The Mists of Avalon
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
from Ballantine Books
Even readers who don't normally enjoy Arthurian legends will love this version, a retelling from the point of view of the women behind the throne. Morgaine (more commonly known as Morgan Le Fay) and Gwenhwyfar (a Welsh spelling of Guinevere) struggle for power, using Arthur as a way to score points and promote their respective worldviews. The Mists of Avalon's Camelot politics and intrigue take place at a time when Christianity is taking over the island-nation of Britain; Christianity vs. Faery, and God vs. Goddess are dominant themes.
Young and old alike will enjoy this magical Arthurian reinvention by science fiction and fantasy veteran Marion Zimmer Bradley. --Bonnie Bouman
A Literary Guild Featured Alternate
Here is the magical legend of King Arthur, vividly retold through the eyes and lives of the women who wielded power from behind the throne. A spellbinding novel, an extraordinary literary achievement, THE MISTS OF AVALON will stay with you for a long time to come....
With more than 1 million copies in print and winner of the 1984 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, The Mists of Avalon is by far Marion Zimmer Bradley's most successful novel. Putting a new twist on the Arthurian legends, this beloved book tells the epic story of the women behind the rise and fall of King Arthur.
The Winter King (The Arthur Books #1)
by Bernard Cornwell
from St. Martin's Griffin
Essentially this is a modern political thriller, told in flat American diction. Narrated by Derfel, an ordinary, likable man who rises through the ranks to become Arthur's friend and advisor in peace and war, the story doesn't follow the traditional patterns. Mordred is Uther's infant grandson, the legitimate king; Arthur is one of Mordred's guardians, sworn to hold the kingdom against the Saxon warlords until Mordred comes of age. Warfare is incessant. Arthur's dream of peace and unity seems unattainable. Derfel's own story--his strange origin, his love for Nimue, his worries and his triumphs--parallels Arthur's as he fights for and beside him.
Bernard Cornwell downplays the magic that enlivens the traditional stories, depicting it more as a combination of superstition and shrewd wits. I recommend this with reservations; though it's absorbing to read, the emphasis on battles and politics means that this will greatly appeal to some fantasy readers, but disappoint others.
The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. It is to this desperate land that Arthur returns, a man at once utterly human and truly heroic: a man of honor, loyalty, and amazing valor; a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should; a man whose life is at once tragic and triumphant.
As Arthur fights to keep a flicker of civilization alive in a barbaric world, Bernard Cornwell makes a familiar tale into a legend all over again.
Enemy of God (The Arthur Books #2)
by Bernard Cornwell
from St. Martin's Griffin
Cornwell furnishes a provocative look at the Arthurian legends in Enemy of God, the second book in the Warlords Chronicle. This version of the tale takes place during the Dark Ages, when even the lords of the land lived in thatched huts. Arthur, still defending Britain for his younger half-brother Mordred, faces religious uprisings, Saxon invasions, and disloyalty at the heart of the kingdom. His uncompromising belief in oaths and his optimistic blindness to human betrayal isolate him from even his closest friends. At the same time, Merlin's quest for the Cauldron (read Holy Grail) also becomes entangled in treachery.
Cornwell's writing skills have continued to evolve since his journeyman Sharpe series, and Enemy of God combines intriguing descriptions of Druidical magic with the war-ravaged landscape of Dark Ages Britain, without holding back on the brutality of vengeance and war. The Matter of Britain always commands interest, and Cornwell invests the usual splendor and tragedy with the human squalor of the times. --Blaise Selby
Excalibur (The Arthur Books #3)
by Bernard Cornwell
from St. Martin's Griffin
The third novel in the Warlords Chronicle, Excalibur: A Novel of Arthur immerses the reader in the Britain of the Dark Ages. Merlin, the greatest of the Druids, believes that the ancient gods are deserting Britain, and that the invading Saxons can't be defeated without the gods' help. Mordred reigns with a brutal hand, and Arthur sees his dreams of peace evaporate. The author provides exciting descriptions of swordplay and battles, interspersed with somewhat gruesome depictions of ordinary life in those days--greasy, waist-length beards serving as napkins, lambs bloodily sacrificed before festivals, and rampant lice.
But at the heart of Excalibur--what makes the Arthurian legends eternally fascinating--is the larger-than-life company of heroes, from Sagramor the warrior to Taliesin the bard, Guinevere, Lancelot, and Arturus Rex himself. Cornwell treats them all with warmth and dignity, revealing their human qualities without unnecessarily reinventing them. This three-part saga of magic and bloodshed will grip readers from the first page of The Winter King, through Enemy of God, to the last page of Excalibur. --Blaise Selby
This is the tale not only of a broken love remade, but also of forces both earthly and unearthly that threaten everything Arthur stands for. Peopled by princesses and bards, by warriors and magicians, Excalibur is the story of love, war, loyalty, and betrayal-the work of a magnificent storyteller at the height of his powers.
Le Morte D'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table (Signet Classics)
by Sir Thomas Malory
from Signet Classics
From the incredible wizardry of Merlin to the undeniable passion of Sir Launcelot, these tales of Arthur and his knights offer epic adventures with the supernatural-as well as timeless battles with our own humanity.
The legends of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table have inspired some of the greatest works of literature--from Cervantes's Don Quixote to Tennyson's Idylls of the King. Although many versions exist, Malory's stands as the classic rendition. Malory wrote the book while in Newgate Prison during the last three years of his life; it was published some fourteen years later, in 1485, by William Caxton. The tales, steeped in the magic of Merlin, the powerful cords of the chivalric code, and the age-old dramas of love and death, resound across the centuries.
Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy
by Mary Stewart
from Eos
The Merlin Trilogy is Mary Stewart's take on the Arthurian legend in three books: The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, and The Last Enchantment. These books have Merlin, Arthur's wizard mentor, as their focal point, and the result is a charming, engrossing tale providing a unique perspective on a familiar tale. Her history is superb and richly detailed, her characterizations are masterful, and her plotting is perfect. You'll be entranced by this magical story.
The Arthurian legend is one of the most enduring and powerful of myths, and Mary Stewart's classic The Merlin Trilogy is one of its most beloved and acclaimed retellings. In prose that is as vividly, achingly real as it is poetic, New York Times bestselling author Mary Stewart brings to life the man behind the myth: Myrddin Emrys ... Merlinus Ambrosius ... Merlin.
The Crystal Cave
The Hollow Hills
The Last Enchantment
Born the bastard son of a Welsh princess, Myrddin Emrys -- or, as he would later be known, Merlin -- leads a perilous childhood in The Crystal Cave, haunted by portents and visions. But destiny has great plans for this no-man's-son, taking him from prophesying before the High King Vortigern to the crowning of UtherPendragon ... and the conception of Arthur -- king for once and always.
Keeping watch over the young Arthur Pendragon in The Hollow Hills, the prince and prophet Merlin Ambrosius is haunted by dreams of the magical sword Caliburn, hidden for centuries. When Uther Pendragon is killed in battle, the time of destiny is at hand, and Arthur must claim the fabled sword to become the true High King of Britain.
In The Last Enchantment, Arthur Pendragon is king at last. Unchallenged on the battlefield, he melds the country together in a time of promise as Merlin works to keep safe the once and future king. But sinister powers plot to destroy Camelot, and when the witch-queen Morgause -- Arthur's own half sister -- ensnares him in an incestuous liaison, a fatal web of love, betrayal, and bloody vengeance is woven.
Extensively researched and beautifully written, The Merlin Trilogy is the epic culmination of an acclaimed career, a legend in and of itself.
The Eagle (The Camulod Chronicles, Book 9)
by Jack Whyte
from Tor Books
The Eagle brings us at last to the heart of the tale, the creation of fabled Camelot and the love story that enshrined its glory. Whyte takes us into the minds and lives of Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot, three astonishing but fallible people who were bound together by honor, loyalty, and love. Three who created the glory that was Britain’s shining dream…and, some say, caused its downfall.
The Gaulish nobleman Clothar—known in our time as Lancelot—is drawn to the young High King’s court by tales of honor and nobility, where he meets a man whose love of law matches his own. More, he finds in Arthur a life-long friend whose dream of uniting the people of Britain in peace Clothar embraces. And Clothar meets Arthur’s queen, a wondrous beauty whose passion and ideals match those of her husband. Together they work to bring Arthur’s dream to life.
But dark forces rise in opposition to Arthur’s plans for creating this noble island nation and it is hard to tell friend from foe in the swirling chaos that ensues. Many tales have been told of the dream that shined and died. This one will astonish even the most jaded.
Knight of Darkness (Lords of Avalon, Book 2)
by Kinley Macgregor
from Avon
For countless centuries, I've been the assassin for the infamous Merlin, even though the woman who birthed me sits at the right hand of our enemy, Morgen le Fey. Now both my mother and Morgen have decided that it's time I take my place on their side of this conflict.
Normally, telling them no wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that the good guys I protect think that I'm an even worse demon than the ones we fight. Hmm, maybe they're right. I have to say that I do enjoy maiming anyone who gets in my way.
At least until my mother gives me a simple choice: join Morgen's Circle of the Damned or see an innocent woman die. I'm all for saving the innocent, but Merewyn isn't as innocent as she seems. And she's none too fond of the fact that her fate is in my dubious hands. Personally I'm all for taking the easy way out, but leaving her to Morgen is rough, even for me. Now the only way to save both our lives is to face the evilest forces ever known—my mother and Morgen. And two people who know nothing of trust must learn to rely on each other or die: provided we don't kill each other first.
The Lance Thrower (The Camulod Chronicles, Book 8)
by Jack Whyte
from Forge Books
Clothar is a young man of promise. He has been sent from the wreckage of Gaul to one of the few schools remaining, where logic and rhetoric are taught along with battle techniques that will allow him to survive in the cruel new world where the veneer of civilization is held together by barbarism. He is sent by his mentor on a journey to aid another young man: Arthur Pendragon. He is a man who wants to replace barbarism with law, and keep those who work only for destruction at bay. He is seen, as the last great hope for all that is good.
Clothar is drawn to this man, and together they build a dream too perfect to last--and, with a special woman, they share a love that will nearly destroy them all...
The name of Clothar may be unknown to modern readers, for tales change in the telling through centuries. But any reader will surely know this heroic young man as well as they know the man who became his king. Hundreds of years later, chronicles call Clothar, the Lance Thrower, by a much more common name.
That of Lancelot.
Arthurian Romances (Penguin Classics)
by Chrétien de Troyes
from Penguin Classics
Chrtien de Troyes did not invent the Arthurian legend: he gave it a sophisticated form, establishing it as a major branch of European literature. This lively edition of Chretien's romances includes "Perceval," the first Grail story, as well as his lays "Erec and Enide," "Cligs," Lancelot," and "Yvain." In these delicate, passionate works, French chivalry bounds through the centuries to greet modern readers with new words for devotion.
