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    Mistress of Magic: The Mists of Avalon
    Mistress of Magic: The Mists of Avalon
    Mistress of Magic: The Mists of Avalon
    Audiobook13 hours

    Mistress of Magic: The Mists of Avalon

    Written by Marion Zimmer Bradley

    Narrated by Davina Porter

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 6, 2009
    ISBN9781436198479
    Mistress of Magic: The Mists of Avalon
    Author

    Marion Zimmer Bradley

    Marion Zimmer Bradley is the creator of the popular Darkover universe, as well as the critically acclaimed author of the bestselling ‘The Mists of Avalon’ and its sequel, ‘The Forest House’. She lives in Berkeley, California.

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    Reviews for Mistress of Magic

    4.5/5

    131 ratings55 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This sweeping epic fantasy based on Arthurian legend is a must read for fantasy lovers and devotees to Arthurian tales. I would only recommend it to older teens or serious fantasy die hards. Things that could make some squeamish: incest, orgies, rape, murder, meandering theological debates, etc.Read-a-likes: The Once and Future King, Le Morte d'Arthur, Queen of Camelot by Nancy McKenzie

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      One her best works, and definitely a high point for me when I was younger, my mom gave it to me and I must’ve read it 6 times over the years. It SO different from any other ‘Camelot’ story, and I thought it was pretty powerful actually, the female viewpoint was fascinating to me at a time in my life when I was still learning what being ‘female’ meant! I would highly recommend this book to any woman of Amy age though, since it tells of women in all ages of life...

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Davina Porter is a wonderful narrator, but I was only able to get through the first book. I listened to the summary of the second and just didn't feel interested enough to stick with it. Overall though it was a very well written version of King Author's story.
    • 5/5
      The women of Camelot are far more appealing than the men in this wonderful retelling of the Arthurian legend. Loved it. Couldn't put it down!
    • 3/5
      Held my interest for most of the book, though lagged quite a bit at the end. Confusing amount of characters with similar names, who were children of various combinations of parents and were raised by different families, creating foster-brothers, foster-aunts, etc. Also several characters went by nicknames that were completely different than their names.The book centered around the fight of the Druid religion, centered in Avalon, to stop the takeover of Christianity as the primary religion in Great Britain. The priestesses of Avalon try to interfere in the British royal family to bring about their goals.
    • 4/5
      Engaging book- will continue to listen to the series. Hope you like it too.

    • 5/5
      Very intriguing novel about the legend around King Arthur, the knights of the round table, Merlin and, of course, Avalon -- an island hidden in the mystic mists of time. The story is told by Morgan Le Fay, and thus, through the eyes of a woman and high priest. Actually, the story is only loosely related to the well known legend but instead ...
    • 3/5
      A fantastic re-telling of the Authurian legend, from the female point of view. I Have read it approx seven times and never get sick of it.
    • 5/5
      I was amazed when someone I lent this book to said it didn't hold his interest. So maybe this is chick fic. All the other borrowers were female and unable to sleep more than two hours a night until they had finished reading it. This is undoubtedly Marion Zimmer Bradley's finest writing--an imaginative re-telling of the King Arthur legend (but no closer to the truth than the traditional legend), with an emphasis on the changeover from goddess worship to god worship. This is the only book I've read three times, and if I can get it back from the last person I lent it to, I'll read it again.
    • 5/5
      Simply amazing. No other words are necessary.
    • 5/5
      Best fantasy book ever written.
    • 4/5
      This was on my summer reading list for my freshman year of high school. I remember that I felt like it was my first exposure to King Arthur. I also thought it was a little racy for freshmen, but maybe I was naive!
    • 5/5
      The most amazing thing about this book is the depth of the characters. It presents a new perspective on the Arthurian legends: the perspective of REAL women. Bradly does an amazing job of making the characters realist, giving them motivation, emotions, and life. I am amazed by how she was able to tell the story with the same events as Mallory, Tennyson, Chretien,etc. but the result is entirely different. It's just great!
    • 3/5
      I read this a long time ago. As I remember it, it was a nice enough read, a bit of fantasy and a bit of romance. A plus for the feminist perspective.
    • 5/5
      One of the best books by one of my favorite authors. King Arthur from the female perspective. A GREAT book.
    • 5/5
      The retelling of Authur and his sister Morgaine from a feminist point of view, incorporating the meeting of Christianity and the Maternal Goddess is wonderful. Some of the passages are poetic and comforting guideposts for us today. (ex: 868 "you did not fail..." or pg 876 "Mother forgive me. I thought I must do what I now see you can do for yourself") The concepts are originally told.
    • 3/5
      This was a good read. Eventually I tired of King Arthur stories, but this was a better one than many. Better than the Bernard Corwell series on the same subject.
    • 5/5
      i still argue with teachers when learning about king arthur from text books because i was so enthralled by this story that i have come to base my entire knowledge of that period on this one book. It will change everything you thought you knew.
    • 5/5
      One of my favourite books of all time. Zimmer Bradley really pulls you into the world of Avalon. It is such a fresh perspective on the whole Arthurian period. It is so through yet remains so interesting. A book which span lifetimes but leaves you wishing it would never end. I would recommend this to anyone.
    • 5/5
      I first read this when it came out....in 2 days flat. (okay, so I really didn't get anything done, hey, I was on college break). The rhythym of the book just flowed and was difficult to put down. A different perspective...and probably closer to actual historical/religios truths.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite books of all time--have read it three times. Although written for adults, easily crosses over to young adults. Definitely would appeal to teen girls who are interested in the Arthurian legend, written from a female perspective.
    • 5/5
      A must read for anyone who enjoys the King Arthur legend. Told from a female perspective, this is still my favorite historical rendering of this classic story, and one that I have, and will, revisit over and over again.
    • 5/5
      This is probably the best Arthurian novel I have ever read. Bradley's writing is beautiful, and all the characters have something to offer. An excellent novel with truly beautiful writing and a great plot.
    • 2/5
      this sort of proved to me that i wasn't going to be a fantasy head. i like the cloaks and the swords and the clothes, but that's really as far as i take it. i'm certainly not a medieval-revisionist-activist thing.
    • 5/5
      "By what men think, we create the world around us, daily new."--What a fabulous quote! I love this retelling of the Arthurian myth/story. I see connections between this and some aspects of The DaVinci Code. This is one of those books you'll return to many times to re-read, it is such a joy. Just fun to read.
    • 5/5
      A beautiful, sensual, feminist and spiritual re-telling of the Arthurian legend, where the traditional bad guys get their voice. It is pretty hard on Guinevere, but she gets to be perfect in most tellings.
    • 1/5
      I know, I must be missing something! I trudged through this book completely bored to tears hoping it would click at some point and it never did for me :-(
    • 4/5
      This book tries to address what may or may not have been the political motivations at the time of potentially fictional people. With all those intangibles, I feel Bradley did a good job, but the story does falter at times. Hardly difficult to believe, seeing the length.
    • 4/5
      My tome read for the summer, Bradley’s 876 page Arthurian drama is told mainly from the point of view of Morgaine, Arthur’s sister. There is a lot of good stuff here, but more than anything, the extremely detailed, well drawn characters make this novel.
    • 4/5
      I LOVED this book as a kid! I am sucker for alternative histories/perspectives on stories, especially when told from a feminist perspective; also, I really enjoy authors that do a good job of incorporating magic into daily activities, which Zimmer-Bradley does very well.