The story mostly focuses on Isolde's attempts to get away from the traitor in the council, who forces her to marry him. Isolde's husband is Constantine, Arthur's successor - or was, since as the story opens, Constantine has already died. Mordred is the son of Morgan, after she was raped by Arthur. Isolde is the daughter of Mordred and Guinevere. It's very different to most other Arthurian interpretations I've read, starting with the family tree. It's a version of the story of Tristan and Isolde, with a mostly historical background - based on bits from Geoffrey of Monmouth's history, and the few snippets we may know about the 'real' Tristan - and with a few hints at what may or may not be magic.

Twilight of Avalon was sent to me when I won a giveaway done by a friend, and I've been meaning to read it for quite a while before that. In Twilight of Avalon, Anna Elliott returns to the roots of the legend of Trystan and Isolde to shape a very different story - one based in the earliest written versions of the Arthurian tales - a captivating epic brimming with historic authenticity, sweeping romance, and the powerful magic of legend.

Together they escape, and as their companionship turns from friendship to love, they must find a way to prove what they know to be true - that Marche's deceptions threaten not only their lives but the sovereignty of the British kingdom. Neither Saxon nor Briton, he is unmoved by the political scheming, rumors, and accusations swirling around the fair queen. One of her few allies is Trystan, a prisoner with a lonely and troubled past. Burdened by their suspicion and her own grief, Isolde must conquer the court's distrust and superstition to protect her throne and the future of Britain. Though her skills as a healer are renowned throughout the kingdom, in the wake of Con's death, accusations of witchcraft and sorcery threaten her freedom and her ability to bring Marche to justice. Hardly a generation after the downfall of Camelot, Isolde grieves for her slain husband, King Constantine, a man she secretly knows to have been murdered by the scheming Lord Marche - the man who has just assumed his title as High King. In the shadow of King Arthur's Britain, one woman knows the truth that could save a kingdom from the hands of a tyrant.Īncient grudges, old wounds, and the quest for power rule in the newly widowed Queen Isolde's court. She is a healer, a storyteller, a warrior, and a queen without a throne. Book One in the Twilight of Avalon Trilogy

Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliott