Arthurian Legends have been with us for a long time. Who hasn’t heard of King Arthur, Merlin, Gwenhwyfar and Lancelot, or the Knights of the Round Table? What makes “The Mists of Avalon” so special, and my favourite of all the many books available on this topic, is that it is told from the perspective of the women, and especially Morgaine, otherwise known as Morgan le Fay. The story begins with Igraine, mother of Arthur, and takes us on her journey from the wife of Gorlois to becoming the wife of Uther, and High Queen of Britain. From this we follow the journey of Morgaine, Arthur’s sister, and her arrival at the Isle of Avalon where she studies to become a priestess. She finds herself betrayed by the Lady of the Lake and leaves the Isle, though it will forever be her home and calls to her heart. We learn about Gwenhwyfar, Arthur’s new bride, and slowly all the threads of the web come together and interweave into a tale of love, hope, faith, despair and pure beauty. It is the most complete Arthurian book I have ever read. Marion Zimmer Bradley spent a lot of time researching not only the other Arthurian legends and the factual data of that era, she also researched the different faiths and rituals of the time. All this hard work has paid off. I could envision myself in that time and found everything to be completely believable. For me, this is the book all other Arthurian stories are measured against. Aside from the research, the strength of “The Mists of Avalon” lies in the deep insights we get into the various characters. These are strong women but like all of us they have their doubts and insecurities, experience their losses and fears. They are easy to relate to, and though we may not always agree with their logic and their actions, as a reader we can understand where they are coming from and why they do the things they do. Another strength is revealed in the relationships between the characters. The love, the dislike, the heartbreak… all are realistic and we experience the various emotions along with them, hoping for the best and sometimes being rewarded in our hope, yet sometimes being disappointed because life is not always fair. I would recommend this book to anyone. It’s not a light read and the book contains 1009 pages (soft back). But it’s a read that is truly worthwhile. It's a story that will stay with you. “The Mists of Avalon” made the bestsellers list. There are several other books related to it, including “Lady of Avalon” and “The Forest House”. Unfortunately, Marion Zimmer Bradley passed away in 1999. “The Mists of Avalon” was first published by Michael Joseph Ltd. The ISBN is 0-14-017719-1. Kit Marsters is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers. Source: www.ezinearticles.com
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