Customer Reviews

Lady of Avalon

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Lady of Avalon is actually 3 books in one. Each part is a separate story, yet they are all interwoven in the Pagan idea of the life cycle, and reincarnation.

The first section is called "The Wisewoman" and takes place from 96AD to 118AD. This is mostly Caillean's story as left off in "The Forest House" including the rest of the life of Eilan's son, Gawen. This story also reveals how and why Avalon came to have it's infamous "mists" and different time tract.

The second section is called "The High Priestess" and takes place from 285AD to 293AD. This is mostly Dierna's story picking up from the story line started in the book "Priestess of Avalon." I would personally recommend reading "Priestess of Avalon" between reading the first and second parts of this book, if one wishes to read the stories in chronological order.

Part 3 is called "Daughter of Avalon" and takes place from 440AD to 452AD. This is mostly Vivianne's story, which directly leads in to "The Mists of Avalon." Although I thoroughly enjoyed the story that was presented, I was wanting even more. I felt it ended a little too early with a larger gap in time from the end of this to the start of "The Mists" than I would prefer. This story is VERY insightful to the character of Vivianne, and gives much more understanding of her actions carried out in "The Mists of Avalon." As with all the stories in the series, it was very spiritual. The desription of what Vivianne felt and thought as she went to part the mists for the first time was moving.

The books preceeding this one in the series are: "The Fall of Atlantis," "Ancestors of Avalon," and "The Forest House."

When I read the Mists of Avalon a few years ago I was mesmerized. A huge tome of over a 1000 pages, this earlier novel relates the story of Arthur and his Camelot from the perspective of the three women closest in his life: his mother Ygraine, his sister, Morgaine and his wife, Guinevere. believe me this is a novel to be savored and reread many times. That being said, I was excited when Zimmer Bradley came out with her two prequels, firstly, "The Forest House" and "Lady of Avalon". Sadly, neither of these two books are worthy enough to complete a trilogy, but if you, like myself, were intigued by the idea of a closed society of people using magic to effect the early history of Britain, you will also grudgingly like these.
"Lady of Avalon" starts off where "Forest House" left off. In order to span the gulf between the time sequence of Forest House and Mists of Avalon, Bradley scrambles a bit and tells the story of three different generations of Avalon high priestesses. How disappointing . . . each of these vignettes would have made a wonderful more fully fleshed out novel of its own. Granted, each of the women are strong and they all have their particular mission with regard to Avalon with respect to the outside world. However detailed certain acts of magic are within storyline, Zimmer Bradley's own sparkling brand of magic so evident in "Mists" is unfortunately missing. But one postive note: however disappointing this trilogy of tales is, it still continues the tradion of Zimmer Bradley's brainchild and it is supremely better than Diana Paxson's sequel called "Priestess of Avalon" which cannot hold a candle to Zimmer Bradley's work.
I both read the book and listened to the audio performance; the abridged version leaves far too much out to be considered serious.
Recommended to all those who simply love Zimmer Bradley's interpretation of the Arthurian tales and must have more.

I have read Mists, Forest House, and Atlantis. I am currently in the process of finishing this, "Lady of Avalon"-- what I consider to be the fourth installment of Bradley's tale of Druidic religion, and can say fairly that I am truly torn. I am enjoying the book, I purchased it 4 days ago and am on chapter 21 or 22. From her first two books, because truly Atlantis sets the stage for the Druids who are to come, I feel that she has not allowed herself the time to develop her characters fully.

With Atlantis we see the depth of conviction that the priests and priestesses have for their religion, and the spiral of lives that may come forth beause of their rebellion; in Mists we see one of those very incarnations (which is why If you've read Mists and not Atlantis you REALLY should Atlantis); the Forest House allows the reader to find out how the priestesses came to Avalon, while Lady explains how Avalon went into the mists. The whole story of Gawen could have taken a book in itself, and seemed rushed so that she could continue on with her storycraft. I believe that each section could have been larger, had I known so much history would be condensed into this installment, I would have expected to see it the size of Mists, not barely larger than Forest House.

My loyalty to Ms. Bradley and her first two installments leads me to believe that after finishing Lady and reflecting, I will like it emmensely. I am enjoying it--I would have enjoyed it far more had it seemed that she put the time into this as she had in Mists. By time I mean covering things more in depth, giving the reader time to become more involved with the characters. We know two of the charatcers from other books, Eilan and Vivianne. I like the book, and if you are an avid follower of Ms. Bradley's Arthurian tale I highly recommend it. Perhaps her brevity in this installment will allow her to expand on certain events or characters in later installments.

The book contains three loosely connected novellas, loosely connected in that each character is the incarnation of a previous character. It provides background story to the classic Mists of Avalon.

Either Bradley's writing has suffered, or my tastes have matured since Mists and The Forest House. Without a doubt, Mists of Avalon is a classic. Lady of Avalon compares rather poorly with it. The character's stories become triter with each incarnation, so much so that I felt as though I had read it before. The events of the story were entirely predictable if you read anything else in this genre. It seemed like it was intended to be a manual for novitiates of the mysteries, rather than an entertaining book. One almost felt like one was being preached to about the religion. By comparison, Mists presented the religion of Avalon without making it feel like a textbook in pagan theology. You are never given enough time to become attached to the characters, and after a while, they all seem the same (even if they *are* reincarnations).

In short, it is boring. The first novella is good. The last one survives on the virtue that it tells the story of Viviane. I would not recommend it even to Bradley fans, however.

Lady of Avalon is a forerunner to Bradley's biggest commercial success, The Mists of Avalon. Written after the success of Mists, Bradley returns to Avalon, but at a much earlier time in history. In all honesty, I enjoyed this novel much more than The Mists of Avalon. This time, Bradley manages to tell the stories of three different women, beginning in 96 AD and ending in 452 AD, in about half the space!

Each of these women's stories could be a stand-alone novella. Their main connection is that they all, at some point, become the Lady of Avalon, the sisterhood's highest and most respected position. Common themes run through each section - devotion to duty, personal sacrifices, self-doubt, to name just a few. The book begins with the tale of Caillean, the first Lady of Avalon. Fleeing the destruction of her previous community by the Romans, she arrives at Avalon with a young boy whose bright spirit will return again during the times Britain will need him most. To help ensure that Avalon will continue to be a refuge from the Romans, it is Caillean who eventually shrouds the island in the mythical mists, removing it from the mortal world.

More than seven generations later, Bradley returns to Avalon. Dierna is High Priestess in a land beset by troubles. Although Britain still pays tribute to the Romans, their protection from overseas raiders is sadly lacking. After years of seclusion within the mists, Dierna believes it is time for the Priestesses to return to the world and use their influence for the protection and preservation of Britain. The third and final portion of this tale brings the reader to the time immediately prior to the events that will occur in The Mists of Avalon. Viviane has been raised as the foster daughter of a simple farmer and his wife, until the day Taliesin comes to return her to her rightful place as heir to the Lady of Avalon. Amid personal and religious strife and political upheavals, Viviane must find her own path. This path will ultimately lead to the Holy Grail and the bestowing of a new title, the Lady of the Lake. Her actions will set the course for the mythical figures to come after her - Igraine, Arthur, Morgaine, to name just a few.

I suspect the shorter length of this book influenced my opinion, by contributing to my enjoyment of these three interrelated stories. Each era was filled with enough history to be informative and enough action to be interesting, without a lot of the extra verbiage and minutiae Bradley introduces in her earlier Avalon novel. My only complaint regards the way in which Bradley would drop one section and move on to the next. She introduces a number of interesting supporting characters, but you are never really sure what becomes of them when Bradley is through with the main character's story. Still, this is true of real life as well, so it is probably more a matter of my curiosity rather than a flaw of Bradley's. This book is a nice blend of historical and mystical elements and Bradley's interpretation of the Priestesses and their role in Britain's power struggles is quite interesting.

A wonderful book.A great tie between The Forest House and The Mists of Avalon.I loved the characters(especially Vivane and Ana) and the plot was spectacular! A 5 star book. Marion Zimmer Bradley is a wonderful author. It seems like she had experience with the religion(the way an autobiography is better than a biography). My second favorite book in the series!A spectacular mix of history and religion. An interesting battle of the old and the new. It is definetly on my list of favorites. I've already read it 3 times! I wish constantly that there were more to the series. (If your reading this Ms. Bradley, please considder more prequels!) A must on your summer reading list.

The Lady of Avalon, as with all of the Avalon series books, is a very captivating book! The writing is of a very high quality. Bradley's writings have kept me in suspense chapter to chapter and book to book. She is one of only two authors (Stephen King being the only other) who I can gladly read all night long, loosing all track of time. I believe Marion Zimmer Bradley to be a very gifted writer. As for the Lady of Avalon, I can't say enough about what a wonderfully detailed, magical book it is. I admire the entire Avalon series for one very specific reason: the detail that ties the three books together. Although The Mists of Avalon was written many years before it's prequel, The Forest House, then Lady of Avalon, all three books refer to people, places, events, and even changes in cultural norms and explain what led up to them and what followed. She gives an interesting account of the spread of Christianity and its impact on the pagan culture of the time. A lot of reasearch was put into this book, although it is a fantasy book, the accuracy of the minor day-to-day details makes it seem as though you are a part of the culture. It is a must to read all three books. Although each book holds its own very well, I recommend all three books to gain a fuller understanding of the characters and events. (Besides, by reading all three books the magic lasts three times as long!) I would also suggest reading the books according to the timeline in the books, not the order they were written. I can't wait for the next! I hope she keeps writing forever! Thank you for this opportunity to praise my favorite author

still quite good.

LADY OF AVALON does not have the same engaging quality of THE FOREST HOUSE and certainly lacks the grandeur of MISTS OF AVALON but is still a wonderful book.

LADY OF AVALON is three stories in one volume. The book opens shortly after the close of THE FOREST HOUSE. Caillean is now the Lady of Avalon in charge of the small surviving band of priestesses. Her story and that of Sianna who succeeds her tell of the establishment of Avalon. The second section is the story of Dierna and Teleri and the sacrifices they make for the Lady. The final section is the story of Ana and Vivanne which lays the groundwork for THE MISTS OF AVALON.

If you are a big fan of MISTS OF AVALON this is a must read but be aware that neither THE FOREST HOUSE nor this book quite live up to MISTS. In any event the stories are engaging on their own and this book could be enjoyed independantly of the others.

I read MISTS OF AVALON and FOREST HOUSE several years ago, only recently rediscovering my delight in Marion Zimmer Bradley and her treatment of the Arthurian legends. LADY OF AVALON, like PRIESTESS OF AVALON, offers the rich history of the generations between Caillean and Viviane. Because LADY is really 3 stories -- Caillean and Sianna, Dierna and Teleri, Ana and Viviane -- it works more directly to strengthen the mystical connections between the primary characters from generation to generation. The trade-off is that each story is more of a mini-history than an epic read, but it fills in the blanks about the evolution of Avalon and the relationship of the sacred isle with the rulers of Britain before Arthur/MISTS. In each story here, MZB explores the complex relationship between the current Lady of Avalon and her successor-in-waiting, as well as the repetition of the primal drama/love story of the marriage between Avalon and Britain (the Lady and a mortal king). The relationships between the women and their mentors/mothers were actually more complicated and interesting. I enjoyed experiencing all the connections that this volume in the series prompts, and it sent me back happily to check details about the Forest House. With PRIESTESS, which in a subplot offers Eilan's perspective on Teleri's story, this proved a very satisfying return to Avalon.

Having just finished all three of Bradley's Avalon novels, I am hard pressed to recommend her latest, but weakest, contribtuion to the "saga". Composed of three separate but somewhat related stories, they are uneven, rushed, and perilously close to "bodice ripper" plots. After reading "The Forest House," the events in "Lady of Avalon" become repititious and predictable, with a palpable lack of imagination and wit in the story lines. It is "deja vu all over again," and again, and again. I was bored, and I had the distinct feeling that Ms. Bradley was bored, too. One wonders if she could have written this book if her use of the exclamation mark was prohibited. "The Mists of Avalon" stands as the best of these chronicles, and can be enjoyed without feeling obligated to read "Lady of Avalon."