Characters Books

Like all Froud books this one is incredible. This isn't just for children. People of all ages will enjoy it. Especially if you are a Froud fan. The pictures are beautiful and the story is really nice. This is must have for all children and Froudians

On the Midwinters Eve the faeries are having their annual celebration to welcome winter. But something is a miss and they all know it..where is winter? Why are there still flowers and fruit on the trees? Where has lady winter gone?
This book is illustrated with beautiful faerie figures in the traditional Froud family fashion. The story is a little familiar of many fantasy stories, and yet unique and steeped in lore.
Almost looking as a young childrens book at first this book is pretty and soft but the story is almost that of a short chapter books. The story is long enough and yet simple enough to be enjoyed by all. This book is great for children and adults alike

This is an extremely beautiful book. With Wendy Froud's doll making skills and Terri Windling's magical story weaving, teamed up with Brian Froud well, it sounds too good to be true. This follow up to "A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale" did not disappoint.

Sneezle, our beloved hero from the first book, is again teamed up with his friend Twig for a quest to find out why Winter has not yet reached their forest. Again they encounter many characters, in which Wendy's dolls never fail to amaze me. She is so incredibly gifted. I would like to show this book to anyone who does not appreciate winter as a season, because while it's not the "moral" of the story...it takes a look at winter as being the season for rest so that everything can be reborn in the spring. It tells a magnificent tale.

Not only is it a wonderful book to read and enjoy, but it's a treasure to put up on the shelf or coffee table for looking at again and again.

Wendy Froud is the wife of Artist Bryan Froud ( Good Fairies, Bad Fairies). She is a great artist and this book reflects her abilities, the books has pictures of the dolls she created for the story. The pictures say a thousand words. If you are a doll maker, you will greatly enjoy this book. The story is good but the pictures are better. It has different kind of trolls, fairies and wizards. If you love fantasy you will love the book.

Terri, Wendy, and Brian have done it again! Teaming up again to send Sneezle, the beloved hero of "A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale," on another adventure, the Frouds and Windling masterfully create a mythical world that defies the pages the story is written on. Using photographs of dolls created by Wendy Froud in settings built in the Froud's garden studio, the characters literally step from the pages. Fresh and exciting, Windling's writing brings new life to old folklore, bringing the faeries and goblins of Dartmoor out of their hiding places, at least for a little while, for us to see. A treasure to keep, with plenty to share, this is a wonderful read for the self and the wee ones!

Kerrie Colantonio, Penny-A-Page Publishing

From how to bless and honor your parents (one of the commandments that has a surprising benefit) to how to avoid speaking words you later regret, Rhonda Rizzo Webb has a host of spiritual meditations and advice, based on the Bible. This is a lovely book, one that makes excellent before-bed reading. If you want to improve your communication, this is a wonderful help.

A cleverly packaged look at a very serious subject. Lots of anecdotes and humor bring the issue to life ... definitely not a dry read! An abundance of scriptural references and practical tools help the reader begin making changes immediately that will ultimately shape her heart, bridle her tongue, and serve to glorify our Lord.

Rhonda Rizzo Webb's book reminded me to stop and think before I open my mouth. Often, I speak too quickly and hurt others with my words or I grumble and complain. Rhonda's book encouraged me to "hide God's Word in my heart." Day by day and step by step (by applying what I learned in the book) I hope to be transformed into a "Proverbs 31 woman" so that I will open my mouth in wisdom.

I appreciated Rhonda's unique combination of simple instructions, personal examples and Biblical insights. Her book has inspired me to weigh my words, BEFORE I speak them. I'm sure my family and friends will be grateful. Thank you Rhonda!

This is a great book written on a pertinent subject. I am so proud of Rhonda Webb for the high standard of excellence displayed in this book.

This is one of those books you'll read and keep reading even though it is geared towards pre-teens. I find myself re-reading the story, and looking at the pictures to see if I can find something I didn't see before. It is a captivating story that introduces you to a legendary character. I would recomend this book to anyone.

I had to buy this book because my daughter (6) was checking it out from the library so often. It is an unusual look at Guinevere and offers a good, empowering role model for girls. We love the illustrations and have read it over and over. Unfortunately, the paperback version has not stood up to those many readings. The pages have all had to be taped back in because once one came loose, the rest followed. I don't blame the binding, it is just that a paperback cannot survive that much love.

This is a beautiful picture book for pre-teens rather than for really young children. It has a mythological tale of what young Queen Guinevere's life might have been like. It is well written by the talented Robert D. San Souci and is filled with symbolism and adventure and heroism. The illustrations are well done and are brightly colored like the pages in a medieval illuminated manuscript. Beautiful mythical creatures like a chimera and a unicorn and a werewolf help give this story its otherwordly feel and add to the mysterious and magical flavor we have come to know from other great Arthurian writers like Sir Thomas Malory, T.H. White, and Howard Pyle. This is a simple story that ends with foreshadowing of the world Guinevere will grow into and it makes a good introduction to this enigmatic character.

When I found this book, the artwork captivated me. The story is simple yet strong. I would buy this if I had a child. It is beautifully illustrated and told. Take/Borrow it and read it.

This book has the best illustrations that I have EVER seen. They draw you to the text and are partnered with the book perfectly. They have the quality of a photograph.

I am a student of Persian and have found this book to be an excellent source of short stories that are both enjoyable and relatively easy to translate. The binding is sturdy and the pages are heavy and durable, (Important if you're going to make lots of notes inside!) All the vocabulary I had to look up could be found in the Hippocrene Standard Persian-English Dictionary, also available on Amazon.

I grew up with Mulla's stories. You can not find an Iranian who does not know a few stories of Mulla. Even though his storues are very funny, still they have a philosophical value too. A must read for anybody and everybody.

I read Molla's stories in English not being fortunate to know enough Persian. I hope they translate more of these stories to English, because just mentioning Molla's name brings smile to the people who know him.

In the present times, in the US we have Woody Allen, and in the East the impaccable Aziz Nassin of Turkey whose very name make you smile.

Molla's Character is popular in the Middle East as well as the Indian subcontinent, the same way as another Persian storyteller, Scheherazade is. Molla, in the Persian culture is title for the learned men or teachers. When people saw someone with beard and turban, they already assumed he is a molla so they would throw their questions.

For instance, Once Molla was hammering the nail at the end of his donkey's bridle, as he was going to a teahouse. Someone asked him: "Molla, where is the center of the world." Molla said," The center of the world is where I just hammered the nail to my donkey's bridle." Someone said, " I don't believe this." Molla took a sip of his tea and said, " If you don't believe it, go measure it."

In the forties and fifties Molla became popular among British. Some English speakers, in the hight of tension, during Nationalization of Oil, used to quote Molla when they wanted to break the ice with their Persian counterparts.

The funny stories did not solve the problem, but opened the door for many translations in English, Franch, German and many other languages. I have seen the book translated in Arabic, Turkish, Ordu and Hindu. In each of these countries they have, in years, added more stories to the old ones, giving the character a native identity. I am sure the Arabic Molla has some particular stories and the Turkish one some other. Molla now belongs to every country in Asia, as Sheharazade does.

This book is, however, in Persian. As the English version was a lot of fun for me to read, I'm sure Persians, who have a great sense of humor, will find this book much funnier than the English translation. Enjoy it.--Khandeh dareh!

It's not the point that Hoca is a character of Turkey nor Iran. Hoca is one of the wisest man of all times. He makes us remember things everyone else has forgotten for ever and always. His sayings -jokes- guide us to the objective and practical knowledge of All.

Nasreddin Hoca is not an Iranian character!!!! He had lived in Aksehir,which is a small city in Anatolia(Turkey).I am a very surprised to see that an Iranian writer try to show Nasreddin Hoca as an Iranian character.Let's not forget that 2 or 3 years ago it was celebrated as the Nasreddin Hoca year in Turkey!

A series of questions guides you through a step-by-step discovery of the hows and whys of your approach to acting, exposing the "Hidden Acting Agendas"--those inner, emotional issues that sometimes keep even the most experienced actors from doing their best work. As an acting teacher, I find that this is an area often neglected in books about acting, usually only referred to when discussing "stage fright". Bill Howey's book offers a much deeper exploration of the causes without requiring you to be a psychotherapist. It's a resource I refer to again and again.

What I love about THE ACTOR'S MENU is that even after you've read it from cover to cover, you can go back to individual sections and target specific acting problems as they occur. As a director, I'm always looking of practical ways to communicate to actors how to make adjustments without forcing them "into their head." Bill Howey addresses acting problems in straightforward, no-nonsense, practical ways, without all the usual acting jargon found in so many acting books. And the most refreshing thing about it, is that it works!!!

As an acting coach, I'm always looking for the clearest, most jargon-free way to help actors find their way to their most personal work. The Actor's Menu is imminently practical and so always useable. From the questionnaire at the front of the book through the end, Bill Howey helps the actor talk to him- or herself genuinely and effectively, without any BS. The litmus test always comes back to whether the actor was able to bring themselves fully into their work. The result from a watcher's point of view is acting that touches us and is compelling to watch. I've recommended The Actor's Menu to all of my actors and it's provided us with a framework for communicating that's helped me teach and helped them learn. That's what you need a book to do.

This is one of the most unique and helpful books I've ever read on the art and craft of acting. It has great insight and very useful advice on the process of becoming a character. This guy writes with a clarity and directness you don't often find in acting books. I've recommended this book to new actors and experienced pros looking for fresh approaches. Some of the material on personal traits that get in the way of good acting is especially helpful to get out of ruts and take the next step up in exercising your talent.
I've been re-reading sections of the book lately to help me with auditions, and with my work on a character in an Albee play I just got cast in.

The Actor's Menu by Bill Howey truly breaks down the essential ingredients required for a tasty performance! Using a menu motif, Howey shows the actor how to bring out the unique qualities that reside deep within each actor, and blend them into performances worth watching. He gives guidelines to help one make choices that resound with authenticity and power. Easy to read and thought-provoking, The Actor's Menu is much more than fast food; it's a complete meal!

Once again, an Angelina winner! My granddaughter's favorite character, after Angelina herself, is Alice so she is delighted to find a whole book about just the two of them. As usual, a small crisis (a hiccup the Aussies would call it) and then as usual, a happy ending. Loud applause from a delighted child and her grandmother.

Don't pay $45 dollars for this new book with character doll. I was told it was discontinued by a local book store today, 12/7. I went to two other stores and found 1 Angelina and Alice with the character doll. There were a couple Angelina Ballerinas left too. It only cost me $27.95. Shame on the book store listed on this website charging $45! Check your bookstores they are going fast.

This is a wonderful book and we have enjoyed it very much. I have checked it out of the library repeatedly. So I very much wanted the book with the doll to give to my daughter for Christmas. Thankfully, I didn't give up today!

beautifully illustrated, heartwarming childrens stories. Even though the Angelina stories are geared towards girls, my little boy, at 8, enjoyed these as well, especially when mom read to him. These are good stories to read to your child at bedtime.

The artwork is detailed and delightful to look at-you'll see new things each time you look, and children love that that every scene is filled with many little mice.

This Angelina story deals with how it feels when we are sometimes left out, bullied, or when a "best friend" chooses to play with other children. Each book is filled with wonderful life lessons told in a gentle, non preachy way.

I highly recommend this series for any child.
5 stars!

Whoa, has Amazon got the age range wrong here. I think some teenage girls might even enjoy this story. Certainly my children did -- 3 and 5 years of age.

"Angelina and Alice" is a lovely story about friendship and how even the best of friendships can hit a bump or two along the road. In this tale Angelina is made fun of because she can't do a decent handstand. The older girls hurt her feelings by laughing at her efforts on the playground, but what really makes her sad is when Alice joins the other girls in making fun of her.

We don't know what thoughts Alice has, but soon she repents her harsh actions and is back to help Angelina as she practices and practices to get the handstand just right. And when the school puts on a show at the Village Festival even the older girls have to give a hand to the great performance of Angelina and Alice.

Five Stars. A good read-aloud and a fine story of friendship. I particularly like the fact that importance of practicing is emphasized. And far from being a book for preschoolers, I think this is a book for 5 year olds on up. In fact, even a mommy can enjoy it.

That's exactly what this book is. Cute. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful, and the story is enjoyable. Angelina and Alice are both mice. One day they meet each other and become friends because they both like the same things. When other kids (mice) at school begin making fun of Angelina, Alice joins in. Angelina is left with no friends, and no partner in gym. I won't tell you what happens in the end. You'll have to find out for yourself.

I recommend this book to children and adults alike.

Somebody has killed an aging American veteran and Wesley Peterson has to find out who--and why. Old animosities between the U.S. soldiers and the English people uprooted from their homes come into play, but a psychic claims that the Armada Boy--a survivor of the Spanish Armada is the one to ask.

Kate Ellis writes a fine mystery but what makes this book so compelling is her descriptions of the people and countryside of England. Wesley Peterson, with his pregnant wife suffering from hormone overload, Detective Inspecter Heffernam, with is love for sailing and his need to escape from people yet desire to bond with them, and Detective Constable Rachel Tracey with her ambition, all make sympathetic characters you'll root for as they struggle forward.

The mystery is sufficiently complex and interesting. Ellis's approach of weaving the three eras together proves effective and, ultimately, the fabric of the story proves to be woven together more closely than would at first appear. This is an excellent novel.

Rest easy Ms Christie, your succesor has come through with another great mystery story. I can not wait for the next installment of Wesley's detecting prowess. Thank you Miss Ellis for a very entertaining series.

I have just finished reading this novel and could not put it down, it is superb! I feel that I must disagree with the above review by Kelly Flynn - if anything this book is more engaging tham "The Merchants House"

In Kate Ellis, British literature has a champion to contend with the commercial american heavyweights churning out their tuppenny paperbacks. In the Armada Boy, Ellis successfully produces three narratives of different periods of time, all around the same West Country area. She interweaves these timeframes in a refreshing fashion that rather than slowing and disrupting the flow and pace of the story make the novel flow seemlessly and intelligably between ages. The author maintains the characters from the previous novel but manages to find the right blend of introduction and continuity meaning no readers are alienated in terms of character development. The novel's star characters would appear to be the Americans who I assure you, after spending several hours in the presence of some American Vets. on Christmas Eve are spookily realistic. The interaction amongst the detectives is impressive, with real depth and life which adds to the novel rather than drawing away from the pace of the book.

Bottom line: A great read as either a stand alone novel or part of a sucessful series.

This novel grabbed my attention from the first scene and held it to the last. It is a truly great read.

For me, the real joys of 'The Armada Boy' are the fascinating blend of modern and historical crime; the rich diversity of characters (my personal favourite being Detective Constable Rachel Tracey - a real star in the wings who deserves a novel of her own); and the way in which three completely separate periods of history are woven together so effortlessly. Oh yes, and as with all great crime novels, I would never have guessed 'whodunnit'!!

I hardly put this novel down from the moment I picked it up.I couldn't wait to see what the next page would bring. I inherited my love of crime fiction from my late Grandmother who was a real connoisseur of the genre and as I read this novel I thought often of her. How she would have loved it!

Hip, young journalist, Alex Bernier and her co-workers at the Gabriel Monitor have seen their fair share of excitement. But nothing like the "frankenfoods" debate.

When protesters at the local university gather to protest genetically modified food research, Alex is on the scene to cover the demonstration. What she didn't count on was having to report that the school's agriculture building exploded and that a prominent university spokeswoman had been beaten to death in her lab.

Alex also didn't count on having to solve the murder mystery herself.

Using her widely acclaimed Gen-X writing style, Beth Saulnier takes an issue from today's headlines and turns it into a fast-paced, thrilling mystery. Alex Bernier is as fun and irreverent as always as she wades deeply into the politics of protest and the corridors of university power.

A great addition to Saulnier's catalogue.

I read this book because the review claimed that the town of Gabriel is really Ithaca, NY and that Benson College is in reality Cornell University, my alma mater. After reading Bad Seed I'm hooked on the charachter of Alex Bernier. She,s tough and intelligent and just insecure enough to make her lovable. Surrounded by her nutty but loyal friends and coworkers she wise cracks her way through this intriguing and suspenseful mystery about a new strain of rice being developed at the Ag School and the mayhem and murder that ensue. I've already ordered Saulnier's previous three books and look forward to the publication of the next Alex Bernier mystery. This story was a great read whether or not you attended Cornell University or lived in Ithaca, but add a star if you did.

A complex and involving plot line; an engaging protagonist; and an atmospheric setting. The fourth book in the Alex Bernier series, and the first in hardcover, brings the sharp and irrevent reporter into harm's way as she tries to solve two bombings and a brutal death on the local college campus. She pits her investigative skills, and those of her newpaper cohorts, against a group of shadowy bioterrorists. Filled with great characters, snappy writing, and a compelling story. Couldn't put it down. A great sequel to "Reliable Sources," "Distemper," and "The Fourth Wall," although it can stand alone. A new, young writer to watch.

I loved it! I have now flown through all four of Saulnier's books found each of them smart, funny and a terrific read. In Bad Seed, poor Alex Bernier, who seems to have an excess of death in her life, is caught up in a finely woven web of science, zealotry and current events. Through basic, hard nosed reporting she stumbles to the bottom of a global plot nestled in the little town of Ithaca. Talk about think global, act local- this one could literally be "ripped from the headlines." I pre-ordered it after reading the first three in the series and am now hoping she keeps this series going. Definitely worth picking this one up.

By the way, I was really disheartened by the Publishers Weekly review but decided to read the book anyway. Did they ever get it wrong! This book is fun and good.

When a murder in academia leaves Benson College PR person Lane Freeman dead by poison and his wife (the Dean of Agriculture) in prison, no one in small-town Gabriel is surprised, since they were an extremely unhappy couple. Nor does anyone take particular note of the protest happening outside a conference at the school on agricultural biotechnology, until a few bombs destroy part of the campus, and the school's popular and revered head biotech professor is found beaten to death.

Not satisfied with the obvious explanations for the murder, Alex Bernier (a saucy twenty-something newspaper reporter whose nose for news puts her right in the thick of things) does a little digging, and comes up with a gaggle of suspects and secrets, including a plan to introduce genetically modified food to an unsuspecting populace. But those who wish their secrets to remain secret will stop at nothing to save themselves.

This book is a super five star treat that I think you'll enjoy very much, and you'll more than likely even get a chuckle or two out of it.

Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne

This is certainly a good book for the James Bond fan (I include myself).

It's probably worth reading for the general movie fan as well since one can see the roles of chance and chaos in any creative endeavor.

The simple story of producers Albert R. Broccoli & Harry Saltzmann finding the 007 books by Ian Fleming and creating the biggest franchise in movie history just didn't come about that easily. In fact, Broccoli & Saltzmann don't play very big roles in THE BATTLE FOR BOND.

The first third of the book meticulously chronicles Ian Fleming's attempts to get Bond on the silver screen, quoting or just reprinting the letters and cables between Fleming, his friends/business associates, the producer Kevin McClory and screenwriter Jack Whittingham. It quickly becomes a mess.

The middle third discusses the filming of "Thunderball" with plenty of interesting tidbits from actors and crew.

The final third follows the chaotic set of McClory & Sean Connery's "renegade" Bond film, "Never Say Never Again," as well as McClory's attempts to hang on to Bond to his dying day.

What jumped out at me while reading THE BATTLE FOR BOND was just how little happiness 007 and "Thunderball" brought to the principle personalities. Ian Fleming, already in failing health from 60 cigarettes a day and heavy drinking, slowly burned out and died of a heart attack just a few months after settling with McClory. Jack Whittingham also suffered from severe heart problems and risked death to participate in a trial that profited him nothing.

Sean Connery, the actor who would become the biggest movie star in the world in perhaps the most iconic film character of the 20th Century, was sick to death of Bond by 1965's "Thunderball" and miserable. He then returned to the role in 1983's "Never Say Never Again" and was even more miserable shooting that unorganized film.

And Kevin McClory, who begins this saga as a scrappy underdog but ends as a disgraceful, greedy thorn in everyone's side, ends a broken, bitter man, his last tenuous grasp on Bond finally wrenched from his dying fingers by the courts shortly before his death.

I wouldn't call it "The Curse of Bond," but it doesn't look like any of the leads really savored and enjoyed the success of James Bond and "Thunderball."

(Financially, Broccoli & Saltzmann would benefit the most but they don't play major roles in this book. There are plenty of people who complain about how cheap they were--Sean Connery first and foremost--but the author doesn't go into much detail about them.)

A worthy entry in the Bond lore.

The book features not one but two villains, but they are so beautifully brought to life you can see their characters in the round, as it were, humans with failings just like the rest of us. One was Ian Fleming himself, who comes across in THE BATTLE FOR BOND as a pop genius like Warhol with a great invention, the James Bond character, and yet a weakness for trampling over the rights of others out of his sense of clubby privilege which is fairly sickening after a few chapters. So when he employs others to help him sketch out a screenplay that will feature his Bond character, he doesn't even think twice about novelizing their joint effort and publishing it under his own name. He had what became the modern equivalent of the old fashioned "droit du seigneur," and the others were just pawns in his game.

The second "villain who's not really a villain" was the crazy swinger Kevin McClory, technically he was used and abused by Ian Fleming but he sure wound up with his pound of flesh didn't he! Author Robert Sellers, the one man who was able to pick up and tell the whole wretched and confused saga from beginning to end, makes you eventually loathe Kevin, even though he started out as the underdog. Kevin was the type of friend than which you'd rather have an enemy, so you hold him in your embrace just so you can see what he's doing with his hands.

The hero of the book winds up to be Jack Whittingham, a venerable and talented screenwriter whom BOTH McClory and Fleming took up, then cast aside. AND his daughter, the beautiful singer and office manager Sylvan Whittingham, who kept all the papers together for forty years and then finally, with the help of a faithful lawyer, Peter Carter-Ruck, brought all the pieces together to tell a strange and disturbing story of genius gone mad. As Sellers points out, the saga of Carter-Ruck is like a Shakespearean tragedy, but the same can be said for the sad and wasted life of Kevin McClory. At the very end of the book there's a great photo of a little girl, Jack Whittingham's granddaughter, Aimi, inspecting with all the unconscious grace of a child, the neatly cared for grave of her grandad. It's in Malta, of all places, an island he loved.

I did not know a thousand facts that Sellers lets on: that Julie Christie was considered for the role of Domino; that Luciana Paluzzi considered Claudine Auger cold and calculating; that Dirk Bogarde might have been James Bond--or Rod Taylor--both of them I guess, not so bad choices. The angry figure of Sean Connery permeates the flavor of the book like a simmering stew of bad feeling that will not go away. He's great, but like everyone else in the book bar the Whittinghams, his life has been misspent chasing money and licking wounded pride.

A saga big as BLEAK HOUSE and as captivating as CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, except for grown ups.

A brilliant, well researched indepth study of a ongoing war between two rival film companies on the greatest film hero of all time JAMES BOND and the movies THUNDERBALL and NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN. Buy it now...because in ENGLAND the book has been through the law courts and consequently has been banned from sale, it will be reprinted minus a few items that caused quite a fuss. So buy it now from amazon usa

Alot of the history of THUNDERBALL isn't new to me but Sellers writes a really entertaining and fascinating bit of history. I couldn't put it down until I had finished it -- in one seating. Great treasure of previously unseen material (Connery scouting the State of Liberty for the never made WARHEAD, production drawings, rare photos, etc). As it has been pulled off the market because litigation from the Fleming Trust (who could they be? Fleming's been dead since 1964, his wife died years ago and his only son died from a drug overdose in the early 1970's) so it is going to be harder to get. Worth the effort!

There are many of us who do care to know the true story about Thunderball - have a look at the uk reviews! This is a landmark book and contains fresh information on this fascinating subject. Top marks to author Robert Sellers who tells an unbiased factual story about the origins of the Bond movies

A few months ago, I read a novel called Queen of Camelot by Nancy Mckenzie, a recreation of the King Arthur story that centers on Guinevere. I thought that the retelling was very interesting and showed Guinevere as a flesh and blood, three-dimensional, kind woman and not the treacherous, adulteress that is shown in the original story. Beloved Exile, however, shows quite a different take on Guinevere, one of an ambitious, treacherous woman that would do anything for survival and to rule as queen with results as interesting as the one in Queen of Camelot. Guinevere is the Medieval/fantasy Scarlett O'Hara in this retelling. After King Arthur dies, Guinevere, along with Lancelot and Gareth, tries to bring Camelot to its previous glory, but things don't turn out that way, to say the least. Instead, she becomes a Saxon slave, and her struggles has just begun. But Guinevere is an intelligent, scheming woman, and she will do just about anything to reign again. There are various twists throughout the novel.

Beloved Exile takes quite a departure from the original King Arthur tale and the results are incredible. Parke Godwin gives Guinevere the sort of depth and layers that is absent in King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table. And the anti-heroine here is also a departure from Queen of Camelot. Both of these novels show a very interesting portrayal of Queen Guinevere in very different ways and I cannot decide which one is the best one of the two. In this adaptation, Guinevere is an unsympathetic protagonist, but has enough complexity to make her compelling at the same time. That is why I compare her to Scarlett O'Hara, for she made me feel the same way when I read Gone with the Wind. This Guinevere is very interesting indeed. I just loved the complexity and many dimensions of this character. Mr. Godwin has created a wonderful and unique portrayal of this classic character. And he added gothic undertones to boot! I cannot recommend this gem enough!

This is my favorite depiction of Guinevere. Godwin portrays her as a powerful woman whose strengths (as is often the case) are also her weaknesses--and her undoing. Godwin's Guinevere is frequently hard to sympathize with, but she isn't hard to understand. I'm impressed with how dramatically (but believably) her character changes and grows between Firelord and this book. Note: Read this book carefully, and you'll notice that a character from Firelord, so minor that she had neither name or dialogue, is crucial to the events and attitudes in Beloved Exile.

Traditional versions of the Arthur myth focus mainly on the men. Other versions like Mists of Avalon, which I enjoy immensely, focus women characters and not much, really, on the weepy, very Christian Guinevere.

Beloved Exile is a smashing alternate view of the possibilities, given the times. Guinevere in this version is not construed as a saint, a hystrionic weeper, nor is she totally lovable, but is very human. She is a strong, unforgettable character.

Highly recommended!

More historical fiction than fantasy, you will not find any magic swords or sorcery in this gritty and realistic story of Guenevere and Britian after the death of Arthur. When the story begins, Guenevere is already middle aged, and Britian is on the brink of chaos. As the story progresses we learn of the maturing of Guenevere as a person and as a queen.

The novel starts off fast and furious with battles and betrayals. Then it settles down into a serious character study as it builds towards a strong and satisfying climax. Sometimes slow, but always interesting, this was worthwhile reading.

This is a worthy sequel to the exciting "Firelord." It tells the story of the rest of Guinevere's life after Arthur's death, and she is even more of a vivid and strong personality than she was in that enthralling novel. Godwin's account of her captivity as a Saxon slave, and her adaptation to that way of life, is purely imaginative, but who could mind? It relates a sensitive and entertaining account of how this proud queen grows to maturity in her adjustment to a jarring change in her fortunes. Guinevere has never seemed more real, alive and captivating than in these pages.You can well believe that a woman this remarkable has captured popular imagination for 1500 years. Someone, please--put this book back into print! It deserves it.