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Oct 26, 2008

Jen rated it:

After having read Mists and then the Lady of Avalon, I went next to the Firebrand which I didn't particularly find myself liking though it did strengthen my beliefs in the Goddess. But when I started Priestess I thought, okay, here we go, will this make me happy or just frustrated. The beginning was everything that I had loved of Bradley's other novels, teachings on Avalon and the study/discovery of the ancient mysteries of the Goddess. As it split when Eilan left Avalon with her husband, I b More...

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Nov 28, 2011

Tante Til rated it:

"The priestess of Avalon" is the fourth book in a serie about Avalon from writer Marion Zimmer Bradley. I read the first three books years ago and they are about king Arthur and his Celtic connections. I really liked those stories.

"The priestess of Avalon" can be read as a stand-alone book.

This fourth book is about Eilan. She is born on Avalon as the daughter of the high priestess of Avalon. The Merlin of that time forsees that she will be a bridge betwe More...

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May 20, 2011

Cyndy rated it:

Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon was such an incredible book that when I found Priestess of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson, I thought even if it was only half as good, it would be worth the read. Unfortunately, I overestimated it by about a factor of 100.

::: Before There Was Camelot... :::

While The Mists of Avalon takes place in medieval Britain, Priestess of Avalon is its ancestor, taking place in the time of the Roman Empire. Eilan is born to More...

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Mar 25, 2011

Eniko rated it:

This was a very good read, perhaps my favourite of this series among the ones I have read so far. Although not quite as engaging as those in Ravens of Avalon, the characters in this book were well introduced and felt very real. No one was perfect, each person had their human flaws, including the heroine Eilan (Helena). She took fate in her own hands and defied the Lady of the Lake both to save her friend and to get what she herself desired, but the very next morning her ignorance was pointed out More...

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Jan 31, 2011

Alex rated it:

It seems whenever an author dies that does not necessarily mean the end of his or her career, as there is always at least one more book to be published posthumously which the world has never seen. Marion Zimmer Bradley, who shocked the world with her retelling of the Arthurian legend from the woman’s point of view in Mists of Avalon died in 1999. Coauthored with Diana L. Paxson who finished off the novel after Bradley’s death, Priestess of Avalon is the last book in the magnificent Avalon seri More...

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Nov 08, 2009

Roopal rated it:

The book takes you on a journey of a woman's life (a priestess)through the various stages of being a young adult, a married girl, a mother, a grand-mother, and so on during the 3rd and 4th centuries. What makes it interesting is that the story is fiction wrapped around fact. The woman is Helena and she is the mother of Constantine the Great.

Besides the incredible detail of the life portrayed during those centuries, the author does an amazing job of intricately weaving major life mi More...

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Jun 14, 2009

Chelsea rated it:

For the first real fantasy book I think I've ever read, The Priestess of
Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley was a good read.

I could easily have found this book extremely preachy, if it hadn't been so well written. The ideas of the theology that so permeates the life the main character, Elian, are intriguing and well- reasoned, even as she struggles on her path to understanding them. Priestess of Avalon continues in the vein of The Lady of Avalon and The Mists of Avalon (among other More...

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Aug 02, 2010

Deana rated it:

This book was very difficult for me to get through, but I am glad I read it. It took me much longer to read than other books of a similar length. Part of it is the language used, part is the unfamiliarity of the locations and material, and part is just wrapping my head around the events and message in the book. It gets quite religious and spiritual, although definitely not just Christian! Some of the passages are very beautiful and eloquent, and it sparked an interest in me to look up many of th More...

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Jul 27, 2011

Amy rated it:

Got half way through this book and had to put it down. It was great. Bradley as usual. I love her books. This was fourth in her Avalon series and frankly, by this point, I'm quite sick of her self sacrificing leading ladies. Maybe it was the fact that I've read the series one right after another with no breaks in between that finally caused me to reach the breaking point with these oh so altruistic women or maybe I'm not altruistic enough but damn it if I didn't want just one of these women to p More...

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May 12, 2011

Terry (Ter05 TwiMoms/ MundieMoms) rated it:

This is the story of Helena who was consort of Constantius and the mother of Constantine the Great in the end of the third century and based on what historical facts are available about her life and of course the time period. If you are interested in this period in history and enjoyed Marion Zimmer Bradley's previous books this could be better than a three star book. Bradley passed away before this book was finished and it was a collaboration between her and Diana Paxson. I found the writing More...

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Feb 20, 2010

Linda rated it:

Another story of a priestess from Avalon - Helena who leaves the priesthood to birth a son who rules over Rome. Lots of interesting relationships with Helena's aunt Ganeda who resents her "killing" her sister through her birth. Lots of historical reference to battles won and lost for Rome throughout Europe.

A fun read. A bit slow towards the end just like the Mists of Avalon. Much more subtle in the real development of characters. Good descriptions of daily life during 2-300 A.D. and i

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Jan 12, 2010

Ronda rated it:

Another great read

The story of Helena and Constantius was great and I was so glad that they did not die after their first communion like most of the stories in this series and was glad that MZB carried on their life story and the child of prophecy was indeed born. However, I didn't like it when Helena and Constantius life was separated because of the Roman law requiring Constantius to be married to a woman who had status and could be recognized.

The characters in the sto More...

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Nov 05, 2007

Linda rated it:

Though I enjoyed this, it was probably my least favorite of the Avalon books. That's probably because except for Mists of Avalon, originally read years ago, I've read the subsequent books fairly recently and with relatively little time between them. When you read them so closely they start to look formulaic.

This book concerns Helena, the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine. Bradley and Paxson fill in the blanks in Helena's life starting with the idea that she was born in Britain More...

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Sep 13, 2007

Rachel rated it:

If you've never read a Marion Zimmer Bradley book before, read The Mists of Avalon first - it is the cornerstone of this series. Lady of Avalon and Priestess of Avalon offered me slightly less satisfying return trips to the setting of Avalon, at different points in history from MZB's fantastic Arthurian tale.

In Priestess of Avalon, I enjoyed following Helena's life journey (described in first person), growing self-awareness, and grasping at timeless truths as she identified first More...

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Dec 01, 2009

Rosie rated it:

Priestess of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxon is the forth book of Avalon I have read, and I kind of think it might be my last. This novel chronicles the life of Helena, mother of Constantine. She faces the rise of Christianity in the Roman empire, and this super intense theme gave the story potential to be so awesome! But, alas. I believe that Marion Zimmer Bradley started writing this book and died before it was completed. Diana L. Paxon finished writing it. I have to sa More...

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May 11, 2009

Kjirstin rated it:

Truly interesting exploration of the Roman world at the time of Constantine. The main character, a priestess of Avalon, moves into the world of men to be the wife to one emperor and mother of another.

At times the text felt somewhat unwieldy; the pace slowed in the second half of the book and at times I wondered what the point of it all was. However, it was a great look through one person's eyes at the world at that time, and piqued my interest in the Late Roman Empire.

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Apr 22, 2009

Anna rated it:

The second prequel of The Mists Of Avalon I've read in the serie so far. Though it can be clearly seen on the writing style that this book was finished by Diana L. Paxson - her writing style is surely poorer and more simple than Marion's - I still enjoyed Helena's story very much and it was very touching too. It's more of a historical fiction novel that introduces the reader to the life in ancient Rome, and we can also learn more about the Mysteries. I think that all Avalon-lovers should read th More...

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Mar 22, 2009

Lynne rated it:

Get a tissue! The last 1/3 of the book made me get misty eyed more than once. When Helena goes to Palestine for a year in order to identify the Holy and Sacred places for her son, Constantine so that he may build Churches upon those grounds, I thought got boring. I didn't read to much into that part of the story and skipped over it fairly quickly. The author wrote just too much religious blather for me to swallow. But other than that thought it was worth the read and enjoyed it very much.

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Oct 07, 2011

Xenia rated it:

A beautiful addition to both the Mists of Avalon and the Avalon series as a whole, as well as the literary community and the fantasy genre. We watch Elian (Helena) from birth to death, and follow a woman who not only extremely human, but extremely insightful about the world that surrounded her.

Every character in the novel was well developed, from the passer-by that just stopped for a drink to the people who shaped Eilan's everyday life. The novel was true to it's roots, true to it's g More...

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Dec 11, 2010

Kristyn rated it:

This was my first in the Avalon series, as well as my first introduction to Bradley. The book caught my attention right from the beginning. The combination of history, love, magic, and womanly power are just a few ofthe reasons I fell in love with this author. It's not always happy and it's so real. Life is hard and she captures that. She magnifies choice and what some decions may or may not cost us.

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Nov 10, 2010

Tammy rated it:

Started this one months ago, abandoned about halfway through. Back at the time I found the story was following the same pattern all the Avalon books shared. I was growing somewhat tedious and couldn't find that certain spot that linked me to the essence of the story.
Guilt and determination eventually drew me back to give Priestess another shot. I don't regret it.
On the whole, the story was quite good. not as rich in scoope and character protrayal as its procreator, the acclaimed Mists More...

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Mar 08, 2009

Maureen rated it:

The first part of this book was really good, but later on I felt like I was back in college listening to Sister Mary Holywater recite names, dates and places..If i can memorize them, you can memorize them. I really wanted to know Helana's story, not a list of Roman emperors and all their intrigue.

Marion's hand was not very visible in this one sadly which her co-author explains but that is not an excuse for the detail overload.

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Nov 04, 2011

Natalie rated it:

I really tried to get through this book. Let's call it a 'valiant effort'. I have read Bradley before and absolutely loved her- The Firebrand, for example, was an amazing book. This one, not so much. I have to blame it on her co-author, Diana Paxson. The book started out alright, but soon became a trudging chore. I was very disappointed, having been completely blown away by her other books. There are too many dates and places and historical facts that the reader just doesn't care about, and I fo More...

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Sep 19, 2007

Amanda rated it:

This was a disappointing addition to the Mists of Avalon series. In the introduction, the co-author notes that Marion Zimmer Bradley died during the creation of this novel and sadly, it shows. The book devotes far too much time on the details of the ancient geography, thus sacrificing valuable time that should have been spent forging strong characters. Even though you follow Helen for upwards of 70 years, it is much harder to fall in love with her than previous heroines in the series. Characters More...

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Dec 31, 2010

Thalia rated it:

This is a bit of a departure from the rest of the series. The Goddess takes a back seat in this novel and it reads a bit more like a historical fiction. While the liberties taken with the historical Helena are a bit grand, it's believable and quite readable. It's an interesting period of Roman history. It's glossed over a bit in the book but then I'm quite sure the political goings on is not really meant to be the primary focus here, more like the backdrop. It was also interesting to see so More...

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Apr 04, 2011

Brit rated it:

This book had me on a bit of a seesaw. On some occasions, I couldn't wait to find out what happened and couldn't put it down. At others, the language really put me off and I was bored with it. I enjoyed reading the context it was in, because I haven't read a lot based in that era, but sometimes the story got lost in the language. 2.5 stars.

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Jun 21, 2011

Celestial rated it:

Wonderful tale spanning from the mysteries of Avalon through the rise of the Roman Empire and back again, Ms MZB's gift of portraying the inner world, her extensive historical research, broadminded perspective plus her almost poetical wordsmithery make this, as all of her books i have read so far, a treasure to share, recommended.

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Feb 01, 2010

Kathie rated it:

I thought that, at the completion of this novel, I had read the Mists of Avalon series in its entirety (although not in order). I find I still have to read The Fall of Atlantis, Ancestors of Avalon, & Sword of Avalon. I originally read Mists of Avalon & loved it so much I decided to read MZB's other books in the series.

I thought I'd only read MZB/DLP's books on audio because I thought I'd have too difficult a time trying to pronounce the archaic names & places. When I couldn't find F More...

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Mar 14, 2011

Jessie E. rated it:

Parts of it were enjoyable, but I could not get over the sections that were obviously written by Paxson and not Bradley, as these introduced us to rituals/traditions that contradicted the mythos of Avalon that Bradley herself created in Mists and The Forest House

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Aug 15, 2010

Sabine rated it:

This is a really nice fictional book about the end of the pagan days and the beginning of the christian reign through constantine. It follows constantine's mother eilan or helena, as the romans call her.

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