I love Marion Zimmer Bradley, it's amazing that she is able to keep this saga so interesting and fresh. This one really captured me on an emotional level, you really feel for the characters. Once again she veers away from the idea of a fairytale story and ending always staying true to herself and the concept of the book. ( )

While no where near the epic tale that was "Mists of Avalon," this book is still a wonderful tale of a woman who gives all for her destiny and later finds that she changed the world, for the worse, through her destined son Constantine. Bradley has a way of making history seem tangible and characters seem very sympathetic and understandable. She is one of the master's of her craft, I think few would dispute that. An enjoyable read. ( )

This book provided fans of the Avalon series with some fascinating details regarding the making of a priestess, and Eilan's training. The latter two-thirds of the book, although not taking place in Avalon and focusing on Eilan's life in the Roman Empire, still addressed the Goddess and pagan religions and the spread of Christianity, which gave a wonderful historical perspective.

As a life-long fan of "The Mists of Avalon" and a non-Christian, I found the domination of Christianity depicted in this book to be oppressive, as did other reviewers. But it is historical, after all, and I would rather explore how such a thing came to pass and better understand it, in any case.

Let's face it, MZB fans: nothing in this series was ever going to be as great, as magical, as special as "Mists". It's a once-in-a-lifetime book, and it touched a lot of our lives. I though "The Forest House" was disappointing, and "Lady of Avalon" less so, but the comparison to "Mists" is what doomed both of them, for me at least. This book, "Priestess of Avalon", was from such a different perspective that I was less inclined to compare it to the progenitor of this series, and therefore I enjoyed it more, on the whole. Give it a chance, if you haven't read it yet, and just go in with an open mind. ( )

This is the final book in the Avalon series. In it a young princess goes to Avalon to train as a priestess. However, she falls in love with a Roman officer and that forbidden love causes her to be cast from Avalon. When I went to the library, it was to seek out the Mists of Avalon which I haven't read, but came away with this one when the other wasn't available. While this was a fine stand alone book, I would have preferred to have it center around Avalon. Instead, it is about the Roman Imperial families, warfare and traisping across Europe and beyond. There was a lot of Army A conquered Army B who conquered Army C and who was deposed along the way--all following the prophecies of a vision Helena had back on Avalon. ( )

Once again a fascinating book that explores the world of Avalon as made beloved in the the Mists of Avalon. This book, like others written since Mists, focuses on characters with deep connections to the old ways of Avalon, yet may have to face new ways represented by the rise of Christianity. Priestess of Avalon has as its heroine the historical figure of the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, known as Helena. Ms Bradley and her co-writer Ms Paxson imagine a life for the not-well-documented figure who eventually became a saint due to her work identifying holy sights in Palestine and recovering various relics. Helena (with the British name Eileen) is presented in the story as an initiated priestess of Avalon who follows her destiny away from the mists in order to give birth to a possibly prophesied son, Constantine. As many a Greek Tragedy has shown, not every prophecy turns out as expected. Helena must live with a child raised in the Roman Empire who grows more and more obsessed with his Christian faith, which led of course it its adoption in the Empire. Much like other Avalon residents, Helena is tolerant of this new religion, and even willingly explores the Holy Land sights late in life as closely identified with the historical St. Helena. As expected, a lot of imagery of the Goddess, the role of mothers, and the stages of a woman's life. After Ms Bradley died, the book was finished by Diana Paxon, who had apparently worked often with her. ( )