This is truly one of the best books on the basic King Arthur / Guinevere sagas. Gwen is not a harlot, nor does she fool around behind the king's back. On the contrary, she is incredibly human in loving BOTH men, just in different ways.



Guinevere did not want to be queen, but had no choice. She was, however, determined to fill the role properly and with dignity. This book tells of her history and how she became a towering figure to the people of Britain. Beautiful, accomplished, but destined for hardship - that's the queen.



This was McKenzie's first published book. She had since written a sequel to this one and at least one other book on the Guinevere theme.



This is one of the few Arthurian legend novels that doesn't frustrate me with trivia nor anger me at the characters. Everyone is human and likeable (except the bad guys, who are really hateable, as they should be), everyone errs occasionaly, and you find yourself really caring about them.



The tone of the book is that of its setting - while reading, you long to be in a dark stone castle, with rolling hills and fogs outside your window. Not all is peaceful in Camelot - there are intrigues, kidnappings, battles and you have to choose which gown to wear of course. But the book is richly detailed and a very fast read.



Highly recommended. There are a few graphic scenes, so maybe not for the younger readers, but a wonderful escape into chivalry.



I recommend the sequel, The High Queen, as well.

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Created Jan 23, 2003 at 6:13am • Submit your own review...