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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
I have read many, many books about the Arthurian Legend. This one, the first of a trilogy I believe, tries to be something between the traditional libretto of "Camelot" and Marion Zimmer Bradley's epic "Mists of Avalon" series. But it just falls flat.
Content Warnings
The author makes the early Christian monks in England seem nearly demonic and definitely anti-heroes. It grates after a while because they become tropes rather than people. You dislike them instantly and never see their point of view in anything remotely like a sympathetic light.
The only book about Arthurian legend was The Mists Of Avalon, which is one of my favorite books of all-time. I was expecting something very similar to The Mists Of Avalon, so I suppose I was disappointed when this book didn't live up to what I thought it would be.
I didn't like this book as much as I thought I thought I would- in fact, I didn't like it all. While I like the fact that the book focused on Guenevere, I found her to be such an unsympathetic character. It was clear that we were supposed to like her, and that she was this amazing, perfect woman, when, in fact, I thought her to be moody, naive, petty, and at times, desperate.
The characters were so different from what I expected. Merlin was this crazy, sex-obsessed man, and I couldn't figure out if he was a Druid or a Christian. Arthur was weak, somewhat easy to manipulate, and had trouble making a decision without Merlin. The way she painted some of the characters...they're so very different from the actual legends.
The characters fell flat, and were pretty stereotypical/one-dimensional, and the storyline was fairly typical. That being said, there wasn't anything to really hold my interest. Seriously, the most memorable parts of the book were the sex scenes, which made the book a little more smutty than I expected. It's classified as historical fiction, but nothing really felt historical- it seemed more like a really boring romance than anything remotely historical. The pacing was awfully slow and I was really bored reading it.
It gets a 1 out of 5. I just didn't like it, and I'm not at all interested in reading the other 2 books in the trilogy.
I didn't like this book as much as I thought I thought I would- in fact, I didn't like it all. While I like the fact that the book focused on Guenevere, I found her to be such an unsympathetic character. It was clear that we were supposed to like her, and that she was this amazing, perfect woman, when, in fact, I thought her to be moody, naive, petty, and at times, desperate.
The characters were so different from what I expected. Merlin was this crazy, sex-obsessed man, and I couldn't figure out if he was a Druid or a Christian. Arthur was weak, somewhat easy to manipulate, and had trouble making a decision without Merlin. The way she painted some of the characters...they're so very different from the actual legends.
The characters fell flat, and were pretty stereotypical/one-dimensional, and the storyline was fairly typical. That being said, there wasn't anything to really hold my interest. Seriously, the most memorable parts of the book were the sex scenes, which made the book a little more smutty than I expected. It's classified as historical fiction, but nothing really felt historical- it seemed more like a really boring romance than anything remotely historical. The pacing was awfully slow and I was really bored reading it.
It gets a 1 out of 5. I just didn't like it, and I'm not at all interested in reading the other 2 books in the trilogy.
It seems that when you look at many reviews of this book most people seemed to like it, not love it. For me I can't say I even liked it. The first 115 pages where very slow with no hooks at all and the only reason I pushed on through and finished it is because of the competition I'm in with my daughter (there is an Amazon voucher up for grabs). I found the writing to lack emotion and passion. We are expected to believe that Guenevere loved her mother deeply but did not even cry when she died and within days is madly in love with Arthur. This certainly doesn't ring true to me of the passionate woman most of us believe Guenevere to be. I found that there were just too many holes in this story for me to get swept away in it.
I often think the timing of reading a book can make or break it and after just having finished a fantastic trilogy by Juliet Marillier any book will struggle to measure up. I've read a couple of books this year that when I look back at them I can't remember what they were about, in fact, I wouldn't believe I'd read them accept for the review I've posted. Unfortunately this is going to be another one of those book. I really wanted to love this book as I love Guenevere but...
I often think the timing of reading a book can make or break it and after just having finished a fantastic trilogy by Juliet Marillier any book will struggle to measure up. I've read a couple of books this year that when I look back at them I can't remember what they were about, in fact, I wouldn't believe I'd read them accept for the review I've posted. Unfortunately this is going to be another one of those book. I really wanted to love this book as I love Guenevere but...
I really appreciated the perspective of Guenevere coming from a long line of strong, warrior queens from the Summer County. However, Guenevere didn't live up to her heritage and seemed weak and wishy-washy to me. Being able to hear her thoughts, as she went back and forth between loving Arthur and later Lancelot, only strengthens the wishy-washy aspect to her character. Also, random sexual scenes didn't really add to the progress of the novel and seemed unnecessary. The 'bad' characters were bad from the beginning (Merlin and Morgan) with little hope of character growth or development. Finishing the book was a toil and I'm definitely not interested in reading the other two books in the trilogy. MISTS OF AVALON is still my favorite take on Arthurian legend and I'd recommend that over this version.
I tried desperately to like this book but it was so dreadfully boring. I spent half the time trying not to fall asleep and the other half secretly hoping Lancelot would shank Guenevere and put us both out of our misery.
Initially I found it a little difficult to get interested in this book buy about 100 pages or so it got quite good. I'm always interested in a good spin on Arthurian Legend.
Feminist slant on the Arthurian legend, but not really historically accurate. Guenevere is Queen of the Summer Country, ruling from Camelot. She and Arthur share true passion, but circumstances get in their way: Morgan, who harbors a major grudge; Amir, their son who is killed by Saxons; Merlin, hostile toward Guenevere and crippled by Morgan; Mordred, and Lancelot, Guenevere's second great love.
The Christians are their usual dreary selves. Arthur and Guenevere pull through in the end and rediscover their love and dedication. Lancelot is sent away, and Morgan and Mordred and processed and accepted.
The Christians are their usual dreary selves. Arthur and Guenevere pull through in the end and rediscover their love and dedication. Lancelot is sent away, and Morgan and Mordred and processed and accepted.
It took me a long time to get into this book--I kept getting distracted by other books and putting it down. Somewhere near the middle, though, I got hooked in and found myself grabbing minutes here and there to read a few more pages.
This book was so slow in the beginning--- and awkwardly written. I was ready to put it down, but I love stories about King Arthur, so I stuck with it. Nothing thrilling. Nothing new. I would not recommend the book unless you enjoy the story.