Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword of Avalon [Hardcover]

Diana L. Paxson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2009

Marion Zimmer Bradley's legendary saga of Avalon's extraordinary women continues with a tale of fiery visions, a lost king, and a forthcoming destiny...

Epic in its sweep and peopled by the remarkable women who have always inhabited Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword of Avalon expands the legendary saga that has enchanted millions of readers over the years and is sure to please Bradley's loyal readership and anyone who loves wonderfully told stories of history, myth, and fantasy.

A boy raised in secret after traitors kill his parents will return to Avalon-and when he does, he'll be faced with a formidable task: to prove his worth as a son of the kings and priestesses of his land and lead his followers to victory, wielding the newly-forged sword Excalibur.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Paxson, Marion Zimmer Bradley's long time coauthor, delivers a gripping Bronze Age tale in this seventh installment of the Avalon series. Long before the events of Bradley's epic Mists of Avalon, young Mikantor, destined to be a king, is kidnapped from Avalon and sold into slavery. Mikantor learns much of leadership after being bought by a blacksmith prince. Evil sorcerer Galid is determined to dominate the land in the rightful ruler's absence, but Anderle, the Lady of Avalon, holds him at bay. Anderle's daughter, Tirilan, loves Mikantor, but believing him lost, she accepts the power—and celibacy—of priestesshood. Paxson's eloquent, strongly visual writing enhances a familiar but compelling story line; fascinating historical detail enhances the tale throughout. Fans of the series will be well pleased with this volume. (Dec.)
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Review

"Paxson is an excellent choice as successor to Bradley for this series. Her style and the details of the plot retain the sense of the mysterious past and the feminist awareness that was an underlying theme in the originals."
-Chronicle

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Roc Hardcover; First Edition edition (December 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451462920
• ISBN-13: 978-0451462923
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #669,356 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was brought up in southern California, but came north to attend Mills College and never left. I got my M.A. in (medieval) Comparative Literature from the University of California in 1966, the same year I put on the first tournament of what was to become the Society for Creative Anachronism. Since 1971 I've lived at Greyhaven, a hundred-year old house in Berkeley, with successive generations of family, friends, cats and dogs.

It's a literary family, including my husband, Jon DeCles, and the late Marion Zimmer Bradley, who was my mentor as a writer as well as colleague in founding Darkmoon Circle. My first published novel was Mistress of the Jewels, which began the chronicles of Westria. After I had written several historical fantasies, Marion, whose health deteriorated after she wrote Mists of Avalon, asked me to help her with The Forest House, which is how I ended up writing the Avalon series.

Much of the spiritual experience in my novels comes out of my work in the pagan community. I have now begun to publish that material in a series of non-fiction books, the most recent being Trance-Portation. My most recent novel is Sword of Avalon, set at the end of the Bronze Age, which gave me an opportunity to explore the end of the Homeric Age and the techniques of bronze- and iron-forging.

For more about my work, see:

www.westria.org
www.avalonbooks.net
www.seidh.org

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars super prequel, December 4, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword of Avalon (Hardcover)

At the end of the Bronze Age on the Island of the Mighty off the western coast of Europe, traitors kill the royal rulers of Ai-Zir; burning to the ground the village of Azon. Fearing for her nephew the rightful ruler and believing in a vision that once the mists clear he will be king, pregnant Anderle the Lady of Avon flees with young Mikantor before he is assassinated. Although she regrets having to do so, she leaves him with others to raise. Anderle gives birth to Tirilan before returning to Avalon with sadness in her heart.

After being sold into slavery. Mikantor eventually works for blacksmith bastard Prince Velantos whose father is the King of Tiryns on the Achaea Peninsula in the Middle Sea. Meanwhile back home in Avalon, while evil sorcerer Galid tries to take control of the kingdom with only Anderle opposing him, rumors abound that the rightful heir to the throne is returning so killers are sent forth to find and assassinate him without understanding the fulfilling prophecy they start. Tirilan, who loves Mikantor, assumes he is dead in spite of her mom's belief so she becomes a celibate priestess.

The latest Avalon fantasy is a super prequel that will grip fans of the saga and should lead newcomers to seek the backlist. The story line is fast-paced throughout while the cast is as strong as Excalibur. This is a winner as Diana L. Paxson provides a strong tale that will surely leave the late great Marion Zimmer Bradley smiling with joy with this entry in her beloved saga.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Asatru and Celtic influences, January 3, 2010

By 

Rede Seeker (League City, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword of Avalon (Hardcover)

I have all the 'Avalon' series. The 'Sword of Avalon' is a quick read for it's 400+ pages. It answers some questions which, for me at least, lingered from earlier stories but left several unanswered.

I cannot speak to the Celtic influences in this story, however I find many Asatru parallels: Ragnarok represented as the battle between Britons with Hope and those without Hope; the formation of a Warrior Band/Commitatus around a hereditary hero (Son of a Hundred Kings); a foreign-born smith who forges the Sword of Power; initiation of the Warrior-King.

As a hand-spinner, myself, I appreciated the appearance of the Three Queens with their spindles 'spinning glistening threads from the flowing streams of light that swirled across the land...'. However, it is the drafting motion of the spinner's fingers which pulls the fibers down, not the weight of the spindle as described in the story.

A problem I have with most of the 'Avalon' series is that I find it creepy to see Marion Zimmer Bradley's credits without also acknowledging that she passed in 1999. I suppose that is an issue for the editor or publisher more than the author. We are fortunate that she had collaborated closely with someone so that the stories could continue with some consistency.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Sword of Avalon" Kindle edition, December 29, 2009

By 

D. Williams "Donna Williams" (Covington, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword of Avalon (Hardcover)

I have read several books in the Bradley/Paxson "Avalon" series and found them to be good but deep reading, so I chose "Sword of Avalon" as my first download to my Kindle. It is set in the late Bronze Age and describes how Excalibur, the Sword of Avalon, was crafted -- one of the first swords to be crafted in bronze rather than steel. We see the Priestesses of Avalon, we see ancient Celtic celebrations, and we see a fast-paced story, just as we would expect in this series.

Those who know the series are aware that there are many pages of front matter (lists of characters, places, and other information) and often back matter describing how and where the author found the facts to back the tale. Though this book was good, its complexity coupled with mastering the usage of the Kindle make it a less than the best choice for a first-time Kindle user. It kept my interest well enough, however, for me to want to keep it in my Kindle and try again after I've mastered the usage of the Kindle better and read a few less complex works with it.