The Mists of Avalon - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from Mists of Avalon) 1983 novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley For the TV miniseries adaptation of the book, see The Mists of Avalon (miniseries).

The Mists of Avalon
Cover of the American first edition
Author	Marion Zimmer Bradley
Audio read by	Davina Porter
Language	English
Series	Avalon
Genre	Historical fantasy
Publisher	Alfred A. Knopf
Publication date	January 1983
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover and paperback) and audio-CD
Pages	876
Award	Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (1984)
ISBN	0-394-52406-3
OCLC	8473972
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 19
LC Class	PS3552.R228 M5 1982
Followed by	The Forest House

The Mists of Avalon is a 1983 historical fantasy novel by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which the author relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters. The book follows the trajectory of Morgaine (Morgan le Fay), a priestess fighting to save her Celtic religion in a country where Christianity threatens to destroy the pagan way of life. The epic is focused on the lives of Morgaine, Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere), Viviane, Morgause, Igraine and other women of the Arthurian legend.

The Mists of Avalon is in stark contrast to most other retellings of the Arthurian tales, which consistently cast Morgan le Fay as a distant, one-dimensional evil sorceress, with little or no explanation given for her antagonism to the Round Table. In this case, Morgaine is presented as a woman with unique gifts and responsibilities at a time of enormous political and spiritual upheaval who is called upon to defend her indigenous heritage against impossible odds.

The story is told in four large parts: "Book One: Mistress of Magic", "Book Two: The High Queen", "Book Three: The King Stag", and "Book Four: The Prisoner in the Oak". The novel was a best-seller upon its publication and remains popular to this day. Bradley and Diana L. Paxson later expanded the book into the Avalon series.

Plot

Morgaine, priestess of Avalon, is King Arthur's half-sister. Their mother, Igraine, married king Uther Pendragon after Morgaine's father, Gorlois, died in battle. Rumors spread in Avalon that, before Igraine knew of Gorlois's death, Uther consulted with Merlin, who used magic to give Uther Gorlois's appearance and, thus, gain access to Igraine at Tintagel. He had sex with her and they conceived Arthur. Morgaine witnesses Uther's accession to Caerleon's throne after his predecessor, Ambrosius, dies of old age. Uther becomes her step-father, and he and Igraine have Arthur.

When Morgaine is eleven years old and Arthur six, there is an attempt to murder Arthur. Their maternal aunt, the high priestess Viviane, arrives in Caerleon and advises Uther to have Arthur fostered far away from the court for his own safety. Uther agrees, and allows Viviane to take Morgaine to Avalon, where she is trained as a priestess of the Mother Goddess. During this period, Morgaine becomes aware of the rising tension between the old Pagan and the new Christian religions. After seven years of training, Morgaine is initiated as a priestess of the Mother, and Viviane begins grooming her as the next Lady of Avalon.

Months after her initiation, Morgaine is given in a fertility rite to the future high king of Britain. Their union is not meant to be personal, but rather a symbolic wedding between him and the land he is to defend. They have sex, and the following morning, they talk and each reveal themselves as Morgaine and Arthur. After recognizing each other, they are horrified to realize what they have done. Two months later, Morgaine is devastated to find that she is pregnant.

After Uther dies fighting the Saxon invaders, Arthur claims the throne of Britain despite questions about his legitimacy (he was conceived within days of Igraine's marriage to Uther). Since Arthur must now defend Britain against the Saxons, Viviane has Morgaine make him an enchanted scabbard that will prevent him from losing blood and gives him the sacred sword Excalibur. With the combined force of Avalon and Caerleon, Arthur repels the invaders and marries Gwenhwyfar.

As Morgaine's unborn child grows within her, so do her feelings of anger and betrayal toward Viviane, who she believes tricked her into bearing a child to Arthur. Unable to stay in Avalon any longer, she leaves for the court of her aunt Morgause, queen of Lothian, where she gives birth to her son, naming him Gwydion. Spurred by her husband Lot's ambition and her own, Morgause tricks Morgaine into allowing her to rear her son. To escape Lot's unwanted advances, Morgaine leaves Lothian and returns to Arthur's court as a lady-in-waiting to his queen, Gwenhwyfar. She does not see Gwydion again until he is grown and a Druid priest.

When Gwenhwyfar fails to produce an heir, she is convinced that God is punishing her for her sins. She considers her greatest sins to be her failure to persuade Arthur to outlaw pagan religious practice in Britain and her forbidden love for Galahad, Arthur's cousin and finest knight, also known as Lancelet. Although Lancelet reciprocates Gwenhwyfar's love, he is also Arthur's friend and an honorable man. This situation causes suffering to both Lancelet and Gwenhwyfar. Meanwhile, Morgaine also falls in love with Lancelet.

On the eve of a decisive battle against the Saxons, Gwenhwyfar prevails upon Arthur to put aside Uther's Pendragon banner and replace it with her own Christian banner. As her religious fanaticism grows, relations between Avalon and Caerleon grow strained. Still, in her desperation over her failure to carry a child to term, she asks Morgaine for help, threatening to have an extramarital affair so she can become pregnant. In an attempt to keep Gwenhwyfar from doing so, Morgaine reveals to Gwenhwyfar that Arthur already has a son, though he does not know it. Later, Arthur asks Lancelet to join him and his wife in his bed to conceive a child, stating that the child would be conceived on his bed, and to satisfy the suffering of both Gwenhwyfar and Lancelet. Lancelet at first refuses, but is finally convinced; however, no child is conceived even from this.

After the battle, Arthur moves his court to Camelot, which is more easily defended than Caerleon was. Seeking to free both Lancelet and Gwenhwyfar from the forbidden love that traps them both, Morgaine tricks Lancelet into marrying Gwenhwyfar's cousin, Elaine. Later, during a dispute with Arthur over their lack of an heir, Gwenhwyfar breaks Morgaine's confidence and tells Arthur of Gwydion. Arthur summons Morgaine and orders her to tell the truth, and she obeys. Now believing that the lack of a royal heir is God's punishment for Arthur's union, however unwitting, with Morgaine, Gwenhwyfar urges Arthur to confess the encounter to the bishop, who imposes strict penance upon him. Then she and Arthur arrange for Morgaine to marry into Wales, far from Camelot. But because of a misunderstanding, Morgaine, who thought she would be marrying the king's younger son Accolon, a Druid priest and warrior, finds herself betrothed to King Uriens of North Wales, who is old enough to be her grandfather. Arthur yearns to meet Gwydion and perhaps foster him at Camelot, but each time he brings up the subject with Gwenhwyfar, she refuses to discuss it. Meanwhile, Gwydion is taken by Viviane to Avalon.

Morgaine marries Uriens and moves to North Wales as its queen, and enjoys a good friendship with him, and his youngest son, Uwaine, whom she starts considering as her own son. Years later, she begins an affair with Accolon. The "old people" of the hills, who keep to the old pagan ways, regard Accolon and Morgaine as their king and queen. Uriens suspects nothing, but Accolon's older brother, Avalloch, begins to; he eventually tries to blackmail Morgaine into sleeping with him as well. Morgaine sends Avalloch out on a boar hunt and magically has him killed by the boar. In his grief for his eldest son and heir, Uriens abstains from pork for the rest of his life.

Gwydion, now grown, goes to the Saxon courts to learn warfare far from Arthur's eye. Impressed by his cleverness, the Saxons name him Mordred ("Evil Counsel"). Years later, at a Pentecost feast at Camelot, he introduces himself as Queen Morgaine's son and Queen Morgause's foster son, though he calls Queen Morgause "Mother" and Morgaine by her name. Because of his resemblance to Lancelet, he must often tell people that Lancelet is not his father. To earn his knighthood with no suspicion of preferential treatment, Gwydion challenges Lancelet to single combat during a tourney and they fight. Gwenhwyfar, who warmed to Gwydion in the meantime, protests and Arthur interrupts the match. Lancelet makes Gwydion a knight of the Round Table, naming him Mordred.

Morgaine tells Accolon, who is now Uriens's heir, of the sacred marriage she made with Arthur years before. She adds that they must take the kingdom back from Arthur and the Christians and bring it back under the sway of Avalon. Meanwhile, Morgaine gets pregnant and is not sure if the child is Uriens' or Accolon's, but has an abortion because she is too old to give birth safely. The attempted coup fails and Arthur kills Accolon in single combat, sending a warning to Morgaine. As Uriens recovers from the shock of losing a second son and his wife's betrayal, Morgaine leaves Wales forever and returns to Avalon.

Morgaine returns to Camelot years later, disguised, with another sister of Avalon, during the Pentecost festival. At the start of the holy rites, the Sacred Regalia of Avalon, the sword, the spear, the dish, and the cup, are presented to the church as an offering, having been stolen from Avalon. Enraged and wielding great magic, Morgaine invokes the Great Mother Goddess to retrieve them. The assembled court sees the manifestation of the Grail as a holy revelation and Morgaine as the Virgin Mary. When the knights of the Round Table leave to search for the Holy Grail, Mordred attempts to usurp the throne. The armies of Arthur and Mordred eventually fight but in the end, Mordred dies and Arthur is mortally wounded. Morgaine takes the dying Arthur through the mists to Avalon, reassuring him that he did not fail in his attempt to save Britain from the approaching dark times. Arthur dies as the shoreline comes into view. Morgaine buries him in Avalon and remains there to tell the tale of Camelot.

Characters

Morgaine — Narrator, protagonist. Her character is capable of second sight (a gift of her Goddess) and transfiguration. She is the daughter of Gorlois and Igraine and the half-sister of Arthur. She is of notable status in the eyes of the old tribes of Britain and the post Roman aristocracy, being both high priestess of Avalon and Duchess of Cornwall in her own right. Portrayed as a tragic character, Morgaine is torn between her loyalty to Avalon and her unfulfilled love for Lancelet, although she has other lovers in the book, notably Arthur, Kevin, and Accolon. Like Arthur, she is extremely charismatic. She often considers herself the victim of fate, having no choice in the decisions she makes in life. She is doomed to witness the demise of the old ways of Avalon, but in the end makes peace with certain aspects of Christianity, as she sees that she never fought the religion itself, but rather the narrow-minded views of some of its priests. She concludes that some memory of the ancient beliefs of Britain will live on, feeling that the Goddess she worshipped did not die with the coming of Christianity: rather, the Goddess just took another form in the image of the Virgin Mary.
Uther Pendragon is the nephew and War Duke of the dead High King Ambrosius and an ambitious warlord who falls in love with Igraine. After being betrayed by his ally Gorlois (out of jealousy rather than for political reasons), he killed him and became the High King of Britain. He fathered King Arthur and died when Arthur was in his teens. Uther is portrayed as a gifted warlord and a competent ruler. He resents and respects Vivianne for the manipulations and for forcing him to keep his vow to Avalon with threatened rebellion.
Igraine is the wife in turn to Gorlois and Uther, a younger sister of Viviane and older sister of Morgause and Niniane, and the mother of Morgaine and Arthur. Originally named "Grainné, for the Goddess of the Beltane fires", Igraine was brought up in Avalon and married at the age of fifteen to Duke Gorlois of Cornwall, a mostly unhappy union for her. She is destined by Viviane and Taliesin to betray her husband, seduce Uther and produce the saviour of the Island of Britain (her son King Arthur). At first, she rebels, stating she is not a breeding mare, but ultimately falls in love with Uther and helps him defeat his enemies. However, the guilt about Gorlois torments her to the end. Igraine adores Morgaine before Uther enters, but she then ignores Morgaine when she and Uther marry and when Arthur is born. Igraine is described by many as stunningly beautiful, and her beauty is still remembered in Britain long after her death.
Gorlois is Igraine's husband and Morgaine's father. Because Igraine was so young when they married, their relationship has been strained, but Gorlois did his best to make her feel comfortable, giving her gifts and letting her keep her daughter Morgaine. Igraine does not see how he loved her until it is too late. When Gorlois suspects that Igraine has an affair with Uther, he turns on her, accuses her of being a whore and a witch, and even breaks his oath to Uther. In the end, Uther kills him for his treachery.
King Arthur is the son of Igraine and Uther and younger half-brother to Morgaine. He is portrayed as an able battle commander and a brilliant political mind. He is also able to inspire fanatical love and devotion among his friends and followers. He marries Gwenhwyfar by arranged marriage for a dowry of men and fine horses, but tries to truly honor and respect her. His compassion for his suffering wife — who is tormented by her childlessness and her love for Lancelet — ultimately becomes his downfall. A twist is that he is actually aware of Gwenhwyfar and Lancelet's affair, and how unhappy both are to continually betray him, but looks the other way because he loves both his wife and his best friend too much to make them unhappy. It is suggested that, while he does love Gwenhwyfar, his deepest love is saved for Morgaine.
Gwenhwyfar is Arthur's beautiful but unhappy wife. She is brought up by a cold, unloving father, which left her with a deep inferiority complex and intense agoraphobia. Failing to produce an heir and unable to be with the love of her life, Lancelet, she falls into a deep depression and — hoping for salvation — becomes an increasingly fanatical Christian. Gwenhwyfar and Morgaine are depicted as polar opposites, similar only in their religious zealotry and desire to push Arthur towards their own ends. While Morgaine is at court, the two form an unlikely, yet genuinely affectionate friendship for several years. Several characters remark that Gwen is much more intelligent than she lets on. She is portrayed as a masterful housekeeper and performs the ceremonial role of high queen well.
Lancelet is Arthur's First Knight, Viviane's son (by Ban of Benwick) and Morgaine's cousin and first love. He is an extremely gifted and handsome warrior, but has a lifelong fear of his mother. He and Gwenhwyfar are utterly infatuated, but neither has the courage (or ruthlessness) to elope. He also loves his cousin Arthur, and perhaps loves Gwenhwyfar even more because she is so close to him. He is conflicted because of his bisexuality and his infatuation with both Arthur and Gwenhwyfar.
Mordred, a.k.a. Gwydion, is the illegitimate son of Morgaine and King Arthur. He is an unscrupulous, cunning intrigant, but in contrast to mainstream versions his motives are understandable. He sees his father Arthur as corrupt and decadent, and is convinced that he has to remove him to save Camelot. It is strongly hinted that his childhood under the cold, cunning Morgause makes him think the way he does. Mordred does share one notable trait with his mother Morgaine: he truly believes that he is a pawn of fate, with no real free will to choose his path in life. This is possibly due to the influence of the fatalistic Saxons. At one point, Mordred even lists his father's good qualities and admits that he admires Arthur in several ways. Nevertheless, Mordred remains committed to pulling his father down from the throne of Camelot. Like both his parents, Mordred is exceptionally charming. During his first stay in Camelot, he becomes greatly admired among peasant folk and nobility alike. He is also described as exceedingly handsome; a mirror image of Lancelet as a young man. This leads many to assume he is a bastard son of Lancelet by Morgaine.
Morgause is Morgaine's aunt, the younger sister of Viviane and Igraine. "Their mother, who had been too old for childbearing, had died giving birth to Morgause. Viviane had borne a child of her own, earlier in the year; her child had died, and Viviane had taken Morgause to nurse." She is depicted as a vain, cunning character and in contrast to her sisters, she acts purely for her own gains. She bears her sisters near lifelong resentment, Igraine for her beauty and her marriages to Gorlois and Uther, and Vivianne for choosing Igraine over her, as the lynch pin in her plans for Britain. Despite her cheerful amorality, she seems to hold some true affection for Morgaine throughout the novel. She takes Morgaine in without asking any questions and treats her kindly. She seems to have had a genuinely happy marriage with Lot, who treated her as an equal and matched her in intelligence and cunning. She continues as the ruling queen of Lothian after Lot's death. She misses Lot long after he dies and thinks of him often. She feels no regret in her regular adultery after Lot's death and plans to use Mordred as a vehicle for her power. She seeks to be high queen of Britain, in name or de facto, for most of the novel.
Patricius, modernized as St. Patrick, is Camelot's most powerful Christian priest who drove the "snakes" (druids) from Ireland. He is portrayed in an extremely negative light, as a ruthless, misogynist religious fundamentalist.
Elaine is Gwenhwyfar's cousin who eventually becomes Lancelet's wife. Elaine greatly resembles her cousin Gwenhwyfar in looks (albeit not in personality), which plays into her plan to marry Lancelet under dishonest circumstances. Morgaine offers Lancelet to Elaine on the condition that she is given Elaine's first daughter to rear in Avalon. With Lancelet she has three children: Galahad, Nimue, and Gwenhwyfar (named after the queen). She is less passive than she lets on, and is able to successfully goad Morgaine into helping her marry Lancelet.
Viviane is — for the most time — the High Priestess of Avalon. She is the older sister of Igraine and Morgause, mother of Balan and Lancelet, and the aunt of Morgaine, Arthur, Gawain and Gareth. She is portrayed as a strong religious and political leader; her fatal flaw is her willingness to use others in her quest to save Avalon without thinking of their emotional suffering. She is misunderstood because her family has little contact with her and that she would have to do anything to keep Camelot and Avalon and the priestesses of Avalon alive in everyone's hearts. Viviane is killed by her older son Balan's foster-brother, Balin.
Taliesin (the Merlin of Britain) is the old Archdruid and harpist of Avalon. He is revered by Christians and pagans alike as a wise, kind old man. He fathered Igraine, Morgause and Niniane and is implied to have fathered Viviane as well. His mental health continually deteriorates throughout the story. (In this retelling, "Merlin" is a title rather than a proper name.)
Kevin (Merlin of Britain) succeeds Taliesin after his death. He is a horribly disfigured hunchback, having been burned in a fire as a child, but can sing like an angel. He becomes Morgaine's lover for a while and later her worst enemy. Foreseeing the demise of pagan ways, he betrays Avalon. In an ultimate attempt to unite Christianity and Avalon, so Avalon will survive, he brings the Holy Grail to Camelot. To punish him for this atrocity, Morgaine sets up Nimue to seduce and then betray him, and wants to torture him to death as a traitor. But before the torture begins, Morgaine changes her mind and has him executed swiftly out of mercy, and at the same time, a bolt of lightning incinerates the Holy Oak of Avalon. Morgaine understands that Avalon is doomed.
Raven is a priestess of Avalon who has taken a perpetual vow of silence. Another original character, she sacrifices herself to help Morgaine save the Holy Grail from Patricius.
Accolon is a knight loyal to Avalon, the second son of Uriens, and Morgaine's lover. She wants him to kill King Arthur and so restore the power of Avalon; however, Arthur slays Accolon in direct combat, and Morgaine is disgraced when her role becomes evident.
Avalloch is Uriens' eldest son. He intends to rule North Wales as a Christian king; upon discovering Morgaine and Accolon's affair, he threatens to expose her if she does not sleep with him as well. Morgaine kills him to preserve her reputation and put Accolon in position to inherit the throne from Uriens.
Uwaine is Uriens' youngest son and a knight loyal to Arthur. He regards Morgaine as his mother.
Nimue is the beautiful daughter of Elaine and Lancelet. As Viviane's granddaughter, she was to be Lady of the Lake when Morgaine dies. She is kept in constant seclusion at Avalon, and Morgaine sees her as the ultimate weapon against Camelot. Morgaine has Nimue seduce Kevin in order to abduct him, but instead falls in love with him and kills herself after she betrays him.
Niniane is Taliesin's daughter, making her Igraine and Morgause's half-sister (and possible Viviane's as well). She is a priestess who reluctantly becomes Lady of the Lake after Viviane is slain and Morgaine declines to take her place. Niniane is not as powerful or politically astute as Morgaine or Viviane, and painfully aware of her shortcomings as Lady of the Lake. She becomes Mordred's lover, but when he announces his plans to betray Arthur, Niniane turns on him and he kills her in a fit of rage (whether this is accidental or intentional is never specified).
Gawaine is the eldest of the four sons of Lot and Morgause and one of Arthur's best Knights of the Round Table. He is known for being very kind, compassionate, and devoted to Arthur.
Gareth is the youngest of the four sons of King Lot and Morgause and Knight of the Round Table. He is similar to Gawaine in both looks and personality, only more fearsome in battle. Lancelet is his childhood idol, although it is Lancelet who accidentally kills him.
Galahad is Lancelet and Elaine's son and Arthur's heir to the throne. Mordred predicts that Galahad will not live to see his own crowning. Prediction proving true, Galahad dies on the quest for the Holy Grail.
Cai is Arthur's foster-brother. After a near fatal accident as a small child, Arthur is sent to live with Cai and his father, Ectorius. Cai and Arthur love each other very much, and after Arthur is crowned, he tells Cai, "God strike me if I ever ask that you, brother, should call me ." Cai is described as having a facial scar and a limp, two injuries that he received while protecting Arthur during a Saxon invasion. Cai is made Arthur's knight and chamberlain, and he keeps Arthur's castle for him.

Writing

Marion Zimmer Bradley stated about her book:

About the time I began work on the Morgan le Fay story that later became Mists, a religious search of many years culminated in my accepting ordination in one of the Gnostic Catholic churches as a priest. Since the appearance of the novel, many women have consulted me about this, feeling that the awareness of the Goddess has expanded their own religious consciousness, and ask me if it can be reconciled with Christianity. I do feel very strongly, not only that it can, but that it must... So when women today insist on speaking of Goddess rather than God, they are simply rejecting the old man with the white beard, who commanded the Hebrews to commit genocide on the Philistines and required his worshippers daily to thank God that He had not made them women... And, I suppose, a little, the purpose of the book was to express my dismay at the way in which religion lets itself become the slave of politics and the state. (Malory's problem ... that God may not be on the side of the right, but that organized religion always professes itself to be on the side of the bigger guns.) ... I think the neo-pagan movement offers a very viable alternative for people, especially for women, who have been turned off by the abuses of Judeo-Christian organized religions.

Reception

The Mists of Avalon is lauded as one of the most original and emotional retellings of the familiar Arthurian legend. Bradley received much praise for her convincing portrayal of the main protagonists, respectful handling of the Pagan ways of Avalon and for telling a story in which there is neither black and white nor good and evil, but several truths. Isaac Asimov called it "the best retelling of the Arthurian Saga I have ever read", and Jean Auel noted "I loved this book so much I went out and bought it for a friend, and have told many people about it." The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction calls the book "a convincing revision of the Arthurian cycle," and said that the victory of Christianity over the "sane but dying paganism" of Avalon "ensures eons of repression for women and the vital principles they espouse." It won the 1984 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and spent four months on the New York Times best seller list in hardcover. The trade paperback edition of Mists of Avalon has ranked among the top five trade paperbacks on the monthly Locus bestseller lists for almost four years.

TV series adaptation

Main article: The Mists of Avalon (miniseries)

The Mists of Avalon was adapted for television into a TNT miniseries in 2001, directed by Uli Edel.

Extended series

Main article: Avalon Series

Bradley, along with Diana L. Paxson, later expanded the book into a series, including The Fall of Atlantis, Ancestors of Avalon, Sword of Avalon, Ravens of Avalon, The Forest House, Lady of Avalon, and Priestess of Avalon. J.S. Morgane's The Spirituality of Avalon discusses the religious aspects of the Avalon series and gives insights into a modern Western understanding of spirituality and its construction in epic fantasy fiction.

Release details

1983, United States, Knopf ISBN 0-394-52406-3, Pub Date January 1983, hardcover
1984, United States, Del Rey Fantasy (an imprint of Ballantine Publishing Group) ISBN 0-345-31452-2, Pub Date May 1984, trade paperback

References

"Book review of The Mists of Avalon (video)". BlueRectangle.com/Pacific Book Exchange, LLC. 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-11-03. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
Bradley, Marion Zimmer (1982). The Mists of Avalon. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 19. ISBN 0-345-31452-2.
Bradley, Marion Zimmer (1982). The Mists of Avalon. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 11. ISBN 0-345-31452-2.
Bradley, Marion Zimmer (1982). The Mists of Avalon. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 11. ISBN 0-345-31452-2.
Bradley, Marion Zimmer (1986). "Thoughts on Avalon". Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust.
Critical praise ~ ReadingGroupGuides.com
Arthur Through Women's Eyes: The Mists of Avalon ~ Space.com
Morgane, Judith S (2010), The spirituality of Avalon the religion of the Great Goddess in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Avalon cycle, München AVM, ISBN 978-3-89975-768-2

External links

Avalon ~ Avalonbooks.net - Official website of the series
The book that made me a feminist was written by an abuser by Jessica Jernigan, 2017-12-14, Electric Literature website, accessed 2024-09-27

v t e Marion Zimmer Bradley's Avalon series
The Mists of Avalon (1983) The Forest House (1993) Lady of Avalon (1997) Priestess of Avalon (2000) Ancestors of Avalon (2004) Ravens of Avalon (2007) Sword of Avalon (2009)

v t e Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel
1970s and 1980s	The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien (1978) Harpist in the Wind by Patricia A. McKillip (1980) Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg (1981) The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe (1982) The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe (1983) The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1984) Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A. Heinlein (1985) Trumps of Doom by Roger Zelazny (1986) Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe (1987) Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card (1988) Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card (1989)
1990s	Prentice Alvin by Orson Scott Card (1990) Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin (1991) Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper (1992) Last Call by Tim Powers (1993) The Innkeeper's Song by Peter S. Beagle (1994) Brittle Innings by Michael Bishop (1995) Alvin Journeyman by Orson Scott Card (1996) A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (1997) Earthquake Weather by Tim Powers (1998) A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin (1999)
2000s	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling (2000) A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin (2001) American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2002) The Scar by China Miéville (2003) Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold (2004) Iron Council by China Miéville (2005) Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (2006) The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner (2007) Making Money by Terry Pratchett (2008) Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin (2009)
2010s	The City & the City by China Miéville (2010) Kraken by China Miéville (2011) A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin (2012) The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross (2013) The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (2014) The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (2015) Uprooted by Naomi Novik (2016) All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (2017) The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin (2018) Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (2019)
2020s	Middlegame by Seanan McGuire (2020) The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin (2021) Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee (2022) Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R. F. Kuang (2023) Witch King by Martha Wells (2024)
Best Novel (1971–1981) Best SF Novel (1980–present) Best Fantasy Novel (1978–present) Best First Novel (1981–present) Best Horror Novel (1989–1997, 1999, 2017–present) Best Young Adult Book (2003–present) Best Novella (1973–present) Best Novelette (1975–present) Best Short Story (1971–present)

v t e Modern literature based on Arthurian legends
Novel series	Albion Arthurian Trilogy The Sword and the Circle The Light Beyond the Forest The Road to Camlann Avalon The Mists of Avalon The Forest House Lady of Avalon Ancestors of Avalon Priestess of Avalon Avalon: Web of Magic The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica Here, There Be Dragons The Search for the Red Dragon The Indigo King The Shadow Dragons The Dragon's Apprentice Daughter of Tintagel / Morgan le Fay The Devices Trilogy The Pendragon Protocol Down The Long Wind Hawk of May Kingdom of Summer In Winter's Shadow The Grail Quest Harlequin A Dream of Eagles The Skystone The Singing Sword The Eagles' Brood The Saxon Shore The Fort at River's Bend Clothar the Frank The Eagle The Great Tree of Avalon Child of the Dark Prophecy The Eternal Flame Shadows on the Stars Guinevere Child of the Northern Spring Queen of the Summer Stars Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn Grey Griffins The High Queen Queen of Camelot Grail Prince The King The King's Peace The King's Name The Lost Years of Merlin The Lost Years of Merlin The Seven Songs of Merlin The Fires of Merlin The Mirror of Merlin The Wings of Merlin Lyonesse Trilogy Merlin The Crystal Cave The Hollow Hills The Last Enchantment The Wicked Day The Prince and the Pilgrim Merlin's Godson Merlin's Ring The Once and Future King The Sword in the Stone The Queen of Air and Darkness The Ill-Made Knight The Candle in the Wind The Book of Merlyn Pendragon The Pendragon Cycle Pendragon's Banner The Kingmaking The Warlord Chronicles The Winter King Enemy of God Excalibur: A Novel of Arthur
Other novels	The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights Any Old Iron Arthur Rex Avalon Avalon High The Buried Giant A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court The Coming of the King Conscience of the King Cyr Myrddin, the Coming of Age of Merlin The Dark Is Rising Sequence The Dragon Lord The Dragon Queen Excalibur The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp The Fionavar Tapestry The Firebrand Firelord The Forever King A Glastonbury Romance Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country Here Lies Arthur I Am Mordred The Idylls of the Queen Kairo-kō King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table The King's Damosel Knight Life The Knight of the Sacred Lake Lancelot Lancelot and the Lord of the Distant Isles, or the "Book of Galehaut" Retold The Lantern Bearers The Little Emperors Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson Merlin Effect The Merlin Mystery Merlin's Wood Morlock Night The Once and Future Duck The Return of Merlin The Seeing Stone The Shadows of Avalon Small World: An Academic Romance Song of the Sparrow Sword at Sunset That Hideous Strength The Sons of Avalon Saga The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady The Third Magic The Wandering Fire The Winter Prince
Comics	Camelot 3000 Mage Prince Valiant
Short stories	"The Four Diamonds" "The Last Defender of Camelot"

Feminist science fiction

Writers by time period

14th–15th century	Christine de Pizan (1364–1430)
17th century	Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673)
18th century	Marie-Anne Robert (1705–1771) Mary Griffith (1772–1846)
19th century	Mary Shelley (1797–1851) Jane Wells Webb Loudon (1807–1858) Annie Denton Cridge (1825–1875) Rhoda Broughton (1840–1920) Bertha von Suttner (1843–1914) Mary E. Bradley Lane (1844–1930) Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett (1846–1930) Auguste Groner (1850–1929) Renée Marie Gouraud d'Ablancourt (1853–1941) Irene Clyde (1869–1954) Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935) Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain (1880–1932) Rosa Rosà (1884—1978) Miriam Allen DeFord (1888–1975) Aurora Bertrana (1892—1974) Anna Banti (1895—1985) L. Taylor Hansen (1897–1976)
20th century	Karin Boye (1900—1941) Stella Gibbons (1902–1989) Leslie F. Stone (1905–1991) C. L. Moore (1911–1987) James Tiptree Jr. (1915—1987) Alice Eleanor Jones (1916–1981) Shirley Jackson (1916–1965) Elisabeth Mann-Borgese (1918—2002) Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) Marlen Haushofer (1920–1970) Françoise d'Eaubonne (1920–2005) Carol Emshwiller (1921–2019) Virginia Kidd (1921—2003) Judith Merril (1923–1997) Kate Wilhelm (1928—2018) Sonya Dorman (1924–2005) Angélica Gorodischer (1928–2022) Kate Wilhelm (1928—018) Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) Sheri S. Tepper (1929—2016) Sally Miller Gearhart (1931—2021) Fay Weldon (1931—2023) Nancy Bogen b. 1932 Sophie Behr (b. 1935) Marge Piercy b. 1936 Joanna Russ (1937–2011) Margaret Atwood (b. 1939) Suzy McKee Charnas (1939–2023) Jutta Heinrich (1940-2021) Gerd Brantenberg (b. 1941) Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (b. 1942) Eleanor Arnason (b. 1942) Samuel R. Delany (b. 1942) Donna Haraway (b. 1944 Rachel Pollack (1945–2023) Elizabeth A. Lynn b. 1946 Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006) Joëlle Wintrebert b. 1949) Lois McMaster Bujold b. 1949 Dubravka Ugrešić b. 1949 Roz Kaveney b. 1949 Karen Joy Fowler (b. 1950) L. Timmel Duchamp (b. 1950) Charlotte Kerner b. 1950 Leigh Kennedy (b. 1951) Stéphanie Nicot (b. 1952) Marleen S. Barr (b. 1953) Pat Murphy (b. 1955) Ellen Kushner (b. 1955) Montse Watkins (1955–2000) Joan Slonczewski (b. 1956) Mary Gentle (b. 1956) Laura J. Mixon (b. 1957) Luce Basseterre [fr] (b. 1957) Rieko Matsuura (b. 1958) Ninni Holmqvist (b. 1958) Mari Kotani (b. 1958) Nicoletta Vallorani (b. 1958) Maureen F. McHugh (b. 1959) Lucie Chenu (b. 1960) Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) Melissa Scott (b. 1960) Nalo Hopkinson (b. 1960) Nicola Griffith (b. 1960) Gabriela Bustelo (b. 1962) Lola Robles (b. 1963) Hiroe Suga (b. 1963) Jo Walton (b. 1964) Heidrun Jänchen (b. 1964) Tananarive Due (b. 1966) Catherine Dufour (b. 1966) Ann Leckie (b. 1966) Virginia Bergin (b. 1966) Justine Larbalestier (b. 1967) Kelly Robson (b. 1967) Yumiko Shirai (b. 1967) Sara Doke (b. 1968) Annalee Newitz (b. 1969) Charlie Jane Anders (b. 1969) Lisa Yaszek (b. 1969) Barbara Kirchner [fr] (b. 1970) Kelly Sue DeConnick (b. 1970) Li-Cam (b. 1970) Fumi Yoshinaga (b. 1971) N. K. Jemisin (b. 1972) Sheree R. Thomas (b. 1972) Naomi Novik (b. 1973) Kiini Ibura Salaam (b. 1973) Sabrina Calvo (b. 1974) Juli Zeh (b. 1974) Nnedi Okorafor (b. 1974) Catherynne M. Valente (b. 1979) Kameron Hurley (b. 1980) Judith C. Vogt (b. 1981) Nghi Vo (b. 1981) Tang Fei (b. 1983) Amal El-Mohtar (b. 1984) Hao Jingfang (b. 1984) Theresa Hannig (b. 1984) Becky Chambers (b. 1985) Tamsyn Muir (b. 1985) Aline Valek (b. 1986) Akwaeke Emezi (b. 1987) Nadia Chonville [fr] (b. 1989) Floriane Soulas (1989-) Xiran Jay Zhao (b. 1997) Benjanun Sriduangkaew (b. ?) Vandana Singh (b. ?)

Notable works by date

15th century	The Book of the City of Ladies (1405)
17th century	The Blazing World (1666)
18th century	The Voyages of Lord Seaton to the Seven Planets (1765)
19th century	Frankenstein (1818) Man's Rights; Or, How Would You Like It? (1870) Mizora (1880) Das Maschinenalter entsteht (1889) New Amazonia: A Foretaste of the Future (1889) Iola Leroy (1892) Unveiling a Parallel (1893) Arqtiq (1899)
20th century	NEQUA or The Problem of the Ages (1900) Sultana's Dream (1905) Beatrice the Sixteenth (1909) Moving the Mountain (1911) Herland (1915) "Shambleau" (1933) "That Only a Mother" (1948) Angel Island (1949) Survival Ship [fr] (1951) Life, Incorporated (1955) A Wrinkle in Time (1962) Memoirs of a Spacewoman (1962) "When I Was Miss Dow" (1966) "Aye, and Gomorrah" (1967) The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) And Chaos Died (1970) The Kin of Ata Are Waiting for You (1971) The Word for World is Forest (1972) "When It Changed" (1972) Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home (1973) "The Women Men Don't See" (1973) The Dispossessed (1974) "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" (1974) The Holdfast Chronicles (1974-1999) The Female Man (1975) Woman on the Edge of Time (1976) Houston, Houston, Do You Read? (1976) The Female Man (1977) Egalia's Daughters (1977) Up the Walls of the World (1978) The Eye of the Heron (1978) Star Songs of an Old Primate (1978) Kindred (1979) The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five (1980) The Vampire Tapestry (1980) "Souls" (1982) Native Tongue (1984) The Handmaid's Tale (1985) Brightness Falls from the Air (1985) A Door into Ocean (1986) Golden Days (1987) Lilith's Brood (1987) "Rachel in Love" (1987) The Gate to Women's Country (1988) Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (1990) Beauty (1991) He, She and It (1991) Chroniques du pays des mères (1992) "The Matter of Seggri" (1993) Parable of the Sower (1993) The Fifth Sacred Thing (1993) Brown Girl in the Ring (1998)
21st century	The Fresco (2000) Tales from Earthsea (2001) Ōoku: The Inner Chambers (2004-2020) Bu Bu Jing Xin (2005) Fledgling (2005) Le Goût de l'immortalité (2005) Choir Boy (2005) Wombs (2009-2016) The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (2010) Who Fears Death (2010) Lavinia (2008) The Alchemy of Stone (2008) The Method (2009) "Six Months, Three Days" (2011) Ancillary Justice (2013) Scale-Bright (2014) The Automation (2014) The Fifth Season (2015) Binti (2015) The Obelisk Gate (2016) Toxoplasma (2017) Winterglass (2017) All the Birds in the Sky (2018) The Stars Are Legion [fr] (2018) This Is How You Lose the Time War (2019) The Empress of Salt and Fortune (2020) When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (2020) The Future of Another Timeline (2021) Victories Greater Than Death (2021) Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak (2022) The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer (2022) The Daughter of Doctor Moreau (2022) Promises Stronger Than Darkness (2023)