Marion Zimmer Bradley

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mzarynn

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I recently read "The Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley and was completely drawn into the book. (I love it when that happens.) It's a book about the story of Arthur and Camelot told from the women's perspective. (Arthur's mom, sister, and wife) It was one of those storylines I thought and dreamt about when I wasn't reading the book. I had never heard of Marion Zimmer Bradley until the book was lent to me and was wondering if any of you had read her other books. I would love to hear your opinions on her writing and which Bradley book should I read next.
 
mzarynn said:
I recently read "The Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley and was completely drawn into the book. (I love it when that happens.) It's a book about the story of Arthur and Camelot told from the women's perspective. (Arthur's mom, sister, and wife) It was one of those storylines I thought and dreamt about when I wasn't reading the book. I had never heard of Marion Zimmer Bradley until the book was lent to me and was wondering if any of you had read her other books. I would love to hear your opinions on her writing and which Bradley book should I read next.
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While not really an MZB fan, I would personally recommend what I think is her other great work, an early one from her Darkover series: The Sword of Aldones. While I don't have any issue with the basic feminist aspects of her works, she at times seems a bit too obsessed with it and it interferes with her storylines. "Sword" takes you back to when she first began writing and gives a better sense of the writer she can still become. "Mists" is, of course, very well done but too much like my impressions of the film "Excalibur" were to the Arthurian legend. If you want a clearer perhaps edgier telling of the legend you might want to look at the Mary Stewart's books - "The Crystal Cave" and "The Hollow Hills."

If it is more of the feminism angle you are interested in you might want to look into Margaret Atwood's "Handmaid's Tale." Don't judge it by the film, by the way.
 
I enjoyed The Mists of Avalon but I don't recall reading anything else by her. I'll have to secomd Zorka's suggestion of The Crystal Cave and The Hollow Hills. I've also got a couple of other suggestions but my eyes are closing as I type so I'll finish up in the morning. :)
 
I have a book of her short stories that was really good. Somehow, her Trojan novel Firebrand didn't do much for me. Just my opinion, though. The MZB Fantasy magazine, despite a short run, published some great tales, by the way, do look out for the anthologies if you can. Tends toward the 'sword and sorceress' cliche to avoid the 'sword and sorcerer' cliche, but lots of great stuff in there.
 
dwndrgn said:
I enjoyed The Mists of Avalon but I don't recall reading anything else by her. I'll have to secomd Zorka's suggestion of The Crystal Cave and The Hollow Hills. I've also got a couple of other suggestions but my eyes are closing as I type so I'll finish up in the morning. :)
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Well, I said I've give you some suggestions didn't I? I'll split them up as I'm not sure which aspects of the book made you want to read more.

If you liked the female viewpoint of the novel, here are a couple of good ones:
Black Trillium (Marion Zimmer Bradley is one of three authors on this one) and it is pretty much geared to younger women, but still very readable for adults. There are several other books in the series. The others are mostly written by the separate authors so they are a touch different in aspect. However, all are good reads. The other authors are Julian May and Andre Norton.
Rhapsody by Elizabeth Haydon. I've recommended this one before as I thoroughly enjoyed it. The female protagonist is a little bit unusual for the type, which is nice. The storyline has some unique twists and turns, which is also nice.

If it is the storyline - being based on the legend of Arthur, the books earlier mentioned by Zorka are a good starting place.

You'll have to tell us what specifically drew you in and made you enjoy it so much so we can gear suggestions toward those criteria. HTH
 
About 20 years ago I read every darkover book I could get my hands on. They were addictive. I still have them in my collection. I would recoment you try one of the earlier ones in the series and see if you like them. I did not care fpr Mists of Avalon, and the sequal stunk...Forest was in the title, I think. mary Stewart has one of the best Arthur stories out there, along with T.H. White.
 
Thanks for all of your suggestions. As for what specifically drew me into the book... I have always enjoyed the story of King Arthur and Camelot and now that zorka and dwndrgn mention it, I have been reading a lot of books with independent women as the main characters. Maybe I'm going through an "empowered women" phaze. If I am, it's my husband's fault- who bought me Mistress of Dragons by Margaret Weiss about six months ago. Though I never finished the series, it's started me on a path of not only female lead characters but female authors as well. Thanks for your comments, now I know what I'm looking for. :D
 
Try reading the two books that make "The Merlin codex" that will give you a chill...or Stephen King
 
I think every girl in my high school went through a MZB phase. Not to say that its a teen's book, that just seems to be when so many people pick it up for the first time.

That being said, I think its a great "gateway book" into fantasy for a lot of people who might not have given the genre a chance.
 
I tried The Mists of Avalon got 50 pages in and gave up on it. I just didn't like it.
 
I found Mists of Avalon to be long-winded and took years to get through it. I preferred Firebrand. It was my introduction to the legend of Troy. The other books of hers I read was The Fall of Atlantis (which I enjoyed),and Catch Trap (which was not suitable for a 13 years old!).
 
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