The Mists of Avalon (Avalon, #1) in The Complete Idiots Guide to the Ultimate Reading List

Aug 07, 2009 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fiction, fiction, novels, spirituality, ebooks, popular-fiction, ultimate-reading-list

I'm actually a fan of Marion Zimmer Bradley and of Arthurian stories, but compared to her Darkover books, and Arthurian novels such as those by TH White and Mary Stewart among others, I just didn't find this a compelling read or at all original. I do have a friend who is a Pagan who counts this as a favorite book, even life-transforming, for how it wove pagan motifs into the narrative, and I know others who enjoy it because of the feminist perspective and what they see as strong female protagoni ...more

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Jun 15, 2009 Stacy rated it it was amazing

I've read this, and re-read this and have given it as a gift and shared it as my one of favorite books at gift/book exchanges. The Arthurian legend told from the point-of-view of its remarkable women is as still important and fresh today as it was when it was first published. It's on my list to re-read again, perhaps this summer. ...more

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Feb 19, 2012 Nora rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

The story is epic, as befits the Arthurian story, but the storytelling can drag. It's also one-sided as we get to share the thoughts of the female characters but not the male ones. I can see that it would have been revolutionary in its time, but now it's just unbalanced. The other flaw is that the characters (with few exceptions) don't develop over time - they're so flat as to be almost caricatures. And there's the extremely heavy-handed religious clash theme throughout. Worth reading? Yes. Wort ...more

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