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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
My favorite thing about this book is Rosalind Miles' writing style. I read her Tristan and Isolde trilogy as well and loved it; I think I like that series better than this one, but her beautiful descriptive style carries over. I don't really like how she made Merlin kind of evil and manipulative, but I do like the Avalon characters.
2017 Reading Challenge #6: with one of the four seasons in the title.
Liked parts of it, didn't like other parts. It's hard when the first book I read of this kind was Mists of Avalon!!! I don't think anything is going to live up to that book lol. And even harder when bits are so different to the "normal" legend. But in saying that, I enjoyed it enough to continue to the 2nd book :)
I read this ages ago (possibly 8-10 years ago?), and to my recollection I liked it. I wasn't as enamored with it as I was with Mists of Avalon (but I read that when I was a somewhat impressionable 14, and it was a Big. Deal. Book.) but at the same time, I recognized that it was a different storyteller filling in alternate details to a narrative that has always fascinated me.
And, well, I never got around to reading the rest of the series so maybe I didn't exactly like it (although that might not be a bad thing--see aforementioned MZB book's sequels).
So, for now, I'm going to give it a conditional 2 stars, and if I ever re-read it might get bumped up. Or down.
And, well, I never got around to reading the rest of the series so maybe I didn't exactly like it (although that might not be a bad thing--see aforementioned MZB book's sequels).
So, for now, I'm going to give it a conditional 2 stars, and if I ever re-read it might get bumped up. Or down.
I was severely disappointed with this book.
When I started I was excited to read about the Arthurian legend from Guenevere's point of view, but Miles pushed it too far. Yes, Guenevere is supposed to be a strong, independent queen, but it was presented in the worst light possible. I'll go as far as saying Guenevere wasn't even presented as independent, merely as a naive young girl furiously wanting to be. Her desperation, prayers, continuous complaints, and intense mood swings almost pushed me off the edge and more than once I put down the book in pure disgust.
The way the author paints all the different characters made the story superficial and over dramatic, and the storyline itself didn't exactly help lift it. Either there was no climax or there were too many. I hung out until the end desperately waiting for the characters to mature and the plot to evolve, and I have to admit that I found the last 100 pages somewhat interesting, but after almost 400 pages of pure pain, that's not enough.
I'm not sure if I'm going to continue on to the next two books in the series, and if I do, it is simply to have read them all. I don't like starting a trilogy/series without ending it and I might give Miles another chance to better her name, but I'm doubting if I should.
When I started I was excited to read about the Arthurian legend from Guenevere's point of view, but Miles pushed it too far. Yes, Guenevere is supposed to be a strong, independent queen, but it was presented in the worst light possible. I'll go as far as saying Guenevere wasn't even presented as independent, merely as a naive young girl furiously wanting to be. Her desperation, prayers, continuous complaints, and intense mood swings almost pushed me off the edge and more than once I put down the book in pure disgust.
The way the author paints all the different characters made the story superficial and over dramatic, and the storyline itself didn't exactly help lift it. Either there was no climax or there were too many. I hung out until the end desperately waiting for the characters to mature and the plot to evolve, and I have to admit that I found the last 100 pages somewhat interesting, but after almost 400 pages of pure pain, that's not enough.
I'm not sure if I'm going to continue on to the next two books in the series, and if I do, it is simply to have read them all. I don't like starting a trilogy/series without ending it and I might give Miles another chance to better her name, but I'm doubting if I should.
This retelling of the Arthurian legends was muddled. The author sets out to tell the tale from Guenevere's point of view-- and Guenevere was raised in a matriarchal society supposedly. This could have been interesting, but she didn't follow through. Guenevere was a simpering, "beautiful" damsel and this book could have been seriously edited down.
In transforming scattered Arthurian legends into masterful storytelling, Marion Zimmer Bradley does it better in The Mists of Avalon. But, Miles' Guenevere is much more likable than Bradley's whiny caricature. It's a good start to a decent trilogy, and much less intimidating to read than Mists in both volume and reputation.
I made it to page 190 of this book and just couldn't bring myself to finish. I am really disappointed. Selling it back to the bookstore ASAP. I don't normally quit reading books when I'm more than 100 pages in but I really wasn't enjoying it and I don't see the point of reading something I don't enjoy at this stage of my life.
I guess I was expecting a novel portraing the arthurian tales added a modern and feminist twist that could bring a fresh perspective to the old loved stories. And yet again the true villain is a woman, who's been abused by the men in her life, who had to survive in a convent, being again and again abused by the christian faith. I felt sorry (and grew some kind of sympathy) for Morgan and to be honest I wished Arthur would just die because of her.
The beginning fooled me into thinking I would finally see Guinevere's character from a different point of view, but she is just like the rest of the arthurian novels, plus the old Mother faith.
The beginning fooled me into thinking I would finally see Guinevere's character from a different point of view, but she is just like the rest of the arthurian novels, plus the old Mother faith.