The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Mists of Avalon

by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Hardback

(July 1, 1987)
Del Rey
ISBN: 0345350499

Bookshelf Categories

Women's Spirituality
Goddesses & the Divine Feminine
Christian Mysticism

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Synopsis:

The mythical legend of King Arthur is retold through the lives of the amazing women who wielded power from behind the throne.

Reviews:

Read This Book!

7/3/2001

Reviewer: Morgan Le Fay

This book is by far the best book I've ever read in my life. I'm actually only 13, but I've read many books. I just finished it, and I would be ready to start it over again, but my mom got me the sequel (or) prequel (not sure which). The book is called Lady of Avalon, and if anyone has read it, and is sure that it's the prequel, please e-mail me at hotshothottie00@hotmail.com.

I think it's completely awesome that TNT is doing a movie out of it. For those of you who don't know about the movie, it's on TNT, and premieres at 8:00 p.m. Sunday, July 15th, and continues 8:00 p.m. on Monday, July 16th.

One of the best books ever

1/15/2001

Reviewer: Ariena Raul

I really loved this book. i got it like a year ago, right before christmas, and i must say, i could not put it down. i got it done in at least a week. i am only 14, but i love to read, especially fantasy, and i must say, this is one of the best books, by her i have read. It amazes me, that she could have so much knowledge of spells and rituals. i myself, an author(well, i want to write a novel, bat havent goten there yet) and a wiccan, wish i could just sit down and just write like she does. she used so much imagination, and made me feel the characters. i got so incredbly mad a Gwenhwyfar, the way she was so pious, and got arthur to fight under her flag. i got so upset when morgaine ended up in her love triangle. oh, and the end, the first time i read it, i bawled my eyes out. i am just reading it now for the second time, and i still feel the emotions as i read.

i totally think this is a must read, for anyone who is interested in arthurs reign, and morgaine of the fairies!!!

The reality in this book is remarkable....

12/26/2000

Reviewer: Morgaine of the Faires

Hi, I'm a book o manic and I absolutely adored the mists of avalon, when I first read the first page I couldent put it down. I just kept reading, night and day... I really felt that I was Morgaine, I felt her sadness, her anger and her lust. I had such a clear picture of what it was like, so clear... I felt like I knew all the charecters around her, to me it was only her which mattered, she was just my angel... I got angry at the christians, for in all the books and films I have seen, she is always evil, its not true.... she was an angel, no more no less...

Since I am a pagan, I am suprised how well she knew the magic, i just wanted to tell the world, 1MAGIC IS NOT EVIL 2CHRISTIANS MAKE EVERYTHING BAD BECAUSE THEY WANT POWER 3THE GODESS IS EVERYWHERE 4BLESSED BE

11/3/2000

Reviewer: Priestess of Avalon

I just started reading this for the third time since 1990. I don't know how it's possible, but it gets better every time. It's such a masterful rendering of one of the most beautiful legends of all time. I believe every woman will find a little of herself somewhere in this book. You can't help but think "Wow, that happens to me all the time..." or perhaps "I'd have done the same thing.."

It also has me wondering.. maybe I was a priestess in a past life? Boundless imagination to savor in the rare quiet moments when I find time to read!

A wonderful book, with a great message and only one regret

11/2/2000

Reviewer: A reader

The Mists of Avalon is by far the best book I have ever read. Though the book has so many pages, that you assume it will get boring at some point, the action never slows down, and the story flows like no other. I absolutly love the characters, especially Morgaine. I don't agree with everything they did, but the characters are so wonderfully portrayed that I don't have too. Also, even though the characters seem so strong and invicible, you can see the traits of weakness and duty in Igraine, Viviane, Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, and especially Morgaine. I love this because it helps me feel that some decisions I have made in life were in fact the best decisions at that time. The best line in this book goes something like this, "To acknowledge ignorance is the beginning of knowledge."- Viviane to a young Morgaine.

I only have two wishes of this book, that there were more classic stories like this one told in a amazing, twisting way, and that I wish that some of the male characters were more developed, along with their struggles. I would be interested to see a book that is simultanious with this one with characters such as Gorolois, Uther, Arthur, Merlin, Kevin, and Lancelot. Mostly to see what they think about the women!!!

This book was the best book I have ever read and enjoyed. I just could not put the book down. I have never felt this way with any other book I have read.

10/22/1997

Reviewer: G.M.W.

I like the way the book looks at the woman's point of view and how it desplays the way everything was not Christian back then and it really moved me and made me feel happy that there is a writer out there that does not look only at the Christian point of view but at the other religions that were there before the Christians.

A great view on Arthur's legend and the Early Middle Ages

7/19/1997

Reviewer: N.

This was undoubtedly the best book I've ever read. The whole view of the geography, the history, the wars between the saxons and the romans, which actually develop through the book, as the 'horse god' is forgotten and traded by the Cross; the characters, who grow old and wiser, and with the time acquire a new position towards the other people as well as towards the very world they live in - vide Ingraine, Arthur, Kevin and even Morgaine; and the ever-present conflict between the Christian faith and the old gods, represented, respectively, by Gwenhwyfar and Morgaine, are only part of what makes this story one of the greatest literary jewels these times. When I ended it, I felt like it had become a part of me.

Bradley writes of Avalon and Camelot as places that do exist

7/17/1997

Reviewer: T.J.K.

As I read this book I became more and more aware of the empowerment the women in this book came to accept for themselves. It is not about women's issues, and yet the women were real people who struggled and found their own power, good and evil, which effected the course of history. I found myself believing that when the morning mist cleared I might actually see the stones on Tor and call the barge to Avalon. I also came to believe the God/Goddess approach makes more sense than what we are handed as a religious belief system. It is a more holistic approach than our catagorical approach. This is a book I will push many people to read.

Great Story - No so Great Writing

7/15/1997

Reviewer: M.S.

I just finished reading this book. I think it's a great story and a fascinating perspective. I have to agree, however, with the lone reviewer who criticizes the writing. I found the character development very erratic, as if Bradley suddenly tires of a character and decides to move on to someone else. Other than Morgaine, most of the characters do not evolve, although some of them suddenly veer off into an entirely new personality with no little or no explanation at all. (Igraine and Kevin, for instance). Gueneviere, who is throughly detestable, displays occasional, but inexplicable, flashes of humanity, only to instantly revert to her standard sullen peeveishness. Characters commit the most egregious affronts to one another, then appear as old friends at the next feast. Expectations are not met - we are set up to anticipate plot deveolpments which never occur, and there are several contradictions and inplausibilities which I found annoying. I thought that the end of the book was hurried through while Bradley tried to cram in the rest of the Arthurian legend ( and every character ever remotely associated with it). That may be part of the problem with this book - she had too much material to fit in. Still, she had a great idea here and I wish she had taken more time to develop it. I thought she was at her best when writing about the 'old faith' and she did a admirable job weaving that spell and making you feel the emotions of it. This could have been a great book rather than a good read. I'll still take T.H. White or Mary Stewart for my dose of the Matter of Britain.

A new look at the Arthurian legend.

7/12/1997

Reviewer: A.

The Mists of Avalon is a fantastic book that makes you think. In most books on the legends of King Arthur, only the men get credit for anything. The women are only background, and they never seen to do anything worthy. Guinevere is portrayed in most books as being the cause of the downfall of Camelot. Morgan, or Morgan le Fay, is shown as an evil sorceress. It was nice to read a book on Camelot with the women playing important, good roles.

Morgaine speaks.....

7/8/1997

Reviewer: C.I.

Knights in shining armor fighting heroic and daring battles in the name of God and their beloved king.........and the women sitting alone in their chambers, weaving and darning (and doing a whole lot of other 'womanly' things) who really deserve a great deal more credit than they actually get- and which they never would have gotten if it hadn't been for this book. For once, the women speak out! There has never been a female character so strong in any other book I've read, than Morgaine of the faeries. the Mists of Avalon completely contradicts the very popular Christian myth back in those days which states that women do not have any feelings!

An excellent book but it has a few flaws

6/23/1997

Reviewer: C.

It has taken me a almost a month to complete this book, and I must say that it often felt like I was trying to wade my way through the swamps of the Summer Country described within. I often had to go back and reread sentences because of the convoluted constructions she used. I also wish that she had presented a list of characters and a map of locations at the beginning of the book (as she did in The Forest House), because I often found myself confusing characters and locations. Also, I found that some of the characters' motivations and personalities were very difficult to decipher.

However, I would still recommend this book. First of all, it is an excellent and unique perspective on the Arthurian legends, portraying the famous and the infamous characters in a different light. In addition, although some of the characters are somewhat lacking in dimension, there is an incredible depth in others, especially Morgaine, Viviane, Igraine, and Gwenhwyfar. Although I do not care for most of the fantasy genre, I feel that this is one of the exceptions.

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This book was the best book I have ever read and enjoyed. I just could not put the book down. I have never felt this way with any other book I have read.	10/22/1997
Reviewer: G.M.W.
I like the way the book looks at the woman's point of view and how it desplays the way everything was not Christian back then and it really moved me and made me feel happy that there is a writer out there that does not look only at the Christian point of view but at the other religions that were there before the Christians.

A great view on Arthur's legend and the Early Middle Ages	7/19/1997
Reviewer: N.
This was undoubtedly the best book I've ever read. The whole view of the geography, the history, the wars between the saxons and the romans, which actually develop through the book, as the 'horse god' is forgotten and traded by the Cross; the characters, who grow old and wiser, and with the time acquire a new position towards the other people as well as towards the very world they live in - vide Ingraine, Arthur, Kevin and even Morgaine; and the ever-present conflict between the Christian faith and the old gods, represented, respectively, by Gwenhwyfar and Morgaine, are only part of what makes this story one of the greatest literary jewels these times. When I ended it, I felt like it had become a part of me.

Bradley writes of Avalon and Camelot as places that do exist	7/17/1997
Reviewer: T.J.K.
As I read this book I became more and more aware of the empowerment the women in this book came to accept for themselves. It is not about women's issues, and yet the women were real people who struggled and found their own power, good and evil, which effected the course of history. I found myself believing that when the morning mist cleared I might actually see the stones on Tor and call the barge to Avalon. I also came to believe the God/Goddess approach makes more sense than what we are handed as a religious belief system. It is a more holistic approach than our catagorical approach. This is a book I will push many people to read.

Great Story - No so Great Writing	7/15/1997
Reviewer: M.S.
I just finished reading this book. I think it's a great story and a fascinating perspective. I have to agree, however, with the lone reviewer who criticizes the writing. I found the character development very erratic, as if Bradley suddenly tires of a character and decides to move on to someone else. Other than Morgaine, most of the characters do not evolve, although some of them suddenly veer off into an entirely new personality with no little or no explanation at all. (Igraine and Kevin, for instance). Gueneviere, who is throughly detestable, displays occasional, but inexplicable, flashes of humanity, only to instantly revert to her standard sullen peeveishness. Characters commit the most egregious affronts to one another, then appear as old friends at the next feast. Expectations are not met - we are set up to anticipate plot deveolpments which never occur, and there are several contradictions and inplausibilities which I found annoying. I thought that the end of the book was hurried through while Bradley tried to cram in the rest of the Arthurian legend ( and every character ever remotely associated with it). That may be part of the problem with this book - she had too much material to fit in. Still, she had a great idea here and I wish she had taken more time to develop it. I thought she was at her best when writing about the 'old faith' and she did a admirable job weaving that spell and making you feel the emotions of it. This could have been a great book rather than a good read. I'll still take T.H. White or Mary Stewart for my dose of the Matter of Britain.

A new look at the Arthurian legend.	7/12/1997
Reviewer: A.
The Mists of Avalon is a fantastic book that makes you think. In most books on the legends of King Arthur, only the men get credit for anything. The women are only background, and they never seen to do anything worthy. Guinevere is portrayed in most books as being the cause of the downfall of Camelot. Morgan, or Morgan le Fay, is shown as an evil sorceress. It was nice to read a book on Camelot with the women playing important, good roles.

Morgaine speaks.....	7/8/1997
Reviewer: C.I.
Knights in shining armor fighting heroic and daring battles in the name of God and their beloved king.........and the women sitting alone in their chambers, weaving and darning (and doing a whole lot of other 'womanly' things) who really deserve a great deal more credit than they actually get- and which they never would have gotten if it hadn't been for this book. For once, the women speak out! There has never been a female character so strong in any other book I've read, than Morgaine of the faeries. the Mists of Avalon completely contradicts the very popular Christian myth back in those days which states that women do not have any feelings!