Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit (a Novel of King Arthur) [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Every fantasy writer, says Mercedes Lackey in the Afterword, comes to the question of England. That is, the tale of King Arthur. From Sir Thomas Malory to T.H. White, to even Lackey's mentor Marion Zimmer Bradley, undoubtedly, the legend of King Arthur has inspired many since the myth gain popularity in literature. And in the hands of Mercedes Lackey, the tale is told with a feminist twist. Indeed, the legend of King Arthur here is told from Gwenhwyfar's side, who debunks the heroic Arthur myth to tell a story of societal expectations, duty, and the meaning of freedom.

Divided into three parts, the novel traces Gwenhwyfar's life from her childhood to her adulthood. The first part, titled "Princess," shows her training to become an unconventional princess and girl. Preferring weapons over craft work, Gwenhwyfar quickly excels in becoming a warrior. Eventually, Gwenhwyfar shuns the feminine arts to work for her father, a low king under Arthur. While the battle scenes are not as flashy as it could be, Lackey's skill is and has always been in her development of human drama, with of course a splash of magic. In the first part, through Gwen's eyes we see betrayl, rivalry, and keen critiques of traditions.

Such themes are explored in depth in the second part, named "Warrior," as Lackey further develops her characters--especially the independent and thoughtful title character--and explore the meanings of freedom.

What struck unevenly, however, was the third and final section titled "Queen," where we finally see Gwenhwyfar's rise into power as King Arthur's wife. While here is where she drives her themes and critiques home, and of course bring readers to a climatic battle scene of sisterly rivalry, this is nearly lost in a cacophonous departure of character. In the third part, we are introduced to love interests and the story nearly becomes like her Luna series, The Tale of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, only dark and not as humorous or magical. The strong Gwenhwyfar becomes weak in the face of her love interest, resulting in bodice-ripping scenes, again a departure from what Lackey had spent 2/3 of the novel building.

While ultimately, the ending is satisfying, the third leg of story weakens it greatly. While 2/3 of the novel felt well-written and developed, the last felt rushed, under-developed, and inconsistent. Overall, fans will like this, but will compare it with dissatisfaction to her other works. Newcomers to Lackey should start somewhere else. The book as a whole does not showcase Lackey's intelligence, social acuity, and writing ability.

I love all things Arthurian and when I saw this book was to be released I absolutely couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I always love reading different takes on the legend. Let me say that this book takes the story in a totally different direction; not bad, just very different. There is enough of the known Arthur story mixed in so you know what you are reading about and its not completely new, but there are many things that really differ from what most readers are used to when it comes to this story. In this book Gwenhwyfar is the 3rd daughter of a King in the West of England. Even though she seems to have the power of the "sight" (the magic part of this story) she trains to be a warrior and becomes one of her father's war chiefs. Her prowess earns her the nickname the "White Spirit," given to her by the Saxons. At one point she is even able to make friends with a monk close to Arthur, despite her pagan beliefs. She loves the life even though, once she meets Lancelin (Lancelot), she begins to think that maybe it would have been better to do something more womanly. Eventually the "Ladies" call on Gwen to wed King Arthur. She will be his third queen by that name (the first two having died). She is reluctant but realizes that this is something she has to do. Once married she is quite unhappy, hating loosing her freedom. The story really starts to pick up and hurry to its conclusion when she is abducted by Medraut (Mordred) and kept prisoner for several months while her evil younger sister Gwenhwyfach pretends to be Gwen. She is able to escape and hides out with Lancelin for several days until Medraut manages to arrange it so Arthur sees that she has been unfaithful. After being taken prisoner the battle between Arthur and his son begins, the two are both killed, and Gwen is left with the monks, having to decide what her future will hold now that she is truly free.

This book is unlike any other book about King Arthur that I've ever read before. I can't say that I didn't like it but it just fell flat for me. There were things briefly mentioned that could have been interesting if the author had expanded on them but for the most part, nothing important or interesting really seemed to happen. It almost seems as if the author tried to incorporate many known legends of Arthur while at the same time trying to change the story up completely. There is magic that is connected to the old, pagan ways mentioned throughout the story but there is never really that much detail given about what it really is or what they can really do. Gwenhwyfar and Arthur don't marry until almost the end of the story and she is not his true love and he really doesn't seem to want much to do with her once they're married. She is also his third queen and was raised as a warrior to boot! We don't really see much of Arthur throughout the novel and I never got a feel for what type of person the author wanted him to be. As for Gwen, I didn't dislike her, I just didn't find her that interesting. The idea that she was a warrior and his third queen was interesting but as a whole it wasn't written in a way that kept my attention. The Merlin is mentioned in the story and he shows up briefly but I am still confused as to his role in everything. There were lots of unanswered questions that really irritated me, especially when it came to Merlin: did he have anything to do with the death of Gwen's mother, what did he give the bratty little sister in that box, why did Morgause want to foster Gwenhwyfach so badly, etc, etc. If these ideas had been expanded it would have made for more interesting reading. Gwen's little sister, Gwenhwyfach is such an annoying, irritating, selfish, evil little thing that I wanted to drown her within a few pages. I knew she would show up at the end, helping Medraut in his evil plans because she was so jealous of her older sister. The other characters in the story, even Medraut and Lancelin, are not very interesting and they almost didn't need to be in there, except for the fact that Medraut had to fight his father at the end. At the end of the story we are left with the usual characters dead, Gwen's sister has drowned herself, and Gwen herself is left with the monks to decide what she wants to do with the rest of her life. We are given the impression that she is going to try to help form a bridge between the old, pagan ways and the Christians.

Does this review seem a bit chaotic? Well, that is kind of how the book felt to me: lots of bits and pieces thrown in together, minimal details in places where more would have really helped the story, too much detail in areas where it wasn't needed, characters that weren't really that interesting. It had potential and there were parts that were interesting but as a whole, it just didn't do it for me. I am glad I checked it out of the library instead of purchasing it. I would recommend this to die hard lovers of anything Arthurian but just be warned that it is different. My favorite telling of the story is still Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon," which is told from female perspectives as well.

I've read every Mercedes Lackey book, and I keep buying them even though she frustrates me with her formulaic plots at times, because every once in a while she has a gem. I hoped that with this new book, and a new series, it would be a gem, like The Fairy Godmother was. Nope. It was painful to read, frustrating, confusing, and needed another pass through the editing department. As I finished it, I vowed I'd stop buying her books (and she has a new one every six months!), and although I probably won't, as I've made the same vow with her before, I really hope she starts going for quality rather than quantity.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 26 reviews  3.3 out of 5 stars