The Ancestors of Avalon - Softcover

Bradley, Marion Zimmer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 000713844X ISBN 13: 9780007138449

Publisher: Voyager, 2004

Synopsis

Once again, Diana L. Paxson has beautifully elaborated on Marion Zimmer Bradley's beloved Avalon saga with this dramatic new installment, which for the first time reveals the past of the ancestors of Avalon, from their beginnings on the doomed island of Atlantis to their escape to the mist-shrouded isle of Britain. It follows the extraordinary journey of two powerful women whose destinies will shape the fates of their physical and spiritual descendants: Tiriki, a high priestess exiled by the fall of Atlantis, torn between the claims of love and duty, and Damisa, a young acolyte of royal blood, tempted by ambition to forsake her spiritual path.

Hints of this mysterious past have haunted all the novels of Avalon, but until now the full sweep of this rich history has not been revealed. Dramatic, peopled with the remarkable women who have always inhabited Avalon, and set in a world of enchantment that will sweep readers to a richly imagined time and place, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Ancestors of Avalon is another spectacular epic that is sure to please Bradley's many ardent readers.

About this title

About the Author

Marion Zimmer Bradley was the bestselling author of The Mists of Avalon, Lady of Avalon, Priestess of Avalon, The Forest House, and The Firebrand, as well as the popular Darkover series of science fiction novels published by Daw.

Diana L. Paxson is a noted fantasy author who collaborated with Bradley on many of her later works, including Priestess of Avalon. She has written twenty books, including the Arthurian series, The Hallowed Isle.

From Booklist

In this pre-pre-pre-prequel to The Mists of Avalon (1982), a kingdom sinks into the sea--but the spirit of a deceased author appears to rise again. Paxson, who completed Bradley's Priestess of Avalon (2001) after the widely revered novelist died in 1999, fashions an entirely new entry in the Avalon saga, one that telescopes the evocative notion that the otherworldly forces supporting Arthur were remnants of Atlantis. The curtain opens on an Atlantean island just prior to its destruction; most of the novel, however, is set among refugees of the doomed kingdom who make landfall in pre-Christianity Britain. Parallel stories unfold as two lovers separated during the cataclysm, the priest Micail and the priestess Tiriki, establish two settlements and struggle with the need to adjust to a new environment (with native peoples playing a major role) while still honoring their lost civilization's spiritual legacy. The colonies develop in opposing directions, mirroring Bradley's primary thematic interests: the (typically male) desire to compete and conquer versus the gentler impulses associated with goddess worship. Paxson's storytelling features the requisite veins of mysticism, but, like Bradley, she excels at bringing the vast sweep of imagined history to an accessible level, as when the refugees of sun-drenched Atlantis struggle to acclimate to Britain's notoriously dismal weather. A rich and respectful homage that will dazzle readers longing to revisit Bradley's sacred, storied isle. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Voyager
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 000713844X
• ISBN 13: 9780007138449
• Binding: Paperback