RAVENS OF AVALON is a prequel to the Avalon series by the late Marion Zimmer Bradley. Diana Paxson was a longtime collaborator with her and therefore the Avalon universe well. A mixture of history, myth, magic and a touch of romance, the book touches on many genres.
In this story, we learn about Queen Boudica and the conquest of Briton by the Roman legions. Trained by Lhiannon as a druid priestess, Boudica decides to help her clan by marrying a Briton King. At his death, the Romans refuse to acknowledge her as Queen, beat her and rape her daughters. To say this doesn't sit well with her would be an understatement. She raises an army imbued with the power of the druids and attempts to oust the Romans.
While the premise sounds wonderfully exciting, the actual writing left me flat. I thought the book rather boring. There was no life to it. The majority of the book concerns eighteen years of Boudica's and Lhiannon's lives. The writing technique was good and the editing excellent. But the pacing was slow, almost to the point of stoppage. Although there was more excitement in the end, getting there was like wading upstream against a torrent. This is an unfortunate problem with many prequels that are written well after the series. It's as though the author is attempting to get in as much background information as possible. It's why editors cut out back story in many novels. It's just not as interesting as the main story.
Fans of the Avalon series will want to read this so they have more information on the world, but if you've never read any of the Avalon series, I wouldn't start here. Yes, it does add good background for the rest of the Raven books, but wading your way through the pages is not my idea of a great read.
Reviewed by Vicky Burkholder
08/14/2007