- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz; New edition edition (18 Jun 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0575601086
- ISBN-13: 978-0575601086
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 11.2 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 662,027 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
The story of three damosels from the Golden Age: Vivian, the 15-year-old niece of the Lady Morgan le Fay; Lynett, unwilling bride of the Round Table knight Gaheris; and Ursulet, daughter of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
This book actually contains books which are available separately: "The Green Knight", "The King's Damosel", and "The King's Daughter". These are all great stories, bringing the stories of three women from Arthurian times to the reader. The three stories are united by the character of Morgan le Fay, whose malice against her half-brother and desire for power bring her to various acts of magic and cruelty. The heroines of the stories are Vivian, the granddaughter of Merlin and Nimue, Lynett, married to Gaheris but in love with Gareth and wanting more than her prospects seem to allow, and Ursulet, daughter of Arthur and Guinevere. Each character meets a studly hero whom she ends up in love with, although not every story ends happily-ever-after. Morgan frequently uses human frailties and desires against the heroes, and the characters struggle to achieve some kind of peace and happiness.
One more thing you should know--the story of "The King's Damosel" was very loosely the basis for a film "Quest for Camelot", although Chapman's story is much more realistic and touching than the film managed to be.
If you want three books for the price of one, and all good stories of King Arthur's time (more or less), this is the one to buy.
One more thing you should know--the story of "The King's Damosel" was very loosely the basis for a film "Quest for Camelot", although Chapman's story is much more realistic and touching than the film managed to be.
If you want three books for the price of one, and all good stories of King Arthur's time (more or less), this is the one to buy.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
A sheer delight of Arthuriana from a woman's view
21 July 2000
Format:Paperback
This is a magnificent book. I read the English edition (pub. 1978) and couldn't get enough of it. There are three novels in here, each retelling an aspect of the Arthurian legends from the perspective of one of the female participants. "The Green Knight" and "King Arthur's Daughter" are both excellent stories, but it was "The King's Damosel" that really blew me away. Here is a re-telling of, and riff on, the tale of Gareth Beaumains, in which he is harangued by one sister and rescues another and marries. But what of this second sister, Lynett? Why did she have such an acid tongue? And what became of her? This tale goes far to answer this and, more importantly, gives a strong female character to the legends. Amazingly, she is not a witch, a queen, or a woman-hiding-as-knight. Instead, she is a messenger, one who loyal serves King Arthur, yet constantly stands against the limited role for women in society and the assumptions laid upon them.
Like so many books I have read since MZB, this is what "Mists of Avalon" wanted to be, but failed to produce, a true melding of the legends with a femnist slant, one that is not discordanant, but rather is an improvement upon the old tales well told.
If you can find this book, read it.
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