Maybe I spent too many of my formative years wrapped up in T. H. White's 'Once and Future King' series, because this strikes me as stodgy in comparison, and even somewhat pretentious. But the stories around Avalon and Arthur are sturdy enough to stand up to a wide variety of styles and approaches. This book wound up at #42 on NPR's final hundred Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction list, so clearly there are plenty of fans out there.

Mailed to mathgirl40 for the NPR Fantasy & Science Fiction VBB

This book from JudySlump612 arrived yesterday. Thank you!

Borrowed from Mathgirl40. I loved reading about the Arthur saga from this very different viewpoint I really liked the spin the author put on the tale. Back to Mathgirl40....

Back in my hands now, and I've started reading it. Enjoying it very much so far.

After working on this gigantic tome on and off for the past year, I’ve finally finished it, and it was a wonderful reading experience! The book is not without its faults. There is too much repetition of ideas, making the novel longer than necessary, and so many of the women agonize endlessly over decisions. For that reason, I liked the character of Morgause though she was despicable in many ways; at least she could make a decision and not have any regrets about it! However, I loved the scope, the imagination, and Bradley’s ability to make me think of the Arthurian legends in a totally different way. What I liked best was the excellent exploration of the conflict between Morgaine’s matriarchal pagan society and the patriarchal Christian society of the outside world. Thanks again, JudySlump612, for sending this book to Canada!

I gave this to a friend at a book-club meeting today. I hope she enjoys it as much as I did!

I was given this book at a science fiction book club in Waterloo, Ontario. I have since then moved to Mountain View, California, and took the book with me. It sat on the shelf until my new book club selected it as October's book and I finally read it.

I have to admit, I didn't like the book very much. I found it slow moving and hard to get into, and some parts were really weird. I had never read any of the Arthurian legend before, and I found myself wondering "that can't possibly be what happened in the legend, could it?" many times. I got about half of the way through before giving up. Only two out of six people in the book club made it all the way through. One thing we discussed it that we might have liked it better if we were more familiar with King Arthur. There was probably a lot of cleverness we missed.

I'm giving this book to a friend in San Jose who likes "The Once and Future King". Hopefully he appreciates it more than I do.

Gave book to a friend.