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Morgan Le Fay #1-5
Daughter of Tintagel
The bards have sung this tale the length and breadth of Britain.
The story of the momentous birth of the legendary Arthur - the story of the fear, hate and love between him and his half-sister Morgan the Fay. But never before have there been five tellings, each by a witness to the mythical events:
Gwennol Far-Sight, Morgan's childhood nurse and a wise woman in the ways of sacred pagan magic.
Luned, the young white nun, who fears her own soul has been contaminated by Morgan's passions.
Teilo, who was once a proud and powerful Smith of the Old Religion, condemned to live as a woman amongst Morgan's maids, because of his unwise ambition.
The bard Taliesin, bred to sing of war and red slaughter and glorious death.
And finally Morgan the Fay herself speaks, the Goddess, the witch, whose story has shape-shifted down the centuries, a force for destruction or a force for healing?
(Note: this volume collects the whole series).
The story of the momentous birth of the legendary Arthur - the story of the fear, hate and love between him and his half-sister Morgan the Fay. But never before have there been five tellings, each by a witness to the mythical events:
Gwennol Far-Sight, Morgan's childhood nurse and a wise woman in the ways of sacred pagan magic.
Luned, the young white nun, who fears her own soul has been contaminated by Morgan's passions.
Teilo, who was once a proud and powerful Smith of the Old Religion, condemned to live as a woman amongst Morgan's maids, because of his unwise ambition.
The bard Taliesin, bred to sing of war and red slaughter and glorious death.
And finally Morgan the Fay herself speaks, the Goddess, the witch, whose story has shape-shifted down the centuries, a force for destruction or a force for healing?
(Note: this volume collects the whole series).
- GenresArthurian
832 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1995
2 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
About the author
Fay Sampson
67 books35 followersFay Sampson graduated in Mathematics, and trained as a teacher. Combining teaching with writing, Fay's children's books were frequently featured in 'Children's Books of the Year'. When she became a full-time writer, she turned to writing novels for adults, based on history and legend. She now lives with her husband in a Tudor cottage in mid-Devon.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 18, 2024
I love reading Arthurian books particularly about Morgan, (Morgaine / Morgana) anything similarly sounding to my favourite The Mists Of Avalon has me hooked, I did enjoy this retelling but I felt it could of been shorter especially the last section xx I loved however at the end the different takes on Morgan !
April 30, 2016
This is a collection of Simpson’s five book series about Morgan le Fay, and each book is told from a different viewpoint. The narrators in book order are: a nurse of the young Morgan, a nun who is assigned to care for Morgan, a blacksmith who joins Morgan’s court, the bard Taliesin (yes, that one), and, finally, Morgan herself.
The book (and series) is part historical fiction, and in many ways a look at how people use narrative.
In each of the first four books, Morgan is seen in different ways. There are certain views that are held in common, but there are major differences in how they view Morgan. Importantly, as with all the best viewpoint stories, the narrators reveal far more about themselves then they intend to.
At times, considering how the action takes place outside the settings of the main Arthur action, the story at time can get frustrating, but there does seem to be something else that is happening.
In part, Sampson is looking at the source of stories – not truth – but stories. This is drawn throughout much of this collected edition, but is most strongly evident in the last book of the sequence, “She” – the one book told by Morgan herself.
When you think about it, many stories are about press. Each generation, each writer even, has a reason to tell a well known story a certain way. It is no surprise that the novels most sympathetic to Morgan and her sisters were written largely after the rise of the feminist movement. In part, Sampson’s book is an acknowledgement that in terms of legends, truth is almost impossible to discover, and the more interesting thing is how stories develop and change.
The book (and series) is part historical fiction, and in many ways a look at how people use narrative.
In each of the first four books, Morgan is seen in different ways. There are certain views that are held in common, but there are major differences in how they view Morgan. Importantly, as with all the best viewpoint stories, the narrators reveal far more about themselves then they intend to.
At times, considering how the action takes place outside the settings of the main Arthur action, the story at time can get frustrating, but there does seem to be something else that is happening.
In part, Sampson is looking at the source of stories – not truth – but stories. This is drawn throughout much of this collected edition, but is most strongly evident in the last book of the sequence, “She” – the one book told by Morgan herself.
When you think about it, many stories are about press. Each generation, each writer even, has a reason to tell a well known story a certain way. It is no surprise that the novels most sympathetic to Morgan and her sisters were written largely after the rise of the feminist movement. In part, Sampson’s book is an acknowledgement that in terms of legends, truth is almost impossible to discover, and the more interesting thing is how stories develop and change.
August 3, 2016
This is an omnibus of the 5 novels in the "Morgan le Fay" series.
abandoned
August 6, 2019no idea if i even own this book anymore or not.
*changed reading dates so that this doesn't count to my reading challenge
*changed reading dates so that this doesn't count to my reading challenge
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews