Of the three Avalon books I have read ("Mists of Avalon", "Forest House," and "Lady of Avalon,") I have to say this ranked third in terms of my enjoyment.

This was the second prequel to "Mists of Avalon," the best in the series and one of the best things I've ever read. Of course Marion Zimmer Bradley's vivid imagery continues to shine, but I think the reason "Lady" was less enjoyable, was that far less happened in this book than in either of its predecessors. Often years (or hundreds of years) would elapse between events, removing and replacing characters, and often there were descriptions of battle outcomes involving people and tribes with names I didn't recognize and whose importance to the story I didn't understand.

I would have rated it 2 stars, except for the final section ("Daughter of Avalon,") in which Viviane (Lady of the Lake and key character in "Mists") is finally introduced. Her story reads very quickly and is exciting and intriguing, and I read the final part of the book exponentially faster than I read the rest.

This is a well-written book that suffered from the lack of movement in the plot. The final chapter alone would have sufficed as a prequel to "Mists." As it stands, I really enjoyed the end, and the epilogue, and am happy to have completed the saga before "The Mists of Avalon."