The Forest House (Avalon, #2) (2024)

3,5
Aunque no me gustó tanto como 'Las nieblas de Avalon', disfruté un montón de esta precuela bastante lejana en el tiempo que nos lleva a una época en la que Roma estaba en decadencia y su relación con los britanos fluctuaba constantemente.
Una vez más el foco está en las mujeres y particularmente en las sacerdotistas. Todo el detalle que se emplea en describirnos las liturgias y creencias me encantó. También los druidas tienen su importancia así como su relación con la diosa.
Odié bastante a Gayo, Eilan no me encantó y el instalove desde el principio queda claro que es una excusa para todo lo que la autora quiere contar, pero aún así por cómo está narrado a mi me atrapó de principio a fin.
Y Caillean personaje mítico y maravilloso.
Esa mezcla de misticismo, oráculos, diosas paganas y druidas en conflicto con las normas y costumbres romanas sin duda es lo mejor del libro, y que la autora, aunque podría, no muestra a buenos y malos sino una buena gama de grises.

Someone recently suggested to me when I was reading The Mists of Avalon to stop reading the Avalon series at that point. She said she had read some of the other books in the series and they were "appallingly bad". I don't know if this was one she was referring to or not, but I should have listened to her. She is wise.

I didn't love The Mists of Avalon upon rereading it now, but I did appreciate it more, I think, than I had over twenty years ago when I read it originally. There are aspects to the book that appeal to me, and as far as world-building, Bradley did a pretty decent job.

None of that exists here in the prequel.

Blah, blah, something, something, first century. Basically you have a Druidic priestess, Eilan, who falls in love with a Roman office, Gaius, and the entire story is pretty much about that. "I love you", "I love you too", "But this cannot happen", "You're right, wanna do it?", "Shyeah!"

And then the inevitable happens she gets preggers, and everyone is all freaked out because it's so wrong for a Druidic priestess and a Roman officer to be in love with one another, it goes against nature or something. What. A. Drag.

Some other stuff happens, believe it or not. There's a battle sequence where there's lots of "crimson gash"ing going on, some stiff dialogue, awkward phrases, and basically the most boring encounter of a battle ever. Although, to be funny, I started reading some of the phrases out loud to my boyfriend, being all goofy and sh*t, and he's like "That sounds like it's from one of my history books!"

Uh. NERD.

It's just not good, guys. In comparison to The Mists of Avalon, which I didn't even love, I have to say this book probably should never have been written. I understand Bradley's sister-in-law, Diana Paxson, helped her in writing this book and then went on to write other Avalon books after Bradley's death. I think therein lies the problem. I don't know how much of this book was written by Bradley or by Paxson, but anytime another writer gets involved, the story is rarely ever good. (The one exception I can think of is Roger Zelazny, whose books I don't generally enjoy when he wrote them by himself... but the ones he cowrote with someone else? Those are pretty great.) I feel there's a conflict of voices in this novel, or maybe it's all entirely Paxson's voice, but she isn't as good as Bradley? That's strange to say, again, considering I don't think Bradley was that great a writer either.

I strongly suggest if you loved Mists of Avalon just stopping there. Trust me when I say this book is just not as good. After a while you will want to punch everyone in the throat, you will get tired of the repetition, you will hope everyone dies a slow and painful death.

A beautifully written prequel to the magnificent Mists of Avalon, the story of a doomed star-crossed love between British Priestess, Eilan and a half British half Roman legionnaire Gauis, in first century southern Britain, also takes us to Caledonia (Scotland) , Germany and Rome. Gives us rich insight to and brings to life both the Roman Empire and Celtic Briton society, especially that of Druidic persuasion.
At this time the Roman are ruthlessly destroying the Druidic culture and a small b and of British nationalists sworn to drive the Romans from Britain, called the Ravens' led by Eilan's foster brother Cynric.
Eilan falls in love with Gauis after he is rescued by her and her family after falling into a pit and being wounded, and convalesces with them without their knowledge that he is a Roman Legionnaire.
Gauis is forced by his father Marcellus, a wealthy and powerful tribune to marry a Roman girl, and Eilan pregnant with his child is now a priestess on Avalon.
Years go by and the political and religious intertwines with love and hate between people , leading to a tragic end.
Playing a role are the Irish high priestess Cailean , the Arch Druid, Elain's granfather Ardanos and her cruel father Bereigid and her resentful sister Deida.
The new sect know as the Christians has come to Britain and Gauis' wife Julia and the young trainee priestess Senara joins them. We learn of insights into faith, including the Christian concept of the female side of G-D known as the Sophia, which might have had its roots in the Jewish concept of the female incantation of the holy spirit known as the Schechina.

An absorbing and at times heartbreaking tale, which makes the experience of reading the Mists of Avalon richer reading of the ancestors of the protagonists in that feminist retelling of Arthurian legend.

Marion Zimmer Bradley hat in Die Nebel von Avalon bewiesen, dass sie großartige historische Fantasy schreiben kann. Da es zu diesem Hauptwerk mehrere Vorgeschichten gibt, wollte ich mal eine ausprobieren.

Das Buch war ganz gute Unterhaltung aber mir persönlich lag der Fokus zu sehr auf der Liebestragödie und weniger auf der Historie und den Religions- und Kulturkonflikten. Die Geschichte war hauptsächlich auf das Liebespaar ausgerichtet. Kein Vergleich mit Die Nebel von Avalon in denen zwar Liebe auch eine große Rolle spielt, aber auch in den historischen Kontext passt und viele unterschiedliche Personen vorkommen, deren Liebe oder Hass für die Handlung entscheidend ist.
In Die Wälder von Albion ist die Liebesgeschichte zwar auch wichtig für die Handlung und den weiteren Verlauf der Geschichte, mir persönlich war das aber zu viel Herzschmerz. Ich bin scheinbar hoffnungslos unromantisch.

4,25 stars - English hardcover

Review follows later.

This was a book that lost much of its magic on a re-read.

The writing style felt a bit odd, with some words thrown in that did not fit the rest of the wording. It also made the book drag a bit, even though it felt hurried (I mean, it does span the lifetime of Eilan and Gaius, but the time jumps could have been smoother).

In terms of plot, it was a bit hard to keep track of who wanted what and why. There were far too many tribes and names to keep track of. As for the main characters, they all felt flat, their motives not clear enough.

Un fantasy a forte connotazione storica con un amore impossibile che cerca di realizzarsi per tutta la storia. E' un libro che presenta forti contrasti, ma con un ritmo pacato, a volte anche troppo lento, che accompagna il lettore con dolcezza nella narrazione. Si spera nel lieto fine, conseguito solo in parte, ma si intuisce presto che l'inevitabile scontro tra due popoli non porterà ad una facile soluzione se non nel futuro. Interessante il richiamo a vite precedenti ed ai legami che ne erano nati. Non tutti i protagonisti mi hanno entusiasmato: forse metterei Caillean un gradino sopra tutti, sempre a sostegno e alla fine risultata la vera vincitrice.

I really enjoyed this book. I was so glad to see that the book picked up where the book "Ravens of Avalon" left off.

The Arch-Druid Ardanos, Lhiannon(High Priestess of Vernemeton - the Forest House), and Caillean (senior priestess assisting Lhiannon - also Lhiannon's adoptive daughter)are characters from the book "Ravens of Avalon" who survived the fire and take over of Mona. These individuals move on to Vernemeton and rebuild the hertiage of the Priestess and Druids with the consent of the Roman Emperor

The story wraps around Eilan (the Arch-Druid Ardanos granddaughter) a Roman officer "Gaius" who is half Roman and half Britian and is also the son of Martius Julius Licinius (Procurator - financial officer of Britannia).

Eilan and Gaius story becomes complicated because of Gaius status of being a Roman but the love they have for each other is held in secret. Even though Eilan has taken vows to become a priestess, they proclaim their love in secret during the Beltane Festible. Eilan ends up pregnant but Gaius can not claim their child (son- Gawan)or her because of his status of being a Roman.

Though Eilan is pregnant, Lhinnanon on her death bed chooses Eilan as her sucessor. Once Eilan has her boy, the boy is protected by the Forest House but his idenity is kept in secret and he does not know his mother is the High Priestess Eilan.

Even though Eilan and Gaius life can not be joined, the continue to love each other from a part but go on with their lives. Eilan serves the Goddess and Gaius goes on to marry another Roman girl "Julia" and has 4 daughters.

During this time, christianity has moved from Rome into the Britannia and after the death of Gaius and Julia's daughter and their preborn son, Julia turns to the christian faith and vows chasity and to never sleep with her husband again which qualifies Gaius for grounds for divorce according to law. With this in mind, Gaius desides to seek out Eilan and claim his son and get a new bride.

But things don't go as planned and both Eilan and Gaius end up in the Beltane Fires as sacrefices to the Gods.

This was a very good read and after reading 4 out of the 7 books in this series, I have not lost interest and the books keep getting better and better.

I enjoyed this one more than Mists of Avalon, is was more of a less-tragic Romeo and Juliet than the endless "everything Morgaine touches turns to dust and all her good intentions go awry" kind of thing. I also enjoyed the aspect of Gauis/Gawen being torn between the two sides of his heritage, British and Roman. However, toward the end it did pick back up the anti-Christian ranting and seemed to have the attitude that all men were misogynistic idiots. Another issue that continued from Mists was that Bradley changes points of view very abruptly and rapidly at times, which can be jarring. It also pushes "all gods/religions are really the same" a bit much for me. When I type that all out it's a wonder I can say I managed to set it aside enough to still enjoy the read, but somehow I did, it was certainly interesting in its way.

3.5 stars
Most of the book was agonizingly slow. Each time the main characters met was a chance meeting at a festival. When a festival was coming up, I braced myself for them to meet. I am hoping that this was a set up for the next book, and that The Lady of Avalon will be better.

3,5

I expected to like this book better than I did since I loved Mists of Avalon. The story is pre-Arthur and as a story it had a lot of possibilities. Somehow it seemed kind of disjointed. It is the story of Eilan who is the daughter of a Druid during the time when the conquering Romans are taking over the land. I just could never really connect with Gaius, the soldier that Eilan falls in love with and whose live is entwined with hers. He was a mere human after all and I suppose I wanted him to be above the ambition and life that was calling him. I think part of what I did not care for is that this book is full of tragedy. I realize it was a tragic time so perhaps there is a great deal of realism in the story, but it was not a fun read. I was never tempted to stop reading, so it did hold my interest and in the end I do not regret that I read it. Two stars means "it was okay" and I would agree with that. I might have given it 2 1/2 if I could.

ADDITION: Now reading the third book, Lady of Avalon. I see now why I needed to read this one even though I did not like it as well as the one I am 2/3 of the way through now nor as well as Mists of Avalon which is a real favorite.

Meine Mum hatte das Buch vor x Jahren via Bertelsmann Club bekommen.
Das Cover gefiel mir unglaublich gut und auch die Story sprach mich richtig an. Druiden? Römer? Magie? I'm sold, baby!

Ich habe, wenn ich mich recht erinnere, das Buch innerhalb weniger Tage durch gehabt - jaja, die Freuden der Jugend, wenn man sich um nichts anderes kümmern braucht... *lach*

Mochte ich es? Nuuuuuuun.... es hat 4,5 Sterne von mir bekommen und ist als favourite gelistet. (Oooos, war's doch nicht, hab's korrigiert hehe)... Ich hab's so geliebt. Die Story war toll, hat mich von Anfang an gefesselt und auch Jahre später muss ich immer noch daran denken.
Ich hab Gaius geliebt, ich hab Eilan geliebt. Die Sachen über die Druiden waren so freaking interessant.
Es war einfach nur wow. Zu schade, dass ich das Buch nicht mehr habe. Seufzt. Na ja... irgendwann kauf ich's mir noch einmal. :)

3.5 ⭐
Marion Zimmer Bradley è sempre una garanzia di stile ma devo ammettere di non aver ritrovato quella magia che mi aveva accompagnato durante la lettura de Le Nebbie di Avalon. Anche i personaggi non mi hanno entusiasmata... Gaius mi è stato antipatico fin da subito mentre inizialmente avevo apprezzato Eilan: la vedevo determinata, una guerriera consacrata intenzionata a battersi per le donne, per il rispetto e il potere, mentre alla fine si è dimostrata schiava e vittima del proprio egoismo. Non ho empatizzato con nessuno ma almeno posso salvare Caillean 💚

Eccomi qui, come promesso.

Secondo romanzo del ciclo arturiano della MZB, ma il primo in ordine cronologico a narrare le vicende della Britannia, nell'anno 90 d.c, e della difficile convivenza fra i suoi abitanti: britanni e romani.

In questo preciso istante, non riesco a decidere se mi sia piaciuto maggiormente "Le nebbie di Avalon", o "Le querce di Albion" ("La casa della foresta" è il nuovo titolo per l'edizione 2019, più fedele al titolo originale inglese: "The forest house"). Se "Le nebbie di Avalon" mi hanno trasportata in un altro mondo, "Le querce di Albion" lo ha fatto con una maggiore carica emotiva. Ho amato la storia d'amore fra i due personaggi principali, Eilan e Gaio (Gaius per la nuova tradizione), così intensa, sofferta e passionale al tempo stesso. Ho odiato, invece, la crudeltà dei druidi, spietati, senza cuore, custodi di un'antica saggezza, eppure così ignoranti al tempo stesso! Ho amato, però, anche personaggi che potrebbero risultare odiosi ai più, come Dieda. Dieda non è altro che l'incarnazione dell'odio, frutto delle costrizioni imposte a discapito della sua felicità. Un personaggio così potente, forse un po' sottovalutato per buona metà della narrazione (avrei voluto conoscerla di più), ma che si rivelerà un punto chiave alla fine del romanzo. E poi, Caillean... La madre che tutti vorremmo avere e la femminista che vorremmo vedere a capo di un partito!

Ho trovato interessantissimi i momenti dei rituali della Somma Sacerdotessa. Li ho trovati molto più dettagliati ed evocativi, rispetto al romanzo precedente. Oserei dire che si sente l'influenza di Diana Paxton sulla Zimmer Bradley in questo prequel.

Il ritmo della narrazione potrebbe risultare troppo lento, ed è così per le prime 90 pagine. Poi, subisce una brusca impennata con un tripudio di fatti e personaggi che si alternano in continuazione. Non è un romanzo di facile lettura, ma, fortunatamente, la MZB e gli editori hanno avuto l'accortezza, a tal proposito, di anteporre al prologo una cartina geografica e un elenco di nomi di personaggi e luoghi in modo tale da potersi raccapezzare durante la lettura.
Tornando al ritmo della narrazione, l'ho trovato impeccabile: lento al momento giusto, per poter permettere al lettore di empatizzare con il personaggio e conoscerlo appieno; veloce all'avvicinarsi di un evento chiave nel romanzo, quel tanto da permettere al lettore di non perdere mordente.

Per quanto riguarda la descrizione dei luoghi, dei fatti e dei personaggi storici, bè, signori, stiamo parlando di una scrittrice con una vasta cultura letteraria, che si è formata in una prestigiosa Universitá e ha frequentato circoli con i più prestigiosi scrittori del momento. Leggere un suo romanzo non significa solamente immergersi nel mondo di Avalon; significa, anche, apprendere la storia in maniera ludica, quel metodo che ti permette di ricordare fatti, date e personaggi e di comprenderli maggiormente per il semplice fatto che li hai appresi, quasi, "giocando". Inoltre, non so se lo faccio solamente io, ma trovo utile, per un personale arricchimento culturale, sottolineare tutti i passaggi dove la Bradley regala dettagli precisissimi riguardo l'abbigliamento dei personaggi e il loro modo di alimentarsi.

Come ho detto prima, non so decidermi se questo romanzo mi sia piaciuto di più rispetto all'altro. Oserei dire di sì, ma vorrei rileggere, a questo punto, "Le nebbie di Avalon" per decretare il vincitore senza alcun dubbio. Nel mentre, ho già iniziato il terzo capitolo della saga: "La signora di Avalon" e non posso fare altro che confermare la grandezza di questa Scrittrice.

Si apre, con questo romanzo, la strada verso Avalon...

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.

In this house, we don't support child molesters.

I said what I said.

Would probably give this 3 and a half stars. I liked it, but had a harder time getting into it than I expected, given how much I remember loving The Mists of Avalon. That's one of my all-time favorites and one I've read several times. However, my most recent re-read was probably 20 years ago, so maybe my tastes have changed a bit since then. Or maybe this one just wasn't quite as good. Or maybe I'm just pickier now. :)

I had mixed feelings about the characters in this one; they didn't all seem consistent throughout the book. For example, by the end of the book, I didn't even know who Bendeigid was. He seemed totally unlike who he was at the beginning of the book and the book didn't follow his character enough to see the change happening. Gaius also fluctuated between representing the best of Rome and being decent and even noble, albeit human, and being a real slimeball.

Something I did like was the cultural and historical setting. It was interesting to see the coming of the Romans, the growth of Christianity, etc. from the viewpoint of people at that time.

I did not enjoy this book quite as much as the Mists of Avalon, but it is still a pretty good book. I would recommend it to anyone that enjoyed the first book. If you have not read MOA you really should, especially if you are a fan of fantasy, history (especially European history), or strong female characters.

Pleasantly surprising. Pre-dates "Mists" and King Arthur. All about the war between Romans and Druids - made me want to read the "real" history of this time period! Eilan, grand-daughter of Arch Druid, falls in love with Gauis, son of bigwig Roman.

Decisamente ho preferito le nebbie di Avalon della stessa autrice. Scritto benissimo comunque e mi è piaciuto davvero molto.

2.5.
Ci speravo, ma più lento di questo libro solo il governo italiano a vaccinare contro il Covid.

Neste livro somos transportados para uma região da Bretanha, em que os habitantes lutam com todas as forças contra a invasão romana.

Eilan e Gaius, dois jovens unidos por grande amor e separados pelos seus povos e pelas suas convicções.

Uma leitura muito descritiva e com um ritmo um pouco lento. Marion Zimmer Bradley tem o sim de construir mundo e de permitir que o leitor viva nele (e sofra).

Gostei mais das Brumas de Avalon, mas gostei de ler o livro que serviu de inspiração.

I read these backwards. Read this one before the Lady of Avalon, and then read The Mists of Avalon. That way you have them in order. This book was a bit harder read than the other two, but quite good. My bias may have been a result of reading them out of order.

I hadn't planned on reading any more of her books after the Mists of Avalon. As interesting as the Mists of Avalon was, I had found it rather dry.

However, I came across this book as part of a sale for a store that was going out of business and thought, at 40% I could afford to pique my curiosity.

It is as dry as her other book, but there is a moment in that book that made me think several themes that seem to run through the book. The first one is the nature of the Christian God and the Goddess. The second one is blood line and purity.

It was during the time of the Roman control of Great Britain, or when they were just tribes.

The Druids had control of the Priestesses. Or rather, when it was time for the Goddess to speak through her priestess, the Head Druid would translate for the crowd. Mainly to make sure nothing was said that would threaten Roman power or anything that was not what the Druids wanted to hear as they were playing games as well.

But anyway, one the Celts had joined with an organization to fight the Romans. A kind of Freedom Fighter group. And when the Druids had been distracted and the Goddesses voice had come through, he ran up to her crying and whining about how the Romans had taken their lands, women and so on. He had asked her to bring the Morrigan ( A celtic battle Goddess) to destroy the Romans.

But much to his dismay, she said this was all part of her plan. That she wanted the blood of the Dragon and the Eagle to mix. And why was he crying when his people had done the same thing to their people for generations.

I found that insight to be rephreshing.

In another part of the book, she mentions that it was ok to mix blood, because it strengthened the race so long as the old ways did not die. This is in contrast to many of our races today that believe that the blood of a race must be pure. That we shouldn't mix because it would weaken the race and so on. These are male philosophies.

Now I know why God was invented. Man could control him. His God would honor what he believed instead of an independent spirit running around promoting individual freedom outside of human traditions that sought to suppress it.

This book also gave some insight into the Roman psychology as well. Particularly their views of religion.

They didn't believe that a man was a reincarnated form of God but that some people were choosen to carry that spirit and that he should be honored for what he did as a result of that spirit, but not as if he were a God. If he started to have delusions of Godhood, he was to be taken down.

I really want to give this book five stars, but I can't. The book was okay and I finished it feeling a multitude of emotions -which is what you want a book to do- but there was something lacking in it, overall. For one, the dialogue was confusing. Often I felt it was useless and not pertinent to the story, but mostly I felt like the characters were taking away something completely different than what I gathered from a convoluted dialogue. Secondly, I feel that all of the politics of the Romans and the British were exaggerated and ultimately moot. The Romans were constantly worried about "what the British would do" in such-and-such scenario and vice versa, but we never saw an example of it. The whole story was pretty much about the two sides constantly worried about what the other would do. Thirdly, I felt like there wasn't really a solid story. It was interesting learning about the Druids and what life was like for the priestesses before "Afallon" or Avalon, but there was very little in way of a plot. Was it the welfare of Eilan's child? Or the love story between Eilan and Gaius? To me it felt like an underdeveloped backstory to Avalon, and that's it.
That being said, I did enjoy the final twist (and in my opinion, the only spat of action) and long foreseen betrayal in the final chapter. And I thoroughly enjoyed everything about Chilean's character. I felt that she would've made a wonderful main character.
All in all, it is a good book... just not as good as I had hoped it would be.

I really struggled with this book. It felt like I was reading three chapters of "The Mists of Avalon" but spread into a whole novel: with more added having-of-plot-redundant-babies. I think part of the problem was that I only liked one character and she appears quite irregularly. And there are so few meaningful conversations! The main protagonists were a bit meh. It seems like you hardly get to know them, and even though a lot of time is passing in the story, it feels like not much happens.

I did enjoy learning more about the Roman... occupation? Governance... Of Britain. If more of the novel had been set really digging into the politics rather than just touching on them, and shill-shallying about with descriptions of the lives of the maidens I would have loved it.

Eilan is a Druidic warleader's daughter destined to be High Priestess of the Forest House. Gaius is a Roman-British soldier among the Roman legions. Eilan and Gaius fall in love. It is a forbidden path they travel for the High Priestess must be a virgin like the Roman Vestals. Eilan carries secrets into her priestesshood. Secrets that could destroy lives if revealed. Will Eilan and Gaius's love stand the test of time, or will secrets and war tear them apart?

The Forest House is a novel of strong characters. The kind of characters the reader still thinks about when the story ends. The ending did not end the way I had thought it would, which made the book intriguing and mysterious. I highly recommend this novel.

„Мъглите на Авалон” на Марион Зимър Брадли е книга, която трудно може да се опише, а още по-малко пък с една дума. Но ако трябва да опитам, то коя ли би била думата? Красива? Епична? Всепоглъщаща? Не, не мога да избера. Е, поне опитах. В крайна сметка, май ще трябва да бъда по-многословна! Заповядайте моето ревю на фентъзи явлението „Мъглите на Авалон” (изд. „Еднорог”)! Прочетете ревюто на "Книжни Криле":

https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/201...

This book was the weakest of all of Bradley's books I read. She imagines King Arthur as descended from a Celtic Priestess and a Roman soldier. I was not drawn to either of the main characters and, for a book ostensibly about the Druids there was very little detail about them. She breifly mentions the founding of Avalon, but the one detail that stands out is that the head Priestess put the least intelligent woman in charge of the kitchen. Awful! Details of Roman life were interesting but, overall, the book did not come together for me.