Book Review: Lady of Avalon
Lady of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
This book is really three in one: each tells the story of a Lady of Avalon whose time was pivotal in the fate of Avalon. "The Wisewoman" is Caillean, the first Lady of Avalon, who witnesses the arrival and death of the first modern incarnation of the Pendragon, the sacred king whose right it is to rule over Britain. She also joins forces with the Queen of Faerie (whose half-human daughter Sianna is Caillean's successor) to hide the island of Avalon from the world of men. "The High Priestess" is Dierna, who tries to save Britain, with the help of the Pendragon, from the Roman overlords and Saxon invaders. It is also the story of Teleri, forced, like Igraine later, into an unhappy marriage of state.
"Daughter of Avalon" is Viviane, whose mother, Ana, is the cold and manipulative Lady of Avalon. She, like Dierna and Sianna, loves the Pendragon--this time the son of Vortigern, one of two rulers who fight for control of Britain. She determines to bring Avalon out of its self-imposed exile, and is beginning to do that when the book ends. But all of these women are also one woman, incarnating again and again, her purpose to do the Goddess' work.
This book feels more like a transition than anything; I doubt it could stand alone.
This book is really three in one: each tells the story of a Lady of Avalon whose time was pivotal in the fate of Avalon. "The Wisewoman" is Caillean, the first Lady of Avalon, who witnesses the arrival and death of the first modern incarnation of the Pendragon, the sacred king whose right it is to rule over Britain. She also joins forces with the Queen of Faerie (whose half-human daughter Sianna is Caillean's successor) to hide the island of Avalon from the world of men. "The High Priestess" is Dierna, who tries to save Britain, with the help of the Pendragon, from the Roman overlords and Saxon invaders. It is also the story of Teleri, forced, like Igraine later, into an unhappy marriage of state.
"Daughter of Avalon" is Viviane, whose mother, Ana, is the cold and manipulative Lady of Avalon. She, like Dierna and Sianna, loves the Pendragon--this time the son of Vortigern, one of two rulers who fight for control of Britain. She determines to bring Avalon out of its self-imposed exile, and is beginning to do that when the book ends. But all of these women are also one woman, incarnating again and again, her purpose to do the Goddess' work.
This book feels more like a transition than anything; I doubt it could stand alone.
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