McKillip is a fantasy genre treasure. Forgotten Beasts of Eld holds up to everything she's done previously, and then some. Great read!

A dramatic, lyrical ballad locked into simple prose. Obscure, seemingly effortless, magical and breathtaking.

I don't think I have never come across a book like this before in the fantasy genre.

If I was to tell you what the story is about, it would not amount to too much and there is hardly any worldbuilding, but the writing is so compelling, so powerful, so seductive and beautiful that I just cannot shake the effect it has had on me.

The music I kept hearing in my head while reading was the musical suite, The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns, especially The Swan movement.

Also there is a strong medieval feel to the whole story and I was very much reminded of the Arthurian myth by the relationship between Sybel, Coren and Drede. There was a strong Guinever-Lancelot-Arthur resemblance, though most of the time Sybel appeared to me as the Lady of Shalott.

I'm a huge Patricia McKillip fan, having read most of her books and short stories (and those I haven't read, I'm saving for a rainy day), so I was over the moon when I learned that Tachyon will be reissuing her 1974 fantasy novel (and World Fantasy Award Winner), The Forgotten Beasts of Eld this fall.

Why? Because there simply aren't enough good books in the world, and the previous edition of The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is somewhat difficult to find. Win-win!

As is typical for Tachyon editions, this one features a gorgeous cover by acclaimed artist Thomas Canty, who also provided the cover for McKillip's recent Tachyon short story collection, Dreams of Distant Shores.

The new edition also features a forward by Gail Carriger, who rates The Forgotten Books of Eld as one of her favorite books of all time--and for a good reason. This book, along with McKillip's beloved Riddle-Master trilogy, is one of those fantasy classics that avid readers of the genre heartily recommend. These impressive accolades are probably why I avoided The Forgotten Beasts of Eld for a long time. Even though, like I said, I'm a big McKillip fan, I was always a little apprehensive about reading it: would it live up to my massive expectations? I didn't want it not to live up to them, so I avoiding reading it for a long time.

Of course, those fears were for naught. I'm pleased to say that The Forgotten Beasts of Eld surpassed all my expectations and reignited my love for fantasy fiction. I've been in something of a reading drought lately: moodily dipping in and out of books that don't seem to grab me. This one was the exception: this book didn't let go. Now, weeks later, I'm still thinking of Sybel, Coren, and the story's magnificent beasts.

I'll share why in a bit, but first I wanted to talk about why McKillip is my gold standard for fantasy.

First, McKillip is a prose sorceress. My best friend and I talk about this, and I'm absolutely convinced it's true. I'd argue that McKillip is the best prose stylist in the fantasy field (and she certainly has the chops to compete with non-genre literary writers), and I say that as a fan of The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, a book that contains prose of unrivaled beauty. I'm drawn to McKillip's work because there's something incredibly poetic about her prose style: even her most complex sentences (those from Song for the Basilisk especially) slip through the mind as easily as water and tug the reader along as irrevocably as an ocean current. And like a true sorceress, McKillip casts a spell on her reader: you're compelled to keep reading by the force and beauty of the words on the page. Here's an example from The Forgotten Beasts of Eld:

The great wings unfurled, black against the stars. The huge bulk lifted slowly, incredibly, away from the cold earth, through the wind-torn, whispering trees. Above the winds struck full force, billowing their cloaks, pushing against them, and they felt the immense play of muscle beneath them and the strain of wing against wind. Then came the full, smooth, joyous soar, a drowning in wind and space, a spiraling descent into darkness that flung them both beyond fear, beyond hope, beyond anything but the sudden surge of laughter that the wind tore from Coren’s mouth. Then they rose again, level with the stars, the great wings pulsing, beating a path through the darkness. The full moon, ice-white, soared with them, round and wondering as the single waking eye of a starry beast of darkness. The ghost of Eld Mountain dwindled behind them; the great peak huddled, asleep and dreaming, behind its mists. The land was black beneath them, but for faint specks of light that here and there flamed in a second plane of stars. The winds dropped past Mondor, quieted, until they melted through a silence, a cool, blue-black night that was the motionless night of dreams, dimensionless, star-touched, eternal. And at last they saw in the heart of darkness beneath them the glittering torch-lit rooms of the house of the Lord of Sirle.

The visions McKillip conjures don't merely dissipate like a dream you can almost remember: they remain with you for a long time. I can still recall images from many of her books: the hand-puppet scene from Ombria in Shadow; Corbet Lynn melting out of sunlight in Winter Rose; the appearance of the dragon-sorcerer from The Cygnet and the Firebird. It's images like these that inspire future generations of writers; great stories don't appear out of thin air; they're built upon the foundations of other great stories. (Peter Beagle talks about this extensively in his essay collection Smeagol, Deagol, and Beagle: Essays from the Headwaters of My Voice.)

What I also appreciate about McKillip's stories are her people. She uses prose not only to paint the world, but to expose truths of the human heart. Good fantasy is driven not only by plot, but also by great characters. And the fantasy genre overall is populated by a slew of memorable characters, from Granny Weatherwax to Gandalf the Grey. What makes McKillip's characters stand out in a sea of iconic characters is their inherent humanity. McKillip's characters aren't simply bad or good; they make mistakes, are unreasonable, selfish, and rarely listen; they also make noble sacrifices, make jokes, make love; they are good and bad and all things in between. Nyx, of The Sorceress and the Cygnet torments birds in order to learn how to become a great sorceress and later learns a more important lesson: how to be human; Rois, from Winter Rose, is both jealous and selfless when it comes to love; Sybel, of The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, is driven to revenge by trauma, even if her victory means losing the one thing that means the most of her. These characters are like us; they're all too human.

McKillip also writes uniquely personal stories within the realm of fantasy. When you think of fantasy, you think of epic quests: bloodshed, battles, war, famine, filth; these are the hallmarks of epic and high fantasy. You don't necessarily think of sorceresses who would rather be left alone to learn, thank you very much, or princes who would rather study than do battle. You think of books like The Lord of the Rings and A Game of Thrones, which are epic in size and scope. McKillip's books, in contrast, are deceptively slim (I say "deceptively" because they are quite meaty once you start reading) and deal with personal issues.

When you think of fantasy, you also won't think of domestic stories--low fantasy, a term I dislike because it seems so dismissive--which is chiefly what McKillip writes. And yet McKillip's stories feel both epic and intimate at the same time. They have the particular flavor of something delicious and wholesome. While her characters regularly encounter danger, I always feel comforted when I read her books, which is refreshing in a post-Red Wedding world. McKillip's books concern issues of hearth and home; of family bonds; of duty; of fealty; of grace. Her primary concern seems to be exploring the inner workings and motivations of her characters, rather than spinning a sprawling plot. The opening scene of Riddle-Master, where the family is squabbling over a domestic issue, wouldn't happen in any current fantasy books, and yet the book doesn't feel dated. You still relate to the characters, their situations, and want to know more about the beautiful, deadly world they live in.

Needless to stay, I had the bar set really high before I started reading this book. I wanted to be blown away. I wanted to feel all the feels. I wanted to marvel. And I was, and I did, and I did. Like many of McKillip's books, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld takes place in a secondary medieval-esque world; this one is called Eldwold.

This story concerns Sybel, the only female wizard in a line of powerful (and morally grey) male wizards. She's heir to a stone mountain and a menagerie of magnificent beasts, including a gold-hoarding dragon, a riddling boar, and a cat (who may very well be a panther, from what I could tell). In many ways, Sybel reminds me of an early version of Nyx, with her quick mind and impatience with her own humanity. Locked away in her stone house on Eld Mountain, Sybel sees very few people except the witch who lives down in the village, and she likes it that way. However, when a soldier named Coren interrupts Sybel's studies--her quest for the legendary and elusive Liralen--to foist upon her an infant boy related to Sybel's aunt and Coren's brother, he and Sybel both set in motion events that will transform their fates, and that of their two kingdoms.

The plot setup has Arthurian undertones: a baby conceived in secrecy by star-crossed lovers and is spirited away in order to guard him from shadowy forces until such time as he might seek his birthright or be used in revenge. Sybel initially wants nothing to do with Coren or the baby--she's just got too much to do and doesn't have much use for people--but she relents, and in turn learns to love as her forefathers never could.

After Sybel raises Prince Tamlorn and comes to know the soldier better, she finds herself embroiled in political tug-of-war between two warring kingdoms. What she soon learns as the book progresses is the price of love and the true nature of revenge and whether forgiveness is possible when you've done the unthinkable--this is the heart of the book's concern, which is limned by Sybel's quest for the Liralen. I raced through this book in two days because I was so distraught by the book's events and what Sybel might do--and whether any of my favorite characters would come out of it unscathed. The book's pace is brisk--there are no wasted moments--although McKillip skillfully paints the scene with her gorgeous, lyrical language. While I enjoyed the book's magic and fantasy setting, it's the characters and their plights that tightly held my attention.

The only thing I regret about this book is that I won't be able to read it for the first time twice--but that's always my regret when finishing a McKillip book. It doesn't stop me from coming back for more. If you're reading McKillip for the first time, start with this one.

Many thanks to Tachyon and NetGalley for providing an advanced reading copy of this book.


You can read my full review here: https://sabrinaslibrary.wordpress.com/2017/09/12/the-forgotten-beasts-of-eld-by-patricia-a-mckillip/

McKillip is one of my favorite authors, so I'm glad to see one of her earlier works get a new edition with lovely cover art. It's been at least a decade since I last read this book, so this made for a great re-read.

This was one of her earliest works, written when she was still experimenting with style and plots/sub-genres, etc. Unlike many of her other books published in this period, this feels a lot like a modern McKillip book. She's not quite there yet in terms of style, plot and characterization, but you can definitely see her distinctive style beginning to emerge.

I was glad to have a chance to re-read this, and I think it's stood the test of time very well.

Thank you to Tachyon Publications and Netgalley for the ARC.

Beautifully written, lyric prose and a satisfying conclusion. A magical read!

A really beautiful story that proves that great fiction has no age. First published in 1974 this has really stood the test of time.
Am really hoping that this gets republished in the UK, it really is a delightful story.

Simply Magical

An enchantress lives in a castle in the mountains, alone but for her menagerie of mythical creatures. To the people below, they are barely-remembered beasts of old tales and she is not much different. Her solitude is shattered when a man knocks on her door with a baby in his arms.

This is a beautiful book, mystical and magical. There is romance, but it is not a romance – it is more of a coming-of-age as Sybel leaves her mountain home and discovers the world outside her gates. She is at once powerful and fragile, scheming and naïve. She is ill-used and makes mistakes, but rises above like the Liralen, the legendary bird she has never been able to call.

The setting is fantastical and familiar, a typical agrarian kingdom with a touch of magic on the side; the prose is powerful and dreamlike, timeless in its simplicity. Normally I rate books on how much I want to read more, but the ending was so perfect it defies this. If you enjoy fantasy beyond heroic quests and sword fights, please read this.

I had a hard time getting into this book because the beginning chapters included so many names and beasts, but once I got into the story, it was engaging. Definitely enjoyed it.

4 stars, <a href="http://reviews.metaphorosis.com/review/the-forgotten-beasts-of-eld-patricia-a-mckillip/">Metaphorosis reviews</a>

Sybel, the third in a series of mages living alone atop Eld Mountain, and caring for the legendary creatures they have summoned, finds her life disturbed by a man with a child. Reluctant at first to take it from him, she finds that both man and child change her life beyond anything she expected.

I first read this a very long time ago, and didn't care for it. I wasn't then the ardent fan of McKillip I later became, and I found the story slow and unfocused. Reading the story decades later, through older, wiser eyes, I concur with both those early judgments, but see beyond them to the beautiful prose that McKillip almost always brings along.

The story isn't really about the forgotten beasts. They're an interesting backdrop, but more decorative than crucial. And their captivity - peaceably enslaved by the mages, seemingly just for the sake of collection - gets very little attention. Instead, the story's about Sybel and the disruption caused to her life. Here, the story is recognizably McKillip - the language is lush and dreamy, the characters unsure but interesting. The emotions in the book are less well balanced than in McKillip's later books. That has its benefits - the story veers toward a darker side than we usually see - but also left me often with a feeling that the story was slightly off-kilter, and would have benefited from the author's later experience with storytelling.

There's also a somewhat disturbing disregard for secondary characters, whom the protagonists assign fates without a second thought. It's a hero-centric approach that later books largely avoided.
There's also a somewhat disturbing disregard for secondary characters, whom the protagonists assign fates without a second thought. It's a hero-centric approach that later books largely avoided. On the other hand, there are tantalizing references to riddles, and a Riddlemaster...

While not the best of McKillip's books, it's far better than my faded memory of it. Just approaching my teens, I suppose I was simply too young to appreciate McKillip's fabulous prose, which even in this early book is well in evidence. It's a beautifully written, if flawed, book in a long series of beautiful novels by McKillip.

5 stars--it was amazing.

A story about this book: I first read it when I was 11 or 12. My local library at the time didn't have a YA section (in fact, I'm not sure the concept of YA fiction existed at the time, though that would change soon--by the time I was in high school, the library had a separate section for teens). The library's juvenile book section was arranged with picture books on one side of the room, middle-reader chapter books in the middle of the room, and one free-standing shelf of "older juvenile" books on the other side of the room.

This book was on that free-standing shelf. I'd already read a good portion of the middle-reader books and was starting to make forays into that exciting new shelf of big kid books.

I'm not sure why this book was there. I wouldn't classify it as juvenile/YA fiction. But there it was, and I read it, and loved it so much I probably reread it three times in the next couple years. I already loved fantasy books, but after these early readings, I started to seek out McKillip novels--something I still do today. She's one of my favorites.

Now I think that 11 was probably too young to read this novel, but at the time I loved the strange and fascinating beasts. I wanted to have long silver hair and be a wizard in a tower, surrounded by magical creatures. The more symbolic elements--about what it means to be a woman, how power differs for men and women, the destructive power of both hatred and love--went over my head. Thankfully.

Because there's one scene in this book when, read as an adult, is absolutely harrowing. Hearing the heroine (who's entirely self-reliant and powerful) beg was devastating. It upset me. (All good fiction should evoke an emotional reaction, so it was a pleasant sort of upsetting!)

When I saw this book re-released and available on NetGalley, I snatched it up. I was interested in seeing if I'd still love it. The answer is yes: absolutely and whole-heartedly. This book holds up to my early infatuation and more. The prose is gorgeous (McKillip is one of the best), and the story is gripping. I still want to be a silver-haired wizard in a tower with magical beasts. I guess some things never change.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

8 year old me collects little statuettes of dragons. 8 year old me climbs trees and jumps out of the branches. 8 year old me cuddles her cats and tries desperately to make them talk back to her. 8 year old me loves to read and writes short stories about two girls who make friends with a dragon on a mountain.

Much like the animals in this novel, I felt drawn inexorably towards Sybel and her story. Patricia McKillip seems to have a hold over me, because reading her novels, I cannot help but be whisked back to my 8 year old self. Her lyrical prose and simple yet powerful stories strike a chord with me that I can't quite put into words.

Sybel is a character who was everything I ever fantasised I would be when I was young - beautiful, powerful, surrounded by loved ones and animals and books. She lives on Eld Mountain with animals she has learned the names of and called to her. Amongst them are an old dragon who dreams of his gold, a white boar who speaks in riddles, a great black cat learned in witchcraft, and a man-killing falcon. Then a baby is brought to her, who she reluctantly takes in but quickly comes to love as if he were her own. However, this child is the son of the King, which brings many complications to Sybel's doorstep.

McKillip's prose is utterly enchanting, steeped in a fairytale-like storytelling. She imparts wisdom:

"I am not afraid of people. They are fools."
"Oh, child, but they can be so powerful in their loving and hating."

And emotion:

A sound came out of her, so sharp and grating she did not recognise her own voice. It came again; she slid to her knees on the skins, the hot tears catching between her fingers. She groped for breath, words wrenching from her, "Help me - I am torn out of myself-"
"Have you never wept so before? You are fortunate. It will pass."

She describes beauty:

The ghost of Eld Mountain dwindled behind them; the great peak huddled, asleep and dreaming, behind its mists. The land was black beneath them, but for faint specks of light that here and there flamed in a second plane of stars. The winds dropped past Mondor, quieted, until they melted through a silence, a cool, blue-black night that was the motionless night of dreams, dimensionless, star-touched, eternal.

And love:

"What do you think love is - a thing to startle from the heart like a bird at every shout or blow? You can fly from me, high as you choose into your darkness, but you will see me always beneath you, no matter how far away, with my face turned to you."

And she teaches us lessons which 26 year old me is still learning:

He was silent a moment, struggling. He said finally, "But you had a right to be angry."
"Yes. But not to hurt those I love, or myself."

This novel resonates with me in such a powerful way. It's a story about love and bitterness, told with sincerity and depth with a complex protagonist who suffers and must move past it. There's adventure, political machinations, moments of stark beauty and terrible loss. It's nostalgic and enduring and intelligent. A true fantasy classic.

There's something so familiar about the stories McKillip writes. They are instant classics that you feel you could have been told as a child in some other life. It has expertly crafted and memorable characters and the relationships don't feel superficial. The love that Sybel feels for the child thrust upon her is heartwarming and honestly I need a good wholesome fairytale every once in a while without so much angst and meaningless conflict. Yes, there is still a love triangle, but it wasn't full of Sybel hemming and hawing about which dude to choose, she weighed her options and chose what was best for her. I am glad that a woman is allowed to make decisions for her own benefit and not that of the other men in the story.

I really need to read more of her other work shortly.

Sybel lives alone on Eld Mountain with a fantastic menagerie of animals she called to her by wizardry. She knows nothing of the way of men and their politics by choice. But one day a young noble named Coren travels to her mountain with a baby in his arms that needs hiding. She learns to love and raises the child, but when Coren returns a decade later, with the intent of taking back the child for political means, she resists.

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is a lovely classic fairy tale fantasy that you probably missed. It's a story of magic, of plot and character, but it's prose is magic as well. You will be wisked away to a land and time so foreign, yet so familiar through this delicately refined fable. Bask in Sybel's peaceful isolation with her animals before struggling with her as she learns to appreciate companionship. She spends so long extolling the virtues of isolation, that when she rounds the corner of trust, the darker traits of the human condition prove her correct. So begins a cautionary tale of power and revenge that's utterly satisfying.

Enter a world of the ice white lady, her loyal cat and falcon, her talking boar who knows the answer to all riddles save one, and a dangerous dragon who lives deep within the mountain.

Recommended for fans of dreamy fairy tales!

What can I say about this book? which words to use to describe it? its beauty and uniqueness. I have never read a book like this one. Each page was full of magic, a bit like an old ballad would be. Yes, that's what it felt like, an epic ballad someone would have told one day in a castle. About the beautiful Sybel and her forgotten beasts. About their beauty and power and wisdom. A story of men, and their flaws. Their hunger for power, how it leads them to their doom. But also a story about love. It was all of that and more.
This read leaves me with a sentiment of peace, as if a secret truth has been revealed to me, whispered through the story.
I would definitely tell you, if you ever liked fantasy and fables, to read this novel!

I'm shocked that I have never read a Patricia McKillip book. Book covers make such a difference, the old covers for this book are so fantastically cheesy that I'm sure they sent me running when I was a youngster, despite the fact that I now love those 80s fantasy covers. I'll admit that I was drawn to The Forgotten Beasts of Eld because of Sybel's Daenarys vibe on the cover. Little did I know that it was the other way around, the Targaryens have a Sybel vibe.

This book was beautifully written, lyrical and thoughtful. The atmosphere is clear and defined, I feel like this is a book that must be read in autumn when leaves begin to change and a chill begins to set in. I love Sybel's strength and determination. Of all the themes explored in The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, my favorite was the idea that it is never too late to change, so many characters were foolishly committed to their plans until their own power and obsession destroyed themselves.

I originally planned to give this book four stars, but I have been thinking about it so much since I read it, the more I think about it the more I like it. It's the kind of book that stays with you after reading it.
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is a book that begs to be read multiple times and I'm looking forward to rereading soon.

Most reviews, I'm able to write almost directly after the book. It keeps the book fresh in my mind and I enjoy getting them out to you as soon as I'm done. Well, I finished The Forgotten Beasts of Eld this weekend. This novel was something I needed to digest before I could get it back to you. 

McKillip's work, to me seems an instant classic. There are those books I read, and love and immediately go to gush about to others. There there are those that I love, such as The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, that I keep to myself for a little while because they seem to touch a part of me hidden deep down. 

This is an older book, and it's written more as an older epic, high fantasy novel. Beautiful details, and an emphasis on more of the interpersonal details than action. Not to say that there isn't action, but this is much more a novel of understanding what it means to be human.

Set in a world ripe with conflict, we get to learn and grow with Sybel. From uncaring and cold to the world around her. Her thirst for the unknown and knowledge was able to speak to me, and as she grows and learns what it means to be human and love, we get a story that much more beautiful and deep. 

I enjoyed the fluid writing. Not as intricate to internal thoughts as many of our modern novels, we get to hear of these amazing creatures and she the wisdom they bring, humanity's desire for power, and how sometimes the greatest battle is for our own very soul and understanding our own demons.

To me this has become a tale I will gladly read again, and shall always have a treasured spot in my library. I've always thoughts that books come at a time when you need them most. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld only proved that once more to me. 

Thank you to NetGalley, Patricia McKillip, and Tachyon Publications for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I had always meant to read this book in my younger years, but time slipped away from me. Fortunately, this book is timeless, and it waited for me until I was ready. Classic lyric fantasy like this is rare these days, and rarely done well, but this book's poetry, power, and general loveliness overwhelmed me.

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillup is one of those books that has had an enduring effect on its readers over the years. First published in 1974, the next year it won the Young Adult World Fantasy Award. It has influenced authors such as Susan Fletcher, Peter S. Beagle, Bruce Colville, Ben Lory, Gail Carriger, and Max Gladstone.

Both a poetically rendered fairy tale and a morally complex narrative that illustrates large and small corruptions that result from destructive decisions, the novel turns a fairy tale into a kind of parable.

The villains can't be absolved for their decisions, but their reasoning and histories are understandable in the realm of human flaws and motivations. The heroine is justified in her fury, but is also forced to confront her own destructive need for revenge.

A beautiful wizard, magical, sentient animals, lovely prose, and complex attachments have made The Forgotten Beasts of Eld a classic adored and re-read by those who first discovered it decades ago. Does it appeal to today's youth? I don't know, but it seems that its influence remains in the works of many current authors who fell in love with it when they first read it.

I've read other books by McKillip, but it was Lark's review that encouraged me to read this one. Fortunately, it was still available on NetGalley.

Read in June; blog review scheduled for Sept. 4

NetGalley/Tachyon Publications

Fantasy/Fairy Tale. Sept. 19, 2017. (has been re-published numerous times, but I love this new cover!) Print length: 248 pages.

I can remember reading PatriciaA. McKillip books as a teenager. But it is now as an older reader I can appreciate the beautifully fluid writing style the author possesses.

The reader is told of the world of Eld, there are wizards, witches and mythical beasts. The main wizard is the beautiful Sybel, the witch is the mother like figure of Maelga. The legendary beasts are at the mountain top home of Sybel by way of her calling ability. There they live in undisturbed isolation on the Mountain of Eld, towering over the world of men below.

Sybel has no fear of anything, why should she, she is powerful and at peace. That is until Coren brings her a child from the country below. He asks to keep him safe and love him. As the years go by the Tam, the boy, grows up with no knowledge of the events below. Sybel doesn't tell him as she is unaware and inconcerned about what happens down there. All is good until Tam wants to meet and stay with his father. The world below is in unrest, the Lords of SIrle are unhappy with King Drede, he is cold and heartless, incapable of love after not being able to forgive his wife. The resentment from this, has fuelled and anger within him, leaving him unable to love.

This book explores loneliness and distrust between people, explores how isolation does not allow the ability to see the bigger picture, and how the struggles of leaving an insular existence, to join in society, can be confusing and upsetting. It delves into how a person can be ignorant of ones inner self and inner emotions. These issues are woven beautifully into the story giving it back bone. The wonderful writing style of the author has an almost poetic like feel to it. The characters are wonderfully described and developed, they are memorable and easily identifiable. They have good back stories to them, as well as a history told of Eld as you read. I really loved everthing about this book.

I would highly recommend to readers of YA fantasy and also to adult fantasy readers also.