Marion Zimmer Bradley's Rückkehr nach Avalon

by Jennifer Roberson (Editor), Dave Wolverton (Contributor), Paul Edwin Zimmer (Contributor)

Paxson, Diana L.: Einführung (Introduction)
Norton, Andre: Vorwort (Foreword)
Eluki bes Shahar (= Rosemary Edghill): Dieses Licht zu entzünden (To Light Such a Candle)
Tarr, Judith: Der Gral im Herzen (The Grail of Heart's Desire)
Paxson, Diana L.: Die Herrin von Avalon (Lady of Avalon)
Elliot, Kate: Unter Gottes Schutz (With God To Guard Her)
Cherryh, C.J.: Würdigung (Appreciation)
Wheeler, Deborah: Sing mir von Liebe und Schatten (Sing to me of Love and Schadows)
Kerr, Katherine: Die Quelle im Hain (The Wellspring)
Smeds, Dave: Messer (Knives)
Shwartz, Susan: Feuerdrachen (A Refuge of Firedrakes)
Lint, Charles de: Würdigung (Appreciation)
Schimel, Lawrence: Die Hexe (The Hag)
Rawn, Melanie: Salve Regina (Salve Regina)
Waters, Elisabeth: Die Bäume von Avalon (Trees of Avalon)
Friesner, Esther: Sperling (Sparrow)
Haber, Karen: Zwischen den Welten (The Spell Between Worlds)
Wolverton, Dave: Der Fluch der steinernen Mutter (The Stone Mother's Curse)
Zimmer, Paul Edwin: Würdigung (Appreciation)
Zimmer, Paul Edwin: Iontiorens Geschichte (Iontioren's Tale)
Martine-Barnes, Adrienne: Wintermärchen (Winter Tales)
Lindskold, Jane M.: Dark Lady (Dark Lady)
Resnick, Laura: Die Lilienmaid von Astolat (The Lily Maid of Astolat)
Roberson, Jennifer: Würdigung (Appreciation)
Roberson, Jennifer: Guineveres Wahrheit (Guinevere's Truth)
Zimmer Bradley, Marion: Das verpfändete Wort (The Pledged Word)

Genres: Fantasy, Arthurian, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Science Fiction Fantasy

437 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Over a 40-year career (so far), Jennifer Roberson has published four fantasy series, including the Sword-Dancer Saga, Chronicles of the Cheysuli, the Karavans universe, and urban fantasy series Blood & Bone. Other novels include historicals LADY OF THE GLEN, plus two Robin Hood novels, LADY OF THE FOREST, and LADY OF SHERWOOD.

New novels are percolating in her always-active imagination.

Hobbies include showing dogs, and creating mosaic and resin artwork and jewelry.  She lives in Arizona with a collection of cats and Cardigan Welsh Corgis.

Reviews

[Lauralee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actually, 2.5 stars

Marion Zimmer Bradley is renowned for her classic novel, The Mists of Avalon. Return to Avalon is an anthology that pays homage to Marion Zimmer Bradley by having twenty original tales. Most of these tales are told from a female perspective set in medieval time periods. Some of the tales are retellings of famous Arthurian legends. Some of the authors include Diana L. Paxson, Kate Elliot, Katherine Kerr, Laura Resnick, Jennifer Roberson, and many more.

I was intrigued by this anthology because it pays homage to Mists of Avalon, which is one of my favorite books. It also included a short sequel to the Mists of Avalon titled “Lady of Avalon”. Therefore, I could not wait to dive into this anthology! However, I didn't really like most of the stories in this book. I did like “Lady of Avalon”. However, I wished it was a novel instead of a short story. This is because I would like to see how Avalon has vastly changed after Morgaine’s story. I also liked “The Stone Mother’s Curse”, which was an interesting retelling of the fairytale, “Rapunzel”. I also liked “Dark Lady” by Jane M. Lindskold, which tells of the romance of William Shakespeare and a female actress. I also liked “The Lily Maid of Astolat” by Laura Resnick, which was a retelling of “The Lady of Shallot”. Finally, I liked “Guinevere’s Truth” by Jennifer Roberson in which Guinevere explains how she has been misunderstood by her subjects. As for the rest of the stories, I liked them but they failed to grip me. This is because most of them were very preachy.

Overall, this anthology is about justice, feminism, and first love. While I liked all of them, only a few of them stunned me. I also found it to be an easy read! I enjoyed the Return to Avalon anthology, Out of Avalon was much better. I admit that if this anthology did not have the sequel to Mists of Avalon, I wouldn’t have bothered to read it. While “Lady of Avalon” is certainly a must-read to Mists of Avalon fans, Return to Avalon is a forgettable anthology! Still, I recommend this for fans of Judith Starr, Kate Elliot, and Esther Freisner!

[Kathi · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/10
This collection of short stories, loosely connected to the sagas of Avalon and Camelot, is a tribute of sorts to Marion Zimmer Bradley, author of The Mists of Avalon. Several of the authors are familiar favorites of mine and several of the stories are enjoyable. A few seemed did not seem to fit the overall theme of the book and some were just plain boring to me.
I am not a fan of short stories; if they are well-executed, they just make me want a fuller and more expansive story, and if they are not, then I am disappointed and dissatisfied. So it is difficult for me to review this book other than to say, if you like short stories and the tales of Avalon and Camelot, you would probably enjoy many of the stories in this collection.

[Megan]

DNS 7/15/2021

[Jennybeast · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this a long time ago and remember it as a solid collection set in the original world.

[Kythe42 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Return to Avalon edited by Jennifer Roberson is an anthology of Arthurian short stories. With the exception of Lady of Avalon(not to be confused with the novel by the same name), none of these stories have anything to do with Marion Zimmer Bradley's Avalon. Lady of Avalon is set some time after the events of The Mists of Avalon and tells the story of the current high priestess being captured and turned into a slave by a Saxon king. It was a pretty good story and I enjoyed reading it. Most of the other stories I'd rate as three stars with some four star ones scattered throughout the book. Of the other stories there weren't any that stood out as particularly good or particularly bad. One thing that was curious is that a lot of the stories in the book I would hesitate to classify as Arthurian fiction. There were many that had more the feel of fairy tales to them and didn't seem to have anything to do with Arthurian legends as far as I could tell. There was also one Shakespearian short story that seemed really out of place. I thought it was a good story and I did enjoy it, but it just really didn't seem like it belonged in this collection. Overall I'd say this book was an ok read and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes Arthurian and medieval fiction, though I think I liked the Out of Avalon anthology better. To anyone wanting to read this book just for the Lady of Avalon story, it's probably only worth it if you can borrow the book or get it for a low price unless you are a really big fan of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Avalon series.

[♥Xeni♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suppose some stories, as sad as they are, need to be told as well. This is one of them.

As sad as it is, to go up against the forces of evil (in this case the priest) and be taken as a witch, a heretic, just for speaking the truth, it is still necessary for people to do this. Stories like this rally us forth, to go against evil, even when it's in the guise of good.

[John Deltuvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many excellent stories, but the book as a collection is marred by a few not up to that standard. Also, there are quite a few stories which, while interesting, have nothing to do with Avalon, let alone MZB's version of the Avalon mythos.

[Stephanie & Alyvia Bosch · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was finally a follow up to my faorite, childhood book, The Midst of Avalon.

[T. Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok. It didn't have the "wow" I was hoping for.

[Patricia Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful short stories of Arthurian tales and other legendary heroes.