Many years have come and gone since Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon has delighted thousands of readers throughout the world. As this review is being written, the final touches are being put on a TV version of this classic novel that was aired in July 2001 on the TNT (Turner) channel. Three more serial novels followed, and this fourth and final edition again enthralls the reader with the sacred, mystical world of Avalon. There reside the followers and beloved servants of the Lady or Goddess who balances the opposing forces of the human world with the essences of Spirit.

This particular novel focuses on the mother of the Emperor Constantine, Helena, or Eilan, as the Avalon priestesses know her. Trained as a sacred priestess on the holy isle, Helena chooses to love the father of Constantine during the holy festival of Beltaine and that alters the future in ways no one could have anticipated. Ejected from Avalon by command, Helena spends a lifetime believing she is serving the Goddess by birthing, nurturing, cooperating with and bridging the sacred and profane activities of a world emerging from the old Roman ways of worship into the dominant Christian environment of Europe and the East. What happens to this feminine priestess when her son becomes a proud, brutal and, yes, feared leader who thinks nothing of eliminating all opposition, even family members, on a whim after hearing the slightest rumor?

Every character depicted in this fascinating novel is rich in personality, while one can creatively visualize the artistic and cultural world so vividly described. What is the "true" faith? Are there many ways to the divine or is there only one path to the fulfillment of humanity's purposes and lifetime plan? How does one prepare a future Emperor for the daily struggle between powerful and humble leadership? Intricacies of personality fuse with the sacred energies in unexpected ways in this fantastic and yet oh so real story.

Prepare to be so totally involved you will want to put everything else aside until done reading. Diana Paxson has done a truly exquisite job of finishing this Avalon series, completed after the passing of Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Enjoy the journey and wonder anew at the interplay among the enchanting Lady of Avalon, old and new religions, and the world in which humans dwell.

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal

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