The Book of Atrix Wolfe: 30th Anniversary Edition
by Patricia A. McKillip
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Pub Date Feb 25 2025 | Archive Date Not set
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Description
This brand new edition celebrates the 30th anniversary of a classic, luminous novel from the World Fantasy Award–winning author Patricia A. McKillip (The Forgotten Beasts of Eld). In McKillip’s stunning cinematic prose, the human world and the realm of faeries dangerously entwine through chaotic magic. Discover the spellbinding legend of generational atonement and redemption between a reluctant mage, a powerful wizard, a struggling heir, fae royalty, and a mysterious scullery maid.
“Steeped in medieval legends of the wild huntsman, living trees, and shape changers, McKillip’s tale is decidedly atmospheric, complex, compelling, and filled with rich imagery.”
—Booklist
When the White Wolf descends upon the battlefield, the results are disastrous. His fateful decision to end a war with powerful magic changes the destiny of four kingdoms: warlike Kardeth, resilient Pelucir, idyllic Chaumenard, and the mysterious Elven realm.
Twenty years later, Prince Talis, orphaned heir to Pelucir, is meant to be the savior of the realm. However, the prince is neither interested in ruling nor a particularly skilled mage. Further, he is obsessed with a corrupted spellbook, and he is haunted by visions from the woods.
The legendary mage Atrix Wolfe has forsaken magic and the world of men. But the Queen of the Wood, whose fae lands overlap Pelucir’s bloody battlefield, is calling Wolfe back. Her consort and her daughter have been missing since the siege, and if Wolfe cannot intervene, the Queen will keep a sacrifice for her own.
A Note From the Publisher
Advance Praise
“Driven by a formless fury when the prince of Kardeth refuses to halt his invasion of the kingdom of Pelucir, the great mage Atrix Wolfe creates a fearful hunter, ‘a warrior with no allegiance but to death.’ But the ensuing massacre of both armies and the king of Pelucir appalls the mage, and he flees to the mountains to live in wolf form among wolves until, 20 years later, the queen of the Woods demands that he seek out her daughter, who disappeared at the time of the great bloodbath. The ensuing story involves aspiring mage Talis Pelucir, son of the slain king, and Saro, a young, mute scullery maid in the castle of Pelucir whose background is unknown. Steeped in medieval legends of the wild huntsman, living trees, and shape changers, McKillip’s tale is decidedly atmospheric, complex, compelling, and filled with rich imagery.”
—Booklist
“The Book of Atrix Wolfe is a spell woven from moonlight, dirty pots, golden leaves, and shadows. Patricia McKillip describes magic I can believe in—the magic of place, captured in the stones of a wall, the wood of a door, the light shining through a window, the reflection in a pot of water. Her magic is founded in love and power and pain. Far more than a tale of battling kings—this is a story of the workings of the human heart. Such pleasure to read!”
—Pat Murphy, Nebula and Hugo Award winning author of The Adventures of Mary Darling
“No writer has better captured the elusive power of language than Patricia A. McKillip. The Book of Atrix Wolfe is a shimmering tale of language, power, magic, and soul.”
—Rambles
“Prince Talis, heir to the Pelucir throne, has been away from his homeland studying magecraft. At the wizards’ college, he discovers a mysterious book of spells whose words carry hidden meanings. Returning to Pelucir, Talis encounters the Queen of the Woods, who is looking for her daughter, Sorrow, lost ever since the mage Atrix Wolfe misused his magic to divert a war. Now Talis and Atrix must solve the riddle of Sorrow’s existence, and rid the world of the evil that Atrix conjured. . . . Connoisseurs of fine fantasy will delight in this expertly wrought tale.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A man who lives among wolves and hides from his magical mistake from the past finds his talents again needed among humans when a queen asks him to search for her missing daughter. His quest leads to unexpected love and adventure in McKillip’s gentle fantasy.”
—Midwest Book Review
“It is always a joy to read Patricia McKillip’s work, and The Book of Atrix Wolfe is particularly rich in its fairy-tale motifs, imagery and language. Evocative details invite readers to appreciate Prince Talis’s wonder at forest depths and mountain heights, share the smells and sounds of Saro’s life in the castle kitchen, and recognize the pain of memories that linger long after a battle ends. By grounding the varied human and Otherworldly societies in specific landscapes and hinting at their collective past, the novel explores the difficulty of reaching a shared understanding of history. Yet McKillip offers wonder and words as hope. As in McKillip’s other works, this novel’s language is beautiful, making visible and magical what is usually overlooked or seen as ordinary. The Book of Atrix Wolfe thus demonstrates the power of words and stories to recover the past and create the future, a tale that repays rereading, as that hope is more relevant now than before.”
—Ann F. Howey, author of Afterlives of the Lady of Shalott and Elaine of Astolat
“Patricia A. McKillip is one of the finest writers of fantasy fiction of all time. In Tachyon’s beautiful 30th anniversary edition McKillip’s rich prose is on full display in this powerful novel of war and remembrance, magic and forgiveness.”
—Audrey Taylor, author of Patricia A. McKillip and the Art of Fantasy World-Building
“This is a beautifully written book. It is a quick, easy read and I really enjoyed my time with it. The story unfolds in a way that kept me interested, and it was definitely a good example of McKillip’s whimsical, otherworldly imagination. I recommend this book to anyone who liked any of McKillip’s other work, or enjoys authors like Robin McKinley, Charles de Lint, or Peter S. Beagle.”
—Superstardrifter
Marketing Plan
• Promotion at major trade and genre conventions, including the International Convention for the Fantastic in the Arts and the World Fantasy Convention
• Reviews targeting venues including the Washington Post, NPR, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and the San Francisco Chronicle
• Planned ARC galley distribution and book giveaways to include NetGalley, Goodreads, Edelweiss and additional online outlets
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781616964009 |
| PRICE | $17.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 288 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
SIMONA B, Reviewer
I cannot forget that Patricia McKillip is the author who literally introduced me to high quality fantasy books.
Before I discovered Tolkien and Le Guin, before "The Mists of Avalon", it was she who guided me into the world of magic and legends with her Riddle-Master trilogy.
For this reason, I read this copy of "The Book of Atrix Wolfe" with emotion and reverence, and it was truly wonderful to confirm that the magic of her words still has the same hold on me, even after at least 30 years since I last read her works.
McKillip’s specialty lies entirely in her prose: a mesmerizing flow of words that have the flavor of ancient myths, capable of evoking distant yet tangible worlds with an almost poetic rhythm. It’s a refined prose that demands attention and a willingness to embrace all its subtle nuances.
"The Book of Atrix Wolfe" is a book that, like the best fantasy, speaks of magic, deception, revenge, and power. But also of courage and redemption. It is a story rooted in the past, in an ancient war, in a mistake made perhaps with good intentions but one that must ultimately be corrected.
Atrix Wolfe is a powerful mage who, driven by the desperation to end a bloody war, summons a destructive entity. But his spell spirals out of control, bringing unimaginable devastation and loss. Years later, the young Talis finds a magical book that belonged to Wolfe, and unwittingly reawakens that same entity, which now threatens life once again. Joining these figures is Saro, a mysterious mute girl without identity, who may be much more than she seems.
The characters’ stories intertwine in a journey to restore balance between the mortal world and the fae's. The price of magic is often terrible, and only the pursuit of some form of redemption can remedy the loss.
Once again, I let myself be carried away into McKillip’s realms as if on a heroic and wondrous journey, and I have no regrets. Page after page, I rediscovered the power of great literature, capable of teaching something as well as entertaining.
Shilo Q, Reviewer
Possibly the most convoluted/confusing of McKillip's books. Well, at least it's up there. And I love it. :-) Definitely darker, too. But lots of fun to read, and the bittersweet ending is satisfying (enough) while still leaving much to mystery. My only complaint is that the girl at the beginning of the book who torments Talis (thus causing him to hide and find Atrix Wolfe's book) and who is descended from Pelucir's enemy in that fated battle, is forgotten entirely after that chapter. I kept expecting her to come back, but she feels like a thread that was inexplicably dropped. Which is *so* unlike McKillip.
Updated review 10 years later (and approximately 20 years after my first read): Agree with past self here. The dropped thread of Talis' school enemy is annoying and surprising in an otherwise delightful and dreamlike book. I was expecting the story to circle back to her. I'm also not sure about the ending. It doesn't feel like an earned or complete resolution for Talis or Saro. I can see why McKillilp chose to end it like that, but also I kind of wish she'd chosen differently.
Overall, absolutely still love it. It feels so dreamlike and magical, and the language is so delicious. I also love how the kitchen feels so solid and real while everything else sort of frays at the edges into dreams. The kitchen was probably my favorite part. I do wish we'd gotten more time at the school of Chaumenard though.
*Thanks to Tachyon Publications for providing an early copy for review.
Kathryn M, Reviewer
This was such a wonderfully done medieval fiction novel, it had that fantasy element that I enjoyed from the genre. It uses the world perfectly and had that concept that I was looking for. Patricia A. McKillip writes unique characters and that they worked in this world overall. I'm glad everything worked overall and was engaged with the plot of the book. It had a great atmosphere and wanted to know more about this world.
Sara P, Reviewer
Un romanzo da leggere se si cerca qualcosa di fuori dal tempo, e il piacere di una lingua che si svoltola come un incantesimo, per qualche ora di lontananza da tutto, sospesi in un modo senza tempo.
Lea D, Reviewer
This is one of my favorite authors. I fell in love with her as a child when I read the Riddle Master trilogy.
Yo me she writes so beautifully- her words are lush and dream like. She really takes you to another world in her novels.
I found out that she has passed away and the world is poorer without her in it and gifting us with her writing.
Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this ARC. All opinions are my own.
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