From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jul 12 11:15:04 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.books.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!trane.uninett.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!spool.mu.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news!nobody From: "Evelyn C Leeper" Subject: THE HIGH QUEEN by Nancy McKenzie Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Sender: news@media.mit.edu (USENET News System) Organization: Date: Fri, 7 Jul 1995 17:12:51 GMT Approved: wex@media.mit.edu (Alan Wexelblat) Lines: 55 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:796 rec.arts.books.reviews:689 THE HIGH QUEEN by Nancy McKenzie Del Rey, ISBN 0-345-38245-5, 1995, 430pp, US$5.99 A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1995 Evelyn C. Leeper When Nancy McKenzie's CHILD QUEEN came out, I read it and was favorably impressed. Even the fact that at the end of the book there was a blurb announcing a sequel didn't dent my enthusiasm too much, because THE CHILD QUEEN stood well on its own. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about its sequel, THE HIGH QUEEN. THE HIGH QUEEN picks up shortly after Guinevere has been rescued from King Melwas. If you don't know the story up to this point, you will not understand much of what is going on in this book. But even if you are familiar with the Arthur legend, it won't help: MacKenzie has written her books from a different perspective than the version I learned as a child. Mordred is not the villain. Galahad is not the hero. Merlin is off-stage most of the time. None of the characters act according to their popular characterizations. They do, however, act in accordance with what was related in the first book. What this means is that you must read THE CHILD QUEEN before reading this. And even then, some of the characterizations don't work. Characters change motivation and character rather abruptly when necessary for the plot (or the legend), and this weakens the story. I like the way that McKenzie takes the bare "facts" of the Arthur legend (or perhaps more accurately, the aspects of it that most versions have in common) and gives them a new interpretation. Of course, she is not the first, and suffers by the obvious comparison to Marion Zimmer Bradley's MISTS OF AVALON. Bradley's telling has a darker, more mythic feel to it, while McKenzie's is a more modern version, with Guineverea more "liberated" queen and characters who mouth more present-day sentiments than one would probably have heard at the time. If you've read the first book, then I can recommend this conclusion. If you haven't, though, this book will not work for you. I don't know why Del Rey didn't release the two pieces as a single volume. Yes, it would have been long, but if they had enough faith in THE CHILD QUEEN to label it their "Del Rey Discovery of the Year," this shouldn't have been a problem. %T The High Queen %A Nancy McKenzie %C New York %D March 1995 %I Del Rey %O paperback, US$5.99 %G ISBN 0-345-38245-5 %P 430pp %S Guinevere %V 2 -- Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | Evelyn.Leeper@att.com "I don't care what may be his politics. I don't care what may be his religion. I don't care what may be his color. I don't care who he is. So long as he is honest, he shall be served by me." --Theodore Roosevelt From ../rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Nov 14 14:26:26 1995 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jul 12 10:59:54 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.books.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!trane.uninett.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!spool.mu.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news!nobody From: "Evelyn C Leeper" Subject: THE HIGH QUEEN by Nancy McKenzie Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Sender: news@media.mit.edu (USENET News System) Organization: Date: Fri, 7 Jul 1995 17:12:51 GMT Approved: wex@media.mit.edu (Alan Wexelblat) Lines: 55 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:796 rec.arts.books.reviews:689 THE HIGH QUEEN by Nancy McKenzie Del Rey, ISBN 0-345-38245-5, 1995, 430pp, US$5.99 A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1995 Evelyn C. Leeper When Nancy McKenzie's CHILD QUEEN came out, I read it and was favorably impressed. Even the fact that at the end of the book there was a blurb announcing a sequel didn't dent my enthusiasm too much, because THE CHILD QUEEN stood well on its own. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about its sequel, THE HIGH QUEEN. THE HIGH QUEEN picks up shortly after Guinevere has been rescued from King Melwas. If you don't know the story up to this point, you will not understand much of what is going on in this book. But even if you are familiar with the Arthur legend, it won't help: MacKenzie has written her books from a different perspective than the version I learned as a child. Mordred is not the villain. Galahad is not the hero. Merlin is off-stage most of the time. None of the characters act according to their popular characterizations. They do, however, act in accordance with what was related in the first book. What this means is that you must read THE CHILD QUEEN before reading this. And even then, some of the characterizations don't work. Characters change motivation and character rather abruptly when necessary for the plot (or the legend), and this weakens the story. I like the way that McKenzie takes the bare "facts" of the Arthur legend (or perhaps more accurately, the aspects of it that most versions have in common) and gives them a new interpretation. Of course, she is not the first, and suffers by the obvious comparison to Marion Zimmer Bradley's MISTS OF AVALON. Bradley's telling has a darker, more mythic feel to it, while McKenzie's is a more modern version, with Guineverea more "liberated" queen and characters who mouth more present-day sentiments than one would probably have heard at the time. If you've read the first book, then I can recommend this conclusion. If you haven't, though, this book will not work for you. I don't know why Del Rey didn't release the two pieces as a single volume. Yes, it would have been long, but if they had enough faith in THE CHILD QUEEN to label it their "Del Rey Discovery of the Year," this shouldn't have been a problem. %T The High Queen %A Nancy McKenzie %C New York %D March 1995 %I Del Rey %O paperback, US$5.99 %G ISBN 0-345-38245-5 %P 430pp %S Guinevere %V 2 -- Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | Evelyn.Leeper@att.com "I don't care what may be his politics. I don't care what may be his religion. I don't care what may be his color. I don't care who he is. So long as he is honest, he shall be served by me." --Theodore Roosevelt