pages until I figured out what was really happening. The dialogue is uneven and several of the characters can't seem to find a consistent voice or personality. The main characters are either near-perfect (Guinevere, Arthur, Maeniel the werewolf) or consummately evil (Merlin, Igraine) with little room in-between. While that isn't a showstopper in a good vs. evil tale, it would be nice to have a character the reader could relate to. Guinevere's many adventures seem to have only one point: to give her more magical victories and allies. Arthur enters the tale about halfway through the book, and he is also launched into several trials. Arthur's courage and nobility are showcased during his struggles, but they don't seem to advance the plot. His adventures might acquire more relevance in the sequels. The concepts and twists added to the Arthur legend are fascinating, but because of the inconsistent dialogue and the abrupt transitions I was not able to settle in and enjoy the storyline.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderfull
Review: An excelent re-telling of arthurian legends. Guenevere is no longer the whiney, annoying, trophy wife of Arthur. The daughter of Queen Boadiccea, a pagan priestess-queen, she is blessed by extra-ordinary powers. As Dragon Queen she is able to comunicate with her wolf brethren (she was raised by a wolf whom she calls mother that visits her in dreams) and with dragons as well. I recently finished this book and can not wait for the sequel.
Rating:
Summary: A huge disappointment....
Review: Apparently you either love this book, or loathe it. I am the latter. I typically read a book a week, and this book has been sitting on my nightstand for 3 months. That is HIGHLY unusual. Borchardt is an interesting writer- not bad at all- but this book is just terrible. It's very confusing; she writes as though this was the third book in a volume and not the first- the characters all have history from the first pages but she does not go into any detail, leaving the reader extremely confused. She dashes between times and locations very abruptly. It's also apparent that she, like her sister, has an obsession with legenday monsters (in Borchardt's case, the werewolf), but honestly, werewolfs don't belong in an Arthurian tale- it just comes off stupid. I know where she was trying to go with it, but it just never got there. If you are looking for a different take on the Arthurian legend, take the other reviewers advice to heart and pass this one up. I also suggest A.A. Attanasio's tales of Arthur, starting with The Dragon & The Unicorn... its a powerful series.
Rating:
Summary: A huge disappointment....
Review: Apparently you either love this book, or loathe it. I am the latter. I typically read a book a week, and this book has been sitting on my nightstand for 3 months. That is HIGHLY unusual. Borchardt is an interesting writer- not bad at all- but this book is just terrible. It's very confusing; she writes as though this was the third book in a volume and not the first- the characters all have history from the first pages but she does not go into any detail, leaving the reader extremely confused. She dashes between times and locations very abruptly. It's also apparent that she, like her sister, has an obsession with legenday monsters (in Borchardt's case, the werewolf), but honestly, werewolfs don't belong in an Arthurian tale- it just comes off stupid. I know where she was trying to go with it, but it just never got there. If you are looking for a different take on the Arthurian legend, take the other reviewers advice to heart and pass this one up. I also suggest A.A. Attanasio's tales of Arthur, starting with The Dragon & The Unicorn... its a powerful series.
Rating:
Summary: Misguided "reimagining"
Review: Despite being billed as a radical reworking of Arthurian legend, this is a rather insipid tale that turns Guinevere into a precocious superwoman and reduces most of the other characters to two-dimensional cyphers. The plot is desperately episodic, limping from one pointless magical contest to another, rarely managing to draw tension from the foregone conclusion of Guinevere's victory. On the plus side, the world is a marvellous creation, breaking the traditional pseudo-medieval stereotype of most fantasy literature; far and away the best aspects of the plot arise from this setting, rather than from the frequently strained attempts to incorporate Arthurian elements. Legendary characters and settings feel like they've been shoehorned in, and like big-name stars in a Hollywood blockbuster, their reputations overshadow the story. Borchardt does little interesting or new with them. Essentially, this is an uninspired waste of a beautifully-drawn Dark Ages Britain backdrop. A shame. Later volumes may improve, but I'm not inspired to follow this story. I'll stick with Marion Zimmer Bradley or Guy Gavriel Kay.
Rating:
Summary: I love this book!
Review: Don't listen to the people who didn't "get it" or couldn't "follow it". Go to the book store and read the Prologue. If those two pages don't speak to you, you don't deserve the riches the book has to offer.
Rating:
Summary: Can anyone say "Mary Sue"?
Review: For the unaware, "Mary Sue" is a term used in fanfiction for a character who is, essentially, perfect and has no useful character flaws. Such is Borchardt's Guinevere, as well as what little we've seen of Arthur thus far, and a third character called the Grey Watcher. Guinevere's greatest 'flaw' thus far is a slight level of sexual naivete and a stubborness that really isn't so much of a flaw, anyway. These are virtually the only aspects of her character, except for being ridiculously powerful. At one point she makes a mockery of Merlin-- when she's 13! The plot is interesting, but slow-moving. The second half of the book flips back and forth between what's happening to Guinevere and what's happening to Arthur, and it gets rather confusing. I noticed in the 'about the author' information that Alice Borchardt is actually sister to Anne Rice. I have a sneaking suspicion that that's the main reason anyone gave her a publishing deal...
Rating:
Summary: Can anyone say "Mary Sue"?
Review: For the unaware, "Mary Sue" is a term used in fanfiction for a character who is, essentially, perfect and has no useful character flaws. Such is Borchardt's Guinevere, as well as what little we've seen of Arthur thus far, and a third character called the Grey Watcher. Guinevere's greatest 'flaw' thus far is a slight level of sexual naivete and a stubborness that really isn't so much of a flaw, anyway. These are virtually the only aspects of her character, except for being ridiculously powerful. At one point she makes a mockery of Merlin-- when she's 13! The plot is interesting, but slow-moving. The second half of the book flips back and forth between what's happening to Guinevere and what's happening to Arthur, and it gets rather confusing. I noticed in the 'about the author' information that Alice Borchardt is actually sister to Anne Rice. I have a sneaking suspicion that that's the main reason anyone gave her a publishing deal...
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful descriptions, worth reading..
Review: From the beginning to the end, I was kept into another world.. we are used to the Greek and Egyptian myths but this one, from another culture, a mythical tale of the author, i was stunned at the almost-real descriptions and the tale... after reading that book of guinevere, you become part of it, yu get the point of black leg or even guinevere herself...
a perfect book to get out of your own world...
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