Child of the Northern Spring by Persia Woolley

Child of the Northern Spring is not, strictly speaking, a retelling of the Arthurian legend. I discovered it on a used-bookstore shelf and didn't realize that it was the first book in a trilogy, and that it only dealt with Guinevere's early life, up until her marriage to Arthur.

Persia Woolley’s Guinevere isn't the annoying, preachy character you might recall from Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon, but neither is she the fascinating character readers might be hoping for. She’s like many other young romance heroines: a sweet, tomboyish girl who loves horses.

I was looking forward to seeing how she developed, though, as she grew older and took on the mantle of Queen. Readers should be advis... Read More

Queen of the Summer Stars by Persia Woolley

I didn't plan on reading Queen of the Summer Stars, since I was disappointed with the previous installment, Child of the Northern Spring. But one day I was in an Arthurian mood, saw the last two volumes at the library, and said "Hey, what the heck?" I was pleasantly surprised by books two and three; I'm glad I changed my mind and read them.

Queen of the Summer Stars starts slowly. Guinevere seems more like a fly-on-the-wall narrator than a character for the first half of the book. She constantly regales us with all of the doings in Camelot — every banquet, affair, and border skirmish. But she doesn't talk much about what's going on in her own head. The result of this is that, whenever she suddenly acts with strong emotion, it comes out of left field. For example, at one point she lets two strangers talk her i... Read More

Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn by Persia Woolley

Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn is a good book, even though it perpetuates the flaws seen in Persia Woolley's previous Guinevere Trilogy novels, Child of the Northern Spring and Queen of the Summer Stars. Woolley's Guinevere still has a habit of distancing herself from the story, briskly rattling off the legendary happenings like an anchorwoman for the Camelot Nightly News; and Woolley's desire to tell the Arthurian legend without the use of supernatural elements results in cumbersome and byzantine plot devices as the author attempts to explain magical events without the magic. But all of this aside, this is a compelling and enjoyable conclusion to the series.

In Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn, the dream of Camelot begins to fall apart. There are quarrels: Guinevere and Lancelot fight bitterly over Elaine of Carbonek, whom Lancelot accidentally slept with. Mordred, whose best frie... Read More