Beloved Exile

Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully entertaining and educational story.
Review: I have read most of Mr.Godwin's books and as usual this book is completely entertaining and educational. Godwin has a wonderful way of taking history and myth and bringing out loved characters into real life(at least what it may have been for them). I have a very hard time putting down any of his stories. I have even turned several friends on to his writing and they to are hooked on all of his books. Anyone who cares for old myths and history will love this authors creativity and style.

Rating:
Summary: Gritty and realistic
Review: More historical fiction than fantasy, you will not find any magic swords or sorcery in this gritty and realistic story of Guenevere and Britian after the death of Arthur. When the story begins, Guenevere is already middle aged, and Britian is on the brink of chaos. As the story progresses we learn of the maturing of Guenevere as a person and as a queen.

The novel starts off fast and furious with battles and betrayals. Then it settles down into a serious character study as it builds towards a strong and satisfying climax. Sometimes slow, but always interesting, this was worthwhile reading.

Rating:
Summary: Gritty and realistic
Review: More historical fiction than fantasy, you will not find any magic swords or sorcery in this gritty and realistic story of Guenevere and Britian after the death of Arthur. When the story begins, Guenevere is already middle aged, and Britian is on the brink of chaos. As the story progresses we learn of the maturing of Guenevere as a person and as a queen.

The novel starts off fast and furious with battles and betrayals. Then it settles down into a serious character study as it builds towards a strong and satisfying climax. Sometimes slow, but always interesting, this was worthwhile reading.

Rating:
Summary: Thank goodness for a non-weepy, finally grown-up Guinevere!
Review: This is a worthy sequel to the exciting "Firelord." It tells the story of the rest of Guinevere's life after Arthur's death, and she is even more of a vivid and strong personality than she was in that enthralling novel. Godwin's account of her captivity as a Saxon slave, and her adaptation to that way of life, is purely imaginative, but who could mind? It relates a sensitive and entertaining account of how this proud queen grows to maturity in her adjustment to a jarring change in her fortunes. Guinevere has never seemed more real, alive and captivating than in these pages.You can well believe that a woman this remarkable has captured popular imagination for 1500 years. Someone, please--put this book back into print! It deserves it.

Rating:
Summary: One of the very best portraits of Guinevere
Review: This is a worthy sequel to the exciting "Firelord." It tells the story of the rest of Guinevere's life after Arthur's death, and she is even more of a vivid and strong personality than she was in that enthralling novel. Godwin's account of her captivity as a Saxon slave, and her adaptation to that way of life, is purely imaginative, but who could mind? It relates a sensitive and entertaining account of how this proud queen grows to maturity in her adjustment to a jarring change in her fortunes. Guinevere has never seemed more real, alive and captivating than in these pages.You can well believe that a woman this remarkable has captured popular imagination for 1500 years. Someone, please--put this book back into print! It deserves it.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling and engrossing
Review: This is my favorite depiction of Guinevere. Godwin portrays her as a powerful woman whose strengths (as is often the case) are also her weaknesses--and her undoing. Godwin's Guinevere is frequently hard to sympathize with, but she isn't hard to understand. I'm impressed with how dramatically (but believably) her character changes and grows between Firelord and this book. Note: Read this book carefully, and you'll notice that a character from Firelord, so minor that she had neither name or dialogue, is crucial to the events and attitudes in Beloved Exile.

Rating:
Summary: Thank goodness for a non-weepy, finally grown-up Guinevere!
Review: Traditional versions of the Arthur myth focus mainly on the men. Other versions like Mists of Avalon, which I enjoy immensely, focus women characters and not much, really, on the weepy, very Christian Guinevere.

Beloved Exile is a smashing alternate view of the possibilities, given the times. Guinevere in this version is not construed as a saint, a hystrionic weeper, nor is she totally lovable, but is very human. She is a strong, unforgettable character.

Highly recommended!