Patricia McKillip

Post by **Usivius** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 1:06 pm

wow. I am impressed. Read book one of the Riddle Master trilogy... She is a truly impressive writer. I beleive these were written in the late 70s. I kept hearing SRD drop her name, so I had to get something. I descided to start at her earlier books and will later bet a more recent one.
She is truly overlooked. There is an elegance in her writing I simply have not read before. Truly unique style as far as I can tell.
Please, anyone else read anything of hers? Have you read the Riddle Master series? Recommend my next purchase after the next two in the series?...

Post by **Ainulindale** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 8:51 am

Mckillip is really one of the last true stylists in epic fantasy, and I frankly I considered Riddlemaster to be the cntemporary standad in the sub-genre until very recently (with R. Scott Bakker concluding his Prince of Nothing)

I would look into her Ombira in Shadow, Winter rose, and The Tower at Stony Wood[/u]. Im not a huge fan of her othwr work, but they are definitely solid.

One work I recentlyr ead by her taht I did find excellent was her collection, Harrowing the Dragon.[/i]

Post by **Encryptic** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 4:57 pm

Sad to say, I haven't read any other work, but I'll jump on the bandwagon and sing the praises of the Riddlemaster trilogy.

Great series and it's impressive that she managed to fit so much into such short books.

Post by **Usivius** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 8:27 pm

it's impressive that she managed to fit so much into such short books.

Oh, I totally agree! It was refreshing and inspiring! I was swept way immediately. She gives the reader no time to be bored at any point! It is a joy to read something that just carries me along...

And thanks for the other recommendations Ainulindale. I will check them out. Actually I can see myself getting all her works!...

Post by **Usivius** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 2:03 pm

finished the Riddle-Master trilogy... Beautiful is the word tha first pops in to my mind. It's style and flow are inspiring and so different from what I am use to reading. It is almost like reading prose and poetry in one. Loved it.

Post by **Usivius** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 7:30 pm

"Ombria in Shadow" --- just finished reading this one. The Riddle Master series was written relatively early in her career, and this one fairly recently. Wow. I continue to be impressed. Her writing, amazing to start with, was grown more fluid and inspiring. "Ombria in Shadow" is a beautifully told 'fantasy' story of good vs evil but oh so better than many that I have ever read. It is easy to see why she is so highly regarded, but hard to understand why she is not more widely known.
The story has a grandness and intimacy that I love: the story is of important, 'world-changing' events told on a small, intimate scale, revolving around three main characters, all of whome I fll in love with --- especially Mag.

I have just ordered two more of her books, and hope to have them delivered soo. (actually I think I will be gritting my teeth and start reading 'The Tale of Genji' ... it looks long and ponderous...)

Post by **Avatar** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 5:39 am

When was it published? I ask because Jordan has a "Tower of Genji" in his WoT series.

--A

Post by **MsMary** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:28 am

I just love the Riddlemaster trilogy. I am rereading it for the umpteenth time, and it never gets old. I have not gotten around to reading any of her other books, though.

Post by **Usivius** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:43 pm

OH! Do read Ombria in Shadow ... it is truly magical...

And for Avatar: Tales of Genji was written in about 1050 AD by a Japanese woman (and finished? by her daughter --- according so some scholars). It is sometimes regarded as "the first novel". I have a translation by Whaley .. but am finding it rather cumbersome so far...

Post by **MsMary** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 9:47 pm

Usivius wrote:OH! Do read Ombria in Shadow ... it is truly magical...

I'll add it to my ever-growing TBR list.

Post by **Peven** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 12:55 am

McKillip is definately under-appreciated and under-read among the general sci-fi/fantasy community, imo. her Riddlemaster trilogy is a legitimate masterpiece, imo.

Post by **Usivius** » Tue May 02, 2006 12:37 pm

Hi Peven. I read on another post (about screen names) that you love PM... nice to hear. I also read the Bests of Eld (i think was th title). I love all her stuff so far. I can't say enough about them (but usually don't have the words to do so) and can't say anything really negative about them.

Can you recommend one of hers? I am just finishing re reading Tolkein and will hit a couple of non-fiction sitting on my desk. But after that I will need a McKillip fix....

Post by **Peven** » Tue May 02, 2006 3:05 pm

here is her homepage listing of all her books. quite a selection to pick from.

www.patriciamckillip.com/Books/

i would say your best bet is to read her stuff chronologically as she wrote it. my daughter, who is now 14, has read several of her latest books and has really enjoyed them too, though, so you can't really go wrong wherever you start.

Post by **danlo** » Tue May 02, 2006 4:07 pm

Trivia: Stephen R. Donaldson dedicated The One Tree to Ms. McKillip. What book did she dedicate to SRD?

Post by **Usivius** » Mon May 08, 2006 5:48 pm

... well I know it is one of the ones I have read, as I saw it... but off the top of my head I will only guess ... the reprint of the Riddle Master trilogy.

Post by **duchess of malfi** » Mon May 08, 2006 5:51 pm

Try In the Forests of Serre. One of the best treatments of addiction and obsession I have ever read in any genre.

p210.ezboard.com/fahirashangarfrm7.show ... =1&stop=20

Post by **aliantha** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 9:01 pm

In the Forests of Serre was amazing. I was impressed that she was able to sustain her narrative "voice" for the length of the novel.

The Riddle-Master Trilogy was really good. But I read In the Forests of Serre first, and I could tell that Riddle-Master was an earlier work.

I just found her new novel, Solstice Wood, in the "new books" section of our library; it's up next, after I finish Andrew Greeley's new Nuala Anne McGrail novel. (Greeley is one of my guilty pleasures (pun intended!). I grew up right next door to Grand Beach, MI, where almost all his priests have summer homes. I used to get really homesick for Lake Michigan when I read his books....) I'll probably start Solstice Wood tomorrow and will report back when I'm done.

Post by **aliantha** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 7:33 pm

I forgot to report back....

So anyway, Solstice Wood was pretty good. It was a departure from her other books, in that it's set in a more realistic world. (The others have been either similar to fairy-tale-like worlds, or, in the case of Riddle-Master, more like a straight epic-fantasy-type world.) The main character is a woman who has fled her upbringing in a New England village to live in a city on the West Coast. She must return home when her grandfather dies.

I don't think it's giving anything away to say that the house where she grew up, and her family, are Stephen-King-creepy, and that there's a fair amount of crossover between the "real world" and a faery realm. The ending, however, is totally *not* something that Stephen King would write!

All in all, I enjoyed it. If you see it, give it a try.

Post by **danlo** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 4:38 pm

Ok, finally, here's the answer to my trivia question. In McKillup's The Harpist in the Wind (the third book in The Quest of the Riddle-Master) she wrote, "For all those who waited, and especially for Steve Donaldson, who always called at the right time."

Post by **wayfriend** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:38 pm

You know, there was a period of time (measured in years) when I thought those two were a thing.

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

Patricia McKillip

Patricia McKillip