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

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

Simply Magical

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5 stars--it was amazing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Recommended for fans of dreamy fairy tales!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read in June; blog review scheduled for Sept. 4

NetGalley/Tachyon Publications

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

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

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

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

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

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

Old style medieval Fantasy with wizards and dragons, magical animals and a child who must be hidden.

The narrative reeks of fairy tale, yet doesn't come over as a children's story. Although it has the usual patriarchal society, the main character is a strong female.

I can see why Patricia McKillip is so well-known and highly regarded. How I've missed reading her before is a mystery to me! She weaves magic and drama together artfully so that the impossible feels perfectly believable and I found it easy to care about the characters, especially Tam.

She addresses hard choices and issues of human nature in a way that engages the reader in the lives of the main characters rather than preaching. Though her style is definitely for my fairytale-like Fantasy moods, I will definitely be reading more of her work. This was apparently one of her early ones, now re-issued.

There were some surprises and a lot of conflict near the end that I couldn't see a way out of, so kept me interested and gave me a resolution that I didn't see coming. Highly recommended for Fantasy fans.

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.

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.

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.

A beautiful world with a plethora of magical creatures including a dragon - anybody else noticed that too few fantasy books actually have dragons in them?! - and a wise Boar that has a penchant of riddles. A world filled with magic, politics and love. A world that I left for the first time all too quickly and hope to return to soon.

In this book we see Sybel, third generation Wizard, on a journey where she learns what it is to love and to be loved. There are a few twists and turns through the course of the book (spoiler free but the last one made me sit up a little straighter as it really didn't turn the way I thought it would!) but, despite the book not being that long, it doesn't feel rushed in the slightest. In fact, it is the opposite; we get to immerse ourselves completely into the wonderful world that the author created and get transported totally.

This was the first book by Patricia A. McKillip that I have read but it definitely won't be the last. It was like reading a fairy tale in the way that it written and, trust me I don't mean this in a negative way in the slightest, it was refreshing to read such a girly fantasy novel. There being such a lyrical prose was what I think made this such a delight to read as even though nothing too much happens over the course of the plot, having such feasts for the imagination such as white hair being described as being “the colour of sun-touched frost” was enough to give me goosebumps.

The foreword of this book states that “If you are about to read The Forgotten Beasts of Eld for the first time, I envy you” and that is exactly how I feel right now. This was just an amazingly visual book and I am shocked that, loving fantasy as I do, I haven't seen this book being shouted about from the roof tops before now. It was a well deserved winner of the World Fantasy Award. (The covers of the previous printed editions are absolutely beautiful and one will definitely be joining my bookcase family soon!)

This was a fantastic fantasy book. I've never read anything by this author but this sounded quite interesting and I am so glad I picked this up. I was hooked from pretty much the very beginning. The writing was great, the characters are so well written and I loved the setting. I've seen it stated as a fantasy classic and I can definitely see why. I don't know what else to say about this book. I highly recommend it, especially if you are a big fantasy reader.