#the forgotten beasts of eld

[smalltownfae]

#the goblin emperor #booklr #piranesi #black water sister #lonely castle in the mirror #sistersong #spinning silver #the seventh bride #the last unicorn #the house in the cerulean sea #the forgotten beasts of eld #it was hard to pick a mckillip and a kingfisher book #I decided on one book per author so... #my polls #best standalone fantasy #making this post I am now wondering if women are more likely to write fantasy standalones than men #either that or is just because I read more books by women in general #and yeah there is no neil gaiman book here oops #I haven't reread the ones I liked in a while so I am not sure if those would top my other 2 four stars in here

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

#fantasy #books #The Forgotten Beasts of Eld #Patricia A. McKillip #poll #result: no #l: English

[waitingforthesunrise]

is it pronounced I love you or

*You cannot ever be certain of those you love that they will not hurt you, even loving you * I did need someone, but I did not know it until now * will you call me? I will come. Whatever I am doing will remain undone, and I will come to you * I choose to come to you. It makes a difference. one day you will find out how good it is to have someone who chooses to come when you call * I would have died on your hearth * I had a thing I wanted to stay alive for* “I know: you never asked me to love you. Well, I do love you, and I am troubled, and I will stay*

the forgotten beasts of eld, Patricia McKillip

#The forgotten beasts of eld #high fantasy #fantasy quotes #patricia mckillip #romance #beautiful words #i love you #book quotes #lovers #soulmates #forever and always #literature #classic academia

[beginsinagarden]

“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. 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 whither and die. I do not understand you. I am angry with you. I am hurt and helpless, but nothing will fill the ache of the hollowness in me where your name would echo if I lost you.”

— Patricia A. Mckillip, from The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

#the forgotten beasts of eld #patricia mckillip

[tachyonpub]

#the forgotten beasts of eld #patricia a mckillip #tac talks #gail carriger

[pendragyn]

"You can weave your life so long — only so long, and then a thing in the world out of your control will tug at one vital thread and leave you patternless and subdued."

~Patricia A. McKillip, "The Forgotten Beasts Of Eld"

#patricia a. mckillip #the forgotten beasts of eld #quotes I feel down to the bone #it's a good book #all of her stuff feels a bit melancholy #I think she was very familiar with knurd and it comes through in her writing

[cryptidvagabond]

I haven't read this book in ages, but I'm remembering why I loved it so much when I first did.

[ "But why does he want to give it to me?" "Because it is the child of Rianna and Norrel, and they are both dead." Sybel blinked. "But you said Rianna was married to Drede." "She was." "Then why is the child Norrel's son? I do not understand." Coren's voice rose perilously. "Because Norrel and Rianna were lovers. And Drede killed Norrel three days ago on the Plain of Terbrec. Now will you take the baby so I can go back and kill Drede?" Sybel looked at him out of her black, unwinking eyes. "You will not shout at me." she said very softly. The mailed hands of Coren curled and uncurled in the moonlight. He took a step toward her, and the soft light shaped the long bones of his face, traced lines of exhaustion beneath his eyes. "I am sorry," he whispered. ] -'The Forgotten Beasts of Eld.' By Patricia A. McKillip, chapter one.

This man is in full mail armor, with a sword at his hip. He's a complete stranger to her. Standing at the gate of her home in the middle of the night, and raises his voice at her. And she looks him dead in the eyes and says, "You will not shout at me." No please. It's not a question at all. It's a statement.

I've always loved this interaction.

It shaped the way I raised myself, and the way that I write dialogue and female characters in my own stories.

I think about it a lot.

#books #other people's writing #The Forgotten Beasts of Eld #strong female protagonist #Sybel was not always correct #and she made mistakes #but she's such a good character

[tfrohock]

Patricia A. McKillip and the Giant

There have been some beautiful tributes to Patricia A. McKillip since the news of her death in February has reached us this past spring. I wanted to contribute my memories early on but was so busy enjoying the beautiful tributes other authors and fans left on their blogs, I decided to wait.

I’ve spoken before about my father taking us all to the library every Saturday, and it was there that I discovered a novel called The Forgotten Beasts of Eld when I was twelve. McKillip’s prose and story captivated me, and within her words, I fell in love with fantasy.

The one line in that novel that struck me still was simply this: 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.

She used the line, not once, but twice, first spoken by Cyrin the wise boar and used a second time as a warning and reminder. I’ve always interpreted Grof’s story as a cautionary tale that even those who are willfully blind to their faults will one day be faced with the truth, and when that day comes, will they die of what they see?

The story of the giant, Goff, is merely one of the best known lines from Eld. All of McKillip’s books are full of wisdom strewn through the pages, like little seeds with the ability to take root and grow in fertile minds. Another favorite from the same book:

“But you had a right to be angry.” “Yes. But not to hurt those I love, or myself.”

The idea that I had a right to be angry, but not to take my anger out on others was a known factor. To include myself in that configuration was a new idea to me, one that I wasn’t fully able to grasp until much later in life, but it was McKillip who first introduced me to the concept.

I know so many people talk about the books they would give a young person, and while all are quite magical, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is the one book I always recommend because there is so much to think about in each and every line. Both timeless and magical, Eld is as much about the pains of emotional growth as someone makes the transition from child to adult as it is about wizards and enchanted animals.

As I grew older, I left fantasy behind for a while to read other genres, but when I returned, McKillip was there for me again. I read several of her releases before I found In the Forests of Serre. Here was a book about grief and love that brought to me the same feelings I’d once had about Eld. The story is about prince whose grief over the death of his wife and child is so deep, he gives a witch his heart, because who needs a heart when all that he loved has been taken from him? Being a prince, he must remarry, but the princess chosen for him refuses to let him live without his heart. She does battle with the witch to rescue the prince’s heart and unlike Eld with its ambiguous ending, Serre gives us a happier conclusion.

The story in Serre was a much more mature story than Eld, or maybe that was simply how I saw it. Either way, In the Forests of Serre is a beautiful expression of finding love again and the lengths we’re willing to go to in order to change our circumstances. I also loved that “Serre” could very well be a play on “sere,” which means withered or dry, an application that played to both the forest in the novel and to the idea of a withered heart.

Which leads me to another reason that I love her work so deeply. McKillip had a command of language and symbolism that I have only rarely seen in other authors since. Combining poetical sentences with fantastical imagery, her works always did and always will excite the imagination. We have truly lost a giant of the genre, one that can never be replaced.

#Patricia A. Mckillip #The Forgotten Beasts of Eld #fantasy #fantasy authors

[lairn]

Book 4/24: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip Rating: 4.5/5

The writing in this was very lovely. It managed to be simple and clear, but simultaneously lyrical and full of beauty. The book has a fairy tale tone and the way it handles magic is both mysterious and direct. I quite liked it. However, that fairy tale style makes the characters feel a little distant from the reader. There is a remoteness to the characterizations, so that I care about the characters, but more as archetypes of their roles (Wizard, Prince, Knight) than as individuals. This works well for the style, but at times it feels more like reading an interesting exercise in mythical writing than a book that wants you to care about the characters. And that’s fine! I just wished I were a little more invested.

#the forgotten beasts of eld #patricia a. mckillip #reading challenge 2023

[smalltownfae]

#the forgotten beasts of eld #patricia a. mckillip #book quotes #my art #mental health

[wearethekat]

September Book Reviews: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip

Going through more of McKillip’s backlist. As always, she has a lovely touch with prose which is nearly poetry. Her books always read like fairy tales you somehow neglected to read as a kid. I’m not entirely sure I got along with this one though. McKillip’s characters have a tendency to be slippery, opaque, and difficult to emphasize with-- which was the case here. Besides, the plot elements about the unreachable bird and the unnamable shadow read like a very strange allegory that I didn’t quite get.

Lovely, but ultimately a bit cold.

#my book reviews #september book reviews #patricia mckillip #the forgotten beasts of eld

[allbookedupblogstuff]

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip

Source: Tachyon Press – Thank you so much for the arc!!TL;DR: A OG Romantasy in my opinion. A fantasy that focuses on the idea of love, in it’s myriad of forms, and a powerful woman. Loved this one. Plot: Sybel gets caught between the boy she raised, the man she loves and the wars of man. Complicated but lovely.Characters: While not super deep, they’re rich enough to be believable and I loved…

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#Book Review #Fantasy #reprint #The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

[beginsinagarden]

He sighed. He said patiently, “I choose to come. It makes a difference.” “Does it?” Then her eyes curved slightly in a smile. “Go home to your world of the living, Coren. That is where you belong. I can take care of myself.” “Perhaps.” He gathered the reins in his hands, turned his mount toward the road that wound downward to Mondor. Then he looked back at her, his eyes the color of clear mountain water. “But one day you will find out how good it is to have someone who chooses to come when you call.”

— Patricia A. Mckillip, from The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

#the forgotten beasts of eld #patricia mckillip

[tachyonpub]

#patricia a. mckillip #birthday #the forgotten beasts of eld #book birthday

[whatmakesagod]

#the forgotten beasts of eld #patricia a mckillip

[the-hearth-and-the-wild]

You can weave your life so long — only so long…and then a thing in the world out of your control will tug at one vital thread and leave you patternless and subdued.

Patricia A. McKillip, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

#book quotes #literature #patricia a. mckillip #forgotten beasts of eld #books and libraries #fantasy quotes #fantasy literature #books and reading