Customer Reviews

The Child of the Holy Grail: The Third of the Guenevere Novels

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Okay, is it just me, or are Rosalind Miles' "Guenevere" and "Isolde" books ill-disguised bodice rippers? The first time I read her work, I was enchanted by it. Now, struggling through this, the third Guenevere book, and having read two of the Isolde books, I am disgusted and irritated beyond reason by the repetition, poorly written scenes, cliched phrases, and this obnoxious trend towards the hippie Christian-hating Wicca that seems to permeate too much historical fiction these days. The romance is nauseating, not touching, the sex boring to read. I find Guenevere to be even less likeable than how she is portrayed in 'The Mists of Avalon', and that's hard to do. She's a jealous, bitter, cold, infantile woman that I detest in these books, and Miles seems to be trying too hard to make her human in that she reveals NO good qualities about her at all. The ridiculous melodrama just makes me want to throw the book down and scream. It's unbelievable how often certain phrases and scenes are repeated throughout all three of the Guenevere books. Morgan cackling wickedly in the trees, blighting the crops as she does so, "Oh my love!" "Oh Goddess, Mother, no! Save us!", the same old Christians are evil, insane fanatics. It's just the same themes all the time. At least 'The Mists of Avalon' was well-written. But Miles' books have made my eyes practically roll out of my head from disgust and mirthless laughter at how poorly written they are. I don't recommend these unless you have a penchant for Harlequin romance novels because that's what they are.

This book did not live up to its hype. It tries to do for Guenevere what Mists of Avalon did for Morgan le Fey, but it fails sorely because the title character is an embittered shrew. The plot repeats itself endlessly over the course of three novels. Guenevere loves Arthur, she hates Arthur, she forgives Arthur, she loves Arthur again, no wait, she hates him.... Arthur, by the way, is a weak, feeble-minded, doddering simpleton. This is not the great king of Arthurian legend at all. Lancelot is still a tasty dish, but there is no apparent reason why he would love a bitter, jealous, middle-aged woman who repeatedly casts him away. Morgan le Fey starts out as a promising character, but becomes a demonic harpy-type creature. And the tone is excessively anti-Christian. I'm not a religious person at all, but even I was offended by the way Christians are depicted in this novel. It's just not a pleasant read. If you want a great trilogy told from Guenevere's point of view, read Persia Woolley's Guenevere trilogy or Nancy McKenzie's Queen of Camelot. They're well worth the time and effort.

"Child of the Holy Grail" is the last installment in Rosalind Miles' Guenever Trilogy. "Child of the Holy Grail" focuses on the tension and betrayal between Arthur and his bastard son Mordred, as well as the arrival of the mysterious knight called Galahad. The story then shifted to the grail quests, the fall of the round table, and the scattering of the nights.

I was very pleased with the first two installments in this series, however "Child of the Holy Grail" was definitely lacking. A huge portion of the novel dealt with Lancelot and Guenevere's love affair, which was rocky to say the least. It seemed like every 50 pages she was sending Lancelot away for something he had done and the Guenevere would call him back and then send him away again. On and on like this for about 500 pages, gets really old after a while. I was a tad bit disappointed in this novel, although I would definitely recommend the series.

Of all the books in the Guenevere Series, this last one took me the longest to finish. Not that I didn't like it. It just didn't hold me in its grip like Marion Zimmer Bradley's THE MISTS OF AVALON, I guess, which is another retelling of King Arthur's story.

By the time I was finished with Knight of the Sacred Lake (Book Two), I had grown too attached to Rosalind Miles's characters for me to just forget about them. That in itself shows that the characters have been pretty much well developed. What I didn't like so much, I think, is the unsympathetic way so many characters are portrayed. Sure, they're interesting, but maybe I was looking for more than just Guenevere and Lancelot to think kindly of as I read the entire series.

If you love anything about King Arthur's court though, there's no reason you shouldn't read this. I give author Rosalind Miles credit for nevertheless producing a story with an interesting turn of events.

As I neared the final chapter of this book I read more and more slowly, not wanting it to end.This final book of the Guenevere trilogy has the most satisfactory ending of any of the dozens of Arthurian stories that I've read before. The others always left me with a feeling of dissatisfaction and a gnawing sense that matters were not quite concluded but Rosalind Miles has hit on the perfect,most logical ending to this whole, magnificent fairy tale and her wonderful writing would satisfy even the toughest critics. I feel sad that this wonderful piece of magic has ended but would recommend the trilogy to anyone who is fortunate enough to have it all ahead of them.

Reading the series...Im a fan of the King Arthur era! Gets a little too, too with the fantasy portions, but, hey, it's fantasy!

After not being able to put the first two books of the series down, and proclaiming my undying love for all the characters, I found myself yawning during the first half of the third book.

The whole idea of finding the 'Holy Grail' sounded boring in itself, and was handled just as boring as it sounded. It felt too sudden, such as "Oh hey! This may be fun, let's all do this!" The characters felt vague, and the descriptions were either too long or not long enough. In general, after feeling completely connected to the plot and characters during the first two books, I felt purely empty during the first half of this novel.

However, Guenevere's romance with Lancelot and fallout with Arthur really came to a head, and I found myself on the edge of my seat during the latter half of the book.

Characterization wise during this book, Rosalind Miles was wonderful. I'm not big on romance in novels, but I found myself sighing with enjoyment with every interaction between Lancelot and his Queen. Arthur became older and more dark and twisted, yet his story ended so heroically that I was willing to forgive all misgivings he did during the series. The only character I was overall not pleased with was Morgan. Not to spoil anything, but the ending Rosalind Miles gave her I was severly disappointed with.

Overall, if you enjoyed the first two books, please read this one. However, it wasn't nearly as magical as the first two.

After thoroughly enjoying the first two books of this series, I was delighted with Miles' end to the trilogy.
The saga continues without missing a beat and I was very satisfied with the "end" to the story of Merlin, Morgan, Mordred, Arthur and alike. It was infuriating, touching, sad, happy - you name the emotion - it's in there.

I've visited Glastonbury, England - now I need to go back and sit under the hawthorn tree on the Tor and see it all with the "eyes" Rosalind Miles has given me.

Loved the Epilogue - left me hungry for more.

I love this book. Ithought it was very inventive to write from Guenevere's point of view. I liked the stpry better this way as well. Now evertime i see something about King Arthur or Camelot that doesn't fit in with this story, i flip. lol great great book. I'm hooked on this trilogy and can't wait to read Isolde.