Review of A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle

A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle is the fourth book in the Austin Family series. This is a hard summer for Vicky and her family. They are spending an extended vacation with her grandfather who is dying of leukemia, but as if that wasn't enough to deal with, one tragedy after another strikes the community. Vicky tries to keep herself busy helping out with a dolphin communications experiment, but all of the horrible things that are happening definitely take their toll on her. On top of the various tragedies, she's also got three different guys vying for her attention and she has to figure out who she really wants to be with. She spends a lot of time with her grandfather and in his illness he imparts a great deal of wisdom to her. Even that isn't enough to heal her soul though, and she can only find comfort and solace in the dolphins that she has come to know and care for.

This is a very sad book, but it's also probably my favorite in this series and I'd highly recommend it. I just love reading about the spiritual connection that the main character has with the dolphins and with the guy leading the experiment. This book can probably be read as a standalone, but would be a good idea to read the previous books in the series plus The Arm of the Starfish for background story.

Review of The Moon by Night by Madeleine L'Engle

The Moon by Night by Madeleine L'Engle is the second book in the Austin Family series and takes place a couple of years after Meet the Austins. The father of the family gets a new job and they have to move, but they decide to take a road trip/camping vacation all across the country first to bond as a family. I'd say that a lot of the book was fairly dull and just described the various places they visited, though some of the scenery descriptions were quite nice. Things did get more interesting when the main character met a guy at one of the campsites and they seemed to become instantly fascinated with each other and he actually followed/stalked her around the country much to her delight and her family's dismay. There was still a lot of dull filler type stuff after that with a few exciting events here and there, but I did enjoy reading about the budding relationship which had a lot of ups and downs. Overall I'd say that I enjoyed this book a bit more than Meet the Austins, but I probably wouldn't rate it as more than three stars. There was one brief reference to A Wrinkle in Time which really made me smile.

Review of The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley is an Arthurian tale told from the perspective of women, including King Arthur's mother, aunts, sister, and wife. The story tells about their lives and their struggles, hardships, and romances both before and after the birth of King Arthur and the various ways they plot and participate in shaping the future of their kingdom. This is a very long and slow paced book, but I didn't find it at all tedious to read, which is more than I can say for other books in this series. I enjoyed nearly every minute of reading this book from start to end, and when it was over I felt such longing wanting to read more. I thought that most of the characters were very well done and had lots of depth to them. I especially connected with the character of Morgaine, the narrator and King Arthur's sister, and felt she was a kindred spirit, or as much of one as a book character can be. I also really connected to the spirituality of this book and many of the pagan beliefs described resonate closely with my own eclectic spiritual beliefs. This is definitely one of my favorite books and it will always hold a special place in my heart. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Arthurian fiction or medieval fantasy.

It is not necessary to read any of the other books in Bradley's Avalon series to enjoy this book, though the other books do give a lot of background history to Avalon and even to some of the characters in this book. If you want to read the other books in the series and want to read them chronologically as I did, then The Mists of Avalon should be the last book you read. If you prefer to read the books in publication order, then start with this book and work your way back chronologically.

I re-watched the made for TV movie after I finished reading the book and thoroughly enjoyed it despite the fact that there were many changes. I would say that the movie stayed fairly true to the first half of the book, but the movie changed and left out a lot of things from the second half of the book. Also some of the characters were altered and were nastier than they were in the book and things like that. There were a lot of instances where I could see why things needed to be changed or removed for the movie format, but there were some parts of the book that I really wish had been included in the movie. I suppose if they had included all of the stuff they left out, the movie would have been twice as long as it was. It's still a great movie though and I'm able to enjoy it in and of itself.

Review of The Princess Bride by William Goldman

The Princess Bride by William Goldman is a satirical romantic fairy tale. A young girl named Buttercup falls in love with the farm hand Westly. After she declares her love to him, Westly leaves to seek his fortune promising to send for her. When Buttercup receives news that Westly's ship was attacked by a pirate that is known to leave no survivors she is inconsolable. When the local prince learns of Buttercup's beauty he orders her to marry him or face death and seems not the least bit concerned that Buttercup will never love him. Shortly after the engagement Buttercup is kidnapped as part of a conspiracy to start a war.

I found the story a bit hard to get into at first but it picks up after the first couple of chapters. I would say that I didn't find the book to be quite as funny as the movie, but I think that's just because the actors really bring out the humor with the inflections of their voices and the way they say the lines. I found it really enjoyable though to read the background stories of some of the characters that they really don't go into in the movie. One thing about the book that's a little annoying is that the author as a narrator often interrupts the story and goes off on tangents. Some of it is amusing and often starts out as sort of relating to what is going on in the book, but tends to end up far off course before you return to the actual story. Overall I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who has seen the movie or anyone who enjoys humorous fairy tale like stories with plenty of action, adventure, and romance.

One final thing I want to mention is that there is no unabridged version of this book. No matter how much the author tells you that he abridged a story originally written by S. Morgenstern, don't believe him. This is merely a humorous plot device and there is no such person as S. Morgenstern(though the author has used it as a pseudonym in other works). Many details of the author's life in the introduction to this book are also completely fabricated.

Review of Lady of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Lady of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley is a compilation of three novellas, each set in a different time period, and each with a different High Priestess or "Lady" of Avalon. Part one is a direct sequel to The Forest House and tells the story of how the protective mists that separate Avalon from the surrounding land were put in place by Caillean. Part two is about a priestess named Teleri who is compelled to marry a man she does not love in order to tie him to Avalon to ensure the safety of Britain. Part three is a direct prequel to The Mists of Avalon and is the story of Viviane's childhood and training on Avalon and the events that led to her becoming High Priestess of Avalon. Although these are three separate stories, they all contain similar themes which tie them together. I rather enjoyed the first and third parts, but part two I found more tedious and didn't really feel it added much to the series as a whole except to provide some context for certain events that happened in the book Priestess of Avalon. Overall I'd really recommend this book to fans of the Avalon series as it provides some really good background story to The Mists of Avalon.

This book should be read after The Forest House(and Ravens of Avalon before that) and before Mists of Avalon. There are also references to The Fall of Atlantis and Ancestors of Avalon but it is less important that you read these books first. The book Priestess of Avalon overlaps both chronologically and in plot with part two of this book.  There are many options for the order in which to read the two books. You could simply read Lady of Avalon first and then Priestess of Avalon second or vice-versa. You could read Priestess of Avalon anytime after the first part of Lady of Avalon, but make sure you finish reading it before you start part three of Lady of Avalon. My preferred method is a bit more complicated though. First read part one of Lady of Avalon. Second read part one of Priestess of Avalon and up to chapter 11 of part two. Third read part two of Lady of Avalon. Forth finish parts two and three of Priestess of Avalon, and then finally read part three of Lady of Avalon.

Review of Priestess of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson

Priestess of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson is the story of a priestess named Helena who was forced to leave her home at Avalon and live an entirely different life from what she was used to. The story follows her life and her pseudo marriage and tells of the different places that she lived in the Roman Empire.  The story tells about her relationship with her children and her grandchildren and also about her feelings in regard to the rise of Christianity in the Empire and how it relates to her own spirituality. There are some parts of the book that were enjoyable for me such as Helena's time on Avalon and reading about how her spirituality evolves in her time away from Avalon, but I found much of the story to be very tedious to get through and I'd have to say that this is probably my least favorite book in the Avalon series. I'd probably only recommend reading this book if you are also reading Lady of Avalon because the story of Priestess of Avalon overlaps, both chronologically and in plot, with part two of Lady of Avalon, though I'm not sure it's entirely necessary.

There are many options for the order in which to read the two books. You could simply read Lady of Avalon first and then Priestess of Avalon second or vice-versa. You could read Priestess of Avalon anytime after the first part of Lady of Avalon, but make sure you finish reading it before you start part three of Lady of Avalon. My preferred method is a bit more complicated though. First read part one of Lady of Avalon. Second read part one of Priestess of Avalon and up to chapter 11 of part two. Third read part two of Lady of Avalon. Forth finish parts two and three of Priestess of Avalon, and then finally read part three of Lady of Avalon.

Priestess of Avalon(along with Lady of Avalon) takes place after The Forest House, so you might want to read that book first as well as Ravens of Avalon which provides some of the background story to The Forest House. There are also some references made to The Fall of Atlantis and Ancestors of Avalon, but I'd say it's less important to have read those books prior to reading Priestess of Avalon. One last thing I'd like to comment on is that this book is written in first person while the other books in the series are all written in third person(with the exception of some introduction passages). I'm not a big fan of first person perspective, but I have to say that it was done well enough in this book that I didn't really notice too much.

Review of The Forest House by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Forest House by Marion Zimmer Bradley is one of the books in her Avalon series. The story is set during the Roman occupation of Britain about a generation after the uprising of Boudicca. Much of the story is centered around the Forest House, which is the sanctuary for the Druid priestesses that was established after the destruction of the Druid complex on the isle of Mona by the Romans, and the woman who serve there. All of the books in this series have elements of romance, but it is a particularly strong theme in this book and a major plot point is the forbidden love between Eilan, a Druid priestess of the Forest House, and Gaius, a half-Roman soldier. The story follows their lives parallel to each other and the few times they are able to meet. Although they can never truly be together, in their own ways they both work to try to keep the peace between their two peoples as certain British factions vie for revenge against the Romans for the atrocities they committed years before.

This book takes place after Ravens of Avalon and I would strongly suggest reading that book before reading The Forest House. Ravens of Avalon provides much of the background story for The Forest House and I definitely felt less confused about events mentioned in The Forest House on this read than on previous reads before having read Ravens of Avalon(despite some minor inconsistencies between the two books). You might also want to read The Fall of Atlantis before reading this book in order to understand certain references, but it's not wholly necessary. I wouldn't say that The Forest House is my favorite book in the series, but I did enjoy it and would recommend it to other fans of the series and to people who enjoy British history.

Review of The Fall of Atlantis by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Fall of Atlantis by Marion Zimmer Bradley is the story of two sisters who grow up in the temple of light in the Ancient Land and tells about the difficult decisions and struggles they face and how their relationship is strained as they go down different paths. The story does contain elements of romance and mystery, but it is ultimately about the struggle between the light and the dark, good and evil. Romance isn't really my thing but I did not feel that the romantic elements in this story were overwhelming and I enjoyed the story overall even if was a bit slow paced at times. The only small peeve I have is that the title is misleading.

The story really isn't about Atlantis being destroyed and in fact most of the story doesn't even take place in Atlantis. A better title might have been "The Events Leading Up to the Fall of Atlantis", but I suppose that title would be too long and awkward. The Fall of Atlantis was not the original title though. It was originally published as two separate books, The Web of Light and the Web of Darkness, and then republished as one book under its current title. Another thing that people might not know is that this book is actually a part of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Avalon series. Originally it was only connected to the series by one minor detail that most would overlook, but then the book Ancestors of Avalon was published which is a direct sequel to The Fall of Atlantis. I would recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed other books in the Avalon series.

Review of Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips is about Greek gods/goddesses living in modern London and all the antics they get up to. It wasn't as funny as I expected it to be, but it had its moments and I enjoyed reading it.