Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword of Avalon [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Diana L. Paxson (Author), Lorna Raver (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 28, 2009 | Series: Avalon

<DIV>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.</div>

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Anyone familiar with Arthurian lore knows of the magical sword given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake, but the origins of the sword itself have been a mystery until now. Paxon continues Marion Zimmer Bradley's beloved Arthurian saga in this sprawling epic that traces the provenance of the sword to the iron of a meteor—and the gods themselves. It's a detailed plot and a long listen, but Lorna Raver reads with the immediacy and intimacy of a fireside storyteller. She creates believable characters, juggles the diverse cast, adds pulsing momentum—all while staying ethereal enough to convey all the romance and magic of the legend. A Roc hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 12). (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." <BR>-<I>Chronicle</I> --Chronicle

[Audio Review] Anyone familiar with Arthurian lore knows of the magical sword given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake, but the origins of the sword itself have been a mystery until now. Paxon continues Marion Zimmer Bradley's beloved Arthurian saga in this sprawling epic that traces the provenance of the sword to the iron of a meteor and the gods themselves. It's a detailed plot and a long listen, but Lorna Raver reads with the immediacy and intimacy of a fireside storyteller. She creates believable characters, juggles the diverse cast, adds pulsing momentum all while staying ethereal enough to convey all the romance and magic of the legend. --Publisher's Weekly

[Audio Review] Diana Paxson continues the Avalon series with this prequel, set at the end of the Bronze Age. The Lady of Avalon rescues the baby Mikantor, the son of a hundred kings and subject of a prophecy that makes him a target of the evil sorcerer Galid. Some of Lorna Raver's male voices, particularly that of Galid, sound a bit strained, but they re effective portrayals and do not detract from the overall quality of the performance. The intensity of her narration rises and falls with the drama of the plot. Raver clearly reflects the reverence of those who consider the Lady of Avalon their holy priestess and the passionate contempt shown to the lady by Galid. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine --AudioFile

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Tantor Media; Unabridged CD edition (November 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400111870
• ISBN-13: 978-1400111879
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,429,238 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 13 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)    (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

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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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars travel the other way. trust me. just run, don't look back., January 6, 2012

By 

Kirsten Jaster "anime&manga&artbookcrazy" (Bruce, Wi) - See all my reviews

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

look, there are people that can continue to write a series after the author has died, and there are those that can't. I know they were super friends and all but dear Manoah who let this woman take over the series? granted MZB took some serious liberties and fun in the fictional yet historical and metaphysical world...DLP...blow it outta the ocean. Makes no sense, yes I've read them in order, there are so many glaringly obvious dissents with the MZB established things that make it just hard to read and not go 'huh wha?'
if you don't read the MZB books first, its okay. its sorta well written, but the writing of the characters makes them seem very flat and dull.