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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
I randomly picked this book up at the local bookstore after picking up something that was completely different. I was a little worried about just picking up a book that I didn't know about but I really enjoyed this book. It did take me longer to get through the book than I would've liked mostly because it dragged through a few parts.
I know enough on Arthurian legend to get by but I really enjoyed the uniquiness of this. I never figured that Arthur and Guenevere had and children so it was interesting to see that twist added on.
Basically from the get go, and the moment that Morgan appeared in the book I knew she would pretty much be Arthur's first downfall. There could've been a whole lot more subtly about Morgan trying to kill Arthur in the tournament and trying to kill Guenevere and Amir in childbirth. But I guess that it had to be some what known.
It was also conflicting to me to be reading this book while starting the Merlin series. And trying to add that lore into the book. But I'm going to try not to do that for the second novel.
I know enough on Arthurian legend to get by but I really enjoyed the uniquiness of this. I never figured that Arthur and Guenevere had and children so it was interesting to see that twist added on.
Basically from the get go, and the moment that Morgan appeared in the book I knew she would pretty much be Arthur's first downfall. There could've been a whole lot more subtly about Morgan trying to kill Arthur in the tournament and trying to kill Guenevere and Amir in childbirth. But I guess that it had to be some what known.
It was also conflicting to me to be reading this book while starting the Merlin series. And trying to add that lore into the book. But I'm going to try not to do that for the second novel.
Not going to lie. This was hard to get through. I didn't even finish it, I stopped at the part after Guenevere is kidnapped, and Lancelot and her have sex, but I can't remember the scene where I absolutely stopped. Uuuuuuugh, where to begin. The writing was okay, the world build up was interesting, the characters are the worst. Soooooo flaaaaaaat. The religion building was difficult, mostly because of the abject, onesidedness of it all (yes, I know it's not a real word). I think where I lost it was the part where Guenevere get's kidnapped by the order of the crazy cast asides of the former Summer Queens (that whole scene was just gross). Miles is clearly influenced and inspired by the goddess centralism of Wicca, and it is a fascinating concept; what would an ancient society look like, where is was primarily female dominant? However, the way it was gone about just came off as....icky. The Queens of the Summerland are supposed to be powerful, inspire the love of their knights to protect and honor and obey, but the way that Guenevere portrays this, just shows the problems with such a society, and I'm getting the feeling that that wasn't how Miles had intended it. It's like Egalia's Daughters, without the intent. The rapid rise of Christianity, as it is depicted, I think was to supposed to be the negativity of maleness against the positive of femaleness. It's supposed to show the rising corruption of Christianity, and the way that men in this book are portrayed is just....insulting. Yes, most men suck, but these men, espeically the ones in Gunevere's life, are just so fucked up. Each of the men she deals with, in some way, have been fucked over by goddess culture in this story, whether they are cast aside as lovers, treated as lesser, or just outright abused. It's not really easy to side with our female protagonist, or with the women in general, when they treat men, the way that the men are supposed to treat the women, much later. Anyway, that was long enough, so I'm just going to stop there.
I just couldn't get the mists of Avalon out of my head. As a rebelling of the Arthurian legend, that was just fantastic. This version seemed to pale in comparison and I'm not willing to waste three books on it.
DNF page 200. It is rare to encounter such flat characters. I really wanted to make it through to meet Morgan and Morgause but this was so unenjoyable. It has an air of trying too hard. The author really wanted her story to be beautifully written but it the prose was so overwrought it that the beauty and enjoyment was lost.
*4.5 stars* First, let me say I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. Having read bad reviews, I was a little scared going in. But I was not disappointed at all.
While I can see the similarities to The Mists of Avalon, this book by Rosalind Miles paints Guenevere in a much better light than Mists. On the flip side, Morgan Le Fay is now our antagonist; she’s pure evil unlike the same character in Mists. I would love an Arthurian retelling that doesn’t have any evil female bad guys. Let’s stop pitting the women against each other and focus on the real bad guy: Merlin.
Anyway, this book was a little slow at the beginning and took a bit to set up. Once it got going though, I could hardly put it down. And while I did find myself skipping or skimming over the POV sections dealing with the Abbots, monks and nuns, they weren’t long and there weren’t many of them. It should go without saying that this novel is at its strongest when our heroine, Guenevere, is narrating/her POV. It really didn’t need any other perspectives. I’d have been really happy if it was first person.
This book has some incredibly enchanting writing. I loved the prose and descriptions. It was truly beautiful and worthy of Arthurian legend.
Don’t even get me started on the romance. You don’t want to, but Miles makes you root for Guenevere and Lancelot. I love them!! The author handled their story very well, delicately even, and I want more.
I would highly recommend this book and think it deserves to be added to Arthurian legend canon (did I use that phrase correctly?). Guenevere is an awesome character. This book was lovely.
While I can see the similarities to The Mists of Avalon, this book by Rosalind Miles paints Guenevere in a much better light than Mists. On the flip side, Morgan Le Fay is now our antagonist; she’s pure evil unlike the same character in Mists. I would love an Arthurian retelling that doesn’t have any evil female bad guys. Let’s stop pitting the women against each other and focus on the real bad guy: Merlin.
Anyway, this book was a little slow at the beginning and took a bit to set up. Once it got going though, I could hardly put it down. And while I did find myself skipping or skimming over the POV sections dealing with the Abbots, monks and nuns, they weren’t long and there weren’t many of them. It should go without saying that this novel is at its strongest when our heroine, Guenevere, is narrating/her POV. It really didn’t need any other perspectives. I’d have been really happy if it was first person.
This book has some incredibly enchanting writing. I loved the prose and descriptions. It was truly beautiful and worthy of Arthurian legend.
Don’t even get me started on the romance. You don’t want to, but Miles makes you root for Guenevere and Lancelot. I love them!! The author handled their story very well, delicately even, and I want more.
I would highly recommend this book and think it deserves to be added to Arthurian legend canon (did I use that phrase correctly?). Guenevere is an awesome character. This book was lovely.
Yet another retelling of the classic Arthurian tale. This book is the first in a trilogy and includes Guenevere's early years, her marriage to Arthur, and her torrid love affair with Lancelot. This time, Guenevere is perceived in a much different light than her usual beautiful yet not-so-bright and weak stereotype. Instead, she is the powerful daughter of a "Mother-Right" line of queens who fought in battle at the sides of her knights. She is a strong woman who is "saved" by her champion Arthur at her Queening from her evil uncle Malgaunt who wants to take Guenevere for his own. As with a number of other female-centered retellings of the story, Arthur is a weak man who is easily influenced by outside forces (first Merlin and then the Christian monks) and doesn't appreciate the brilliance of his wife. Lancelot is written as a rather soppy character who seems too young and too innocent in his views of the world, which was kind of disappointing. All the other stories I have read so far always give him a strong, yet kind, personality who was willing to sacrafice everything he had for his Queen. Here, he is still willing to sacrafice everything, but he seems more of a boy mentally than a man and seems rather...wishy-washy.
I did enjoy most of the content of the book and it was well written. One thing that did bother me was the constant switching to thoughts in the middle of the story. It made things more confusing to figure out not only who was doing the "thinking" but also distracted for the storyline a bit. Otherwise, it was a decent read though I've found other books out there on the subject to be much more enjoyable.
I did enjoy most of the content of the book and it was well written. One thing that did bother me was the constant switching to thoughts in the middle of the story. It made things more confusing to figure out not only who was doing the "thinking" but also distracted for the storyline a bit. Otherwise, it was a decent read though I've found other books out there on the subject to be much more enjoyable.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Found the writing style too bland and the characters too flat. Not at all the Arthurian adventure I was looking for. I highly do NOT recommend.
OMG this was so bad. How can a book entitled "Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country" not pass the Bachdel test? I mean, come on. I don't see how this is stretched out to three books either. The only reason I finished it was I wanted to see where she ended it. Because pretty much all of the Arthurian legend is in the first book. I will not be reading the other two, however.