Ancestors of Avalon
novel 2004 The Mists of Avalon
Record
| First published | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780670033140 |
| Internal chronology | 4 |
Synopsis
Set around 2500 BC, this novel follows two Atlantean leaders, the priestess Tiriki and the prince Micail, who flee the destruction of their homeland with separate groups of survivors. Tiriki's ships reach the swamplands that will one day become the Isle of Avalon, where she begins to blend Atlantean knowledge with the Old Faith of the local British people. Micail, pursuing a different vision, allies with a local king to raise a great stone circle, the future Stonehenge, hoping to restore Atlantean power through its ritual might rather than through partnership with the people already living there. When the two settlements eventually cross paths, their opposing approaches to power and faith put them on a collision course, laying the groundwork for the deeper mythic history behind Avalon explored later in the series.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Mists of Avalon
- Series: The Avalon Series ; position 4 of 6 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Diana L. Paxson
Notes
- From the series record (The Avalon Series): Bradley 'expanded the book into the Avalon series' with Diana L. Paxson. The Forest House and Lady of Avalon were co-written with Bradley (Paxson uncredited on the original cover for marketing reasons, per Bradley's own account); Priestess of Avalon was begun by Bradley and completed by Paxson following Bradley's September 1999 death (Paxson's own site frames it as her solo work; Wikipedia frames it as a Bradley/Paxson collaboration completed posthumously -- both sources agree on the underlying facts, only on how to characterize the split; left stated rather than resolved). Registered Expanded Canon per the credited-authorship-as-bright-line precedent -- all 3 are published under Bradley's name/brand. Books 4-6 (Ancestors of Avalon, Ravens of Avalon, Sword of Avalon) are Paxson's solo continuations after Bradley's 1999 death, published under the 'Marion Zimmer Bradley's [title]' brand. Ancestors of Avalon bridges Bradley's own The Fall of Atlantis to the founding of Avalon; Ravens of Avalon is a direct prequel to The Forest House (young Boudica); Sword of Avalon is set at the end of the Bronze Age.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series The Avalon Series: position 4 of 6: previous Priestess of Avalon (2000) · next Ravens of Avalon (2007)
Sources
- Diana L. Paxson's own site: The Avalon Series
- Wikipedia: Ancestors of Avalon
- Encyclopedia.com: Diana L. Paxson
← The Mists of Avalon dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.