The Dragon Queen

Ms. Borchardt does a wonderful job with the characters of Arthur and Gwenevere, and has obviously researched Dark Ages Britain. Her descriptions are fantastic, and so are many of the ideas she put in here. The Dragon Queen's childhood is... interesting to say the least.

However, after having read the Silver Wolf trilogy, I notice something in her works... sometimes the characters wander off into their own quest, which takes up good parts of the book and don't have that much to do with the main storyline. Regeane and Gwenevere both go into these weird fantasy/dream/death/spirit worlds that to me, don't really add to the plot - they merely serve to distract, which after a while does get old. It was interesting to see how Merlin and Igraine show more were both displayed, as in most other books they're decent folks.

If Ms. Borchardt had concentrated more on a tight plot and coherency instead of going off on these tangents to fantasy dimensions, this book would have earned a 5 star. It's still a pretty good book, and a entertaining read, but I certainly have read better. The research done is very good however, so it appealed to a history geek like me. show less

Good premise, terribly boring and long winded writing style. I really enjoyed her other books, just not this series which is a shame because it looked really good.

Another in the Mists of Avalon-inspired Arthurian retelling pile, but top of the pile, I'd say. Pity the series never finished...

This is my first book by this author and it has the subtitle 'The Tales of Guinevere'. The author takes us from soon after Guinevere's birth up to her becoming a woman (biologically). Most of the book is being told by the young Guinevere although we do see some events from other points of view. In the last section her chapters alternate with those involving Arthur. There is magic, the old gods, dragons, and shape-shifting as well as Merlin as a villian. I'm not entirely sure what to make of this novel but I definitely want to read more by Borchardt.

I absolutely loved Alice Borchardt's wolf books and I still reread The Silver Wolf. But this book was so horrible that I skipped parts just so I could finish it. Very disappointing.

I was not as engaged as I was by her wolf books. But I still found it a nice twist on Arthurian legend. If nothing else, it was different.

Even my extreme love of the Arthurian could not keep me engaged with this book. Too much is going on.