The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

by Patricia A. McKillip

Book Overview

WORLD FANTASY AWARD WINNERSPECIAL 50TH ANNIVERSARY HARDCOVER EDITION "Rich and regal." --The New York Times New introduction by Marjorie Liu (The Tangleroot Palace)New illustrations by Stephanie Law... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0152008691
• ISBN13: 9780152008697
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Harcourt Brace and Company
• Length: 343 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.9"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Good rec from a friend

Loved the magical creatures. A good solid read for anyone looking for a quick read fantasy.

Grabbed me from the first paragraph!

This book left me wanting to know more about the tales and lands alluded to in passing, while enjoying the story itself. Plot and characterisation are very well executed, and there is a lingering sense of wonder. Suitable for late teens and older; possibly ok for younger readers if read with an adult, as there are some distressing themes. Highly recommended high quality fantasy. Sui generis.

The Ice Queen

Wizardry has never seemed so seductive or so dangerous as when Patricia McKillip gives a glimpse of it, with a lesson on revenge and hatred and what they do to a person. This is probably my least favorite of her books, but that is still several notches above the average fantasy.The protagonist, Sybel, is the daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter of powerful wizards, living in an isolated house on a mountain with an array of magical animals. Among them are an ancient dragon Gyld, riddling Boar Cyrin, the deadly Ter Falcon, and others. With telepathic links to her beasts, she has no need for human beings outside the walls of her home. But the animal she still longs to find is the Liralen, a legendary white bird.She is temporarily distracted from her quest when a nobleman, Coren, arrives with a baby, and asks her to care for it. Sybel learns how to love the child, Tamlorn, and for several years they are happy (with the help of an old lady). She also summons a strange smoky creature called Blammor, which terrifies many people -- but hardly affects the calm, icy Sybel.Coren returns and is attacked by Gyld, then brought into Sybel's house by Tam. She is angered when she finds that Coren is there to bring Tamlorn back to the world of men, where his father is a powerful and cold-hearted king named Drede. As time goes by, Sybel sees that Tam wants to see his father. She eventually relents and sends him to his father's home, with Ter Falcon to watch over him. Drede offers to let her come and stay near Tam, but she knows that he would only seek to use her wizardry against his enemies.A dangerous wizard comes hunting for Sybel at Drede's bidding, and tries to seduce her -- before being killed by the Blammor. Sybel is furious and wants revenge on Drede -- but what will she do to gain revenge, and what would the cost of revenge be?I sometimes wonder if Sybel was an experiment for Patricia McKillip, to see if she could write the ultimate "Ice Queen" and still make her sympathetic. I found Sybel less sympathetic than understandable, in that her lack of unnecessary emotion makes her clear-sighted in some situations, while simultaneously making her more susceptible to hatred. She is not really an admirable character in some respects -- we see her engaging in casual theft, using people like pawns, and coldly threatening to set deadly animals on Coren, but at the same time we see her love for Tamlorn and her struggling emotions for Coren.Like so many of Patricia McKillip's books, the plot is deceptively simple with nuances woven through it. McKillip's thoughts on revenge are intertwined with the "Riddle-Master" trilogy, "Fool's Run," and "Song for the Basilisk." Here we see how hatred and its offspring, vengeance, might destroy a person from the inside out and destroy what they most care for. The writing is not as lush and luxurious as in many of her other books, nor is the magic in it as take-your-breath-away as that of the Riddle-Master trilogy. We don't

A Crystalline Fantasy

Twenty years ago I was recuperating from the flu, still too sick to read anything challenging, but too bored to reread something. My eyes lit upon The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. I had recently devoured the Riddle-Master of Hed trilogy and had been saving Forgotten Beasts for just the right moment. It was perfect. It whisked me away to a world of magical beasts and interesting people, and I have been recommending it to people ever since. However, I had not reread it until today (recuperating once again from the flu). I was delighted to find that it was still charming, and lyrical, and interesting, and complex. While reading a bit like a tale told by a bard, its people are real: they struggle with love and hate, and loyalties to friends, family and country. The magic is rare and awesome; the magical animals have both personality and power. Although classified as a Young Adult novel, I doubt there is an adult who cannot enjoy it. The writing is clear and jewel-like. As the tale weaves toward its climax, you will be surprised with the result. I had tears in my eyes when I finished. This is a beauty that has withstood the test of time and should be read by all lovers of fantasy.

Enchantress on the Mountain

For many years there has been a wizard in residence atop Eld Mountain, living in peaceful contemplation with a group of magical heraldic animals. The last one called a reluctant princess to him with a spell, just as he called the animals, and before she died of loneliness and sorrow she bore a daughter. This daughter, named Sybel, becomes the wizard-in-residence, spending her long days conversing with the wise Beasts and never missing the company of humans. One day a handsome prince brings her a child; her nephew, in danger from political maneuvering. Sybel comes to love little Tam, but as he grows he draws her into the world that she has always ignored. There is danger there; Sybel is lovely and powerful and men covet both attributes. She loves Tam enough to release him to his destiny as Prince Tamlorn; in Coren she finds not only love but acceptance into a family. But across her new life falls the shadow of hate and revenge. Sybel finds no amount of power can spare you from your own humanity. As you might suspect, many readers have treasured copies of this book for years, and I suspect Stephen R. Donaldson of being one of them. Could WHITE GOLD WIELDER or DAUGHTER OF REGALS have existed without this book? It's a seminal work, a book of wonder that has inspired and taught all its readers. On one level, a fairy tale; beneath the surface, a story of choices and ethics. If you turned your eye inward, would you like what you saw inside your mind? Even atop the loneliest mountain in the farthest land, your own humanity will seek you out one day and demand an accounting.

I searched years for this book...

My grandmother is an old Hungarian woman with a number tattood onto her arm. When I was little I spent a lot of time at her house. I have never watched much TV, it bores and annoys me for the most part. My grandmother's house smelled comforting, and the basement was full of old things, old clothes, old string and yarn and buttons and bits of fabric, and even a few old books. I'd scour her house for books to feed my addiction, I loved (and still love) the smell of old books. Once upon a time and long, long ago I found a copy of The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. It still sends shivers down my spine whenever I re-read it. I loved it, then. It was sacred to me, it shaped who I am... true books you read when very young tend to do that. And then I lost it, and grew up, and the buttons and string are old and dusty, and my grandmother's house is visited less and less often. Years later I vaguely remembered the book, recalled bits and pieces and the feeling that finding it and reading it was Most Important. I couldn't even remember the title or the author. I hunted through her house, and through mine, and could not find it. My grandmother and parents didn't know what I was talking about it. It was out of print for quite a while, I believe. I scoured all the old used bookstores of New York City, and found nothing. Until one of my many trips to Strand, when I went to the fantasy/science fiction section, and the first title to hit my eye was the right one. Absolute child-like wonder. I paid for it and took it home in a sort of daze, and read it, and it was as important and true and beautiful as I remembered. It's still the book I read quietly aloud when the real world is too... well, too real for me to deal with. The only other book this has happened to me with was The Golden Key by George MacDonald. It just took me so long to figure out which books I was half-remembering, and whether or not I had merely dreamed them. ::small smile:: I just had to share that with you. I think you might understand.

Different. Very Different

From the moment I picked this book up, I couldn't put it down. I stayed up reading it to a very late hour and, knowing I had much to do the next day and that I had to wake at an early hour, I reluctantly peeled my eyes away from the pages. The next day, every spare moment I had was spent on reading this beautiful book. I loved it. It is so full of suspense and adventure, love and wisdom. I believe that many people (adults too, for even though I am only twelve, I have read many adult books and have found them to be even less mature than this one)would find this book amazing.