Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am a pagan feminist, and glad to have been raised in the New Age movement by my mother, who counts this as one of her all-time favorites. Not to mention that I've always been fascinated with Celtic mythology and the Arthurian tales, to the point of taking courses in college about them. Should this book, then, not have been right up my alley? Alas, no. BOTH times I have tried to read it, I have ground to a halt because of the dark sickness it makes me feel. I tried to read it the first time when I was eighteen, as I was taking a Middle English Romance Epics class at FSU. I loved reading about the Arthurian stories in all their different forms over the centuries, and I thought one with a modern, feminist twist would be ideal. I'd known about Mists for years, had heard my mom and her friends describe it as though it were the definitive strong-spiritual-female story. Instead what I found was a story about women who treated one another and themselves like crap, and whom the author never stopped putting through horrific, hopeless ordeals. I know the story, I know it contains betrayals and tragedy. Most good stories do, because life does. But the relish with which they, and the emotional and physical agony they cause, are described...yuck. I was shocked, upset, almost physically ill by the time I gave up 3/4 way through. And this coming from someone who spent her teen years repeatedly reading, among other things, long Stephen King and Anne Rice novels. I tried reading it again this year, at 25, thinking that I may have been too young to see whatever value it obviously has to so many women. Thinking also, that I may have been just going through an emotionally sensitive phase back then, when graphic depictions of agony, cruel disloyalty, and morbid psychological issues might have creeped me out overmuch. I didn't even get halfway through this time. Honestly, I have no idea why anyone finds this inspiring or feminist, it seems the exact opposite to me. None of the characters are likeable at all, and the women are "strong" only if "strong" means "manipulative, cruel and hardheaded" to you. The honor, courage, and compassion that not only define "strength" to me, but that have made the Arthurian legends so powerful to so many people over the ages, are utterly absent here. There is a light that's just missing, and what's left is a feeling of claustrophobic brutality, both between the characters, and in the author's treatment of the story. My perception that there is something horribly wrong with this book was confirmed. I put it down and resolved never to pick it up again. Don't get me wrong, I can see the appeal. A Goddess-loving version of a timeless classic is a wonderful idea that I wish were more common! Sadly, it seems that that political and spiritual novelty is all this book really has going for it. Frankly, it has none of the love and loyalty that to me are the backbone of both great old epics and the new spiritual movements. Feminist women, Goddess-loving women, and New Age women are probably going to continue to like this book because of its concept, which can be truly revelatory and life-changing if it's your first exposure to it. But there are better modern retellings of the Arthurian story, as well as better modern Goddess-oriented epics--stories with more hope and inspiration than this. Enjoy this if it appeals to you, but remember, it's not the best--only the first. In short, you'll probably either love this novel or be immensely turned off by it. Check it out of the library. If you find the first couple of chapters enthralling, you should buy it, because you'll probably be one of those who do love it and are changed by it. If you begin to read it and feel a sense that dark, gloomy clouds are gathering inside you, and that you're reading a barbaric, hopeless soap opera, just stop and put the book away, because that darkness ain't gonna let up. You'll probably know if you're meant to read this or not, and more power to you either way. BTW, if you strongly need historical or archaological/anthropological accuracy, stay the hell away from this. It's a fantasy, folks. Come on. :)