Praise for the Avalon series: 'A most original interpretation of the matter of Britian by way of Celtic religion and the Great Mother... a remarkable feat of imagination' Mary Renault 'I loved the book so much I went out and bought it for a friend, and have told many people about it. Why did no one ever think before to tell the story of King Arthur from the perspective of the women!' Jean Auel 'A pillar of the fantasy field, Bradley here combines romance, rich historical detail, magical dazzlements, grand adventure and feminist sentiments into the kind of novel her fans have been yearning for' Publishers Weekly 'The best retelling of the Arthurian saga I have ever read. Completely compelling' Isaac Asimov

Marion Zimmer Bradley is the creator of the popular Darkover universe as well as the critically acclaimed author of the bestselling The Mists of Avalon, its sequel, The Forest House, and Priestess of Avalon with her long-time collaborator Diana L. Paxson. She died in Berkeley, California on September 25, 1999. Diana L. Paxson was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1943, but moved to Los Angeles at the age of three and has been a Californian ever since. After attending Mills College in 1960, she received a masters degree in Comparative (Medieval) Literature from U.C. Berkeley. She married and became the mother of two children. In 1971 she began seriously writing. Her first short story was published in 1978 and her first novel in 1981.