Don't Miss

• Powell's Books
  at Portland Farmers Market
• Indiespensable™:
  Into the Beautiful North
• Frommer's Great Walks: Save 30%
• Summer Vacation Education Sale
• Go Play Outside!

More at Powell's

• Featured Signed Editions
• Rare and Collectible Books
• eBooks | Audio | DVDs | Blu-ray

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Review:

Synopsis:

Synopsis:

What Our Readers Are Saying

Add a comment for a chance to win!

Average customer rating based on 3 comments:

imagica13, August 15, 2008 (view all comments by imagica13)
This has a refreshingly new insight to the Arthurian legend. Most books view the women as evil in Arthurs life, but this book shows a new view, that they were not all bad, but were forced to be used as a means to an end for survival. Even Arthur was being used. Morgan has always been portrayed as a villian in Arthurian legend, but this story shows she is just as much a victim as Gweneviere. This is one of my favorite sci/fantasy books and I would recommend the prequel and the sequel. You may try to feel sorry for the women in the plot, but in the end, you realize they are human and are more powerful and stronger than you'd expect.

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)

report this comment

lindenslilly, December 23, 2007 (view all comments by lindenslilly)
This book is one of the pride of my fantasy/ science fiction collection. It has held a major influence over my personal writing and my understanding of modern myth telling. It is the capstone of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s large repertoire of female empowered novels. This book contains feminine spirituality, adventure and depth of character which only an experienced story teller can create. This book is a must have for anyone who follows fantasy fiction or avalonian anthologies. I can not recommend it highly enough.

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(3 of 6 readers found this comment helpful)

report this comment

Larkin P., April 5, 2007 (view all comments by Larkin P.)
I recently read The Mists of Avalon by Marion Bradley Zimmer as a school assignment. I think that the author, Marion Zimmer Bradley had a creative idea in telling the life story of King Arthur from the perspective of the women in his life. However, I also think that because there were so many women the plot gets extremely confusing. The Mists of Avalon is very well written, and gives a descriptive picture of what life in the Middle Ages was like for nobles and knights. The Mists of Avalon follows the life of King Arthur’s mother, half sister, aunt and wife. All of the woman with the exception of his wife, battle with being devout Christians or following their age old pagan beliefs. It deals with the woman’s marriages, childbearing, and jealousy toward each other.
As I earlier said, it was my personal opinion that The Mists of Avalon was quite confusing. I had to keep track of the three women who all had similar names, how they were related to each other, how they were related to Arthur, if they had magical powers, who they were married to and who they wished that they were married to. In the end readers only find out the end of three of the probably fifteen women whose lives we had been working so hard to keep straight. The author Marion Zimmer Bradley did a wonderful job of incorporating the dialect of the Middle Ages and the vocabulary that they used. I got a detailed picture of the lonely lives led my noble woman in the Middle Ages. Even the High Queen led a quite isolated life. Noble woman were forced into marriages at an incredibly early age to men they had never seen that were usually the age of their fathers. The Mists of Avalon describes these women as being completely petrified and often taken advantage of by these older men.
These past few months my class has been studying the Middle Ages. So often in reading The Mists of Avalon I was able to make connections from my studies with that of the characters lives. I learned that nobles of the Middle Ages lived lives that we would now consider impoverished. The author describes the characters as eating various roots and a lot of porridge, even the High King and Queen rarely feasted on meats except during holidays. They might get the weekly boar or small birds. The castles they lived in were cold, damp and completely filthy.
In sum, I think that The Mists of Avalon is confusing at times, but gives a brutally honest picture of the life of nobles in the Middle Ages and the conflict between the Church and peoples old religions. I would recommend this book to women middle school age and up.

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(5 of 9 readers found this comment helpful)

report this comment

View all 3 comments

Product Details

ISBN:

9780345350497

Author:

Bradley, Marion Zimmer

Publisher:

Del Rey Books

Author:

Bradley, Marion Zimmer

Location:

New York :

Subject:

General

Subject:

Great britain

Subject:

Fiction

Subject:

Fantastic fiction

Subject:

Fantasy

Subject:

Historical fiction

Subject:

Fantasy - General

Subject:

Fantasy fiction

Subject:

Fantasy - Epic

Subject:

Fantasy - Historical

Subject:

Visionary & metaphysical

Subject:

Arthurian romances

Subject:

Historical - Arthurian

Subject:

Britons

Subject:

Arthurian romances -- Adaptations.

Subject:

Great Britain History Anglo Saxon period, 449-1066 Fiction.

Subject:

Avalon

Copyright:

c198

Edition Description:

1st Ballantine Books trade ed.

Series:

Del Rey Book

Series Volume:

2001-02

Publication Date:

May 1987

Binding:

Paperback

Language:

English

Illustrations:

Yes

Pages:

912

Dimensions:

9.04x6.42x1.58 in. 1.94 lbs.