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mtoddweb's review against another edition
5.0
Diana L. Paxson adds another tale to the saga of Avalon begun by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Here she steps back to around 1300 B.C.E., when the great early city-states around the Mediterranean were overthrown and climate change cooled and flooded northern Europe. A displaced smith from the city of the Tiryns finds a new purpose in life and a place in myth as the forger of the Sword that later ages will call Excalibur--a revolution in metallurgy, a sword of meteoric iron that, unlike the sharp but brittle bronze blades of the day, can bend without breaking. I would probably read anything Paxson wrote with "Avalon" in the title; she brings careful historical research and a sensitivity to the mystical dimensions of the story to these novels.
jupitermond's review against another edition
4.0
This book is paced quite oddly and I found it hard to latch onto the story for the first 150-200 pages. Paxson doesn't manage to convey the passing of time all that well, so I often found myself quite lost when exactly time has passed and how much. This gets better in the last half of the book when large periods of time aren't skipped anymore.
Even though the main story is quite predictable most of the time, each character tells his or her own story and I never had the feeling I was reading a prop. However, large parts that should develop a character -- mainly Mikantor/Woodpecker -- are skipped or just mentioned in passing and should have been told on page.
I was also very intrigued by and impressed with the details the author managed to work into the book. The chapter on the smithing of the Sword of Stars -- the legendary Excalibur -- is easily my favourite.
In conclusion: After you get over the pacing, Sword of Avalon is a good read that can actually be enjoyed on its own but might make you curious for more.
Even though the main story is quite predictable most of the time, each character tells his or her own story and I never had the feeling I was reading a prop. However, large parts that should develop a character -- mainly Mikantor/Woodpecker -- are skipped or just mentioned in passing and should have been told on page.
I was also very intrigued by and impressed with the details the author managed to work into the book. The chapter on the smithing of the Sword of Stars -- the legendary Excalibur -- is easily my favourite.
In conclusion: After you get over the pacing, Sword of Avalon is a good read that can actually be enjoyed on its own but might make you curious for more.
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