Customer Reviews (9)

A rich and mythical story
Patricia A. McKillip's novel, The Sorceress and the Cygnet, may begin with the boy Corleu, but the women of Ro Holding on whom the book ends are what made me love it.Corleu, a boy of questionable heritage, is caught up in stories of the gods -- the Gold King, the Blind Lady, and others -- and literally steps inside their stories, freeing them to renew old battles with one another.He ends up in a many-roomed house in the swamp of the Blood Fox, which is home to the sorceress Nyx, and eventually clashes with Nyx's cousin, Meguet, guardian of the Cygnet as he seeks the Cygnet's heart in exchange for saving the love of his life from the Gold King.

Without giving away the ending, what I like about this book is the richness of the descriptions.You know it's going to be good from the first couple sentences:

"He was a child of the horned moon.That much Corleu's great-gran told him after, pipe between her last few teeth, she washed the mud out of his old man's hair and stood him between her knees to dry it" (1).

This level of specificity & detail is present throughout this brief novel.McKillip offers proof that a novel doesn't have to be long to have substance.She invents myths, rhymes, and family histories that are believably complex and richer than your average monster of a fantasy novel.The narrative works because we discover reality alongside Corleu.While the movement from Corleu's point of view (POV) to Meguet's POV feels abrupt and leaves the book feeling slightly disjointed, I understand why she structured the book this way:without Corleu, readers would have been completely lost.In a way, she uses Corleu to set up not just this book but its sequel, The Cygnet and the Firebird, which continues the women's POV and, in my opinion, is a stronger story that nevertheless would be difficult to understand without reading this one first.Enjoy!

Check out more of my reviews at [...]

Mckillip Classic
I just finished rereading this book. This is probably the hardest Mckillip book to read, because you really are left wondering what just happened after reading a dense, colorful passage. However, I find that the author's style is refreshing and makes this book unique. No other author fires my imagination like she does.
The Sorceress and the Cygnet is told from two perspectives: Corleu, a light-haired Wayfolk man, and Meguet Vervaine, the guardian of Ro Holding. Corleu is coerced by legends come to life (the Gold King, the Blind Lady, etc.) to find the heart of the Cygnet, which rules over Ro Holding. Corleu finds help from a bog-witch who happens to be the third daughter of the Holder of Ro Holding. Meguet Vervaine, on the other hand, must protect the Cygnet and Ro Holding at all cost.
I'm pretty sure the Sorceress and the Cygnet is out of print. I had to pay $20 for a paperback at an obscure bookstore way back when I was in high school or middle school (I was that desperate). Luckily, Sorceress and the Cygnet is being rereleased, combined with the Cygnet and the Firebird as one book. I hope Mckillip writes a third Cygnet book. Mckillip is my favorite author, and I must say that the Cygnet books contain her most memorable characters ever.

My absolute favorite book of all time!!!
Other people have written som e wonderful reviews, and I agree that it's a shame that it's out of print--I had to pay an atrocious price for my copy.I think that another Cygnet book would be great, for there are a lot of loose ends in The Cygnet and the Firebird that need to be tied up, and I've noticed that McKillip only seems to be doing stand-alones now, good as they are.I, too, buy everything she writes, not for the plot, necessarily, but for the beauty of the images she evokes.Try Winter Rose, that is just as bitter and strange and lovely.I agree that the ending of the Sorceress and the Cygnet was very hard to understand, and I've read it a million times, seeking to understand.Does anyone know what happened?

Wonderfully Lyrical
This is an absolutely wonderful book, the one that got me hooked on Patricia McKillip in the first place.A young man finds himself trapped in a story of magic and gods, used as a pawn to find the heart of the Cygnet.Wading through myths come to life, he finds himself drawn to his bloodkin and trapped in a story that began with them long ago.

It remains to this day one of my all-time favorite novels and I recommend it to anyone.

Surreal!
This book is one of my all-time favorites, and it established my habit of buying whatever Patricia McKillip writes.I know of no other who creates such beautiful, yet entirely believable, surrealistic images.

If you don't like this novel, you probably won't like the others.I like it most because it's different from other fantasy stories that rely on heavy description and creating new systems of magic with it's own lingo. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

I think it is the Riddlemaster Trilogy
Silly me, I thought this was a new Patricia McKillip book as it said nothing about being in German in the Amazon description.... it isn't. It is Riddlemaster Trilogy which is an excellent series, however I don't read ... or speak German so will put it up for sale on Amazon... just thought I would save everyone else the $$ I spent to learn this as the seller I used did not bother to mention it either. ... Read more

Product Description
Kyreol's mission to another planet and Terje's trip to observe their old river home both meet with unexpected dangers and an eventual melding of very different cultures. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Better than most, but not as good as some
If you like McKillip, you may find this very interesting. If you don't or haven't read her before, try something else first, like Forgotten Beasts of Eld or the Riddlemaster trilogy.

This is one of McKillip's few Sci-Fi works, and like her other Sci-Fi, it just doesn't match her level of Fantasy writing. The characters are reasonably believable, but thank goodness the book isn't longer than it is, otherwise it would have got boring.
The best part of it is the interaction between the heroine and the entirely strange creature she meets while stranded after her ship crashed.

A Sci-fi outing from McKillip
Although not one of Paticia McKillips's best books, 'The Moon and the Face' is an entertaining venture into Sci-Fi.The two main characters, Kyreol and Terje, come from a simple, primitive world called Riverworld.Since their discovery of higher technology and more advanced worldselsewhere, they have determined that they could never return to theirbirthplace.But a series of events brings them face to face with theirpast.

This story is told with the lyrical and eloquent use of languagethat is typical of McKillip.It contains elements of romance and action,and is recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
In the midst of conflict and unrest the Prince of Hed solves the puzzle of his future when he learns to harp the wind, discovers who the shape changers are, and understands his own relationship to Deth, harpist of the wizard Ohm. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Great Writing!
This is a great classic story and one that is worth reading.McKillip's writing is just so beautiful and haunting that you have to read it to understand.It might be an older series ofbooks, but its creativity really stands up.

Riddles answered at the end of a great trilogy
The Star-bearer (Morgon of Hed) and Raederle of An, united at last, continue their search for their true identities in this final volume of McKillip's 'Riddle-Master' trilogy."Harpist in the Wind" won the Locus Award in 1980 and I feel 'award-winning' is the least amount of praise one can apply to this trilogy.McKillip 'dreams awake' when she spins her fantasies, and that's how it feels to read them.

Love, family ties, and even magical bonds to the land play an important part in these novels, as they do in many other great fantasy epics such as 'Lord of the Rings' and Norton's Witchworld trilogy concerning the triplets Kemoc, Kyllan, and Kaththea.Vengeance, which was a prominent theme in "Heir of Sea and Fire" slows to a cold drizzle in "Harpist in the Wind" and in one case dries up completely.

Revenge might indeed be a 'dish best tasted cold' but if it gets too cold, the hero could end up feeling sorry for his erstwhile enemy or even forgiving him, as does Morgon.His gradual change from innocent farmer-prince, to vengeful shape-changer, to the Star-bearer spins out the most challenging riddle of this trilogy.Who is the Star-bearer?What is his true purpose?

"Stars, children with faces of stone, the fiery, broken shards of a bowl he had smashed in Astrin's hut, dead cities, a dark-haired shape-changer, a harpist, all resolved under his probing into answerless riddles"--at least in the beginning of "Harpist in the Wind."

As in all of McKillip's fantasies, there are scenes of high astonishment and magic in 'Harpist,' most especially in Morgon's discovery of wizards other than the evil Ghisteslwchlohm who are still alive, most prominently Yrth, the creator of Morgon's three-starred harp. Or is this another of the riddles the Star-bearer must solve?What is the relationship between Deth, the High One's harpist who betrayed Morgon to Ghisteslwchlohm, and Yrth, a great wizard who had once been called the Harpist of the magical city of Lungold?

In the end, all riddles are answered and the Star-bearer comes into his heritage, although his friends and loved ones (and the reader) seem to realize who he is long before he does.Such is usually the case with heroes.

The grand finale, and grand it is
Patricia McKillip wraps up her Riddlemaster trilogy in a manner that other current fantasy authors have yet to match. If the second book of a series tends to be the weakest, the last is the most likely to disappoint. Here, the trilogy gets even more amazing.

In the aftermath of Heir of Sea and Fire, Raederle and Morgan have been reunited in Anuin, where the dead are still roaming around, Deth has vanished, and Raederle is afraid to marry Morgan because of her fears of her own strange ancestry. Morgan brings a shipful of wraiths to his home of Hed, and confronts the family who sees that he is no longer as he once was.

And the lands of An are teetering on the edge of war, with shapechangers creeping through the land and the sinister Ghisteslwchlohm somehow at the middle of it. "There are men in it who have already died, who are still fighting, with their bodies possessed by nothing human." So Morgan and Raederle must go on the ultimate mission -- a mission that will take them to the heart and history of their world, the secret of the shape-changers and what they are, and what Morgan's secret destiny is...

McKillip doesn't falter for a moment in this book, the third of the series; she's never written doorstopper epics, but her books are some of the most outstanding fantasy in print. Her writing evolved even over the course of the trilogy, becoming more introspective and more spellbinding in its descriptions. She gives you only a hint of how something looks, but every sense about how it feels and how it is perceived by the characters.

Morgan and Raederle have both grown from the beginnings of their initial books. Morgan is now a more tormented, multidimensional person than the guy who hid a crown under his bed and got sour milk dumped on his head. He feels the weight of An on his shoulders, and experiences equal determination and fear. Raederle has also changed, since finding out about her mixed heritage and why she has her mysterious powers. In a way, this knowledge about her past balances out with Morgan's knowledge about his future destiny. She's not the usual fantasy girlfriend whose sole purpose is to provide the hero with some romance, but a strong and independent female character who acts as a vital part of the storyline.

The supporting characters are also amazing: Deth is his usual ambiguous self, where you can't be sure if he's working for or against Morgan. Rood is still delightful, but transformed into a more serious character. And we see more of Raederle's quirky father Mathom, Morgan's sister Tristan and brother Eliard, and various other faces from the past two books.

This is one of the few fantasy stories where you simply can't guess what is ahead. Questions and hints laid out in the previous two books are followed up on, and pretty much no threads are left dangling. You won't guess beforehand what Morgan's destiny is or what the shapechangers were, or even how they can be dealt with. You won't know what Deth's plans are until he reveals them, or whether he's a villain or a hero. As in real life, the answers are not laid on the table for everyone to see; what you see is not necessarily what is real, and what the hero thinks about a person is not necessarily what is true.

Unlike most fantasies, this book is not padded for extra length, given an enormous cast of characters or an overly complicated system of kingdoms and hierarchies. There are no stereotypical elements like elves, dwarves, gray-bearded wizards, or Dark Lords; only shapechangers and human beings. McKillip's magic is not the slam-bang-whizz-sparks-of-light type, but a subtle, strange, powerful kind.

The climax to one of the best fantasy stories since Lord of the Rings, and one of the best out there. A must-read.

Enchanting!!!! A must read for the self discover
An eloquent tale that has a life and spark of its own.Much can be learned within its pages for those fond of riddling and star dreaming.I read the last first by accident and spent seven years trying to trace backthe riddle. I recommend this book to all.A great gift from a greatwriter.

A beautiful, lyrical experience
The Riddlemaster triology is my favourite story ever. I can't count thenumber of times I have read it, immersing myself in the beauty of thelanguage and characters, always hurting a little when I come to the end. Ihave actually printed out and framed the last paragraph of Book Three,because I think it is a piece of the most beautiful writing I have evercome across. ... Read more

Product Description
A knight goes in quest of the non-existent throme of the Erril of Sherill since the king will not allow his daughter to marry without it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

One of my favorites
The Throme is Wonderful.It is my favorite hopeless-quest-for-true-love story.It reminds me of James Russell Lowell's --The Vision of Sir Launfal which is about a different quest but has the same theme.

Just for children? Think again!
While these two stories come in a book that looks like something for a low reading level, do not be fooled by appearances. Both "The Throme of the Erril of Sherril" and "The Harrowing of the Dragon ofHoarsbreath" are stories that can be read once when younger, thenrevisited when older to learn the depths behind the stories.

Both storiespossess similar themes. In the first, Magnus Thrall, "the dark king ofEverywhere" is a bitter, dissatisfied man because he does not own theone thing he wants--the haunting, beautiful Throme written by the Erril ofSherril--and in his dissatisfaction he allows no happiness to those aroundhim, not his daughter Damsen, not his favored Cnite Caerles who lovesDamsen. When he sends Caerles on a quest to bring him back the mythicalThrome, it is a quest doomed to failure--and even if it succeeds, willMagnus Thrall prosper from it? The second story takes place on a frozenisland known as Hoarsbreath, where gold is mined deep in the icy heart ofthe mountain. When Peka Krao, a miner's daughter, discovers Ryd Yarrow theDragon-Harrower in her mountain, she also learns that he plans to root outthe dragon that coils sleeping around Hoarsbreath. To do so would be todestroy all that Hoarsbreath is--dark, cold, secret, grudging with its goldand stark in its beauty--but who will be hurt more if Ryd succeeds?

Theseare not easy questions to answer, and Patricia McKillip presents themhonestly. Of course, with the honesty she also offers a wealth ofsumptuous, vivid language, rich imagery, humor, and everything else youmight expect in a good story. Your expectations will not be disappointedhere. Disregard the "kid's cover"! Read the book!

Do not let the cover fool you!
Mckillip is perhaps my favorite writer, and with any favorite author I like to collect all her books. This one I recently found, and (silly me) I must say that I was put off by the artwork and short length. I must havewaited an entire week before I read the two stories within, but once Istarted Mckillip had me sucked in again!

The cover to this edition lookslike something you'd find on a children's book. And some may classify thisas exactly that, but hidden beneath these magical worlds lies a muchdarker, adult theme. Once again, Mckillips perfectionist's use of symbolsand metaphore depicts the struggles of man against his ancient enemy,himself. All the while, the reader is transported in worlds of utmostbeauty and realism that I could smell the wood fires and taste thewormspoor deep in the caverns of snowy Hoarsbreath. And by the end of eachtale I felt a new man. Older, perhaps, or just a little less ignorant.Patricia Mckillip has a way of doing that with nearly all of herworks.

So, if by chance you run into a copy of this novel don't let the"Magic Quest" emblem along the top scare you away. These are notyour average, run-of-the-mill children's stories. But then again, when wasANYTHING written by Mckillip "run-of-the-mill"? HighlyRecommended!!

Succeeding in SomethingDoes NOT Imply a Happy Ending
We are presumptious and gullible if we believe that to overcome an obsticle is to overcome unhappiness.The first of two of Patricia's "darker" stories, The Throme of the Erril of Sherill, is aboutsomeone who has everything- but hapiness. He is absolutely miserable andpining away for what does not exsist. He refuses to allow anyone around himto know happiness as long as he suffers (including his Damsen & mostloyal Cnite). Sent on a quest to find what does not exsist, the poor Cnitehas little hope of success...The second story takes place in a coldmountainous realm that knows sunshine only 2 months of the year. Wheredwarves live in the fire-lit comforts of deep caverns filled with gems andgold and tales and laughter...this is Hoarsbreath, a peaceful contentedplace until one day when a dwarf from the outworld returns home with somemost disturbing news and an even more unsettling mission. Peka"feels" something most dissettling about this dwarf, Ryd. Shefeels both disaster and success...could such be one & the same? *****

Amusing fairytale-like story, perfect for reading aloud
I love this book. The story is simple and fairly formulaic, like any fairy tale; it's the language that makes this one great. McKillip's deft word choice makes this perfect for reading aloud, to yourself or an audience. Listeners will laugh at the wry, truthful moments that most fairy tales gloss over. Share this one with your friends. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

Best series ever!
I first read Riddle Master of Hed while in college.I remember trying to read it while working in the cafeteria cleaning trays - LOL!Reached the end and OH MY - you must go right to book 2 and book two wasn't published for another two or three years.The agony of waiting.Be sure to buy all 3 books at once or you'll be sorry.I've reread this series many time since and my children have enjoyed it as well.What a tragedy for it to be out of print!

This would be the perfect series to bring to Kindle - rekindle everyone's love for this series and this wonderful author!Offer book 1 free and watch the sales fly!

Didn't I already read this book ... by LeGuin?
The book is an enjoyable Young Adult Fantasy novel.However, last year I read the popular "Wizard of Earthsea" series by Ursula LeGuin - I felt like it was a rehash of that series. In fact I had to look up the publishing dates of both books to see which came first.Wizard of Earthsea was published a few years before so I'm going to have to assume that was the inspiration for this book.
"Imitation is the highest form of flattery" and it's a formula that worked well - so I don't really mind.I did enjoy reading it and will read the next two.However, I'm hoping I can read the next two books without feeling like I've already read the book.

Low Recommendation
Minimum Maturity Level - Teen
Some violence.

Previous Reading Required - None
It's the start of a trilogy.

Reading Level - Average to Intermediate
The story gets a big complex and so does the writing.There are times where I have to reread paragraphs because the situations change abruptly at times.

Rate of Development - Average
The plot is a mystery and you are wondering at times what is going on just like the main character.As the story progresses, you start understanding what is happening.

The Story - Mystery, Fantasy
Morgan is a riddle-master.He just cannot go without answering a riddle.Upon his forehead are 3 stars.He also acquires a harp with the same 3 stars.He then travels to deliver a crown and his life is threatened by what appears to be shapeshifters.Now with his life being threatened, he must answer the riddle of the "Star-Bearer".

My Suggestion - Low Recommendation
Before reading this, I was expecting some riddles.Well, these riddles are not like the riddles we know, so don't go in expecting to read about many riddles.The riddles are more like prophecies.The antagonists are just nameless thugs that keep trying to kill Morgon.Since this is a trilogy, I would expect more of the story to unfold in the following books.Because the ending sort of leaves you hanging.I would strongly recommend getting the book that contains all three stories rather than reading just this one.If you read this one, you will definately have to read the next couple books to get some closure on the story.

Clever, but also meandering and vague.
"The Riddle-Master of Hed" follows the young prince Morgon on a meandering journey in search of answers both literal and figurative. He travels through sparsely detailed lands and encounters a series of mentor figures. Except for the harpist Deth, these mentors fade away as quickly as they appear. Morgon's travels are driven by a strange sense of prophesied personal destiny. However, the nature of what is at stake, and what role Morgon might be able to play in it, is never detailed beyond vague conjecture. Morgon repeatedly remembers his homeland of Hed with fondness, but these memories provide scant motivation because the reader's only glimpse of Hed comes in the first chapter.

The plot bounces through random encounters that have little overall connection save Morgon's befuddlement over his vague destiny. He acts like a realistic character when he changes his mind during his wanderings and decides not to return to Hed, but this type of constant shifting of his goals and his destinations gives the reader whiplash. The narrative also repeatedly skips ahead in time, days or even weeks, indicated only with quick phrases such as "The next day..." This format of jumping ahead without scene breaks leaves many scenes dangling without closure. The conclusion of the novel arrives abruptly, in the middle of the quest. It does answer one major question, but the rest of the encounter is completely unresolved.

"Riddle-Master" clocks in at a lean 200 pages, short even by the standards of 70s speculative fiction. The succinct narrative leaves many of the interesting and exotic locales so thinly described that the reader can barely visualize them. McKillip's prose is smooth and emotive. Her narrative gives tangible form to esoteric topics, like the many riddles and their strictures. These mental puzzles and how Morgon wrestles with them are the highlight of the novel.

McKillip's fantasy vision shows deep originality. Her fantasy world is refreshingly free of the Tolkien-esque humanoid races found in most late 70s fantasy, and she focuses on mental challenges rather than physical ones. However, "The Riddle-Master of Hed" remains a flawed opening to the trilogy in its circuitous plot and in the hazy visualization of the setting and Morgon's place within it.

I feel like I'm missing the majority of the story
I couldn't finish this book.I felt like the story was in fast forward.This happened and then this, and then this, oh and by the way this.

There was no character development and you had no idea what the character was feeling when all these crazy things happened.I stopped reading because I just couldn't convince myself to care if he ever decided to solve the major riddle or what the answer to it was.I'm the sort of person who likes a book with good characters.Even if the plot isn't that great, if it has good characters I am engaged.But this book had no emotion so I didn't like it. ... Read more

Product Description
A romantic fantasy anthology with four novellas from renowned authors of romance and fantasy...

USA Today best-selling author Claire Delacroix gives readers a revisionist version of the medieval legend of Melusine. USA Today best-selling author Lynn Kurland's trademark style shines in this tale of the magic and medieval romance between two lovers.

World Fantasy Award-winner Patricia A. McKillip tells of an artist's model and the transforming power of beauty and inspiration.

National best-selling author Sharon Shinn offers a compelling romance set in a strange new off-world of angels and revolving around the pursuit of love.

The very thrill of love comes dazzlingly to life when these four shining stars or romance and fantasy weave their own web of magic for their legions of fans. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Pleasant collection.
This is a decent collection, pleasing throughout but not excellent and likely not terribly memorable. Needless to say, I come at it from the fantasy end of the spectrum, and I suspect that fantasy readers will be more pleased by it than romance readers, for only one of the stories properly delivers the happily ever after ending that the romance genre demands. Still, as mind candy it works admirably well, and I spent a very enjoyable afternoon reading it.

I picked the anthology up for the first story, Patricia McKillip's "The Gorgon in the Cupboard." It is also the best in the book -- so good, in fact, that it was later included in the Science Fiction Book Club's anthology Best Short Novels 2005. It is a story about Harry, a struggling painter desperately in love with his mentor's beautiful wife, and Jo, a girl destitute and forsaken on the streets after several hard turns of fortune. The fantasy element comes into play when Harry pulls out a painting he never finished because his model disappeared and paints his mentor's wife's mouth onto it in a fit of despondency that he will never be able to create a work worthy of her; he is understandably shocked when the mouth comes to life and begins to speak to him. That is the only fantasy element obvious in the story (though it is a rather glaring one); the setting is vague and paintings speaking are clearly not a common occurrance. The romance is also very slight. This is because what the story is really about is perception, the ways that we see what we want rather than what is. It's gossamer-light, yet far richer than it seems on the surface, wise and sensitive to the myriad ways life is fragile and bittersweet, particularly for women. It is stop-me-dead-in-my-tracks (reading-wise) beautiful.

The second story, Lynn Kurland's "The Tale of Two Swords," is the one I suspect romance readers will be happiest with, and it made me smile and roll my eyes in equal amounts (often at the same time). It made me roll my eyes for more reasons than I can count -- the self-conscious modern fairy tale narration (complete with "In which [blank happens]" as the title of each chapter); the combination of hopelessly modern actions on the characters' part even as they speak in hopelessly archaic (and likely inaccurate) dialogue; the fact that the man has just lost his family and his kingdom in an epic battle, the woman has a price on her head, and all they do is frolic in the forest getting muddy. It also doesn't have time to even get to the two swords part of the title -- the story is entirely the romance component (and the true happily ever after ending). I believe the story is something of a prequel to one of Kurland's ongoing series, so perhaps the two swords part is dealt with in one of the novels. However, despite all those things that irked me, I still couldn't help liking the characters and liking their romance, so I suppose Kurland did her job well. (Should I hate myself a little for falling for it?)

The third story, Sharon Shinn's "Fallen Angel," is the one romance readers will have the most trouble with, and it may even be hard for fantasy readers that are unfamiliar with Shinn's Samaria series. It's set ten years after the end of Archangel (Samaria, Book 1) (and even has a fairly toothless cameo by the Archangel Gabriel) and Shinn seems to assume that the reader has enough background knowledge of her books that she doesn't need to explain the slightly unusual way Samaria works. Unfortunately, this has led to some readers calling the story sacrilegous, because they have no context for this tale of angels behaving badly. For those who want to read the story and don't have that context, please keep in mind that the angels are nothing more than humans with wings -- they are not actually the angels of Christian mythology. Even more unfortunately, "Fallen Angel" just doesn't quite work as either fantasy or romance -- as I already mentioned, Shinn doesn't give enough grounding in the fantasy world-building to satisfy those fans, and the romance is decent (if of the "ooo, what a sexy bad boy" variety) only until the ending totally destroys suspension of disbelief with an out-of-left-field resolution that heaps all the evils in the world on one head. Still, I didn't hate the story, because it actually starts to address some of the thornier side of the world of Samaria -- the sort of chaos that can ensue when a ruling class with a free love worldview comes into conflict with a merchant class with very strict rules of propriety.

The fourth story, Claire Delacroix's "An Elegy for Melusine," is a retelling of the Melusine myth. It hews very closely to the story as described on Wikipedia (I wasn't overly familiar with the myth, so I looked it up, lol) and is rendered in serviceable enough prose that the myth's full power shines through. It has a totally unnecessary framing story, unfortunately, but other than that I quite liked it. However, romance readers should again be warned: the myth does not have a particularly happy ending.

one star for kurland
I got this primarily because Lynn kurland's story was the prequel to her Star of the Morning fantasy/romance triligy.I would have been happier if Lynn had put the short story on her website or let us download it or something because paying 14 for this leaves a bad taste in the mouth.Sometimes I think publishers ask writers to contribute to an anthology because of their name alone and Not on whether they have any talent for short story writing.Lynn does, as she's proven time and again, but the others don't have a clue.

Lynn's story is very much like her longer books: cheery, clever with likeable characters and a plot that leaves you smiling at the end.

Patricia's story, I have to admit, I didn't finish.When the main character (an artist whose lusting after his good friends wife) paints a mouth on an unfinished painting that everyone would 'know' was the wifes and it starts talking to him, I stopped reading.It was just too creepy for me.

Sharon's story wasn't...too bad.It wasn't all that good either.First off, it's a story about teenagers.The main characters are 18 and 20.And both of them aren't particularly mature for their ages.It took me a few pages to figure out that this is a parallel universe story in which angels are just another race on earth.Most of the story revolves around the political situation and family tensions of the girl.Occaisionally the male angel pops in (this pretty much qualifies as the 'romance' in the story).It was boring, lack-luster, frustrating and read more like an introduction prologue than a story all it's own.

Claire Delacroix's story was dark, depressing and creepy.I'm not sure when would be a good time to read this story as it would bring you down if you were happy and make you want to just curl up in a ball if you were depressed.There's no real romance in this fey story and-tiny spoiler here-no happy ending.What I found really odd was how in the beginning of the story two women are talking about what happened in the 'legend', then the heroine appears to tell them the 'real' story.Except...the story is pretty much what happened when the two women told it.There wasn't a whole lot of difference.And I really didn't like what happened with the children.They were innocent in the whole thing.As was the man, really, since what happened was an accident.It was just really weird, creepy and disturbing.

So, In a nutshell.Rent it from the library or buy it just for Lynn's story.

Kurland's story's the best in the book
Kurland's story in this book read just like a fairy tale and quite romantic. I like the fact that Kurland doesn't use sex to sell her books like most other paranormal romance authors out there. Her story always has fairy tale/dreamy romance quality to it.

not my favorite
Im not a big anthology fan but I think Lynn Kurland is great so I try to read everything she puts out.In this case....none of the stories held my attention all that well, even hers.They were all well written but there just seemed to be something missing within the plots.

Kurland
Not Lynn Kurlands ussual fair, but ok for fast reading.
Other authors are a mix.Not sure I would buy it again. ... Read more

Product Description
When a pair of mysterious firebirds appear in their world, the first transforming random objects and the second altering time in order to steal, the sorceress Nyx and her cousin Meguet are forced to investigate a dark mystery. Reprint. SLJ. AB. PW. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Better than the first one??
I reread the Cygnet and the Firebird every other year or so. It was so magnificently done. Each character in there is unique. First, you have Nyx Ro, the land-heir to Ro Holding, who is an eccentric soceress/bog witch/mage and who tries to help Brand, a man that was turned into a firebird for mysterious reasons. And then you have Nyx's cousin--strong and honor-bound Meguet--whose natural powers allowed her to overcome the time-stopping spell of a strange mage who had come to steal something from Ro Holding. I guess you just have to read it yourself to see what I'm talking about. It might mean more to the reader if she had read the "Sorceress and the Cygnet" first, where you see more character development of Nyx, Meguet, and Corleu (the main character of that book). This book focuses on the mysteries surrounding Brand, the strange and powerful mage, and the whole different world that they come from.
Whenever I read one of Mckillip's work, I am always amazed at how people are missing out on her stories. They're always so original and beautifully written--this one is no different. So buy it and read it before it goes out of print like the first one!

one of her best
This is undoubtedly one of her most poignantly written books.McKillip has a sensitivity to the human mind that is simply unparalleled.She explores that part of ourselves we see only glimpses of in dreams, and realizes them in this novel.The stories are real to life--there is no happily ever after, yet still there is closure to all of the conflicts that develop throughout the book.Her prose is both beautiful and surreal; often times I felt like I was reading an archaic composition of music or an enchanted poem.If you have not read one of her books start with this one; it will blow you away.

I loved it!
It was a bit confusing at first to swallow all the details.I found it discarded on a "free table"; it other words, its previous ower had not wanted it and simply tossed it away...I will never understandjust WHY.It is magnificent.The characters seem to have a maturity thatI have not found in McKillip's other works (or maybe this is just becausethe kingdom was described differently than in McKillip's othermasterpieces--I can't quite put my finger on the EXACT reason).I lovedit!It got me into Patricia McKillip's other books, and I am an avid fannow, trying to get my hands on McKillip's latest "Song for theBasilisk."I don't EVER get bored of McKillip's books.The secondbook of this wonderful author's that I read was Winter Rose, which is justas bewitching (is that the right word...?--maybe enchanting fitsbetter...).Buy it.Read it.Or don't, and know that you are missing onsomething BIG

Mckillip wins again!!!
My, my, my. What are publishers thinking when they reprint a sequel but not the first installment? When I brought this book home I was literally scorched by the words "Mckillip returns to the world she created in The Sorceress and the Cygnet" Not that I wouldn't have bought itanyway.(Trust me, if you ever see ANYTHING by Mckillip, buy it!) But Idecided right then and there that I wouldn't read this book until I foundthe first installment. I thought it would be years but luckily it only tooka couple of months until I found The Sorceress and the Cygnet buried in theback of a used book store.

To those of you who will read this novelwithout reading it's predecessor first: you have my pity. She explainsnothing, but OH what a payoff!

Although two distictively differentstories, this series serves as a literary one two punch. Some of Mckillip'smost magical and entertaining work can be found here, and I recommend bothbooks to readers of every age. Once I started reading I was stuck. The restof the world did not exist for me. (A warning for students: don't readthese books around the time you should start studying for Finals. You willfail miserably!)

Even if not all can be as lucky as I have in finding thefirst book, you should definitely read The Cygnet and the Firebird. It is astory unto itself. Sorceress... adds more texture and history to the story,but is not needed to make this novel a success. Either way, this is onebook not to be missed!!

Slow going, but glad I stayed with it.
I grew to like McKillip because of the Riddlemaster of Hed series.This didn't have the same immediate attraction.Part of that was due to the slow going, as the author set the psychological scene of the main femalecharacters coming to an awareness of their identities, limits, and desires. Part of it was also due to the fact that I became aware that thesecharacters had already been developed in a previous novel.I didn't knowthat, and I suspect my enjoyment would have been enhanced had I read"The Sorceress and the Cygnet" before reading this one.Towardthe end, I again got caught up in McKillip's beautiful images, especiallyin the desert as the story climaxes.She can weave them well. ... Read more

Product Description

Morgon, Prince of Hed, wants only to rule and work the land of his birth as best he can, but he is faced by a very different challenge from that of his ancestors. The stars have marked him out and he must wander strange, foreign lands full of untamed magic, and confront riddling wraiths and mysterious harpists at the behest of the all-knowing High One. But his is a perilous quest, involving grave danger, to himself, his promised bride, his land and his people. This volume contains The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire and Harpist in the Wind, the complete Riddle-Master trilogy, which is among the most respected and popular fantasies of recent years. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The perfect McKillip primer
This was my first exposure to the works of Patricia A. McKillip. I loved every word. Though I read this story back when it was first released I can still remember it as if I just read it yesterday. I can't recomend this highly enough. It's a wonderfull story, full of all the magic and mistery that make the fantasy genre sush a treasure. Read this book. You'll love it.

Riddle it away
Usually when an author is compared to Tolkien, it means that there are lots of swords, sorcery, countries clashing and a dark lord, but that the spirit of the master of fantasy is missing. "The Riddlemaster Trilogy" is one trilogy that almost lives up to the words -- a majestic, magical adventure that spans all of Patricia McKillip's richly invented world.

"Riddle-Master of Hed" opens with the discovery of a jeweled crown under Prince Morgan's bed -- a sign that he outriddled a king who had never been defeated before. Along with the crown, he wins the right to marry his pal's sister, Raederle, the second-most beautiful woman in the continent of An. But Morgan is stopped on his way by a shipwreck and news of something dark and sinister creeping into the lands. Strange shapeshifting creatures are entering the lands, the wizards have vanished from the land, and somehow the three stars on Morgan's brow are connected to their presence and how to stop them. He heads off to Erlenstar Mountain, to find the High One -- and finds more than he bargained for...

"Heir of Sea And Fire" very slowly resolves the cliffhanger ending of "Riddle-Master," focusing instead on Princess Raederle. The land-rule -- a sort of sixth sense given to kings -- of Hed has passed to Morgan's brother, meaning that apparently Morgan is dead -- but Raederle and her father don't believe it's true. She sets off with a few faithful friends, and encounters the semi-sinister harpist Deth, the shapechangers, armies of the dead rampaging through her father's lands -- and disturbing news about her and her heritage.

"Harpist in the Wind" continues from the end of "Heir," with Morgan and Raederle planning what to do next. Strange rebel armies -- of both the living and the dead -- are massing in Ymris, and Morgan is taking the dead armies to Hed in an attempt to protect it. Then he and Raederle set off to find the High One and wring some answers out of him -- only he may not be what they expect. As Morgan grows in power and gains knowledge about all of An, he strips bare the secrets of the High One, the shocking identity of the shapechangers, and begins a new age for the lands...

There was never a less cliched author than Patricia McKillip -- the scope, majesty and richness of her invented world rival the best of the genre. Her plot twists and turns inside the lush, dreamlike prose that she's so good at, making a snowstorm as eerie as a magical showdown that can redefine an entire world's magic.

Her plot can be seen in two ways, as the growth of a naive young prince into a wise paragon of power, and also about the shifting of a land from one era into another. The Four Portions of An are a detailed, real-seeming fantasy world, and her princes, wizards, ghosts, and harpists are wise, sometimes sinister, mysterious and full of power.

Morgan is an excellent hero, who is not arrogant or desirous of the power that he is gaining. As confused by his own destiny as by the events around him, he spends much of the first book resisting his fate. Raederle is an excellent counterpart to Morgan, afraid of her heritage and fiercely determined to follow him wherever he goes. They are not a perfect couple: they bicker and argue occasionally, but they do not allow divisions to sit and fester. Deth is the ultimate ambiguous character, keeping you guessing until the end about what the heck is going on with him.

There are no elves, dwarves, fairies, gnomes, or similar fantastical creatures in this book. It came to me with a bit of a shock at the end that aside from the shapechangers, there were only humans in this -- humans who can learn magic, who make mistakes and who have to search for the truth instead of having it handed to them on a plate. The magic is startlingly eerie, subtle and pervasive rather than being flashy. Similarly, the shapechangers' menace isn't overdone -- much of their creepiness results from the question of what they are, and why they are doing what they do.

The complexity and depth of McKillip's early trilogy is still striking today. Her rich invented world and haunting, complex tale of magic, wizards and riddles make "Riddle of Stars" (now republished as "The Riddlemaster Trilogy") a modern fantasy classic. ... Read more

Product Description
As they work to create a beautiful room for the brother of one of them who had attempted suicide, three friends find their lives deeply affected by their project. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A walk down nostalgia lane
I couldn't really explain why I love this book so much but I have loved it since the first time I read it about two decades ago when I was much younger than its central characters.
Throughout my reading life thus far, it has still remained my most-frequently read book.

The story basically revolves around three young best friends: Josclyn, Barbara and Claudia, their families and how their lives intersect and affect one another.

The general themes are those of adolescence, young love, crushes, angst, suicide, depression, kindness, forgiveness, sacrifice and hope. It is such a sweet, nostalgic book and the writer is very gentle, hard sometimes but always realistic in telling her tale. She brilliantly expresses the workings of the tween/teen minds.

A literary treasure for all times, in my opinion.

Delicate tale of friendship
Patricia McKillip is best known for her delicate, ornate fantasy novels. But early in her writing career, she also took a side-trip into young adult fiction in "The Night Gift." It's a bittersweet little story about friendship, love, and the lives of a small group who are changed as they work for a friend.

The ugliness of his life -- and his room -- prompted Joe Takaoto to try to commit suicide. Now he's returning home from the hospital. His sister Barbara teams up with her friends Josclyn and Claudia to help make sure he doesn't harm himself again. When they stumble across a decrepit old house, they know what to do -- they will beautify a room in the house for him, painting it and filling it with fish, shells, and other things.

When the girls sneak a baby redwood down from the Basin, they meet handsome Neil, who gives them a ride back. Josclyn nurses a secret crush on Neil, and for awhile, she believes that he likes her too. But when he learns who Neil really likes, a rift is formed in their group. And when Joe returns to see the room, the group learns the truth about friendship and giving -- and receiving -- love.

"The Night Gift" is not a typical coming-of-age novel. There are plenty of realistic problems that aren't dealt with melodramatically (suicide, dropping out of school, first love), and McKillip's deft touch keeps things from ever getting cheesy or overemotional. The climax of the book is as quiet, delicate and saddening as anyone could hope for.

Her usually lush language is a little more toned down, but it springs out in descriptions of nature -- shooting stars, trees, and the decorated room. And her sense of atmosphere is also excellent. Joe, in some ways the focal point of the book, only appears in one scene, but his presence hangs over the entire book, save a few scenes that are all about an angsty love triangle.

Josclyn is a good protagonist, a frustrated student who faces losing a first love that wasn't really hers. Neil, the object of her affection, is a genuinely nice guy, not a heartbreaker; her brother Brian is a sardonic dropout with a heart of gold, and Claudia is the "outcast" with her low confidence. However, some of the supporting characters like the parents and Barbara could have used a bit more fleshing out.

Patricia McKillip avoids the traps of a typical young adult novel in "Night Gift", with her sober looks at being a teenager, being a friend, and giving love and help to people who most need it. A quietly uplifting story. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Darkly magical
I made the mistake of starting this book just before going to bed, only putting it down when my eyes stopped focusing.

This is not the typical "sword and sorcery" fantasy, full of blue levin-bolts and robed wizards.Instead, McKillip has crafted an enchanted landscape within the fractured persona of Frances, a girl who has created a horned creature called the Stagmen who embodies all that she fears and desires.

From the beginning of the novel, McKillip weaves (and ensnares) Frances in religious imagery.There are all the teachings and trappings of Roman Catholicism in which Frances is raised and educated, as well as the rich pagan themes in whatever natural environment she happens to be living in (i.e. the sonoran desert, the mountains of Germany, the English countryside, even the shores of Northern Washington State).Frances splits herself into a sort of insane Trinity: the Frances who writes tales about the Stagman, giving him life; the Frances who is so afraid of everything vital that she tries to disappear, so the Stagman can't touch her; and then there's the bold Frances, desparately wanting to free herself from the soul-killing fear so she can either join with the Stagman or (maybe) become him.

A very touching and mature story fit for anyone who hurts, or for those who are trying to understand how and why some people just don't seem to be "normal".

Fantastical (Auto)biography rather than external fantasy
"Stepping from the Shadows" is a mystical coming-of-age novel, a sort of fantastical "Catcher in the Rye".It is about a girl who wants to be 'normal' and who tries to reject her creative, wild-woman self - the self who writes 30-page fairy tales about The Stagman when she should be studying algebra.

Tame Frances and Wild Frances grow to adulthood through the fifties and sixties.She (they) endure a very dislocated existence as the Army posts her(their)father to Arizona, Germany, England, and finally California. Tame Frances fears and is drawn to horned, pronged, pointed objects -- cactii are an underground Hellgiant's fingers; tusked boars haunt the German forest -- and finally her more creative self invents The Stagman, after a close encounter with a Guy Fawkes effigy.The Stagman haunts the rest of the book.He is the culmination of everything Tame Frances fears and desires.This is very much an internal rather than an external fantasy, so there are no magic spells or incantations to make the Stagman go away.Frances slowly grows together, stops disliking herself, loses a bit of her shyness, stops running away from her creative self, and comes to terms with the Stagman and (maybe) the Buttercup God.

This is how a very creative writer grows up, beautifully told.

Mckillip's darkest and most compelling work
It is a shame that most of Mckillip's works are no longer in print, and that proves all too true for this richly awarding novel. I have scoured the local shelves of used book stores in search of ANYTHING written by thismaster of storytelling, and STEPPING FROM THE SHADOWS was well worth thehours of searching it took to find.This contemporary story traces thejourney of Francis to find herself and save her endangered sanity. She ishaunted by The Stagman, a chidhood fantasy that does not fade as she growsup, but rather grows in power as Francis starts exploring her newfoundsexuality. It is without a doubt the best Mckillip novel I have everread. (and those of you who are DIEHARD Mckillip fans like I am know thatis a powerful statement, especially since I have read virtually all of herworks, including others out-of-print.) Once again her use of language anddetail paint a lyrical landscape of the human heart and spirit. This bookis no holds barred in revealing Francis' struggles with her lonliness andisolation from the rest of the world. Definitely not for children and yetby no means grotesque. It is a story that all must playout in their ownquests to find theiridentities. A quest that must either end in madnessor one's true self STEPPING FROM THE SHADOWS. ... Read more

Product Description
Here is the story of Adam and Eve's disobedience and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Beginning with a look at a modern child's disobedience, this simply told story moves on to the bibical story: both man and woman eat the forbidden fruit, the snake lies about his role in the event, Eve offers her reasons for eating the fruit, and Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good for kids
I thought that the Adam and Eve book was a good buy.I have a 17 month old and the pictures are fun to look at. ... Read more

Product Description
Here is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to the award-winninganthology Firebirds! Firebirds Rising takes readers from deepspace to Faerie to just around the corner. It is full of magic, humor,adventure, and—best of all—the unexpected. The one thingreaders can count on is marvelous writing. Firebirds Rising provesonce again that Firebird is a gathering place for writers and readersof speculative fiction from teenage to adult, from the UnitedStates to Europe, Asia, and beyond. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Ok for someone who loves fantasy AND sci fi
I liked half of this book, to be honest I didn't read the whole thing. I am a huge science fiction fan and this book has both science fiction and fantasy stories. I don't really like fantasy all that much so I did not enjoy some of the fantasy stories, but that is my preference. Overall, this book is a good read and I would recommend it to any science fiction or fantasy fan. It is a good compilation of great authors. All of the science fiction stories from the book that I read drew me in from the first or second page and by the end of the story I was left wanting more. I would definitely consider buying books from the authors featured in the book. This book is a great buy for any science fiction or fantasy fan looking for a new fix when they run out of books to read.

A Good Collection
I read the first collection, The Firebird, and feel in love all over again with Megan W. Turner and for this book, in addition to my already favorite authors, it introduced me to more of authors whose styles I like very much.

First of all is Ellen Klages, with 'In The House of the Seven Librarians'. I love her prose and all the words make a nice song in my head. It was almost like a poetry.

Second is Tanith Lee. I haven't had the chance to read her books but I like her story 'The House on The Planet'. The title reminds me of Laura Ingalls' :) It has the taste of pioneering adventure in it but of course, with a surprise at the ending. ... Read more

Product Description
While staying with her cousin in England, a young girl helps him find a way of helping the troubled ghosts inhabiting the cellar of the house. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

ghostly mysterys rule
I remember reading this in junior high.I checked it out of the library so many times that I practically owned it.It had a ghost, a mystery and a budding romance.It's nothing like the author's usual fantasy fare, but it remains one on my cherished reading memories from childhood.

a good book
This is a great book and I enjoyed reading it. However, this is a book that is not in McKillips style. It is not fantasy. Instead, It is a mystery for young readers. None the less, it is worth the time of any true PatriciaMckillip fan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A riddle of stars
Usually when an author is compared to Tolkien, it means that there are lots of swords, sorcery, countries clashing and a dark lord, but that the spirit of the master of fantasy is missing. But the "Riddle-Master" trilogy is one trilogy that almost lives up to the words -- a majestic, magical adventure that spans all of McKillip's richly invented world.

"Riddle-Master of Hed" opens with the discovery of a jeweled crown under Prince Morgan's bed -- a sign that he outriddled a king who had never been defeated before. Along with the crown, he wins the right to marry his pal's sister, Raederle, the second-most beautiful woman in the continent of An.

But Morgan is stopped on his way by a shipwreck and news of something dark and sinister creeping into the lands. Strange shapeshifting creatures are entering the lands, the wizards have vanished from the land, and somehow the three stars on Morgan's brow are connected to their presence and how to stop them. He heads off to Erlenstar Mountain, to find the High One -- and finds more than he bargained for...

"Heir of Sea And Fire" very slowly resolves the cliffhanger ending of "Riddle-Master," focusing instead on Princess Raederle. The land-rule -- a sort of sixth sense given to kings -- of Hed has passed to Morgan's brother, meaning that apparently Morgan is dead -- but Raederle and her father don't believe it's true. She sets off with a few faithful friends, and encounters the semi-sinister harpist Deth, the shapechangers, armies of the dead rampaging through her father's lands -- and disturbing news about her and her heritage.

"Harpist in the Wind" continues from the end of "Heir," with Morgan and Raederle planning what to do next. Strange rebel armies -- of both the living and the dead -- are massing in Ymris, and Morgan is taking the dead armies to Hed in an attempt to protect it. Then he and Raederle set off to find the High One and wring some answers out of him -- only he may not be what they expect. As Morgan grows in power and gains knowledge about all of An, he strips bare the secrets of the High One, the shocking identity of the shapechangers, and begins a new age for the lands...

There was never a less cliched author than Patricia McKillip -- the scope, majesty and richness of her invented world rival the best of the genre. Her plot twists and turns inside the lush, dreamlike prose that she's so good at, making a snowstorm as eerie as a magical showdown that can redefine an entire world's magic.

Her plot can be seen in two ways, as the growth of a naive young prince into a wise paragon of power, and also about the shifting of a land from one era into another. The Four Portions of An are a detailed, real-seeming fantasy world, and her princes, wizards, ghosts, and harpists are wise, sometimes sinister, mysterious and full of power.

Morgan is an excellent hero, who is not arrogant or desirous of the power that he is gaining. As confused by his own destiny as by the events around him, he spends much of the first book resisting his fate. Raederle is an excellent counterpart to Morgan, afraid of her heritage and fiercely determined to follow him wherever he goes. They are not a perfect couple: they bicker and argue occasionally, but they do not allow divisions to sit and fester. Deth is the ultimate ambiguous character, keeping you guessing until the end about what the heck is going on with him.

There are no elves, dwarves, fairies, gnomes, or similar fantastical creatures in this book. It came to me with a bit of a shock at the end that aside from the shapechangers, there were only humans in this -- humans who can learn magic, who make mistakes and who have to search for the truth instead of having it handed to them on a plate. The magic is startlingly eerie, subtle and pervasive rather than being flashy. Similarly, the shapechangers' menace isn't overdone -- much of their creepiness results from the question of what they are, and why they are doing what they do.

The complexity and depth of McKillip's early trilogy is still striking today. Her rich invented world and haunting, complex tale of magic, wizards and riddles make "The Riddlemaster Trilogy" a modern fantasy classic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Thumbs up for Bankofbooks
I had owned this book many years before, gave it away, but wanted to share it with someone.The copy U received did have some wear, but was in readable condition.Fast delivery, too.

The best piece of sf/fantasy rivalling Dune
This is not the place to tell you the actual storyline.I wouldn't want to ruin the experience for you. That said I read this book in the late '80s in high school. I read this book, the trilogy actually, so often that when I was graduating the school librarian gave me the school's copy. During those 5 years I had read it at least once per month I guess they figured life wouldn't be the same for me without it. Read it, you won't be disappointed. The writing is excellent the plot flawless... you can't put it down. Spare yourself the stress and anxiety and purchase all three parts at once.But what ever you do, read it and be prepared to fall in love with a world and people you could not have imagined.There are attempts at such greatness out there but theY all fail in comparison. The only exception being the Dune books by Frank Herbert which are in a category all of their own.

A marvelous story, different from you typically fantasy
A wonderful book, enjoyable world, and engaging characters.

Worth every minute spent reading it (and for my wife, re-reading it)

Also known as the 'Riddle-Master' trilogy
Reading McKillip's great fantasy trilogy "Riddle of Stars" is like trying to solve the riddle of someone else's partially-glimpsed dream.You enter a rich world of metaphor, sometimes baffling but always beautiful. A standard hero's quest is overgrown with fabulous beasts, children of stone, and death-dealing harps.

In the first book, "The Riddle-Master of Hed" Land-Ruler Morgon of Hed wins a bride and a crown in a riddling contest with a ghost.He wipes the cow manure off of his boots and sets sail from his tiny island kingdom, unsure as to whether his beautiful, red-haired prize has any interest in marrying a farmer-king. In pursuit of an answer, Morgon detours to the College of Riddle-Masters at Caithnard, where he was once a student and where his bride's brother still resides.His companion for the journey is Deth, the thousand-year-old High One's harpist.

Morgon and Deth are shipwrecked, and once Morgon regains his memory he discovers that he has unknown, shape-changing enemies who will stop at nothing to destroy him. As he flees through the kingdoms of his world, he is befriended by the various land-rulers and is gifted with a harp and a sword that are decorated with three stars--identical to the birthmark of stars on his forehead. He also learns how to change his own shape into beasts and trees.

Finally Morgon makes his way to Erlenstar Mountain with Deth, the harpist, hoping that the High One will solve the riddle of his stars and defend him against his implacable enemies.

The heir of sea and fire referred to in the title of the second book in the trilogy is Raederle, Morgon of Hed's betrothed.She struggles against her shape-changer heritage, but gradually begins to tap into its power in order to protect Morgon."Heir of Sea and Fire" begins in the spring of the year "following the strange disappearance of the Prince of Hed, who had, with the High One's harpist, vanished like a mist in Isig Pass..."

Raederle has reason to believe Morgon dead, since the land-rule of Hed has passed to Morgon's brother, Eliard.Or was land-rule ripped from Morgon while he was still alive?In a key passage, Raederle asks the High One's harpist, "What piece of knowledge did the Founder expect to find beneath the knowledge of when the barley would begin to sprout or what trees in his orchard had a disease eating secretly at their hearts?"

The importance of the question lies in the inability of the harpist to answer it.

There are some great visuals in "Heir of Sea and Fire," especially in the sequence where Raederle calls up the dead of An and bargains with them to protect the man who is journeying across their land.I really feared for her life because of the bargain she made with the dead Kings, even though I've read a million fantasies and the heroine never dies--at least not until the end of the trilogy.

In the final book of the "Riddle of Stars" trilogy, "Harpist in the Wind," the Star-bearer (Morgon of Hed) and Raederle of An, united at last, continue their search for their true identities.This book won the Locus Award in 1980 and I feel 'award-winning' is the least amount of praise one can apply to this trilogy.McKillip 'dreams awake' when she spins her fantasies, and that's how it feels to read them.

Love, family ties, and even magical bonds to the land play an important part in these novels, as they do in many other great fantasy epics such as 'Lord of the Rings' and Norton's Witchworld trilogy concerning the triplets Kemoc, Kyllan, and Kaththea.Vengeance, which was a prominent theme in "Heir of Sea and Fire" slows to a cold drizzle in "Harpist in the Wind" and in one case dries up completely.

Revenge might indeed be a 'dish best tasted cold' but if it gets too cold, the hero could end up feeling sorry for his erstwhile enemy or even forgiving him, as does Morgon.His gradual change from innocent farmer-prince, to vengeful shape-changer, to the Star-bearer spins out the most challenging riddle of this trilogy.Who is the Star-bearer?What is his true purpose?

"Stars, children with faces of stone, the fiery, broken shards of a bowl he had smashed in Astrin's hut, dead cities, a dark-haired shape-changer, a harpist, all resolved under his probing into answerless riddles"--at least in the beginning of "Harpist in the Wind."

There are scenes of high astonishment and magic in 'Harpist,' most especially in Morgon's discovery of wizards other than the evil Ghisteslwchlohm who are still alive, most prominently Yrth, the creator of Morgon's three-starred harp. Or is this another of the riddles the Star-bearer must solve?What is the relationship between Deth, the High One's harpist who betrayed Morgon to Ghisteslwchlohm, and Yrth, a great wizard who had once been called the Harpist of the magical city of Lungold?

At trilogy's end, all riddles are answered and the Star-bearer comes into his heritage, although his friends and loved ones (and the reader) seem to realize who he is long before he does.Such is usually the case with heroes.

Riddled out
Usually when an author is compared to Tolkien, it means that there are lots of swords, sorcery, countries clashing and a dark lord, but that the spirit of the master of fantasy is missing. This is one trilogy that almost lives up to the words -- a majestic, magical adventure that spans all of McKillip's richly invented world.

"Riddle-Master of Hed" opens with the discovery of a jeweled crown under Prince Morgan's bed -- a sign that he outriddled a king who had never been defeated before. Along with the crown, he wins the right to marry his pal's sister, Raederle, the second-most beautiful woman in the continent of An. But Morgan is stopped on his way by a shipwreck and news of something dark and sinister creeping into the lands. Strange shapeshifting creatures are entering the lands, the wizards have vanished from the land, and somehow the three stars on Morgan's brow are connected to their presence and how to stop them. He heads off to Erlenstar Mountain, to find the High One -- and finds more than he bargained for...

"Heir of Sea And Fire" very slowly resolves the cliffhanger ending of "Riddle-Master," focusing instead on Princess Raederle. The land-rule -- a sort of sixth sense given to kings -- of Hed has passed to Morgan's brother, meaning that apparently Morgan is dead -- but Raederle and her father don't believe it's true. She sets off with a few faithful friends, and encounters the semi-sinister harpist Deth, the shapechangers, armies of the dead rampaging through her father's lands -- and disturbing news about her and her heritage.

"Harpist in the Wind" continues from the end of "Heir," with Morgan and Raederle planning what to do next. Strange rebel armies -- of both the living and the dead -- are massing in Ymris, and Morgan is taking the dead armies to Hed in an attempt to protect it. Then he and Raederle set off to find the High One and wring some answers out of him -- only he may not be what they expect. As Morgan grows in power and gains knowledge about all of An, he strips bare the secrets of the High One, the shocking identity of the shapechangers, and begins a new age for the lands...

There was never a less cliched author than Patricia McKillip -- the scope, majesty and richness of her invented world rival the best of the genre. Her plot twists and turns inside the lush, dreamlike prose that she's so good at, making a snowstorm as eerie as a magical showdown that can redefine an entire world's magic.

Her plot can be seen in two ways, as the growth of a naive young prince into a wise paragon of power, and also about the shifting of a land from one era into another. The Four Portions of An are a detailed, real-seeming fantasy world, and her princes, wizards, ghosts, and harpists are wise, sometimes sinister, mysterious and full of power.

Morgan is an excellent hero, who is not arrogant or desirous of the power that he is gaining. As confused by his own destiny as by the events around him, he spends much of the first book resisting his fate. Raederle is an excellent counterpart to Morgan, afraid of her heritage and fiercely determined to follow him wherever he goes. They are not a perfect couple: they bicker and argue occasionally, but they do not allow divisions to sit and fester. Deth is the ultimate ambiguous character, keeping you guessing until the end about what the heck is going on with him.

There are no elves, dwarves, fairies, gnomes, or similar fantastical creatures in this book. It came to me with a bit of a shock at the end that aside from the shapechangers, there were only humans in this -- humans who can learn magic, who make mistakes and who have to search for the truth instead of having it handed to them on a plate. The magic is startlingly eerie, subtle and pervasive rather than being flashy. Similarly, the shapechangers' menace isn't overdone -- much of their creepiness results from the question of what they are, and why they are doing what they do.

The complexity and depth of McKillip's early trilogy is still striking today. Her rich invented world and haunting, complex tale of magic, wizards and riddles make "Riddle of Stars" (now republished as "The Riddlemaster Trilogy") a modern fantasy classic. ... Read more