Customer Reviews

Guinevere

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great read for anyone who's into mythical legends. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! Newman knows how to weave the Celtic myths together very well - the characters stayed with me after I finished reading this book. What is interesting is her exploration of the intimate relationship Guinevere has with her unicorn. This book is for all the romantics who enjoy the Arthurian legends.

I read this trilogy with high expectations, but was disappointed. The incorporation of almost every aspect of every legend was in places clever, but a bit too much of a stretch to be believable. The characters were one dimensional, and Guinevere, in particular, just seemed clueless as to the world around her. In my opinion, she was not at all a likeable heroine. I much prefer Nancy McKenzie's The Child Queen and the High Queen.

Although the simple title of Guinevere makes it seem awfully bland, this novel proves one should never judge a book by its cover. This book portrays Guinvere in a different light. She presents herself as a flaxen haired youth who grows to realize all the glory, love, and bitterness life brings. In the company of a mythical creature, Guinevere presents herself as charming, gentle, and at times extremely naïve. One would never imagine she would add ammo to the arsenal that would bring down her own husband and his round table.
Set in Briton in the medieval time period, this novel is told in third person. Newman changes the traditional Arthurian saga in a few ways. According to this book, Merlin was related to Guinevere, being her mothers cousin. Gawain is the son of Morgan Le Fay and is under a curse that makes him fall into deep sleep at the first sign of twilight. Also, Igraine, Arthur's mother, was forced to marry Uther, Arthur's father. Moreover, Arthur knew nothing about his past until well into his twenties. A common theme that came up was relations. As briefly explained earlier, the various characters were connected by either marriage or birth. For instance, by marrying Arthur, brother of Morgan Le Fay and uncle of Gawaine, Guinevere becomes the aunt of her dear friend. The main conflict in the story is the fact that the Saxons are invading. This leads to many other conflicts such as the death of Guinevere's three brothers, the temporary capture of Guinevere herself, and a captured Saxon girl coming to live with Guinevere in her foster home. As a final warning, I tell you that this book contains many twists, so expect the unexpected.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel and recommend it to anyone thirteen and over because it illustrates the kind of life that Guinevere, Arthur, and Merlin would live with in their day and age.

I loved Sharan Newman's Guinevere Triology (Guinevere, The Chessboard Queen, Guinevere Evermore) though I wasn't too crazy about Guinevere herself. But the author puts so many neat twists into the plot. All the classic legends by Mallory, Tennyson, White, etc. are intertwined in the story, including some new characters (St. Gerraldus and his mystical choir, for example). One thing I really liked about the trilogy was Newman's portrayal of Guinevere. In a lot of legends and stories told about Camelot, Guinevere is shown as a wicked, conniving seductress, whose irresponsible behavior is the downfall of Camelot and Arthur's dream. Newman shows the queen as a very naive, and not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but by no means a horrible person. Mostly, Guinevere makes some bad decisions, but is also a victim of fate and circumstance. My favorite character in the trilogy is Sir Gawain, who is introduced to Guin during her fostering.

I won't give the plot away, because it's better to read it yourself! But read the whole trilogy, and in order. I will say, I cried at the end of Guinevere Evermore, and I am not one ot cry over books. But the emotion Newman weaves into her tale made me want ot weep for the fallen dream of Camelot. If Amazon had more stars available for ranking (more than five, that is), I'd give the trilogy even more. This is such a good read!!!!!!!

When this book first appeared, all you could find for Arthuriana were riffs and rip-offs of Mists of Avalon or the Merlin trilogy. Sharan Newman has created a world where magic is not apologized for, where the silly as well as the heroic happens, where the legends are allowed to BE without adding some sort of polically correct nonsense. This is not a historical book, neither is it the legends as set in stone. Instead it is a delightful tale of a young woman of magical qualities coming of age in a time not truly meant for her. The tale is loving, kind, silly, harsh, and deeply magical. A truly enjoyable work.

I have read over 100 Arthurian novels, and Sharan Newman's "Guinevere" trilogy is in my top 10 list. This book presents a detailed view of Romano-Celtic Britain, yet manages to keep the magical aspects of the cycle. Cynics will not enjoy it, as the first volume details Guinevere's childhood and friendship with a unicorn sent to watch her by the Horse Goddess, Epona. Many of the secondary characters are lovingly detailed (particularly Gawain, Risa, and Guenlian), and Newman's Arthur is charmingly uncertain of himself and his role. Several readers I know have been put off by the "precious" element of the unicorn: don't be. It isn't all hearts and flowers in this book, and Newman manages a story that is sweet without being too cloying. I also recommend the other two volumes: "The Chessboard Queen" and "Guinevere Evermore".

I bought all three of the Guinevere books based on the posted reviews, and I was rather disappointed. I did get through all three, but I don't see what there was to love in the stories. The books had some nice moments, but I found Guinevere too self-unaware. She seemed to move through the events with little understanding or reflection.

I did enjoy the magical elements such as the Lady of the Lake, which I thought was a fresh approach, but overall, the triology didn't offer much new or interesting. Parke Godwin's and Bernard Cornwell's books are much better!

I would definitely recommend Sharan Newman's "Guinevere Trilogy" to anyone. Having little background in Arthurian legend did not stop me from becoming thoroughly engrossed in the characters in this series. I read all three books in a matter of three and a half days! Newman develops the characters very well and creates a connection between the reader and the people in the books.

It's interesting, I actually liked the book, although I couldn't stand Guinevere herself. She was kind of wimpy, with no real clue about the real world, and incredibly selfish. However, I actually enjoyed the book quite a bit, because of the characters surrounding Guinevere. I really liked Arthur, Mark and Guinevere's mother, among others. These people actually made it worth the read. Guinevere's obsession with herself and her unicorn became extremely obnoxious after a while, however. All the unicorn did, as far and I could tell, was put his head in Guin's lap and let her pet him. Oh, and complain a whole lot about not knowing other unicorns. Read this book for it's supporting characters, if you're willing to ignore an obnoxious heroine.

I first read this book in my teens (about 10 years ago), but recently re-read the trilogy. This is an intersting twist on a classic tale. Although the characters (like Guinever) can sometimes be annoying, it is an overall good read for those intersted in Celtic myths and tales of Camelot.