Witch of the North

Dragon's Heirs #2

by Courtway Jones

Against the background of fifth-century England, Morgan la Fey--King Arthur's beautiful half-sister--is forced to leave the man she loves and raise a family of sons who help her establish a flourishing personal realm. Reprint.

Genres: Fantasy, Arthurian, Fiction, Historical, Historical Fiction

Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1992

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mists of Avalongets much praise for being a retelling of Arthur from the woman's viewpoint. Courtway Jones' book is actually fairly decent and desevers to share in the spotlight. In some ways, Jones' is more belivable than Bradley. His men do not seem to be such sissies as in the case to a degree in Mists. This series is worth checking out.

[Kathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10
Such an interesting twist on the most common version of the Arthurian legend and the story of Camelot! While the first book in this trilogy followed the life of Arthur, this one is Morgan’s story, although the two tales intertwine. The different perspective does not alter the bitterness of the dissolution of The Fellowship of the Round Table and the betrayals that lead to Camelot’s downfall. Life away from the High King’s court is the focus of most of the book and it’s an entertaining story. It will be interesting to see what the third book brings.

[Laurel Bradshaw]

Series info:
#2 of series
See: In the Shadow of the Oak King

[Lee Bartholomew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give this something a bit under 4 stars. 1. the use of blue dye is likely an invention of Malory. As First Knight was a bomb because of 15th century blue being used around 500 AD. Courtway used Mallory too closely in this area. 2. There are so many plot holes in this story I have no clue where to begin. From leader of the clan (nothing really came of that) to what happens with Camelot maybe I'll get t it on the third book. And Morgan's Keep something more of that should have been told of. I fear the ending was way to fast. I do like it when they do the unique things here. It reminds me of Mordred's Curse and the book after that. They were of the same vein as this book. I'm not even sure Lancelot shows up in that one. As Mordred takes the place of Lancelot. As Gwen's lover. And ends similarly to this book on news of taking over Camelot. Although with a misunderstanding.. I rather liked how he treated Morgan in this story... But I can't give anything 4 and above...

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite Arthurian tales. I love Morgan. And reading things from her perspective is as wonderful this time as the first time I did it years ago. There are a lot of characters to keep up with. But the story telling is amazing.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!!! Just as good as the first installment in this series! I feel very lucky to have found this out of print series! Definitely becoming some of my favorite Arthurian fiction!!

[Janelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 I remember loving this in the nineties. It's good, but it follows some of the odder bits of Arthurian legend, like the grail quest.

[WriteRenee · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story plows through interesting plot and character development with all the grace of raging bull with rabies. Deep, emotional moments are TOLD (not shown mind you) to the reader as easily as describing the weather! I managed to only get through just over 100 pages and the amount that happened should have left me craving more. Instead, I just kept wondering which of these huge events was going to be huge enough to get to the plot and when, oh dear gods when, was the story going to get interesting?

The only upside to this book is that, despite being a technical sequel, it can stand 100% on its own because it (at least through what I read) doesn't specifically relate to the first book in the series. The two books simply take place in the same world.

[Lacey Louwagie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about Morgan le Fey of King Arthur fame. I almost quit this book within the first couple pages because the writing was so bad, but I'm anal about finishing every book I start, so I perservered. And once I got past the poor writing, I enjoyed hanging out with the Arthurian Gang again -- it had been a long time. Courtway is an antropologist, so I'd like to believe his renderings of the cultures and politics are accurate. His portrayal of the Guenevere-Arthur-Lancelot love triangle is a departure from the norm, which is interesting. But his attempt to write a novel first-person from a woman's perspective fails miserably -- he writes about Morgan being raped and the death of her loved ones as only a man who thinks he knows what it's like to be a woman could. He claims that his daughter read the manuscript for "emotional accuracy," but really, how easy is it to tell your father -- who has a PhD and a literary agent -- that he hasn't a clue? The intrigue and blood debts and family members killing each other off within 322 pages got old a little fast -- it's easier to take in a tome like Mists of Avalon or the Once and Future King -- so that it almost seemed as though this were supposed to be an Arthurian parody. But if that were the case, Courtway should have left rape out of it.

[Erin Germain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sequel to In the Shadow of the Oak King, although 'sequel' maybe isn't the right word, since much of the story takes place at the same time. This book follows Morgan, daughter of Gorlois and Igraine (Arthur's mother).

I think this was my favorite of the three books, possibly because of the main character. Morgan is strong and independent, but still has flaws. Like the other women in Jones' stories, she is believable. As before, she lives on the edge of Arthur's life, so events are seen from a completely different perspective. Cornu, who was shield-bearer to her father, and later to Morgan, is wonderful, and I also enjoyed the relationship between Morgan and Gawaine.

Like any Arthurian tale, it doesn't end with 'happily ever after', but it's realistic for the times. I'm glad I found this trilogy again.

[Arlene Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with a lot of other reviews here on GoodReads. Excellent writing and a much more believable Morgan. I loved what Jones did with her character and all of the rich historical background he put into her story. what kept it from being a 5 star book was his portrayal of Arthur, who came across as shallow, weak and somewhat stupid. Guinevere and Lancelot were also somewhat cardboard and at varying points in the book you hate all 3. Morgan was great, however as were all of her kin - the flirty and funny Morgause, Hilda, the Lady of the Lake, all of Morgan's sons, her daughter in law, Big Red.

I ended up tracking down the other 2 in the series, I liked this one so much. I hope Arthur's character arc is much stronger in the other 2.

[Sarah Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second in a trilogy about King Arthur. This installment follows the life of Morgan l Fey, Arthur's half sister. For some reason I didn't find Morgan as enthralling as Pelleas (In the Shadow of the Oak King). Her story really reminded me of Irene Radford's series which is from the point of view of Merlin's daughter. Don't get me wrong I still thought it was good, but I like the first book better.

To see the full review, see my blog at http://adventuresofabibliophile.blogs...

[Michael D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters are much more domesticated in this novel than in Arthurian tradition. Morgan's story is about her relationships. Intrigue lurks in the background, and the real villains are a bit surprising. The reveal for the whole trilogy comes near the end of this novel, and we discover that Mordred is not the villain we know i n tradition.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly my favorite Aurthurian novel of all time. The author, and anthropologist, makes an effort to be historically correct. The world is rich with detail, the main character is very self-aware, and the treatment of the magic of the myth makes a lot of sense.

[Shelton-barnett]

loved it