Ancestors of Avalon

by Diana L. Paxon

Viking, June, 2004.
Hardcover, 363 pages.
ISBN: 0670033146

Ancestors of Avalon by Diana L. Paxon

Fans of Marion Zimmer Bradley are in for an incredible treat with Diana Paxon's new novel, Ancestors of Avalon. Before there was Avalon in the British Isles, there was Atlantis, where the Guardians of Light kept their people safe. Tiriki, a Guardian of Light, and her husband Prince Micail realize that their beloved Atlantis is going to be destroyed in a cataclysm. The Guardians arrange for the population to be evacuated by ship, but Tiriki and Micail are separated during the confusion of the sinking of the island. They both land in pre-Christian Britain, unaware that the other lives. The Atlanteans struggle mightily to adjust to their new, strange home and to keep their spirituality and faith alive. The men, under the direction of Micail, focus on an aggressive taming of their land, while Tiriki and her people focus on a more harmonious blending with their environment. Without Tiriki's calm to balance him, Micail begins work on a project that could have devastating results for the Atlanteans and their new home.

Diana L. Paxson helped her sister-in-law and longtime friend Marion Zimmer Bradley finish her last book before her death, The Mists of Avalon. She knows the territory, and her writing blends perfectly into the mythos that Ms. Bradley created. Ms. Paxson combines mysticism, goddess worship, Atlantean magic, the history of the British Isles and a love story to create a compelling story of which Ms. Bradley herself would have approved.

Ancestors of Avalon is available for purchase on Amazon.com

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This review was published in the July-August, 2004 of The Internet Writing Journal.