Mistress of Magic, Marion Zimmer Bradley
Mistress of Magic, Marion Zimmer Bradley
68 Rating(s)
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Mistress of Magic
The Mists of Avalon

Author: Marion Zimmer Bradley

Narrator: Davina Porter

Unabridged: 27 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 03/06/2009

Synopsis

In the tradition of T.H. White's The Once and Future King, the author makes use of the prerequisites of the Arthurian legend: Excalibur, the Holy Grail, Lancelet's illicit love for Gwenhwyfar, the destruction of Camelot, but with a twist--she presents the entire panoramic story from the female point of view. No passive by-standers, these earthy priestesses from Avalon literally breathe life into a musty, oft-told tale. In Book One: Mistress of Magic, the Lady of the Lake--Viviane--brings about the marriage of her younger sister Igraine to Uther Pendragon. Their only child, Arthur, is believed to be the last hope in the long standing war between Saxons and Romans. Meanwhile, Morgaine, Igraine's daughter by her first marriage to Gorlois, has come under the apprenticeship of Viviane at Avalon. In spite of her great love and hope for Morgaine, Viviane is driven by an unrelenting vision. Miserable, but duty-bound, she tricks Morgaine and Arthur into becoming lovers during the night of the ritual fires. Enraged and shamed by what her aunt has done, Morgaine plans to rid herself of the child that has resulted from their union. Book one ends with Arthur's coronation and Morgaine's decision to leave Avalon.

About Marion Zimmer Bradley

Bestselling author Marion Zimmer Bradley (1930-1999) wrote The Mists of Avalon, The Forest House, Lady of Avalon, and The Firebrand, as well as the immensely popular Darkover series and numerous other science fiction and fantasy works. In 2000, she was posthumously awarded the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Mario the lone bookwolf on March 12, 2023

The whole King Arthur thing, told from a completely different, female perspective, criticizes faith and patriarchy at the same time and does characterization at the ultimate prime level. Crush eco social, nature loving bonobo matriarchies to install theistic terror states. How the book deals with the......more

Goodreads review by Matthew on December 31, 2017

My final book of 2017! I did not think I would finish it before the end of the year. I started it back on October 1st and it was slow going. I often found myself not reading it for days at a time. It really wasn’t capturing my interest. But, with a week to go in 2017 and about 300 or so pages left,......more

Goodreads review by Rachel on July 20, 2008

OK I admit, when I told my college Arthurian Lit professor that I'd read and enjoyed this book, he proceeded to give me a quick-before-the-next-class-comes-in lecture about how Marion Zimmer Bradley's "interpretation" skewed wildly from the genre. But I don't care. It's a difficult book (long and utt......more

Goodreads review by Manny on August 12, 2015

My favorite fantasy novel written by a serial rapist and child-abuser. Now that I think about it, I'm interested to remember that the person who recommended it to me was also a big fan of Nietzsche.......more

Goodreads review by Tiffany on November 25, 2018

Before any review, i need to put down some words. I can't understand how MZB, who wrote such powerful lines and characters, that made me feel so understood, that represented repression and gender inequality with such a beautiful, compelling and empowering novel, could have also been the abuser of he......more

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