Guinevere Evermore [Paperback]

I struggled to finish this book. I was disappointed in the trilogy to begin with and this book was DIFFICULT to continue. At about page 90, I finally sparked a tidbit of interest and decided to continue. Honestly, I was less interested in the author's conclusion of the Arthurian tale than I was simply curious to see how she wrapped up all of the loose ends she left in the other two books. Well - the answer is that she wrapped them up poorly.
Morgan Le Fay reappears from beneath the lake for just long enough to cause trouble and give a way for Arthur to die. Morgause vanishes. Guinevere's brother and his wife along with the other couple out in the woods appear only long enough for a long-lost nephew to arrive at the villa and then not another word is mentioned of them. Merlin and Geraldus make a couple of re-emergences but they are eventless. Guinevere does suddenly have a practically death-bed recollection of the unicorn but that story line is still as ridiculous as it was in book one. The quick disposal of each of the knights in a couple of paragraphs near the end and then the onset of a plague seem only to allow the author to finish the storyline without torturing us through a volume four - for that I am thankful. She culminates by throwing in two or so pages of questionable historical record as if to lend a modicum of credibility to her otherwise juvenile and fantastic tale of unicorns, misty other-worlds and undeveloped ancient religious practices.
This trilogy is amaturish, and filled with childish attempts at fantasy which do nothing to perpetuate what is normally a good tale...the ledgend of King Arthur. Weak moments of interesting writing are few and far between and only serve to link toghether the pages full of boring, uninformative blathering. Guinevere is unlikable from the start and remains so until her death. Had Guinevere truly been this boring, she'd have been forgotten long ago. I guess the worst part is that so many aspects that may have been developed and created an interesting twist on this old tale were simply ignored...as this entire trilogy should be ignored by anyone interested in a good Arthurian legend. I won't even try to explain her endless references to Guinevere's unnaturally golden hair and the fact that all three books contain cover art featuring a brunette!! - Power for the course with this series.

I have read numerous book about the Arthurian legend, but my interest has always been Guenevere. She is not always present in the most flattering light by authors, and sometimes she is only a brief mention. This book, however, is extremely well written. It presents the rise and fall of Camelot through Guenevere's perspective, and it also is very careful about presenting both sides of her story. It clearly establishes a platonic love between her and Arthur, and the eternal struggle that she faces with as her forbidden love for Lancelot grows. It also presents the deep friendship and comradery of the Round Table, as well as the anguish of her childless-ness. In this version of the story, Lancelot and her raise Galahad as their own son, even though Elaine is the real mother.

This is the final chapter of three books by the author, but the first one is unfortunately out of print. This was an excellent book.