This is, as reviewers say, beautiful. It’s almost like a fairy tale, and I’m really surprised that I hadn’t come across this book as a child.

It’s just beautiful, beautifully written, and a book I will come back to time and time again for comfort.

If you’ve not read it then I recommend- an absolute treat.

My thanks to Netgalley and Tachyon Publications for the special edition copy

A wonderful tale of mysterious, magical beasts and finding yourself. I don't know how I never read this when I was younger.

What a lovely story. At first, I was unsure with the start, but then it really got going with the story of Sybel and Tam and Coren. Getting to know the beasts, as well, was amazing.

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.

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

What a beautiful world Patricia McKilliip has created with the main character and her magical animals. The only complaint I have about this book is that I wish it were longer and her relationship with a child that was brought to her for protection was embellished on more to show the bonding with the main characters but also with the creatures.
Overall it’s one I enjoyed and recommend.

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

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

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.

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.

This book (and others) set my expectations for fantasy novels: Strong women who handled their own business, men as equal partners, and well-developed mystical world-building. I haven’t read this particular book in years and years, so I was curious to see how it stands against fantasy literature of today.

There is an innocence about it that maybe I was too young to pick up on when I read it the first time, or maybe it was a sign of the time period in which it was written, but I don’t think so. Violence is glossed over. The reader knows it happens, but there are no explicit details.

The narrative is jumpy. I’ve noticed this in other older books, not just older fantasy, so I think this is perhaps a stylistic choice of the day. I found myself immersed in the scene, then it jumps to something different. Repeatedly. Maybe there is a better use of white space, now, to indicate that change?

The story must have made an impact, all those years ago. I think I read it 30 years ago, and I still remembered most of the events of the story. I am trying to imagine how high school students of today would receive this book. Based on what I see with my students, I do not know that my students would like the writing style. They seem to prefer and more simplistic, straightforward storytelling style.

How do I know if a book stands the test of time? Is the question - do I still like the book? Is it dated? Do students of today like the book? The answers are yes, a little, I don’t know. With that in mind. I am going to to rate the book 4 stars.

I read this novel many years ago, and remembered it as one of the more beautiful fantasy stories I’ve read. Returning to it now in this 50th anniversary edition, it held up over the years and is just as lovely as it was in my youth. McKillip’s writing is gorgeous and has a lyrical nature perfect for this magic story. This novel basically deals with the life lessons we all must learn. For fantasy lovers, it is a must-read, but I also highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys a magical story told in beautiful prose.

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 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.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is an absolutely cracking fantasy novel. It takes a little while to get going but once it does it is a thrilling read that keeps you hoping that bad things won't keep happening. Sybel is one of the most compelling protagonists I have read in quite some time. She is very well-written with powerful motivations for doing the things she does. The way she faces the difficult dilemmas caused by her actions and navigates the dangerous world in which she lives held my attention. It is the sort of book you stay up to 3 a.m. in the morning to finish. It classic that I'm glad to have finally discovered.

High on a mountain, far outside the confines of society lives a woman, a wizard—Sybel. Hers is a solitary existence, with only the great magical beasts passed down from her father to keep her company, and it's a life that suits her. But times change, and when she is given charge of an infant to raise, she can no longer predict and shape the path of her life the way she once could.

'"Is this all you want? To live here on this mountain, speaking only to animals who live in the dreams of their past, and to Tam, who will have a future that you cannot have? You are bound here by your father's rules, you live his life. You will live, grow old, and die here, living for others who do not need you. Tam one day will not need you. What, in years to come, will you have in your life but a silence that is meaningless, ancient names that are never spoken beyond these walls?"' (loc. 581)

I first read "The Forgotten Beasts of Eld" more than two decades ago—I think I must have been twelve or thirteen. It was and is not my usual reading fare, so it was likely something of my sister's that made its way into the family bookshelves (my family has never been short of books). And I promptly forgot most of it, retaining only the barest outline of a wintery protagonist and the bird named Liralen, which I (also promptly) borrowed for an Internet username and have yet to return.

As long ago as I read this, it's been around longer: "The Forgotten Beasts of Eld" was first published in 1974, and so 2024 marks its 50th anniversary. And it has held up to the test of time: I understand Sybel and her—not coldness, perhaps, but distance from the world—much better as an adult than I ever could twenty-odd years ago. She's distant from the world and at home in her isolation, yet also drawn to things she cannot name or fully understand; drawn to both a world of men and a world of magical creatures. I don't want to get too much into the plot (or the Liralen—again, I'd forgotten the details, and I am puzzled anew, which pleases me), but this is a classic of the genre for a reason. I'm looking forward to reading it again in another decade or two.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

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!

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.