Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country (Guenevere Novels) [Paperback]

Rosalind Miles (Author)

Book Description

Series: Guenevere Novels | Publication Date: July 11, 2000

Last in a line of proud queens elected to rule the fertile lands of the West, true owner of the legendary Round Table, guardian of the Great Goddess herself . . . a woman whose story has never been told -- until now.

Raised in the tranquil beauty of the Summer Country, Princess Guenevere has led a charmed and contented life -- until the sudden, violent death of her mother, Queen Maire, leaves the Summer Country teetering on the brink of anarchy. Only the miraculous arrival of Arthur, heir to the Pendragon dynasty, allows Guenevere to claim her mother's throne. Smitten by the bold, sensuous princess, Arthur offers to marry her and unite their territories, allowing her to continue to reign in her own right. Their love match creates the largest and most powerful kingdom in the Isles. Yet even the glories of Camelot are not safe from the shadows of evil and revenge. Arthur is reunited with his long-lost half-sisters, Morgause and Morgan, princesses torn from their mother and their ancestral right by Arthur's father, the brutal and unscrupulous King Uther. Both daughters will avenge their suffering, but it is Morgan who strikes the deadliest blows, using her enchantments to destroy all Guenevere holds dear and to force Arthur to betray his Queen.

In the chaos that follows, Arthur dispatches a new knight to Guenevere, the young French prince Lancelot, never knowing that Lancelot's passion for the Queen, and hers for him, may be the love that spells ruin for Camelot.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This is the first part of a trilogy chronicling the life of Queen Guenevere. Beginning with the young King Arthur who is preparing for the war that will unite Britain, the book recounts the marriage of Guenevere and Arthur, the growth of Arthur's court, and Guenevere's adulterous affair with Lancelot.

Although told mainly from Guenevere's point of view, this is a truly epic narrative, encompassing pageantry, political intrigue, war, and the conflict between the old pagan religion and Christianity. At times earthy, sensual, and violent, it is a powerful romantic drama firmly rooted in historical Britain, a modern yet traditional retelling of the stories given definitive form in the first four books of Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur.

The characters are grippingly evoked as realistic, living, and breathing human beings rather than simple archetypes, yet the writing is effortlessly lyrical, with the elegant flow of folktale. In emotional depth, Guenevere is comparable to Parke Godwin's fine Arthurian romance, Firelord.

This title is Rosalind Miles's 17th book. She is the author of the highly praised I, Elizabeth and The Women's History of the World. In 1990, she won the Network Award for outstanding achievement in the field of writing, and the same year she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. --Gary S. Dalkin, Amazon.co.uk --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Prolific English journalist and novelist Miles (I, Elizabeth) offers a feminist, New Age version of the Arthurian legend in her amply stocked but overripe work. Through his marriage to Guenevere, queen of the pagan matriarchy of the Summer Country, Arthur is well on his way to becoming king of all the Britons. However, Merlin, his tutelary spirit, frowns upon this marriage and prophesies that Guenevere will prove untrue. Guenevere is bedeviled by the machinations of her malevolent step-cousin/uncle Malgaunt, while Arthur's unknown, unhappy past invades his life in the figure of his half-sister Morgan le Fay, who seduces him and lures Arthur and Guenevere's only son, Amir, to an early death. The incestuous fruit of Arthur's union with Morgan?Mordred?becomes Arthur's nemesis. In Miles's take on the legend, the principals are locked in passionate conflict: Queen Guenevere is stronger, more resolute, courageous and persevering than King Arthur. Though portrayed as a frank, generous golden knight, Arthur nevertheless proves putty in the successive hands of Merlin, Guenevere and Morgan le Fay. Merlin, a wild, withered, yellow-eyed druid, is also undone by Morgan and appears to abandon Arthur to his fate. Only when Arthur falls under Morgan's sway does Guenevere succumb to her love for Lancelot, one of the novel's freshly conceived figures. The matriarchal way of life in Guenevere's Summer Country, with its capital at Camelot and its goddess residing in the misty Vale of Avalon, appears as infinitely more civilized and attractive than those states where men rule. Unfortunately, the novel's characterization is sometimes trite, and its prose style is trying, veering between downright coarse (perhaps in an attempt to be lusty) and syrupy. Aficionados of Arthurian romance will be pleased with the included maps, family trees and list of the novel's 75 or so characters.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Broadway (July 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609806505
• ISBN-13: 978-0609806500
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #759,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another version of the tales, with little to add, August 3, 2000

By 

J. Angus Macdonald "bibliovore" (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country (Guenevere Novels) (Hardcover)

I read most current versions of the Arthurian legends; most of them are no great shakes. This one, sadly, falls into that category. This is not a /bad/ book, it is just not a terribly /good/ one.

Like many current works pertaining to the tales of Arthur, this one is set nebulously in "historical times". There are trappings to make it seem like tale takes place just a bit after the Romans pull out of Britain, but only hints. There are a host of anachronisms which would not stand out if only she had placed the tales outside of time, much as Sharan Newman did. Of history, there is little. Of fantasy, there is little, also -- no dragons, no magic, just a lot of very strong-willed and weak- willed people. In fact this is one of the problems -- her main characters cannot make up their minds as to whether they are dynamic leaders or merely swept along by events larger than themselves.

Guenevere is neither a truly strong nor engaging character. At least half of her dialogue takes place in her head; she seems incredibly reticent to speak her mind. Her love for Arthur is immediate and wholehearted, without any real reason. She leads a group of vague pagans who all worship The Mother, a wholy benign being who seems to insist on a lot of sex, very little ceremony, and no strong thought other than "We Are Not Christian". Apparently Guenevere should be a warleader as well as a political leader for her people, yet despite the fact that she is 20-odd years old when we first meet her, she has had no training in battle. On the other hand, she has an immediate grasp of tactics the moment she views a battle.

I rather like the fact that Merlin is a dark character in this work -- so many Merlins since TH White have been such nice, sanitized people that one forgets he was a figure of mystery and even terror in the early legends, the product of a nun and a demon. On the other hand, his characterization is again rather shallow -- somehow he is connected to the Pendragon household and is determined to see it continue in a position of power, but he has these visions of nubile young things that taunt him in is unguarded moments. Once he finds a woman, he is imprisoned as a madman. Poof. End of Merlin.

I put this book in the same rough category as Nancy McKenzie's "Child Queen", Joan Wolf's "The Road to Avalon", and Helen Hollick's "Pendragon's Bannder series" -- not bad, but not really good. If you are looking for a good version of the tales from a female perspective, I heartily recommend either Vera Chapman or Fay Sampson. Ms. Miles' work is merely there, another novel that will go through a single printing and be forgotten.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Waste of Time, February 6, 2005

By 

Iris "arsanat" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country (Guenevere Novels) (Paperback)

I love Arthuriana and am always interested in any new take on the legend. I was happy to find this book at the library...until I started reading it. I wish I could give it zero stars, but Amazon doesn't allow that.

Previous reviewers have already pointed out everything I found bad about the book (character inconsistencies, poor writing, etc.) I did finish the book (stupidly hoping beyond hope that it would improve) so I feel comfortable advising people looking for an entertaining read to avoid this. If you're interested in Guenevere I'd recommend Nancy McKenzie's "Queen of Camelot", Sharan Newman's series or Persia Woolley's trilogy. I would also recommend Helen Hollick's series for those looking for a telling devoid of magic.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An intriguing perspective, August 20, 2000

By 

Dawn Forsythe (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country (Guenevere Novels) (Paperback)

It's always a delight to find yet another perspective of the Arthurian legends, and this one is intriguing. I loved the Mists of Avalon, of course, but Ms. Miles' story encourages us to take another look at Bradley's Morgan and Guenevere. For those of us who haven't read the 80 plus Arthurian books that other reviewers refer to, this is a wonderful story that doesn't dull our wits with Welsh names that are impossible to pronounce (as much as I love Wales... don't get me wrong...). In short, it is a wonderful story and it presents the reader with new ideas. The only reason I didn't give it five stars was because it could have given the "witches" at Morgan's convent a more comprehensive historical background. I am looking forward to reading the next in the series.