Priestess of Avalon
by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Diana L. Paxson
Avalon, Chronological Order (6), Avalon, Published Order (4)
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When a British princess falls in love with a Roman officer destined for imperial greatness, their forbidden desire exacts an unexpected price: banishment from Avalon. Journeying outside the enchanted isle, Helena grows from maiden to mother to wisewoman, experiencing both joy-with the birth of her child-and loss, when politics forces her lover to choose between the Empire and her.Then Helena's son, Constantine, becomes Emperor, and her position as Empress-Mother propels her to prominence at show more a crucial turning point in Western history. Seeking a way to bridge the pagan world of the Goddess and the new Christian Empire, Helena embarks on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to find the truth that transcends both the old religion and the new. show lessTags
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This book had me on a bit of a seesaw. On some occasions, I couldn't wait to find out what happened and couldn't put it down. At others, the language really put me off and I was bored with it. I enjoyed reading the context it was in, because I haven't read a lot based in that era, but sometimes the story got lost in the language. 2.5 stars.
This book provided fans of the Avalon series with some fascinating details regarding the making of a priestess, and Eilan's training. The latter two-thirds of the book, although not taking place in Avalon and focusing on Eilan's life in the Roman Empire, still addressed the Goddess and pagan religions and the spread of Christianity, which gave a wonderful historical perspective.
As a life-long fan of "The Mists of Avalon" and a non-Christian, I found the domination of Christianity depicted in this book to be oppressive, as did other reviewers. But it is historical, after all, and I would rather explore how such a thing came to pass and better understand it, in any case.
Let's face it, MZB fans: nothing in this series was ever going to be show more as great, as magical, as special as "Mists". It's a once-in-a-lifetime book, and it touched a lot of our lives. I though "The Forest House" was disappointing, and "Lady of Avalon" less so, but the comparison to "Mists" is what doomed both of them, for me at least. This book, "Priestess of Avalon", was from such a different perspective that I was less inclined to compare it to the progenitor of this series, and therefore I enjoyed it more, on the whole. Give it a chance, if you haven't read it yet, and just go in with an open mind. show less
As a life-long fan of "The Mists of Avalon" and a non-Christian, I found the domination of Christianity depicted in this book to be oppressive, as did other reviewers. But it is historical, after all, and I would rather explore how such a thing came to pass and better understand it, in any case.
Let's face it, MZB fans: nothing in this series was ever going to be show more as great, as magical, as special as "Mists". It's a once-in-a-lifetime book, and it touched a lot of our lives. I though "The Forest House" was disappointing, and "Lady of Avalon" less so, but the comparison to "Mists" is what doomed both of them, for me at least. This book, "Priestess of Avalon", was from such a different perspective that I was less inclined to compare it to the progenitor of this series, and therefore I enjoyed it more, on the whole. Give it a chance, if you haven't read it yet, and just go in with an open mind. show less
While no where near the epic tale that was "Mists of Avalon," this book is still a wonderful tale of a woman who gives all for her destiny and later finds that she changed the world, for the worse, through her destined son Constantine. Bradley has a way of making history seem tangible and characters seem very sympathetic and understandable. She is one of the master's of her craft, I think few would dispute that. An enjoyable read.
I love Marion Zimmer Bradley, it's amazing that she is able to keep this saga so interesting and fresh. This one really captured me on an emotional level, you really feel for the characters. Once again she veers away from the idea of a fairytale story and ending always staying true to herself and the concept of the book.
I had a very hard time getting into this book, but once I did I really enjoyed it. Contrary to many of the tags on Library thing, this book is much less about Arthurian Fantasy as it is about the Roman Empire just before it's conversion to Christianity. If you read it for what it is, a historical fiction of the romans instead of an Arthurian story, you will enjoy it.
Many parts of the novel could have been further expanded as well. But overall I enjoyed it in the end.
Many parts of the novel could have been further expanded as well. But overall I enjoyed it in the end.
This is the final book in the Avalon series. In it a young princess goes to Avalon to train as a priestess. However, she falls in love with a Roman officer and that forbidden love causes her to be cast from Avalon. When I went to the library, it was to seek out the Mists of Avalon which I haven't read, but came away with this one when the other wasn't available. While this was a fine stand alone book, I would have preferred to have it center around Avalon. Instead, it is about the Roman Imperial families, warfare and traisping across Europe and beyond. There was a lot of Army A conquered Army B who conquered Army C and who was deposed along the way--all following the prophecies of a vision Helena had back on Avalon.
Priestess of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson is the story of a priestess named Helena who was forced to leave her home at Avalon and live an entirely different life from what she was used to. The story follows her life and her pseudo marriage and tells of the different places that she lived in the Roman Empire. The story tells about her relationship with her children and her grandchildren and also about her feelings in regard to the rise of Christianity in the Empire and how it relates to her own spirituality. There are some parts of the book that were enjoyable for me such as Helena's time on Avalon and reading about how her spirituality evolves in her time away from Avalon, but I found much of the story to be very show more tedious to get through and I'd have to say that this is probably my least favorite book in the Avalon series. I'd probably only recommend reading this book if you are also reading Lady of Avalon because the story of Priestess of Avalon overlaps, both chronologically and in plot, with part two of Lady of Avalon, though I'm not sure it's entirely necessary.
There are many options for the order in which to read the two books. You could simply read Lady of Avalon first and then Priestess of Avalon second or vice-versa. You could read Priestess of Avalon anytime after the first part of Lady of Avalon, but make sure you finish reading it before you start part three of Lady of Avalon. My preferred method is a bit more complicated though. First read part one of Lady of Avalon. Second read part one of Priestess of Avalon and up to chapter 11 of part two. Third read part two of Lady of Avalon. Forth finish parts two and three of Priestess of Avalon, and then finally read part three of Lady of Avalon.
Priestess of Avalon(along with Lady of Avalon) takes place after The Forest House, so you might want to read that book first as well as Ravens of Avalon which provides some of the background story to The Forest House. There are also some references made to The Fall of Atlantis and Ancestors of Avalon, but I'd say it's less important to have read those books prior to reading Priestess of Avalon. One last thing I'd like to comment on is that this book is written in first person while the other books in the series are all written in third person(with the exception of some introduction passages). I'm not a big fan of first person perspective, but I have to say that it was done well enough in this book that I didn't really notice too much. show less
There are many options for the order in which to read the two books. You could simply read Lady of Avalon first and then Priestess of Avalon second or vice-versa. You could read Priestess of Avalon anytime after the first part of Lady of Avalon, but make sure you finish reading it before you start part three of Lady of Avalon. My preferred method is a bit more complicated though. First read part one of Lady of Avalon. Second read part one of Priestess of Avalon and up to chapter 11 of part two. Third read part two of Lady of Avalon. Forth finish parts two and three of Priestess of Avalon, and then finally read part three of Lady of Avalon.
Priestess of Avalon(along with Lady of Avalon) takes place after The Forest House, so you might want to read that book first as well as Ravens of Avalon which provides some of the background story to The Forest House. There are also some references made to The Fall of Atlantis and Ancestors of Avalon, but I'd say it's less important to have read those books prior to reading Priestess of Avalon. One last thing I'd like to comment on is that this book is written in first person while the other books in the series are all written in third person(with the exception of some introduction passages). I'm not a big fan of first person perspective, but I have to say that it was done well enough in this book that I didn't really notice too much. show less
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408+ Works 98,831 Members
Marion Zimmer Bradley is a science-fiction and fantasy writer, novelist, and editor. She was born in Albany, New York on June 3, 1930. Bradley attended the New York State College for Teachers from 1946 to 1948. She earned a B.A. from Hardin Simmons University in 1964. Bradley did graduate work at the University of California at Berkeley from 1965 show more to 1967. Bradley sold her first story to Fantastic Amazing Stories as part of an amateur fiction contest. She sold her first professional story to Vortex Science Fiction in 1952. Her novels include The Sword of Aldones and The Planet Savers. Both novels were set on Darkover, the setting for more than 20 subsequent Bradley novels. Bradley also wrote The Mists of Avalon, a reworking of the King Arthur legend with more emphasis on the female characters. She used the same approach with The Firebrand, which was based on The Iliad. In addition to writing more than 85 books, Bradley was the editor of an annual anthology for DAW Books, as well as the editor of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine. Bradley died in 1999. (Bowker Author Biography) Marion Zimmer Bradley was the bestselling author of "The Mists of Avalon", "Lady of Avalon", "The Forest House", & "The Firebrand", as well as the popular Darkover series of science fiction novels. She died in 1999. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
85+ Works 10,615 Members
Diana L. Paxson, a noted fantasy author who collaborated with Marion Zimmer Bradley on much of her later work, lives in Berkeley, California. She has written twenty books including the Arthurian novel "Hallowed Isle". (Bowker Author Biography)
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Priestess of Avalon
- Original title
- Priestess of Avalon
- Original publication date
- 2000
- People/Characters
- Eilan; Helena; Constantine the Great; Constantius Chlorus; Dierna; Fausta (show all 7); Crispus
- Important places
- Avalon; Roman Empire; Londinium; Treveri; Jerusalem; Atlantis
- Important events*
- Christian Missionaries
- Dedication
- To our grandchildren
- First words
- With sunset, a brisk wind had blown in from the sea.
- Quotations
- To travel on the sea is to move outside time. One sits, with neither tasks nor duties, contemplating the dim grey ribbon of shoreline on the horizon, and the ever-changing, undulant landscape of the sea. The scene in the boat... (show all)'s wake alters as swiftly as the view from the prow, so there is no way to recognize where one has been, and after a time the succession of ridges and valleys begins to repeat itself, so that one wonders if any progress has been made at all.
I thought of the proverb, "God could not be everywhere at once so he invented Mothers," and it seemed to me that it should be the other way around, "Mother did not have enough breasts for everyone, so man invented deities eno... (show all)ugh so that every man would have a Mother who would never leave him for another…" - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Light is everywhere, light all around me, light that grows beyond all the words I have for vision until I see, glowing as if lit from within the shores of Avalon...
- Original language
- English
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Fantasy, General Fiction, Historical Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 813.54 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PS3552 .R228 .P75 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 1961-
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