Customer Reviews

Child of the Northern Spring

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This trilogy by Persia Woolley, which includes Child of the Northern Spring, Queen of the Summer Stars, and The Legend in Autumn, is well worth reading. Among the plethora of feminine centric Arthur retellings, I thought this trilogy was second only to The Mists of Avalon, which is the best Arthurian novel I've read, period. Neither a simpering bauble like Marion Zimmer Bradley's queen, nor a bitter shrew, as she is depicted in Rosalind Miles' trilogy, the High Queen in this series is a strong woman, bold, intelligent, compassionate, and well worth the love of two legendary heros. My only complaint with the character is this: Woolley saw fit to make her Guenevere homely, not the great beauty of legend, and Guenevere is supposed to be the fairest of the fair. Otherwise, this trilogy gets my highest recommendation. It is much better than the other Guenevere trilogies out there (by Miles and Newman). If you like this one, you might also enjoy Queen of Camelot by Nancy McKenzie.

This book, along with the other two in the trilogy (Queen of the Summer Stars and Guinevere: Legend in Autumn), is the best telling of the Arthurian Legend yet. It's got everything: romance, magic, and best of all, believable characters. I love this book and the others. I've read them twice already, and I'm sure that I'll read them several more times. You just can't beat these books!!!!!

I have read many, many books on King Aurthor and found this one to be FAR, FAR better than any I have ever read. I have never before been captivated by the storie of Gweneuver, and yet I found that once I started reading this book I could not put it down. The book spun a wonderful tail of how it must have been like to grow up a Celtic princes, or simply how it must have been to grow up a Celt. I highly recomend this book to all.

This book was fairly decent in its dealings with Arthur's Queen. however, it dragged, and I found myself not caring what the hell happened to Guinevere and in the area of great action or tragedy I felt no compulsion to keep turning the pages. Also, there was this constant prattling about "Celtic Queen" behaviour or "true Celt" or "Celtic pride" etc etc. We got the point and it didn't need to be mentioned every page. Quinevere's tomboyishness was also similarly overplayed. The best book in the trilogy was the last, because Mordred provided an interesting topic.

This book struck me as different from most writers styles. I have read a lot of books ranging form fantasy to science fiction. I loved reading this book and I found it hard to put it down once I started. It was very interesting and it gave me a different perspective on the tale of King Authur and the Round Table....

So so. I almost dumped it, but made myself read 100 pages. And I finished it because I have the second book in the trilogy waiting (library books). Arthur seems a bit of a confused post-adolescent, but Gwen will race to the rescue and point him in the right direction! I'm hoping the next book is a bit more believable.

I've been a fan of Persia Woolley's Arthurian trilogy since the early 90s & have reread "Child of the Northern Mists" several times. Perhaps what I've enjoyed most about Ms. Woolley's take on Guinevere is that she manages to create a likable, but realistic Queen, a woman who lives on in the reader's imagination long after the final pages are read. Contemporary as Woolley's Guinevere seems, one of the author's finest accomplishments is to root Guinevere in a historically accurate time and place--without bogging the reader down in too much detail. It is a delicate balancing act & Ms. Woolley pulls it off with every bit as much grace as her heroine shows.
As the story unfolds, we are drawn to this rough-and-tumble, charasmatic girl, a young woman who is deceptively "simple". Down-to-earth, gracious, & athletic, this is a Guinevere that we can touch--that we want to get to know. It is only gradually that we see how intelligent she truly is, how diplomatically skilled she is, by instinct as well as by training. This is perhaps the finest portrayal of Arthur's young Queen I have ever read. She is, indeed, a Queen who deserves to become a legend. It is a pleasure to discover her here, in Woolley's first volume, when the dew is still on the grass, and the pain and disillusionment we know is coming exists only in the future.
The next two books in Ms. Woolley's trilogy revisit a more mature, yet no less engaging woman. We feel for her, for once again, Woolley manages to balance a deftly painted historical setting with a Guinevere whose issues ring true for our time as well.
As many other reviewers have already said, I wish this trilogy would be reprinted, it deserves a wider audience.

i picked this up last week, and since then, havent been able to put it down. unlike Sharan Newmans Guinevere, this is not a fantazied version, but a more human, likable Gwen. it takes us through her childhood, the lost of her mother(i can relate) all the way to the day after her marriage to Arthur. While there is mention of the Old Gods and Mother Goddess, there is very little magic. Although the suggestion is always there, with Morgan Le Fays presence.

Morgan, is here a very different version then MZBs sympathatic Morgaine. Here, she takes the role of Lady Of The Lake. Buit since this series is told through Gwens eyes, we learn about Morgan as she does. Which is nice.

A very nice new look at Guinevere, one to keep!

Child of the Northen Spring is the first of Persia Woolley's trio of Arthurian novels dealing with his queen, Guenevere. I first read this book when I was in the 6th grade and I have loved it ever since. Years later I realized that it was actually a trio and I was, as you can imagine, ecstatic. The second and third novels in the trio, Queen of the Summer Stars and Guenevere: Legend in Autumn, are both wonderful reads, as well, but this one remains my absolute favorite. The way the reader is introduced to Guenevere, her childhood, her home, friends and family, her first love and first heartbreak, her misgivings about marrying Arthur, her tomboyish ways...it's just an amazing read. I have laughed and cried more times than I can count while reading this book and I have loved every moment of it. I love the way Guenevere is portrayed, as a fun-loving, opinionated tomboy instead of the perfect beauty many think of her as. All of the characters--Arthur, Merlin, Gawain, Nimue, Pellinore, Kay--they are all given amazing personalities that the reader is able to connect with. Woolley is a genius in her portrayal of the Arthurian legend and of 6th century Britain...I highly recommend this read for those who enjoy this type of literature.

Child of the Northern Spring, the first in a trilogy, covers Guinevere's early years, narrated by the Princess herself. I am impressed at how Ms. Persia Wooley made Gwen a believable narrator that readers can connect with, for I found this Gwen a sincere young woman who is, at first, reluctant to leave her life for the ways of the court. Gwen is the modest little tomboy who eventually grows up and weds who will be the greatest king of all Britain. The reader can laugh, cry, and smile with Gwen (who, in this book, is not an arrogant prick like most people picture Guinevere) all throughout the book as she meets characters like an Irish lad Kevin, the powerful Lady Morgan, and the stately Queen Igraine. I am impressed by Wooley's first book in the trilogy, and I am looking forward to reading the others!