The Mists of Avalon Series

[Divia]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/PaganMoon/avalon1.jpg

Here is the series in order.


Fall of Atlantis (1983)
Ancestors of Avalon (2004) (written principally by Diana L. Paxson)
Ravens of Avalon (2007) (written by Diana L. Paxson)
The Forest House (1993) (with Diana L. Paxson)
Priestess of Avalon (2000) (with Diana L Paxson)
Lady of Avalon (1997) (with Diana L Paxson)
The Mists of Avalon (1979)

[Kailana]

I was just thinking tonight that I need to read the rest of this series! Your a mind reader, Divia.

[Divia]

I"m glad I could help. I was trying to remember some of the threads over on HF.org. so that I could add them here. The most trouble is the bloody Country ones. :(

[nona]

I've thought about reading Mists or Avalon but I've only read so many different stories and seen so many movies of the Arthurian tales that I'm wary of reading it because I might lose interest or is it good enough that I won't feel I'm reading just another tale of the round table and Arthur?

I've seen two or three of the books from the series at amazon but where would you find the others?

[Susan]

I've thought about reading Mists or Avalon but I've only read so many different stories and seen so many movies of the Arthurian tales that I'm wary of reading it because I might lose interest or is it good enough that I won't feel I'm reading just another tale of the round table and Arthur?

I've seen two or three of the books from the series at amazon but where would you find the others?

All the books should be available at amazon. Marion Zimmer Bradley died in 1999 and a few books were co-authored with Diana Paxson and the later books have been written by Paxson alone. You may have to look under Paxson's name. Only The Mists of Avalon is directly about the Arthurian legends. The other books occur before The Mists of Avalon.

This Wikipedia article lists the books in the order they were written and in chronological order: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalon_Series

[Ash]

I read this book when it first came out, and reread it again many times over the years. I just loved the different take on the Arthur story, as well as a glimpse at early Christianity (and it certainly got me interested in that topic.)
I read one of the prequels, which I thought was good, but unfortunately don't remember which (either the first or second). Haven't tried the others. Shes an excellent writer, and brings you right into the story. She has some interesting theories, some of which are very farfetched, but as this is FICTION, this shouldn't be a problem (and BTW I really wouldn't call this HF, except that many Arthur books are, and so I guess you could stretch things a bit :)

Whatever you do, do NOT watch the horrible, and I mean horrible adaptation of Mists of Avalon that came out a few years ago. They take the most explicit parts of the book, and make them the story. And they didn't even do those parts well...

[nona]

lol, I saw it when it first came out. I give the book a go and order it in the near future and let you know what I think.

[sweetpotatoboy]

I've read The Mists of Avalon twice and it's one of my favourite reads ever (though I haven't read it in about 20 years). I did read The Forest House a bit later on and thought it was OK, but not more. I've thought about reading the other books and I may do one day.

I'm wondering if I should read them in the order they were written or in the order of the events in them. Any thoughts?

PS. In that Wikipedia article, it states that The Forest House was written with Diana Paxson. That wasn't my recollection. Anyway, I had a close look at my copy and, although Paxson doesn't get a credit for authorship, there is a dedication to her that implies she played a hand in the plotting, if not in the actual writing.

[LCW]

I ordered the Priestess of Avalon off a book swap site. I'll wait a bit to read it since I recently read Mists and wasn't thrilled with it.

[nona]

I got Mists of Avalon the other day, I'm waiting to read it tough, I have some others that are on loan so must finish first.

[Christina]

I have only read 'The Mists of Avalon' in this series and I loved it. Doesn't the author manage to bring alive the settings and the old rites and all that lies behind them? The whole discussions about early Christianity and the blending of the old ways and new ways is so thought-provoking and leaves you (or at least left me!) wanting to discover so much more about those times and what really happened.
The characters are wonderful, too, and have such depths to them that I found myself swaying between understanding them and being quite confused by them. The current BBC TV series, "Merlin" has made me want to read this book again...and the rest of the series!

[Divia]

I didnt know about merlin...but I do watch Robin Hood :D Sometimes the states are a little late in getting stuff from the UK.

I dunno if you want ot read the other books. I did and you're left with a bitter taste in your mouth because none of them are as good.

[Christina]

Oh I love Robin Hood - LOL! It's even better than Merlin!!

Thank you for the warning about the other books. I would not want to be disappointed after so enjoying "Mists..."

[enelya]

I think it just depends on why you liked the Mists in the first place. I did like the other books. The storyline might not be as strong as in the Mists but the characters are still lovingley crafted. The only book I did not like was the one about Atlantis...it just did not have the same click for me like the other ones did. I can't really explain it, to me it is just a feeling.
What do you guys think about the movie adoptation?

[Divia]

I liked the movie. I have it on DVD I think.

But it was forever ago since I read the book so I dont know how true it is.

[Ash]

Oh gawd, the movie was horrid. It took every bit of sensational scene in the book and magnified it, leaving out so much of the plot background. Someone said they changed the ending, but Im not sure, because I bailed about midway through.

The book was really my first read about pre Christian Britain, and early Christian history, plus I loved Arthurian legends, so I enjoyed it, and ended up reading much more on the subject over the years. If I read it again, I'd probably have all sorts of problems with it, but at the time, it was the perfect read.

[Nefret]

I got Sword of Avalon a few weeks ago. I have only read the first three books of the series. Mists was my favourite version of that story.

[EC2]

I enjoyed Mists of Avalon a lot but I've never read any of the others. From a writerly technique point of view I really admire the tight viewpoint control and the author's way with a description.

[Nefret]

Everything else in the series is set before Mists, so you have to read it backwards.