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Book Review of Child of the Northern Spring (Guinevere, Bk 1)

Child of the Northern Spring (Guinevere, Bk 1)
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Helpful Score: 4


Best Guenevere ever!, October 27, 2004
Reviewer: M. Tucker

This trilogy by Persia Woolley, which includes Child of the Northern Spring, Queen of the Summer Stars, and The Legend in Autumn, is well worth reading. Among the plethora of feminine centric Arthur retellings, I thought this trilogy was second only to The Mists of Avalon, which is the best Arthurian novel I've read, period. Neither a simpering bauble like Marion Zimmer Bradley's queen, nor a bitter shrew, as she is depicted in Rosalind Miles' trilogy, the High Queen in this series is a strong woman, bold, intelligent, compassionate, and well worth the love of two legendary heros. My only complaint with the character is this: Woolley saw fit to make her Guenevere homely, not the great beauty of legend, and Guenevere is supposed to be the fairest of the fair. Otherwise, this trilogy gets my highest recommendation. It is much better than the other Guenevere trilogies out there (by Miles and Newman). If you like this one, you might also enjoy Queen of Camelot by Nancy McKenzie.