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The Mists of Avalon
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 50 hrs and 53 mins
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Publisher's summary
A posthumous recipient of the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, Marion Zimmer Bradley reinvented - and rejuvenated - the King Arthur mythos with her extraordinary Mists of Avalon series. In this epic work, Bradley follows the arc of the timeless tale from the perspective of its previously marginalized female characters: Celtic priestess Morgaine, Gwenhwyfar, and High Priestess Viviane.
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Macbeth: A Novel brings the intricacy and grit of the historical thriller to Shakespeare’s tale of political intrigue, treachery, and murder. In this full-length novel written exclusively for audio, authors A. J. Hartley and David Hewson rethink literature’s most infamous married couple, grounding them in a medieval Scotland whose military and political upheavals are as stark and dramatic as the landscape in which they are played.
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Narrator choice inspired
- By Beverly on 07-10-11
By: A. J. Hartley, and others
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The Bone Doll's Twin
- Tamir Triad, Book 1
- By: Lynn Flewelling
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine, Lynn Flewelling
- Length: 16 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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As people start to recall the Oracle's prophecy, Erius begins to quietly kill off his female relatives who pose the only threat to his monarchy. Constantly in fear for her life, Princess Ariani the King's sister, gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. But Ariani is married to Lord Rhius, the patron of the powerful wizard Iya, and Iya has sinister plans for the babes.
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Not a bad beginning, but . . .
- By bluestategirl on 12-29-10
By: Lynn Flewelling
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The Dark Mirror
- Bridei Trilogy #1
- By: Juliet Marillier
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 24 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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One bitter Midwinter's Eve, everything changes when Bridei finds a child on their doorstep - a child abandoned by the Fair Folk. It is the height of ill fortune to have truck with the Fair Folk, and all in the area counsel the babe's death. But Bridei sees an old and precious magic at work and, heedless of the danger, fights to save the child. Broichan is wary but relents, for Bridei must grow to be his own man and make his own decisions.
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disappointing
- By Binia on 11-18-08
By: Juliet Marillier
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Lady Macbeth
- A Novel
- By: Susan Fraser King
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Lady Macbeth takes listeners into the heart of 11th-century Scotland, painting a vivid picture of Gruadh, the last female descendent of the country's most royal line. Married, pregnant, then quickly widowed, she is forced to wed her husband's murderer, the warlord Macbeth. Determined to protect her interests and those of her infant son, she vows to preserve her family's legacy at any cost.
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boring
- By Lanlady on 11-27-09
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By Right of Arms
- By: Robyn Carr
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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The Black Prince of England hungers to capture the lands of France, and Sir Hyatt Laidley is just the knight for the task. In exchange for years of faithful service, Hyatt will receive both land - and lady - of De La Noye in Acquitane. When Hyatt and his men attack, both lord and castle fall, but the young and newly widowed Aurelie is not so easily conquered. Impassioned by the subjugation of her people, Aurelie pledges to forever honor her late husband. She may be condemned to marry the English bastard, but her heart will never yield!
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Don't be fooled
- By MickeyMarie on 01-22-13
By: Robyn Carr
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The Bloody Cup
- By: M. K. Hume
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 18 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Celtic Britain is on the brink of collapse, and the kingdom's bloodiest days are upon it. For many years, the people of Briton have enjoyed peace and prosperity under the reign of King Arthur. He has ruled with dignity, honor, and humility. Arthur is now weakening with age, however, and the seeds of discontent are being sown. Seeking to cleanse the land of Christian belief, dissenters need a symbol with which to legitimize their pagan claim and gather malcontents together into a cohesive weapon.
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Worth your time.
- By Helen on 07-01-22
By: M. K. Hume
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Lavinia
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Highly acclaimed author Ursula K. Le Guin lends a resonant voice to a pivotal yet often overlooked character of Vergil's The Aeneid. Born into peace and freedom, Lavinia is stunned to learn that she will be the cause of a great war - or so the prophecies and omens claim. Her fate is sealed, however, when she meets a man from Troy.
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Fascinatingly well written
- By Kennet on 03-11-09
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Empress
- Godspeaker, Book 1
- By: Karen Miller
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey
- Length: 20 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In a family torn apart by poverty and violence, Hekat is no more than an unwanted mouth to feed, worth only a few coins from a passing slave trader. But Hekat was not born to be a slave. For her, a different path has been chosen. It is a path that will take her from stinking back alleys to the house of her God, from blood-drenched battlefields to the glittering palaces of Mijak. This is the story of Hekat, slave to no man.
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depressing and left me feeling empty
- By Bonnie on 09-16-09
By: Karen Miller
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Isabella: Braveheart of France
- By: Colin Falconer
- Narrated by: Anne Johnstonbrown
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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12-year-old Isabella, a French princess marries the King of England - only to discover he has a terrible secret. Ten long years later she is in utter despair - does she submit to a lifetime of solitude and a spiritual death - or seize her destiny and take the throne of England for herself? Isabella is just twelve years old when she marries Edward II of England. For the young princess it is love at first sight - but Edward has a terrible secret that threatens to tear their marriage - and England apart.
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A Bizarre "Reader's Digest" Version of History...
- By Sara on 01-06-15
By: Colin Falconer
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good light PG listening
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What a surprise!
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Enjoyable for Unexpected Reasons
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Stranger at Stonewycke
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Michael Phillips and Judith Pella author inspirational novels set in 19th-century Scotland. Stranger at Stonewycke is the first book in the Stonewycke Legacy series, which continues the story of the Ramsey family begun with the Stonewycke Trilogy. The great Stonewycke fortune is being stretched to its limits as the family tries to bolster the town's economy. With Allison representing a new susceptibility to change and corruption, the family is once again at the crossroads of destiny.
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Cristian religious text dressed up as historical
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The Shadow of the Lion
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It is the year 1537. The great winged lion stares over a Venice where magic thrives. The rich Venetian Republic is a bastion of independence and tolerance. Perhaps for that reason, it is also corrupt, and rotten with intrigue. But for the young brothers, Marco and Benito Valdosta, vagabond and thief, Venice is simply home. They have no idea that they stand at the center of the city's coming struggle for its very life. They know nothing of the powerful forces moving in the background. They have barely heard of Chernobog, demon lord of the north, who is shifting his pawns to attack.
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A long book of Gamer and Fantasy Cliche's for Kids
- By Bruce on 09-17-19
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After enjoying London's sophisticated society and the attentions of wealthy suitors, Lilly returns home to help her ailing dad. Determined to resurrect his apothecary business, Lilly labors tirelessly - praying her family's secrets and her rivals' schemes won't cloud her future.
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good light PG listening
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The Firebrand
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What a surprise!
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A Woman, a Man, and Two Kingdoms
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The 18th century’s Age of Enlightenment in pre-Revolutionary France continues to fascinate us today. Steegmuller brings his scholarly talents to this collection of the letters of Mme. Louise d’Épinay, best-known for the treatment she received in Rousseau’s Confessions. Eavesdropping on the writings of this intelligent woman, the listener gains not only insights into her friendship with Italian priest-diplomat, Ferdinando Galiani, but also a glance into the life of France’s elite.
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Stranger at Stonewycke
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Michael Phillips and Judith Pella author inspirational novels set in 19th-century Scotland. Stranger at Stonewycke is the first book in the Stonewycke Legacy series, which continues the story of the Ramsey family begun with the Stonewycke Trilogy. The great Stonewycke fortune is being stretched to its limits as the family tries to bolster the town's economy. With Allison representing a new susceptibility to change and corruption, the family is once again at the crossroads of destiny.
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Cristian religious text dressed up as historical
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A long book of Gamer and Fantasy Cliche's for Kids
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history for readers of romance novels
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After marrying against her father's wishes, Maggie Duncan plans to flee to America with her husband, Ian. But Ian is accused of murder, and honor requires him to stay in Scotland to face the charges. Alone, Maggie sets up a life for them in the New World, while Ian faces the horrors of prison. Thousands of miles apart, the two must learn to trust in God's greater will to reunite them.
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Frustrating
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The heroine, Zadieyek of Gyre has been captured and sold as a slave, who has amnesia and remembers nothing of her life before the trip across the desert with the slavers - and, due to a head injury, remembers mercifully little of that. But she does know that she would rather fight in the arena than be a harlot for the men who do…While she remains a slave, she’s quite different from the typical 'slave girl' - she grows and develops, always searching for her memory and her past, convinced that this is not how her life is supposed to be. And, of course, she's right.
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Great book
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The Return of the Elves Series, Volumes 1-4
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This collection includes the first four books in the Return of the Elves romantic fantasy series: Soulbound, Sundered, Exiled, and Seared.
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Failed to suspend my disbelief
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Fantasy as literature.
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Who could have suspected that the exciting stag party for the groom would be the prelude to the murder of his close friend Charlie Hatton? And Charlie's death was only the first in a string of puzzling murders involving small-time gangsters, cheating husbands, and loose women. Now Chief Inspector Wexford and his assistant join forces with the groom to track down a killer....
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The complete "box set" of T. H. White's epic fantasy novel of the Arthurian legend. The novel is made up of five parts: "The Sword in the Stone", "The Witch in the Wood", "The Ill-Made Knight", "The Candle in the Wind", and "The Book of Merlyn".
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My favorite book this year.
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For the Hunters, the Hunt was a religion. The Sacred Prey, sentient beings collected from all over the galaxy, were literally given a fighting chance - they were allowed to choose weapons from an armory with every imaginable weapon and given time to train. Then they were taken to the place of the Hunt, where death awaited them. Those who survived until the eclipse of the red moon, however, were honored by the Hunters and rewarded with all the wealth they could desire. The trick, of course, was surviving.
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Meh
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February 13, 1692. Thirty-eight members of the MacDonald clan are killed by soldiers who had previously enjoyed the clan’s hospitality. Many more die from exposure. Forty miles south, brilliant, captivating Corrag—accused witch and orphaned herbalist—is imprisoned in the Scottish highlands for her involvement in the massacre.
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beautifully written!
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I met Jamie Fraser when I was 19 years old. He was tall, redheaded, and, at our first meeting at least, a virgin. I fell in love hard, fast, and completely. He knew how to ride a horse, wield a sword, and stitch a wound. He was, in fact, the perfect man. That he was fictional hardly entered into it.
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Quirky romantic adventure
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Catalina
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Set in the time of the infamous Spanish Inquisition, Catalina is a novel both richly historical and affectingly human. Two eminent persons, natives of the city, were arriving after an absence of many years, and great doings had been arranged in their honor. In the Lady Chapel of the church a crippled girl prayed to the Blessed Virgin whose day it was, too. No greater things were planned for the girl, Catalina, but greater things awaited her.
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From a W. Somerset Maugham's fan: No!
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What listeners say about The Mists of Avalon
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Carolina
- 07-13-12
Davina Porter brings an old favorite back to life!
I first read this book more than a quarter century ago as a college student. I had very fond memories of it, but hadn't reread it until I found it on Audible last month. Not only that, it was narrated by Davina Porter, who has become my favorite narrator through her reading of Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series.
I find Marion Zimmer Bradley's characters to be very real, and their interactions genuine. I love the general sweep of the story, and the elegance of the prose. And Porter's narration brings that depth of character development and storytelling to a new intensity.
One thing, if you are looking at the four-part "series" of this book, note that "The Mists Of Avalon" is the collection of the other four (Mistress Of Magic, The High Queen, The King Stag, and The Prisoner In The Oak). The full book costs one credit, and the parts also cost one credit. Save yourself three credits and buy the complete version at once.
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524 people found this helpful
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- GH
- 08-08-15
Outstanding Must Listen Tome
The point of view of this novel comes from the females of the legend. From the first fifteen minutes, I am enthralled. We know the plot, we know the legend, or do we? Bradley offers a credible and interesting perspective that brings many possibilities to light that breathe life into this story.
Davina Porter makes narration a fine art in this story. Her voice brings this tale to life and she is the perfect fit.
This is a rare listen to a fantasy legend. Little is know about the real Arthur. Was he a king or a general? I offer highest praise. Please make room for this on you listening list. It is an investment at 60 hours. Also for you people who listen at 2X, you know who you are, slow down and take it all it a 1X. I give a big thumbs up.
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179 people found this helpful
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- Leila
- 08-26-13
The Mists of Avalon Unabridged includes all 4 bks
What did you love best about The Mists of Avalon?
I absolutely loved Davina Porter's reading of this series. I was pleasantly surprised to find that when I purchased the Unabridged version of "The Mists of Avalon," I had purchased all four books of the series using just 1 credit. Other reviewers had not commented on this, so I thought I would share and suggest that you do the same as the rest of the books are interesting. The story comes to life in this reading and it is well-researched. Zimmer Bradley conducts a fantastic feminist reading of the Arthurian legends.The production is equally fantastic- featuring Davina Porter who is one of the best audiobook readers.
What other book might you compare The Mists of Avalon to and why?
If you are interested in Porter's reading of this, you might also enjoy her reading of the Outlander Series (though a completely different type of historically-based drama).
Which character – as performed by Davina Porter – was your favorite?
She particularly excels in her Scottish accents.
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123 people found this helpful
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- Joyalina
- 07-16-12
SO MUCH LOST POTENTIAL
I should start by saying I really, really wanted to love The Mists of Avalon. How could I not, when it had so much potential? A “feminist” retelling of Arthurian legend set in the late 5th to early 6th century, the peerless Davina Porter as narrator, and decades of praise from critics and readers alike; added to the fact this 50+ hour audiobook combines four separate books into one -- I didn’t think a credit could be better spent!
Reluctantly, however, I find myself forced to admit that none of those things can make up for the fact that this book got lost in its own grandiosity. Ms. Bradley’s heavy-handed treatment of themes such as fate vs. free will felt like an emotional bludgeoning with her don’t-you-see-the-point-yet sledgehammer as we, the listener, are subjected to hour upon dragging hour of unrequited love, foolish pride, grating piety, and constant self-absorption from characters you want to like but can never really identify with. The protagonist, Morgaine, devolves into a rambling bore; her counterpart, Gwynhwyfar, is weak and irritating; and the plot twist revealed at the very end by the “villain” Morgause is given such short shrift I wondered if it was added-in as an editorial after-thought. And the men? Arthur is a one-dimensional “hero,” Lancelet is a sexually confused martyr, and Kevin is simply tragic. Strangely, I liked Mordred, although by the time he enters the story I was mostly over it.
That said: Do I regret buying this audiobook? No. Would I listen to it again? Probably not. Would I recommend it to others? Possibly. Davina Porter is a wonderful narrator, the time and place are well-researched and extensively detailed, and the premise is still unique. However, the story lags and the characters are emotionally exhausting. If you are going to give this book a chance, I would recommend having something a little more light-hearted on hand so you can switch between the two books. [Think Tina Fey’s “Bossypants,” Mark Tufo’s “Zombie Fallout,” or Kresley Cole’s “Immortals After Dark” series.]
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68 people found this helpful
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- J
- 10-15-12
Don't want it to end...
I am in love with anything Davina Porter narrates, but in the Mists of Avalon, I am also re-captivated by the story of Camelot as told through the eyes of the key women. It is refreshing and thought-provoking in ways I would not have expected; an aspect that only adds to my enjoyment!
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- Ann
- 09-05-12
Still a favorite
Where does The Mists of Avalon rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
One of the better audiobooks since it is an old favorite.
What did you like best about this story?
The reader, Davina Porter. She is one of my favorites.
What about Davina Porter’s performance did you like?
She is able to mix and match the voices without making all the men sound like idiots.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I guess my strongest reaction is just a real comfort with the story - I strongly associate with the crossover elements to other literature on the Arthurian legends.
Any additional comments?
Highly, highly recommend.
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- Joe Kraus
- 12-19-18
Reimagining Arthur in a Syncretic Context
Today we remake Spiderman every couple of years. For much of the millennium before that – extending to today – we’ve remade the legends of Arthur and the Round Table. It’s generally the same story, at least in its outlines, but the challenge is to emphasize one or another element, to take material that belongs to all of us and to reframe it with a particular perspective.
When you come to Bradley’s Mists of Avalon, it helps to know the story already. Spoiler, but Guinevere can’t deny her love for Lancelot and that means trouble all around. And the part about the quest for the Holy Grail that destroys the companionship of the knights? Yeah, there’s no avoiding it either.
Traditional authors of the story have done all sorts of things with it, of course. Malory applied it to developing and codifying a code of chivalry which, while it has its virtues, helped lay the foundation for a sexist and puritanical Britain two or three centuries later. T.H. White (with Disney following) emphasized the wonder of the story, turning it into one stream of fantasy that paved the way for the reception of (if not so much the creation of) Tolkien’s world.
Bradley turns out to be powerfully ambitious here. She inserts a clear feminist take on the legends – here, Morgaine (Morgan le Fey) is not evil, but rather the most important representative of the druidical religion that Christianity is displacing. This is not “merely” feminism, though. Instead, it’s a claim for what I’d call syncretism, for the argument that the “enemy” isn’t some form of Satan but rather intolerance of what we cannot understand in our limited human perspective. We get lots of quotes exonerating Christ from the work of extirpating the traditional religion, with the blame going instead to “His priests.” (As such, St. Patrick, here as Patricius, is much more the ‘bad guy’ than Morgaine herself.)
The idea for Bradley, that is, is that we find the best in ourselves as humans when we embrace the good wherever we find it. She’s hardly anti-Christian, yet she embraces the sense that the nature-worshipping druids had important virtues as well. The challenge is always to find a balance, to accept that catechism – the mindless listing of what we ought to believe and how we ought to conduct ourselves – is the enemy of real faith. That’s as true for seeing the power within women as it is in the context of faith.
In a way, then, she offers what may be the most important theological take on the fantastic in the interval between Tolkien and George R.R. Martin. Tolkien (and C.S. Lewis, of course) used fantasy to explore a clear vision of a benign, monotheistic space where evil nonetheless existed. At the other end, Martin has unveiled a world where there is no “true north” of faith, a world where the supernatural is present but a range of god-like figures vie with one another for amoral victory.
It’s fascinating, then, to see Bradley as a middle-ground, as someone intent on using the genre to imagine a space between catechism and amorality. At its best, that’s precisely what her exhaustive take on these legends accomplishes. The Grail of her account, for instance, may or may not be the cup of Christ, but it is clearly something long used in druidical worship that Merlin, that traitor to the druidical cause, has stolen for Christian purposes. It’s not an angel that the knights see holding it but rather Morgaine herself, channeling the powers of the goddess for a brief moment, who sets them off to discover a vision of the holy that they can imagine only within a Christian vocabulary.
As a concept, as a motive for revisiting stories most of us know in one form or another, I love all that. And parts of this, especially the opening pages, are wonderfully done. There’s a reason this was a best-seller when it came out, and there’s a reason it lingers around the edges of the genre’s canon even as Bradley has come to be held to account for a lot of disturbing things from her lifetime.
All that said, though, this can’t entirely escape what seems the original sin of the genre. This is simply too long by at least a third. What works in the first few hundred pages – the scene-setting, tension-building, character-developing work – becomes tedious by the end. We all know what’s going to happen; I’d like to see her get to the parts that matter to her sooner: the collapse of the Round Table as a sign of the failure of syncretism, the trapping of Merlin as simultaneously a feminist reclamation of the goddess and a pyrrhic victory for the druidical cult, and the final vision of Arthur as representing a “Camelot” moment that we can look to for inspiration even as we cannot recreate it.
I’m glad I read this – it came in handy as the semester wound down and I needed something thoughtful and distracting to listen to as I drove to work and walked the dogs – but I’m glad to be finished as well.
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-31-16
A Long Slog, But The Ending is GORGEOUS
At close to 900 pages and 51 hours, this book is something of a daunting endeavor, but I can assure you the ending makes it worth it. Indeed, the ending has as much power as it does BECAUSE so much time and space is devoting to constructing Arthur's Britain. I highly recommend this book. Truly a seminal piece of work in feminist fantasy, but also in Arthurian adaptions.
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- Sharon Rigsby
- 11-18-15
Fantastic Narration by Davina Porter!
What did you love best about The Mists of Avalon?
What I loved the best was the whole atmosphere that continues throughout the book. It's calm and serene, even in the most tumultuous parts. You can feel from the very beginning, the mysticism of the place and people. Davina Porter's voice is perfect for that calmness. Her character voices are superb, and you can sometimes forget that you're listening to just one person!
Who was your favorite character and why?
Well, of course, my favorite character was Morgaine because she is the one that you are right there with throughout the book. We hear her innermost thoughts, and so we cannot help but be on her side! She is mystical and powerful, even in the times she thinks she is not. Now, on the other side of things, the character I loved to hate was Guinevere! She was so bratty, selfish, and shallow! Everytime we heard things from her point of view, I really wished someone would just push her off a cliff.
Which scene was your favorite?
The parts of the book that really stuck with me for some reason were the very first two paragraphs, when Morgaine says,
"In my time I have been called many things: sister, lover, wise-woman, queen."
All the way through to,
"And now, when the world has changed and Arthur - my brother, my lover, king who was, and king who shall be - lies dead (the common folk say sleeping) in the Holy Isle of Avalon, the tale should be told as it was before the priests of the White Christ came to cover it all with their saints and legends."
I think it completely sets the tone for the entire book, and Davina Porter's voice really brings it to life.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I didn't have any extreme reactions to this book, mostly because even the sad parts were cloaked in mystery and sereneness. You sort of glide through from beginning to end in an enchanted haze. It was different!
Any additional comments?
Before listening to this book, I had already listened to the entire Outlander series, which Davina Porter also narrated. Each audiobook is very long, so in total, I'd listened to about 326 hours of Davina telling the Outlander tale. I was craving more of Outlander after that, so I looked at what else she had narrated. The Mists of Avalon caught my eye, and even though I was hoping the narration would remind me of Outlander, it didn't! Her voice wasn't that different, but I found that I never thought about Outlander while listening to this book! That, to me, was an impressive thing! I was sucked in by the story, and not just the voice.
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- Toni
- 03-04-13
A picturesque take on the King Arthur Tales
Davina Porter takes you through the days of Arthur and his court with her usual talent and emotion. I love a long story and Ms. Porter never gets boring with her characterizations.Marion Zimmer Bradley is a wonderful weaver of tales. If you like this genre - it is a Great Choice. These women can take you out of this world and into theirs like magic. Take your time and enjoy the " The Mists of Avalon."
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