The Mists of Avalon

The Mists of Avalon is a 1983 Historical Fantasy novel written by Marion Zimmer Bradley, following a retelling of the Arthurian Legend from the perspective of the female characters

Why it Rocks

 * 1) Absolutely beautiful writing style that gives a great amount of detail into the scenery of each moment and allowing the reader to visualize the scene quite vividly.
 * 2) A practically absolute faithfulness to the legends but told from a different perspective, giving a lot more backstory to the world and characters and making it all feel very much real and convincing. You don't need to do a lot of research into the deeper Arthurian Legend in order to understand it.
 * 3) Though the book is very feminist, it's never anti-man as there are some male characters who are respectful to women and see them as stronger than the common perception of the time. It's also more realistic, showing that although there are strong female characters, there are some who know their limitations and depend on their husbands.
 * 4) It brings some organized religion into question, showing how many followers of Christianity back then were outright cruel to women because of their beliefs, though it also shows that not all Christians are that way and others have beliefs that are in favor of women instead, further bringing into question which sect of Christianity is truly following God or some warped version of the deity. It feels like it wants people to think for themselves rather than follow paganism blindly (or any religion for that matter).
 * 5) A very well written and emotional plot with many twists and turns throughout that make it very unpredictable whether or not you're familiar with the legend, and bringing plenty of legitimately tragic and other legitimately beautiful moments.
 * 6) Many likeable characters, like Morgaine, the main character and Arthur's older half-sister and their mother, Igraine, who's a very caring and lovely person but also a realistic one.
 * 7) Despite it's fantastical setting, it's a pretty low-fantasy story, focusing much more on realism in the medieval times rather than all the magic and whatnot. It's still there, but more realistic and interesting. It even brings up the difference between destiny and free will.
 * 8) There's even fewer battle scenes in the story, focusing much more on the political atmosphere of the world which is also very well detailed and interesting.