The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

It's been almost 20 years since I read The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, and I'm pleased to say it remains just as relevant and enjoyable as ever. Mckillip's craftsmanship and faerie tale aesthetic is beautifully displayed throughout, with a strong and capable, sympathetic heroine and an engaging, if traditional storyline. While the fact a baby is unceremoniously given to her to raise without prior consent is a bit irksome, that thankfully doesn't detract from how inviting, exciting and fun the rest of the story is. There's no doubt this is a fantasy classic, and I hope this new edition will help a new generation of readers discover this delightful tale.

While I was growing up, The Sorceress and the Cygnet held an almost mythological place in my head. I had only read the book once, but it physically refused to leave me. To my mum, it’s That Library Book, the one that got lost for two years and reappeared magically in the car, a place we’d looked a million times. To me, it’s that poetic fantasy, full of beautiful sorrow and danger. When we found the missing library copy, it was warm and seemed to pulse with life. Patricia A McKillip is an artist of words who made an indelible impact on me as both a reader and a writer.

Dramatic reminiscing aside, when I saw a copy of The Forgotten Beasts of Eld on NetGalley, I clicked ‘Request’ before I noticed my hand moving. I’d never read it before, and I relished the chance. I expected a magical world rooted in both legend and realism, people drawn deeply in feeling like long shadows, and difficult emotional choices. No surprise, I got exactly that.

I finished reading it in the wee hours of the morning, unable to put it down. Among many other things, it’s a great 2:00am excuse to put off going to bed.

The main character is first established by her history, her brief heritage of lonely wizard men. Sybel is often described by her paleness and ice-like demeanour, underlining her detachment and the things that make her not quite human. She calls great beasts like Gules Lyon and Ter the fierce falcon to serve her and keep her company.

Her life begins an irrevocable avalanche of change when a man named Cored brings her a baby to save him from political fighting, and tells her to love the tiny thing. She does, and that proves both her undoing and her making. The baby is never the only human in her life as a result of her decision to take him in. She gains a surrogate mother, and they can never quite escape the politics that sent the boy to Sybel in the first place.

This is a gorgeous tale of the perils and joys of familial as well as romantic love, and the dreadful cost of revenge on both oneself and the people around one. I can’t recommend this enough, to pretty much every type of reader: the new, the jaded, the avid, the reluctant. The story is timeless. The writing is as beautiful as the cover. This is classic fantasy in its finest form.

I thought I'd read this before, but I didn't remember it once I got into it, and I would have remembered a book like this. I think I'd just heard about it so often that I assumed I'd read it, particularly since I love the author's other work.

McKillip writes with a magnificent complexity and depth, in the mythopoeic style championed by Tolkien. Lest we be fooled by the commercial epic fantasy of the 1970s and 1980s into thinking that Tolkien was all about armies and orcs and a quirky mixed group on a quest, this book reminds us that there was another, deeper layer to his work, which few subsequent authors have the skills to emulate. It's poetic, without ever trying too hard for beauty for its own sake; it's mythic, while also being anchored in the reality of human psychology; it's epic, without depicting a single battle on stage (though a battle forms an important part of the backstory).

Love, revenge, betrayal and jealousy weave powerfully through the plot, as do wisdom and self-understanding. <spoiler>It has what I'm going to start calling the Glorious Ending, in which love, kindness and wisdom head off what seems an inevitable tragedy born of bad choices, fear, betrayals and resentment.</spoiler>

The central characters are magnificent, grand, and wholehearted. The setting is vivid, rich, and magical. The beasts of the title are worthy to stand beside the great dragons, lions, cats, swans, and boars of myth and legend.

A couple of quotations, to give you the flavour:

"My heart is in your heart. I gave it to you with my name that night and you are its guardian, to treasure it, or let it wither and die. I do not understand you. I am angry with you. I am hurt and helpless, but nothing would fill the ache of the hollowness in me where your name would echo if I lost you."

"I have many people who know my name, but only one or two or three that know who it belongs to."

The wisdom at the heart of this book is that, in caring for others, we come to understand ourselves; and the person who comes to this insight most clearly is not the young boy, but the magically powerful middle-aged woman. It's a landmark work in the fantasy field, and I'm glad it's being reissued in ebook, and that I had the chance to read it through Netgalley for this review.

In The Forgotten Beasts of Eld you will not find a totally original set – impossible crushes, lost heirs and long plans of revenge; all is common in fairytales and other fantasy stories. What is not so common is the way these vectors intertwine and how the story breaks the usual linear telling, delivering an unexpected development.
Along three generations of wizards their main ability is to enchanter mythical creatures as Riddle-master Cyrin the Boar, the treasure-starved dragon Gyld among others. Living alone, Sybel does not know the world of men – until the day a desperate soldier with a child comes into her life.
Winner of a World Fantasy Award and nominated for a Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is an amazing fantasy classic.

This is such a beautiful story. It is reminiscent of classical fairy tale but also a story of finding one self. I also loved the love story in this, how the prince never gave up on his love even after many years. Beautiful. Defiantly recommend this for fans of Robin McKinley and Mercedes Lackey.

Even after 30-plus years of reading fantasy, there are still a few icons in the genre that I have not read. One of those was Patricia McKillip. With her World Fantasy Award-winning novel “The Forgotten Beasts of Eld” up for its first e-book release in the near future, I took the opportunity to fix that oversight.

The sorceress Sybel has lived an isolated life in the mountains of Eld, with only the group of legendary beasts that she’s called to her and a nearby medicine woman named Maelga as family. Then a visitor, Coren of Sirle, shows up at her gate with a child. He is believed to be the bastard son of the Queen Rianna, a child that started a war between King Drede of Eldwold and Coren’s kingdom of Sirle.

Sybel takes in the child Tamlorn, who is later discovered to be the rightful son of Drede, and sets off a chain of events that will change her life and the lives of everyone that she touches in a whirl of love, betrayal and vengeance.


“The Forgotten Beasts of Eld” proves to me again that, sometimes, the old ways are better. McKillip’s 1974 novel recalls a time before fantasy novels became 1,000-page doorstops, often padded with lengthy descriptions and asides that don’t really add to the story itself. I’m not opposed to those huge novels, but what I love about McKillip’s style here is that every single word propels the story forward, and at the end, I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything for not having the extra length.

I know Sybel and Coren and even some of the beasts and lesser characters without having to take long side trips with them to learn about their past or get a glimpse of their inner turmoil. I understand it through the story. I have a solid picture of the setting without long, rambling description or history lessons. The story serves the world and the world serves the story, as it should be.

Epic doesn't necessarily mean massive and sprawling. At a relatively brief 240 pages, "The Forgotten Beasts of Eld" is certainly nothing short of epic.

That’s not to say that the tale is sparse. Though McKillip wastes no words, the ones that she puts on the page are lyrical and magical. Despite the speed with which the tale moves, there is an undeniable flow that carries the reader along and catches us up in the action and the drama of Sybel’s story, and it’s a remarkable work of literature.

“The Forgotten Beasts of Eld” makes me sorry that I’ve neglected McKillip’s work for so long. I will soon remedy that situation.

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.

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 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.

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'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.

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!

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!

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.

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!

Wow. Wow wow wow wow. I could just write 'wow' for this entire review.

Reasons I'm saying wow:
--badass lady wizard extraordinaire
--portrayal of trauma and the healing process that isn't sexist
--lovely lovely prose
--all around beautiful

When it started I thought I was in for something along the lines of Arthurian legend. And certainly I think McKillip is playing with that storyline trope. It's certainly engaging enough in the beginning that I wanted to keep reading even though I'd read similar enough fantasy before, but then about halfway through, something happens which I'm not going to spoil, and I fell in love with the novel. I started highlighting large portions of the text. I wanted to read late into the night.

I want and will read this again. I'll also buy a copy so my daughter can read it, so I can read it to her.

It has similar themes to A Wizard of Earthsea, but is also it's own lovely piece of art.

McKillip is one of those authors I discovered late in life, and I'm relishing the thought of reading her works slowly for the next decade, much like I plan to do with Ursula K. Le Guin.

Thanks to Tachyon Publications and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Reviewed on Goodreads 09/16/2017]
[Will review on Amazon after pub date]
[Will review on blog early Oct.]

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.

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

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.

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 need you to forgive me. And then perhaps I can begin to forgive myself. There is no one but you who can do that either.”

A book like this is intimidating to pick up. Not because it is mundane, nor because it is necessarily daunting (although it is, in a way). No, my friends. This book entails every aspect that fantasy writing is about, and it is truly breathtaking. Being disappointed with other fantasy reads after this book is why it is intimidating.

Compared to the writing of today's YA novels, this book automatically takes the lead in its overall quality. Its writing style, detail to plot and meaningfulness are (in my opinion) so much more when compared to what is out there today.

We are dropped into a new world, that isn't ever fully explained. Because of this, the reader is allowed to be left with a sense of yearning and wonderment to know more. To me, this is the key element to draw in the reader, and to make them thirst for more. Over-explanation of detail only "dumbs down" the writing to be taken at face-value, rather than allowing the readers' imagination to run wild. The tidbits that we are privy to are delicious, whimsical, and truly meaningful.

Now, to the story...

Our main character Sybel, is the daughter of Ogam, a man born from a line of wizards. His special powers allowed him to "call" many spectacular creatures to live among his castle walls, safely nestled in the mountains of Eld. Sybel, growing up in a world separate from the one she lives in, knows little of the outside world. She cares little for the dealings of men, and spends her time tending her beloved creatures, and calling the fabled Lorien, a mythical white bird, to join her.

Her solitude is interrupted when an unbidden man brings a baby to her doorsteps, insisting that she takes the child in and raises him in a place far away from the warring nations outside her walls. She consents, and realizes that she must learn what it means to love another human--something she is not used to doing.

As the child grows into a young man, Sybel develops a strong, motherly connection to him. But as he comes of age, Tamlorn is sought out, and called to rejoin the world of men, and take his rightful place as prince. Sybel calls Tamlorn's father, the king Drede to her to discuss terms for Tamlorn. When Drede meets Sybel, he immediately falls in love with her, and extends the offer for her to join him and Tamlorn.

Because of Sybel's odd upbringing and talents, she has developed a rather cold character. She doesn't know, or care much for the toils of men. That is, until she discovers that she is used by one who desires her for her power.

“It is not a bad thing, itself, but it is a bad thing to be used by men, to have them choose what you must be, and what you must not be, to have little choice in your life.”

Sybel's outlook on mankind transforms into a dark and corrupting thing, causing her to unabashedly use others to cast her revenge. But her desires for revenge do not come without their consequences.

“The giant Grof was hit in one eye by a stone, and that eye turned inward so that it looked into his mind and he died of what he saw there.”

As Sybel experiences life, love, loss, and joy, she must either grow, or forever be locked in the dark shackles of revenge, hurt, and mistrust. Because her character basically starts from zero, the reader gets to watch her "transform" as she learns more about human nature.

There are two different points in this book that I didn't necessarily like, and made me take a half-star off:

#1 Because this is a shorter novel, changes aren't always allowed enough time to happen without feeling a bit forced. An example of this is Sybel's character. She changes so much in such a short amount of time, that it isn't always believable.

#2 I felt that the imaginative expression could be slightly overwhelming at times, and could have used a bit more explanation.

Despite these two things, it is without a doubt that this is a beautiful story of growth, hardship, healing, and forgiveness. I would highly recommend this read to any lover of young adult fantasy.

Random side note: I think that Sybel is the original white-haired, dragon wielding heroine. Not Khaleesi.

Vulgarity: None that I recall.
Sexual content: Some advances are made towards Sybel, but they are stopped before anything happens.
Violence: Minimal.

4.5 stars.

A big thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!

I’ve written about how much I love Patricia A. McKillip’s writing on this blog before and that sentiment only grows stronger with every book of hers I read. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld was originally published in 1974, and though it has been widely available to me for years (I distinctly remember seeing a copy of it in my high school library) this was my first time reading it. Of course, by the time I was done, I was wondering what took me so long?

The powerful young wizard Sybel requires the company of no man. In her exquisite stone abode, she is attended by exotic, magical beasts: Riddle-master Cyrin the boar; the treasure-starved dragon Gyld; Gules the Lyon, tawny master of the Southern Deserts; Ter, the fiercely vengeful falcon; Moriah, feline Lady of the Night. To complete her menagerie, Sybel only desires the mysterious Liralen, which eludes even her strongest enchantments.

Sybel’s solitude is shattered when a desperate soldier arrives with an endangered child. Soon she will discover that the world of men is full of love, deceit, and the temptations of vast power.

People sometimes talk about urgency in a story. The feeling of something imminent that pulls the story along. But this story moves slowly, like a slow winding stream that moves purposefully towards its destination, but doesn’t rush. Some people might prefer the tension that almost automatically comes with urgency, but there is something to be said for the story that moves forward not because it’s being pulled along by the plot, but because it is just moving that way itself.

These words can’t quite describe the tone of this book, but they might give another reader an idea of what to expect. This story moves forward because the characters are moving forward themselves, not because they are being pulled along by the plot.

One thing I noticed about this story is where it started. When I was in college, I took a screenwriting class where the teacher told us that the beginning of a story is right before everything changed. This doesn’t just apply to scripts, and really helped me with my prose writing as well. This starting just before the catalyst as it were, allows that same sense of urgency to help a writer pull a reader in. Obviously this isn’t a hard and fast rule; it’s a guideline that can help writers. This book doesn’t use that rule at all, which helps dispense with the urgency that might be found in other books, and lends itself instead to the previously mentioned slow and easy tone of the story.

In some ways this book seemed less “strange” than her other books. Other books of hers have had some sort of strangeness to them, an otherworldly air, while this book was almost mainstream by comparison. As this book was one of her first books published, it’s easy to imagine that it was also one of the first ones she wrote. I can see how she was still coming into what I, years later, think of as her style. There were also elements of other characters from other books in the characters of this book, parallels that I kept drawing in my head.

None of this should be taken to mean this book isn’t amazing. I loved this book, and read it in one sitting, gulping it down when it absolutely deserved to be savored. In fact, this book will likely make the list of the best books I read in 2017, a lesser honor than the World Fantasy Award it already won after its original publication. It definitely made me want to read some of my favorite McKillip books again—particularly the ones that may have grown out of this one.

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is written by Patricia A. McKillip and will be published by Tachyon Publications on September 19, 2017.

If you have never read anything by this author, this is a great book to start out with. Lovers of fantasy, animals, and just a great tale of love, betrayal, and life itself will find this a gem hidden between its two covers. You will find a dragon, a lion, a falcon, and several other beastly creatures that tend the mysterious woman who lives only in the lives of her animal companions and who doesn't want anything to do with man, yet a child and a soldier might change her way of thinking. I loved this amazing tale!!!

This is actually the first time that I have read anything from this author and it was such an amazing experience. I am definitely going to get a copy of this book and check out the authors read. I wasn't aware that this book was actually already written and for fantasy to have aged so well (when many don't) and I am just still in awe.

I am so glad and thankful I got the chance to read this marvel. The main character, Sybel, is one that will stay with me as she is both kind and cruel and goes through a process that is known to most women. Though already published in 1974, it hasn't lost any of its beauty and is a must in every library of fans of Tolkien, Beagle, Lewis etc.

What made this novel really amazing is on how excellent Patricia A. McKillip wrote this. The author used her skill to write majestic words to describe each characters and places, as well as breathtaking prose to narrate the story.

If I'm not mistaken, this book was first published four decades ago and that it also won the World Fantasy Award for Novel on 1975. It wouldn't be winning an award if it's not good, right? McKillip utilized her eloquence that made the story of Sybel, Tam, Coren, and of the beasts, a truly astounding novel that everyone must read.

Love Patricia McKillip! This story doesn't disappoint, I loved the relationship between Sybel and her beasts. I thought the story was superb - learning to love, and forgive, and recover from tragedy are things that hold true to everyone regardless of whether you live in a fantasy world or not.

This was a well written and beautiful book. The words in this book is so well thought, and let’s you to sunk in to the story. And you can almost se and believe you are right there. If you want to read a fantastic fantasy story that is so well described and with beautiful words. The this is a book for you.

How many times must Patricia McKillip blow my mind with her books? And who decides when a certain kind of storystelling is out of date or not? Because, let me tell you, whoever thinks that McKillip's "voice" is old-fashioned and cannot keep up with modern readers, is terribly wrong!

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is a book filled with the classic storytelling of the woman I consider the mother of fantasy. Sybel, a young girl gifted with the magical powers to call powerful beasts to come to her aid, finds her life turned upside down when a young soldier comes knocking on her door, asking her to take care of a baby - the son of a king. Uknowingly, she gets dragged in the middle of a war between kingdoms, and men fighting for her heart - but the woman with the garden full of legendary creatures, is not a woman with a heart easily won...

I seriously loved this story. Even if Sybel was tough to connect with as a main character, her past was such that it explained a lot about her behavior. Not only that, but what Tam's father did to her was, in my eyes, a great allegory for rape - the total lack of control of her body and willpower, the feeling of being stuck in a place where she would never be able to return from, truly amazing how McKillip phrased it all - and it was only natural for her to turn even colder and seek revenge in a way that would make kingdoms tremble. I loved how she struggled with coming to terms with her feelings for Tam's uncle, and how, in the end, she didn't change her flawed way of thinking, only promised to try and ask for forgiveness - stating, even, that she needed her husband's forgiveness mainly because this way, she might one day forgive herself.

McKillip is a queen when it comes to subtly charging plot twists. She just writes along, telling you a nice story that sounds so wonderfully like a fairy tale - thanks to her voice - and then BAM! The plot twist comes up, shaking you to the core, and you're just faced with the fact that she had it coming your way all along, she just made you focus on other things more to bide her time.

I'm in love with her writing, no matter which book I read, and I can't wait to read more of her work!

***I was given an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.***

Patricia McKillip’s novel <em>The Forgotten Beasts of Eld</em> was republished by Tachyon Publications. This World Fantasy Award winning novel is a true treasure, a book that is most definitely worth reading.

<em>The Forgotten Beasts of Eld</em> is a standalone fantasy novel by Patricia McKillip. Sybel is a wizard, the latest in a long line of powerful wizards. She lives atop Eld Mountain, constantly calling the powerful and mystical creatures of long lost stories to her doorstep. Sybel is completely disinterested in the world of men, but that world comes knocking on her door in the form of an infant – a cousin whose mother is dead and whose kingly father, if he is truly the father at all, is apt to kill him. Slowly, Sybel is introduced to the world below, to love, to revenge, and more power than even she thought possible.

The world spun in this novel feels much bigger than it actually is. Partially due to its nature as a standalone novel, we don’t follow the characters around on the sort of long, meandering journey that is so often portrayed in high fantasy. The majority of the action takes place in only a few locations, but through the narrative we are introduced to multiple countries and their history. The mythical creatures Sybel cares for have long, historied pasts. It is through these stories that we learn more about Sybel’s world. Yet the prose remains tight, never straying too long on other stories or going into unnecessary detail.

The magic used in this books is different than many other magic systems. Names have power. If a person knows someone or something’s true name and have magical abilities they can call and bind creatures and people to themselves. Sybel uses this magic to great ends, most notably by binding ancient, mystical creatures to her service and expands upon this idea throughout the novel. I really liked the magic in this book, especially how ‘real’ it is. This isn’t a strange, new magic system created solely for this world. Its roots can be found deep within mythology, a The magic is at once very simply and quite complicated. A lot can be and is done with this idea.

Yet the book isn’t only about magic. This is very much a story of people, of relationships, and of learning what love, hate, and revenge truly are. As the story unfolds more characters are introduced. All are locked together in different ways. And all struggle with their own emotions – their love, their hate, their ambitions, their fear.

The relationships between characters were very well crafted. Parental/child relationships are well crafted and heartfelt, especially considering many of the parent/child relationships are between characters not related by blood, but are families made by circumstance and love. The ruler of a neighboring kingdom and his five younger brothers are also portrayed extremely believably. Scenes featuring these characters are a delight to read. The siblings bicker, tease, and point out one another’s flaws, but they also support one another, care for each other, respect and accept their decisions.

These relationships are largely foreign to Sybel, especially at the start of the novel. While more skilled than nearly anyone else in the ways of magic, she is quite unskilled in many others. This is an aspect that I don’t find quite as well portrayed in most books as they are here. When first presented with the baby Tam she asks how anyone would expect her to know how to care for it. Magical animals can tell her what they need; infants don’t have any such ability. Sybel is smart enough not to struggle along alone but to enlist the help of an old witch woman who lives nearby.

I have never read prose quite as lyrical as McKillip’s. The language is incredibly descriptive without being overly dense. It is fairy-tale like, adding to the air of magic within the novel. There isn’t a paragraph, a line, a word, that is unnecessary. Despite all of her works having this to at least some extent, this is probably the tightest prose I have read in one of her novels.

I always admired Patricia McKillip’s book. But this is, by far, the best of her work I have read. <em>The Forgotten Beasts of Eld</em> is a book that will delight any fantasy reader. Take a chance on this book. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

This is a new edition of the 1974 original classic written by Patricia A. McKillip, released by Tachyon Publications. So much has been written about this book and much of it is absolutely true. The prose is luminous and beautiful. The story is deep and profound and entertaining at the same time. When I was reading, I was completely immersed in the narrative itself, for me one of the benchmarks of a really well written fantasy. I found myself thinking over phrases and bits of the book when I wasn't reading though; it changed me. For me, that's a hallmark of great literature.

Patricia McKillip is a fantastically gifted author. She's really really really good at writing. The book is beautifully simple to read and wonderfully nuanced and complex at the same time. It's a story about love and revenge and wanting, and how those things change us and the risks (and rewards) involved in making ourselves vulnerable.

The story itself is appealing, and well discussed in other reviews, but it's the writing, the language, that keeps me revisiting this book. Every single time, I think it can't be as good as my nostalgic memory of my 40/30/20/10 year younger self remembers, and every single time, I'm blown away and notice things I didn't appreciate on earlier readings.

What a beautiful book. Throughout a lifetime of almost literal nonstop reading, this is one of the few that I keep coming back to and one that I still own my original physical copy of.

Five stars, one of my favorite books ever.

<http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=64356>

A young sorceress on a mountain with magical
beasts has to face the world

If I am honest, although lured by this gorgeous cover, my main interest in reading this book is that Max Gladstone has often spoken about how much he loves Patricia McKillip's writing, and this book in particular, with its magnificent and evolving protagonist. (We should all listen to Max...) Published in 1974 and recently re-released by Tachyon Press, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld teaches us about the power of love, about betrayal, insight, and trust. It's a beautiful work of fantasy written in lush prose. This book has made me determined to read more of McKillip's work.

[I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley for review purposes.]

Truth be told, I’ve been struggling with a review for this book. I know I’m not the only one that can simultaneously gush about a book they love to anyone within earshot, but also have no idea at all how to explain, really explain just why they love it. It’s because so much of that love is just that, a feeling, a personal experience. Something of the magic is lost when you try to explain a story. It’s something that needs to be experienced. This is one of the reasons my heart goes out to those whose job it is to write the synopsis on the back or inside flap of a book. It’s impossible to quite capture the essence of a story in a short, attention grabbing blurb. That’s the point of reading a story though isn’t it? Exploring it in all its glory. And The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is glorious. I want to take copies of the book and give them to the people I know would love it too.

It feels timeless. It is timeless. In her introduction to the edition that I read, the recent edition published by Tachyon, Gail Carriger chooses this as her ‘desert island’ book. I understand why. This is a story about so many things; love, revenge, compassion, patience, fear, dread, companionship, and joy. It is poignant, charming, wistful and frankly just beautiful. It explores the inextricable connection between love and fear, compassion and wisdom, joy and sorrow and so much more. Sybel is one of the most nuanced and honest characters I've come across. Honest in the sense that she feels real, a person, not a character at all. She's flawed without seeming contrived, direct and willful, proud without arrogance. Coren, Tamlorn, Maelga, the wizard Mythran, and the rest of the characters are intriguing, beguiling and wonderful in their own ways. Masterfully woven, lyrical and enchanting, it’s the sort of story that I expect I will connect with differently each time I read it. And I have every intention of re-reading it.

This is a beautiful story full of emotional magic. My rating 4.75.

Sybel inherited her wizardly gifts that include calling and controlling magical beasts. Her mother died in childbirth and her father raised her until he died when she was only 12. She has lived in her mountain mansion alone except for her beautiful animals who are the stuff of myths and legend.

One day a soldier brings an infant to her gates and asks Sybel to protect him and raise him. She knows nothing of human infants but agrees and seeks help from the witch who lives down the hill. Sybel learns that her Tamlorn is the greatest of her treasures as the boy grows but she doesn’t know what will happen as he approaches adulthood.

The soldier, Coren, returns seeking to take a growing Tam to the world of men. Sybel is drawn to the soldier who has so much information regarding her animals but she will not release Tam. A few years later Tam is seeking his father and King Drede comes up the mountain in search of a rumored son.

Sybel learns the heartaches of the world of men as Tam’s curiosity seeks his own history… and the truth of his parentage. COREN is enchanted by Sybel but she does not know the world of emotions involved with men and she cannot understand the deep bitterness that COREN has that drives him to seek revenge against his enemy. The King also is enthralled by Sybel but he makes a terrible mistake in trying to capture her as his own.

This story is enchanting with the wonderful beasts who speak, often in riddles. They don’t seem to mind terribly being caged by their gentle mistress although some of them do chaff and want things beyond her territory. Their reactions as the tensions escalate between the opposing tribes of men are an interesting element added to the tale. The story speaks to the human heartaches of love and hate, and the poison and losses that spread from bitterness and obsessive revenge. The story evoked emotions, high and low, in me as I feared what might happen and wondered at events that did happen.

The writing is beautiful with a lovely fairy tale quality. I was not familiar with most of the named beasts and, as far as I know, this is an original fairy tale. I highly recommend this to readers who enjoy fairy tale fantasy.

I received this title from the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review.

Sybel's self-appointed world is almost all she needs, but when her tranquil existence is disrupted--nay, threatened--by a soldier and a child, her carefully ordered life is thrown all out of whack. This is a magical fantasy novel about a woman and her chosen beast-family, told with McKillip's considerable skill. Lovely, suspenseful, lush, brooding, romantic and occasionally funny, this is classic fantasy written by an adept.