The Forgotten Beasts of Eld: 50th Anniversary Special Edition

Beautiful anniversary edition of a modern fantasy classic. McKillip's writing is gorgeous and eadily stands the test of time. There's an enthralling fairy tale here as well as a story about how you are treated determining who you become - and how to become something better. Simply lovely.

This review is for the 50th Anniversary edition of Patricia McKillip's eerie and at times disturbing story of the wizard Sybel, who is collector and caretaker of a menagerie of magical and legendary animals. This edition has an introduction by Marjorie M. Liu (Monstress, Dark Wolverine) and a foreword by Gail Carriger (The Parasol Protectorate, Tinkered Stars). This edition also has artwork by Stephanie Law (Dreamscapes).

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is a book I have kept going back to since I was a teenager, and I was extremely excited to get a galley copy of this book from Net Galley. Our Protagonist had been seeking a white bird called Liralen when her search is interrupted when a man comes to her door with a baby who turns out to be her cousin. Sybel's aunt had apparently had an affair with the young man's brother, and the king wants the baby dead. The man, a young and strangely knowledgeable noble named Coren is not quite knowledgeable enough to realize that isolated young women who have very little contact with the outside world are not expert baby minders. She is however willing to add the baby to her collections of creatures she takes care of.

(Sybel is one of those characters who give me neurodivergent feelings. Sybel has a somewhat flat affect, and does not realize that saying something like, "oh, he'll make a nice addition to my collection" is not the most reassuring thing you could possibly say to someone. She doesn't understand social interactions, very well and Coren is initially so offput by this he thinks she's being unkind/cruel instead of having immediately slotted the baby into "something I need to figure out how to care for because I know nothing about babies." This is a big reason why I like this book so much and keep coming back to it.)

Sybel raises her cousin Tamlorn with the help of a witch who lives down the road. Years pass, and it's discovered that Tam is really the king's son and not a bastard. Coren attempts to get her on the side of his brothers but this goes poorly.(She doesn't want Tamlorn to end up a political pawn, and wants nothing to do with the outside world and politics in general.) Sybel, who has only the very vaguest concept of personal boundaries summons the king and interviews him to see if he'd be a good parent for Tam. This turns out to be a very large mistake! The king decides to try luring and then coercing Sybel into marrying him. This goes very poorly for all concerned!

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is a fairy tale about agency and consent, love and devotion, hatred and revenge. I generally have a somewhat mixed reaction to it. It's undeniably a favorite, but there is a tiny bit of fridge horror in certain aspects of the story. (Sybel's family history at the beginning of the book--especially where you find out that Sybel's father kidnapped her mother--kind of highlights her terror when something similar happens to her. ) So, I go through stages where I find Eld to be too upsetting to read. At the same time I find Sybel's journey toward greater human interaction to be compelling. McKillip's work has a thoughtful, introspective and dreamlike feel, and The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is just a powerful and thought-provoking as the first time I read it in my teens.

I just finished reading this wonderful, fantasy novel by Patricia A. McKillip and let me just say: WOW!!

I received an ARC of The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by NetGalley as they are releasing a special edition to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this magical novel 💖

And just as Gail Carriger said, this is like no fantasy novel I have ever read.

Patricia’s writing transported me through prose into a magical world of talking beasts, powerful wizards and weak kings… but it is also so much more than that, it is a tale of love and loss, revenge and forgiveness, found family and the darkness within.

It was so beautifully written I could not put it down!!

I honestly was not expecting to love this book as much as I did but it unexpectedly made its way into my top favorites.

This is a book I will talk about for the rest of my life 🤍

All thoughts are my own 💭

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tachyon for providing me with an advanced copy of this book for review.

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is one of my favorite books from childhood. I probably read it 15 times as a kid and wore out the spine of my paperback copy so badly it almost broke in half. I hadn't picked it back up for over 20 years, but when I saw this on NetGalley, I really wanted to re-read it and see if it held up all these years later.

It does. Oh boy, does it hold up. This new Tachyon edition also has beautiful illustrations, which compliment the story perfectly. I'll definitely buy a copy of this for myself when it becomes available.

As for the story... Sybel is probably one of my favorite heroines. Stoic, powerful, and virtually alone (except for the magical creatures she inherited from her wizard father), she lives high in the mountains. One day, a lord from one of the fiefdoms below brings her a child to keep safe. In raising the child and meeting this lord and subsequent events thereafter, she learns to love, to hate, and to examine her own actions/mind. The novel has powerful philosophical and moral messages, but it's also so beautifully and artfully written that reading each sentence is a pleasure.

I might compare my emotional experience of reading The Forgotten Beasts of Eld to how I feel about Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn (which is my favorite fantasy novel). It's a book I know I'll come back to in 5 years, 10 years from now, and still find something new to love.

"The Forgotten Beasts of Eld" is a timeless classic that beautifully interweaves magic, mythology, and intricate character development. Patricia A. McKillip crafts a mesmerizing tale that delves deep into themes of power, love, and identity. The novel's lyrical prose enchants the reader, while its mythical creatures add layers of complexity and wonder. McKillip masterfully constructs a world where each choice comes with weighty consequences, making it a compelling read that lingers in your thoughts long after you've closed the book. Highly recommended for fantasy aficionados.

Despite having devoured and loved and reread (and reread) all of Patricia Mckillip's other books, I somehow skipped over this one? It's been a few years since I immersed myself in one of hers, but it's so easy to fall back into her gorgeous and totally unique prose. It's like she's painting with words. I don't even know how to describe it but I've never run across another author whose writing begins to come close. It's like she weaves these elaborate dreams around you that slowly begin to dissolve as soon as you turn the last page.

The story swoops and loops, taking the reader and characters on a journey of self and ambition and fear and captivity and what it means to be free and to love. It's haunting and mysterious and wondrous and breathtakingly beautiful.

Sybel is mysterious and distant and cold but also warm and loving and hungry. Coren looks at her and sees stars in his eyes, sees another of her mythical beasts. Watching them come together and get pulled apart over and over was hard, but worth it in the end.

Now that I've finished, I want nothing more than to revisit all of her other books because nothing else could ever compare. The thought that there won't be any more is incredibly sad, but at least I'll be able to continue rereading them forever.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for providing an early copy of the 50th anniversary special edition for review.

This is clearly a classic of the genre, and notably one that has not lost any of its luster over the 50 years since it was first published. What an incredible privilege it was to read this for the first time! The gripping story, wonderful characters, and incredible atmosphere seize the reader early on and refuse to let go until the very last page,

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is a forever favorite. I read it for the first time when I was about 15 and I've read it countless times since. I discover something new every time I reread it, especially as I get older. When I saw this special 50th anniversary edition was coming out, I thought it was a great opportunity to reread it again. Thank you so much to Tachyon for the advanced e-galley!

Patricia McKillip had an incredible gift for storytelling. I love what Marjorie M. Liu said in her introduction about how McKillip's stories "almost always have parallel narratives--first, what is said--and then, what is unsaid. McKillip's silences are heavy. Her silences are also story." It's this paradigm that gets me every time I read this book. The writing in it is lyrical, melancholy and wistful and all the in-between moments, all the things that breathe in the silent spaces between words, create their own kind of magic.

This book is truly a gift. A stoic wizard with a menagerie of magical beasts finds her heart in a child and what unfolds thereafter is a life full of the perils and joys of loving and being loved in return. Sybel's self-discovery, her depth and complexity of character are incredibly moving. And the love interest is kind, makes her laugh and is wise enough to know the difference between being compelled and making a choice.

As a teen, Sybel's unasked for journey into the world of men, with all their love and hate, their needs and desires, and their greed and heartbreak, taught me what it means to have agency, that while we cannot always forget, we can learn and grow, and that change and rebirth are possible even after the darkest of days. In this reread, I better understood how much this story is about what it means to be human as well as what it means to be free.

I love everything about this book. Please go read it!

As to this specific edition, I'm not sure an e-galley is really the best way to appreciate it. What little I could make out of the art by Stephanie Law was wonderful, but the images were very small on my screen. I did enjoy both Liu's introduction and Gail Carriger's forward, and I'm greatly looking forward to seeing this edition in print.

A beautiful new edition of one of my favorite fantasy novels of all time, with a cover by one of my favorite fantasy artists to go with it. Patricia A. McKillip's lyrical writing and rich imagination inspired me hugely as a teen writer, and it was a pleasure to renew my old acquaintance with Sybel, Coren, Tam, Maelga, and other beloved characters in this book. The new introduction by Marjorie Liu and foreword by Gail Carriger were also a pleasure to read! I'm excited for this 50th anniversary edition to come out, and I hope it will help a generation of new readers to discover this story!

I requested this in order to see the illustrations. They are lovely, but disappointingly few (unless there are going to be more in the finished version). I counted only seven smallish vignettes, plus the title page illustration and a final full page picture. They provide a nice decoration to the text, but it's not a lavishly illustrated edition by any means.

The book remains - as Marjorie Liu's introduction beautifully expresses -- a wonderful exploration of love, power, and magic both everyday and otherworldly. It's my favorite of McKillip's books, and it deserves the celebration.

This book was one that I read for the first time in high school. At that time it was solidified as a story that I've reread multiple times. I loved having an introduction from two authors who gave such beautiful insight and reflection on the book, and the artwork is stunning.

The twist of the damsel/wizard/witch in a tower is one I've never seen done quite this way by anyone else. Its tale of revenge, possession, love, and forgiveness is always beautiful to read. McKillip writes in a way that feels dreamlike, with long fantastical descriptions of even simple events.

There is one particular moment in this book that makes me uncomfortable, and it has to do with a character striking another. In the moment it seems out of character and is never directly addressed afterward.

Aside from this, the story continues to be one that invokes reflection on life, what it means to be part of the world, and ultimately love. I will continue to reread this and take something new away every time.

I have never really ventured into fantasy from the 1970s, but this one really struck me as interesting, so I decided to give it a go. I'm so glad I did! I loved the writing, and the story was like nothing I've ever read.

If you've never read Patricia McKillip before, this is the perfect book to start with. It's full of the lyrical language and thematic depth of all her books, but it has a much more straightforward storyline!

This book, especially this beautiful new edition, was an absolute delight. The story of love, loss, revenge and forgiveness is universal and hasn't dated at all in the fifty years since this was written.

It was a beautiful book. LOVE the writing style and the fairytale feels. I adore everything about it.

I am heartened to see Tachyon releasing a special edition hardcover of this incredible classic by McKillip, especially in light of her passing. What a beautiful edition and lovingly written new introduction. This is one of my favorite books by an author whose work is very dear to me; her writing is like a dream, and her books have been a beloved source of comfort and inspiration to me. I am shocked at how little-known she is, and thankful to Tachyon and NetGalley for this ARC, and even more so to the publisher for continuing to promote her work so that new readers can discover her. There is no one like McKillip!

I had read this book as a child and it is a story that has stuck with me. I loved that it has stood the test of time. This is a book that I would love to keep and share with my kids. The illustrations and Fantastic and I absolutely adored them.
I just reviewed The Forgotten Beasts of Eld: 50th Anniversary Special Edition by Particia A. McKillip, Introduction by Marjorie Liu, Foreword by Gail Carriger, Illustrations by Stephanie Law, Cover Art by Thomas Canty. #TheForgottenBeastsofEld50thAnniversarySpecialEdition #NetGalley
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This book was surprisingly excellent! The writing was beautiful and the dialogue was great. The world and magic was enchanting. LOVED all the magical creatures. Honestly it's length works against it, in my opinion, because expanding out some of the conflicts would have been great. But I think she was very intentional with how long she made it.

My only issue is how much the second half focused on romance. It was still well done but for how short the book is, I would have liked a little more focus on the mother/son dynamic.

Still an excellent book that holds up very well.

9/10

This book is amazing. I hope the republished edition helps this book to reach new audiences, like me. What a treasure. The illustrations are beautiful too.

I am a long-time fan of Patricia McKillop, and thus excited to see that there was a 50th Anniversary Special Edition of The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. The special edition 'perks' are the new introduction and illustrations. Thanks to Tachyon and Negalley for the ARC.

With this re-read, I was specifically focusing on what had likely changed in those 50 years - what our society cares about, the increase of female presenting readers and fantasy heroes. It seems so was the author of the new introduction, Marjorie Liu! I appreciated how she centered the reader in both the timelessness of the text, and how it fit within our current context - it was an insightful grounding. My reflections, echoing Liu's lens:

In many fantasy books written for the male gaze, female characters are intended to be secondary. Their consent and agency is a non-issue, instead, heteronormative possessions assumed to feel gratitude for the status conferred by their partner.

Sybel's antithesis to this trope, particularly in spite of her ancestors, is resounding. This book is as much a fairy tale as it is a fable. The themes, the layers...not only does this book stand the test of time, it stands the strength of a re-read, a mirror to who you are and who you've become in how your interpretations of the text change. Of the many questions posed, the one that resonated for me in this reading is what is freedom vs. what is entrapment.

As an addendum, I thought the new illustrations nice - not necessarily adding significantly to the story, but definitely not detracting. The one mis-alignment is that Sybel's hair texture & shorter length as depicted on the traditional cover is different from the much longer drawn hair in the new illustrations.

I can't believe I waited so long to read this amazingly, magical book! This book was full of everything I love about fantasy and it's all in ONE book. No need for a trilogy or more. It's so touching and it will definitely be bought as a hardback so I have a copy for my main library, as well as the digital copy. I don't want to say anything to spoil the story because it is so perfect. If you've never read this before, and like fantasy, read it! You won't regret it!
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this! These thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was given an ARC by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A McKillip is a classic fantasy novel where Sybel, a young wizard, is given Tam, her nephew and a young prince, to raise. When Tam is twelve and taken in by his father, several men fight over Sybel’s affections and to control her.

This was my first time reading Forgotten Beasts of Eld and I wasn’t expecting how dialogue-heavy it would be, but McKillip is a master at keeping it crystal clear who is speaking. Each sentence is intentionally crafted so the information within carries who is saying what without dialogue tags. It’s very easy to picture how to dramatize a reading of this, which is great for parents of young readers looking for a more recent fairy tale to read aloud.

Sybel’s arc was a new favorite of mine. She keeps her feelings close to the chest, can hear the beasts of the Eldwold through telepathy, and she loves her nephew as if he was her own son despite all the trouble his father creates for Sybel. Sybel clearly stating that her freedom mattered to her was impactful, feeling like a blueprint for a lot of the young women protagonists we see in the current age of fantasy.

I would recommend this to readers interested in classic fantasy, readers looking for books with fantasy kingdoms and beasts, and fans of female-led fantasy.

To celebrate its 50th anniversary of The Forgotten Beasts of Elm the publisher (Tachyon Publications) are releasing a special edition of the book with many beautiful illustrations by Stephanie Law.

I haven't read anything by Patricia A. McKillip before and this book intrigued so much that I will definitely read more of her works.

This book was really magical and with very beautiful and powerful writing. It feels like you are reading a fairytale but a modern one. There is no much world building but that does not matter. We have magical talking animals and powerful wizards.
It is an atmospheric and character-driven story, a story of love, revenge and forgiveness.

Wow.

I went into this not knowing much about the story (just really loved the title and premise, haha) and I'm so glad I picked this up.

The WRITING is my favorite kind of lyrical prose that borders on poetry – I want to get a physical version to reread and annotate and absorb.

This is a beautiful, unexpectedly poignant story set in a fantasy setting that absolutely grips you with human truths. The themes really were a tug of war on "good for her/female rage" and "even here there is room for healing and love" which – oof. Sybil's initial desire to live in isolation with her beasts and become a powerful sorceress? Relatable.

"How did you hate? Did you nurse revenge from a tiny, moon-pale seedling in the night places in your heart, watch it grow and flower and bear dark fruit that hung ripe—ripe for the plucking? It becomes a great, twisted thing of dark leaves and thick, winding vines that chokes and withers whatever good things grow in your heart; it feeds on all the hatred your heart can bear—That is what is in me, Coren. Not all the wondrous joy and love of you can wither that night plant in me."

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is for you if you love fantasy, fairy tales, and complex/emotional stories.

_______

Content warnings around sexual violence.

Arc received by the Publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
#TheForgottenBeastsofEld50thAnniversarySpecialEdition #NetGalley

A fantasy romance that will delight modern readers with its depth of characters and nostalgic tropes. Women's sovereignty is key to understanding the plight of our main character Sybil, who is asked to choose between a widowed king and a youngest prince of feuding kingdoms. When she denies both of them, they make the choice for her,

McKillip's "Forgotten Beasts of Eld" is certainly a fantasy classic; it seems as fresh at age 50 as when it was published. The story is set in a sort of mythic reality, where the boundaries are all a little hazy and time itself is fuzzy. There is less a sense of cause and effect, as events seem determined as much by fate as by human decision. And, while it's less remarkable now, 50 years ago it was no small thing to overturn the standard gender tropes on which fantasy rests. The story is driven by the female protagonist's power, desires, and passions, leaving the male characters as satellites orbiting her sun, as she learns how to balance her power between her loves and her hates.

It's also a pleasure to find a great fantasy story that can be satisfyingly told without 10+ volumes. I definitely recommend the book.

If you’ve never read The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip, you have missed out on a beautiful classic, full of lyrical language and a powerful story. If you have read this, re-visit this classic on the 50th anniversary to see new illustrations and a gorgeous introduction by writers who fell in love with this story long ago, like I did.
One of the elements I love the most about this lovely story is the powerful characters, the effortless power of Sybel and the haunting portrayal of humanity, both the bright, hopeful side but also the dark side of emotions. Sybel’s discovery of her human side is impressive and glorious to read. The words and ideas are still as profound as they were when I first read this novel.
I also love the intelligence of each of the beasts, how amazing they are and how each adds flavor to the story and helps Sybel. Each character has a purpose in the story. Best yet, there are layers and layers to the story. Each time you read it something new will unfold for you. In the past, I remembered the beasts the most. In this reading, I recalled the emotions between Sybel and Coran, with Tamlin, and how the writing of those emotions impacted me as a reader. The lyrical language is beautiful to read and the story will haunt you.
If you love a classic fantasy with a powerful female wizard, this is a story to read or re-visit. Trust me, if you haven’t read this in a while, it totally is worth a re-read, just to capture a different impression of the story. The novel's layers and emotions will still impress and the words will haunt you. And the characters will make you breathless.

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld: 50th Anniversary Special Edition
by Particia A. McKillip, Introduction by Marjorie Liu, Foreword by Gail Carriger, Illustrations by Stephanie Law, Cover Art by Thomas Canty
Pub Date: 29 Feb 2024

Fifty years ago, the soon-to-be celebrated young author Patricia A. McKillip (the Riddle-Master trilogy) penned the tale of an iron-willed young sorceress. Brought vividly to life by McKillip’s gorgeously lush prose, Sybel is powerful and resourceful, yet headstrong and flawed. Sybel and The Forgotten Beasts of Eld continue to enrapture new generations of readers and writers.

Sybel, the heiress of powerful wizards, needs the company of no-one outside her gates. In her exquisite stone mansion, 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. Sybel only lacks the exquisite and mysterious Liralen, which continues to elude her most powerful enchantments.

But when a soldier bearing an infant arrives, Sybel discovers that the world of man and magic is full of both love and deceit, with the possibility of more power than she can possibly imagine.

#TheForgottenBeastsofEld50thAnniversarySpecialEdition #NetGalley

I remember reading my way through every Patricia McKillip my library had as a young fantasy-obsessed reader, but The Forgotten Beasts of Eld wasn’t among them.

It’s probably a good thing I came to this book as an adult, however, so that I could truly appreciate the glimmering beauty of McKillip’s prose and the complicated and dreamlike, almost allegorical, symbolism at work here. This is a fantasy novel about all the standard fairy tale tropes: magic and forests and kingdoms and beasts. But it is also so much more than that.

It’s a devastating, haunting meditation on love and loss and vulnerability. It feels like an old ballad or tragic tale told round a winter fire, like an elegy for a world with the magic gone out from it. It is unutterably beautiful in both language and content, and I am so grateful to this reissue for prompting me to finally read it.

By way of introductory remarks, let me repeat the statement I have made most often to friends while talking about having finished Patricia McKillip’s The Forgotten Beasts of Eld.

“McKillip makes me feel like I’ve taken something usually reserved for shamans with very strong livers”

That is a reflection of McKillip’s prose. She is one of that blessed group of fantasy writers who write in open emulation of the style of the fantastic tales of yore without feeling corny or wrong. More than that, she is an author who takes an idiosyncratic, textured, hypnotic approach to her words and story. There is a rhythm to what she does, a rhythm that lulls you in, until you realise later that you seem to have missed something.

You often have, and that is often deliberate.

Not that I came to such a conclusion all by my wee self. Oh no. I have the excellent forewords by Marjorie Liu and Gail Carriger to thank for that, this being a spiffy 50th edition and all. I have to note that The Forgotten Beasts of Eld feels old, but in a rather timeless sense. It could have been written a hundred years ago, it could have been written yesterday, but whenever it would have been a product of searching for a certain agelessness.

Which tells nobody anything about the novel, except for the most important parts. McKillip is an author to be swept away by, an evocative force of word and imagination that will irritate or enchant depending on the individual. Knowing which of the two you are for her particular style is more crucial for deciding whether to read her than any talk of character, plot or theme. She is like a psychedelic Le Guin, a hippie Tolkien. I am unabashedly in my happy place, even if I find such works hard and slow to read, but some of you may not be.

As for the particulars of The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, it is the tale of a sorceress named Sybel, content with her fabulous menagerie of powerful monsters until the arrival of a soldier with a babe. This triggers a set of events in which she is dragged slowly into the intrigues of warlords and the learning of love alike. If this sounds like a romance then it is to some degree, but that is more supporting act than anything. The main source of drama is always Sybel reckoning on the right thing to do with her powers, powers capable of calling and chaining man and monster alike to her will.

A lot of the narrative left me in a mood of pleasant bemusement, not quite connecting with the story but admiring it anyway. The beginning was beguiling, but the rest not so much. It was only at the end that I connected fully and emotionally with what McKillip was doing, at which point it all made sense. It’s a wonderful ending, although not as wonderful as it could have been if I’d connected all the way. It is my small criticism. The friendships Sybel builds are lightly sketched, and perhaps not initially as convincing as they might be.

That might be different for another read though and The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is more than enticing enough to suggest one some day. McKillip’s work might be turning fifty any day now, but it remains hard to forget never the less.

I got a copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to them and Taychon Publications for this – and it’s such a shame McKillip never got to see this, may she rest in peace

This was a fantastic, beautiful story. Almost tragic, with some difficult things covered. TW <spoiler>a stand-in for rape - a rape of the mind, which was threatened but didn’t actually happen)</spoiler>

McKillip’s writing is gorgeous and has a fairy tale quality to it. She explores power, the nature of love, war, and betrayal. There are many difficult situations but ultimately our protagonists make it through all the stronger.