Helpful Score: 9
This book was a disappointment. After enjoying _The Mists of Avalon_ when it was first published, I looked forward to getting into the series. MZB died in 1999, and this book was published in 1997 I believe, so perhaps she was relying more on her sister to do the writing by then. Diana Paxson is not credited in any way in the edition of the book I have, though she's listed as co-author on several websites. If this is an indication of the rest of the series, I'll have to say "thanks but no thanks." The last 20 pages or so were good, and would've made a great short story, but the rest of the book was dull and poorly written.
Helpful Score: 4
I enjoy the author's style of writing, I always have a great mental painting of the characters and story. I enjoyed this book.
Helpful Score: 3
A very good and intriguing story, the prequel to "The Mists of Avalon". It is always refreshing to see powerful female characters in a novel.
Helpful Score: 3
The Forest House - the prequel to Marion Zimmer Bradley's much beloved and enduring classis, The Mists of Avalon - is a mesmerizing epic of one woman's pivotal role at a turning point in history, brough to magnificent, unforgettable life.
She was Eilan, the daughter of a Druidic warleader and gifted with visions. In a land struggling to survive both Roman conquerors and her pwn people's enemies, surely fate had marked her to become a priestess of the Forest House.
But first Eilan had chosen a different, forbidden path - to love Gaius, a soldier of mixed blood among the legions sent to subdue her country. And so, she must hide a terrible secret when she is anointed as the new High Priestess. With mightly enemies poised to usurp the wealth of magic the Forest House sheltered, Eilan could only trust in the power of the great Goddess to find her destiny admidst the treacherous labyrinth in which fate had placed her...
She was Eilan, the daughter of a Druidic warleader and gifted with visions. In a land struggling to survive both Roman conquerors and her pwn people's enemies, surely fate had marked her to become a priestess of the Forest House.
But first Eilan had chosen a different, forbidden path - to love Gaius, a soldier of mixed blood among the legions sent to subdue her country. And so, she must hide a terrible secret when she is anointed as the new High Priestess. With mightly enemies poised to usurp the wealth of magic the Forest House sheltered, Eilan could only trust in the power of the great Goddess to find her destiny admidst the treacherous labyrinth in which fate had placed her...
Helpful Score: 3
Prequel to The Mists of Avalon. I didn't like it as well. Most prequels are. Eilan has chosen a forbidden path to love. She must hide her secret when she is anointed as the new High Priestess.