Marion Zimmer Bradley's single most popular work was 1983's Mists of Avalon, a fantasy based on the legends of King Arthur.
It was a success with readers and critics alike, picking up the 1984 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and spending four months on the New York Times best seller list in hardcover. The trade paperback edition of Mists of Avalon has ranked among the top five trade paperbacks on the monthly Locus bestseller lists for almost four years.
Mists of Avalon retells the Arthur story from the perspective of the women closest to him -- his mother Igraine; his wife Gwenhwyfar (or Guinevere), a devout Christian; his aunt Viviane, the Lady of the Lake or high priestess of the religion of Avalon; and especially his sister Morgan, another priestess who would bear his only son.
In the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, John Clute called Mists of Avalon "a convincing revision of the Arthurian cycle," and said that the victory of Christianity over the "sane but dying paganism" of Avalon "ensures eons of repression for women and the vital principles they espouse."
Remembering Darkover's Queen
About Darkover
Humble beginnings
A feminist by any other name?
Cultivating the future
Bibliography
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