Gwenhwyfar

The White Spirit (A Novel of King Arthur)

By: Mercedes Lackey

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

The best-selling author of the Valdemar novels pens a classic tale about King Arthur's legendary queen.

Gwenhwyfar moves in a world where gods walk among their pagan worshipers, where nebulous visions warn of future perils, and where there are two paths for a woman: the path of the Blessing or the rarer path of the Warrior. Gwenhwyfar chooses the latter, giving up the power that she is born into.

Yet the daughter of a king is never truly free to follow her own calling. Acting as the "son" her father never had, when called upon to serve another purpose by the Ladies of the Well, she bows to circumstances to become Arthur's queen - only to find herself facing temptation and treachery, intrigue and betrayal, but also love and redemption.

©2009 Mercedes Lackey; 2009 Tantor Media

Critic reviews

"The author of the popular Valdemar series displays her talent for creating a new and surprising story from familiar material." ( Library Journal)

A Different Take on a Familiar Tale

I liked the story a lot, but it took me a long time to settle into. I really didn't like the narrator, and just couldn't get used to her accent. Moreover, I was confused by the story line. Once I stopped trying to fit it into the King Arthur story line that I knew, and just listened to the story, I liked it. I wish I had listened to the author's notes first. She explains where she got the idea for the story and it would have made a lot more sense with that information in advance.

None-the-less, it is a good story and it is hard not to love this Gwenhwyfar.

Interesting Twist on a Worldly Legend

I truly enjoyed the story and all the character line and environmental options to contemplate. What I didn’t like is the lack of consistent use of accents for each character, especially with Gwenhwyfar. It was just strange to hear an Indian accent when talking about a Legend of England.

Interesting version of the story

I enjoyed this version of the story, but I have a hard time listening to the narrator. It took quite a while for me to filter out the weird cadences and rediculously over drawling volcal performance to get in to the story.

The tale of the Gwenwyfars

An awesome twist on Arthurian legend! An awesome tale again from Mercedes Lackey. The narrator was perfect for this tale. Loved it!

Good Book, Distracting Narrator

I really enjoyed this book. I love Mercedes Lackey, and this retelling of the King Arthur story was exciting and interesting, especially considering it is not a story I usually enjoy, at all.

However I did find the narration a bit distracting. I often felt like the narrator was spitting words at me, overworking the pronunciation. Even during scenes that could have used a softer tone everything felt overenunciated. Once I got into the story I was able to ignore it most of the time but there were a few times that I found it distracting

Different version of the Camelot story

Would you recommend Gwenhwyfar to your friends? Why or why not?

yes, it was a refreshing take on an age-old classic story and entertaining to hear.

I love the "Arthur" Legend new slant

Where does Gwenhwyfar rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

First I'd like to say I have roughly 6 different books on the "King Arthur" Legend. All are different, and in this case the story was taken from a woman's point of view. Many people complain about Anne Flosnick's narrations in many of her books she's narrated. I enjoy her narration and I have over 40 books with her narrating. You should always listen to the free snip it that Audible offers, this way you can her the narrator. I find it amazing when people complain about Simon Vance or John Lee because of their British accent.....Please.

What did you like best about this story?

Looking at the Arthur legend from a female perspective, but not just any female, a female warrior, who eventually become his wife.

What does Anne Flosnik bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I enjoy Anne Flosnik and have no problems with her narrations, as a matter of fact many of us have favorite narrators and look for their name when a new book comes out. I have a list of about 20 that I really enjoy I guess it's a matter of having an ear for an accent. I

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Well it was kind of long but I finished in two days and really enjoyed it.

Any additional comments?

Almost every one who reviewed this liked the story but complained about the narrator. If it's that bad and you think you'll never listen to it again contact Audible and see if you can get your credit back, or if you paid for it they will refund your credit card. People should talk more about content, or bad editing or distracting music.If you have a problem with narration maybe a recommendation would be good. I tried to listen to "50 Shades of Gray" using the free listen, It was ling finger nails on a chalk board to me. So I'll never listen to it on Audible. .

Different take on King Arthur, Standalone Book

Mercedes Lackey, as always, creates a very engrossing story. It is a very different take on the King Arthur story line, and certainly has its own merits just for that. As with most of her books, it has a little bit of romance and is written from the female perspective. It is a story of sibling rivalry, arranged marriage, gender conflicts, and deciding on what role to take instead of the one given by others.

Certain scenes in this book were very moving, and the sibling rivalry portrayed very frustrating at times. It was very good in the beginning and middle, but fell a little flat in the end. Overall, I would rank it somewhere in the range of a 7 out of 10 in comparison with other audiobooks.

actually zero stars...

Having been a long time Lackey fan, owning all of her books, I was excited to see a new title on Audible. Unfortunately I never got through the first chapter. The narration was so poor I felt like I was being read to by a kindergarten teacher. What a disappointment. Guess I'll just buy the book.