The SF Site: Featured Reviews Archive

The reviews are sorted alphabetically by authors' last name -- one or more pages for each letter (plus one for Mc). All but some recent reviews are listed here. Links to those reviews appear on the Recent Feature Review Page.

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The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
reviewed by Alma A. Hromic
There is a sense of antiquity about this book -- not that of a dusty obsolescence nor a sliding into oblivion. On the contrary, this is one of those shining complex things that our ancestors seemed to find it easy to do and that we have somehow forgotten in the rush and spin of our modern days -- this has the feel to it of a tale that has come down from some ancient dawn, a day long gone, but it is bright with the ancient magic and it feels ageless, eternal, light and perfect like a star.

Ombria in Shadow by Patricia A. McKillip
reviewed by Margo MacDonald
The plot leads you on a swift-moving journey through a maze of truth, loss, secrets, bravery, temptation, obsession, magic, and, ultimately, love. The king dies, his mistress is cast out, the prince is just a boy and at the mercy of an evil woman and sorceries of all kinds. Those who love him seek to save him, while those whose purposes are woven through with much greater ambition, care not who is destroyed as they move towards their goals.

The Tower at Stony Wood by Patricia A. McKillip
reviewed by Margo MacDonald
This is a tricky sort of book. It reads like dreaming, with images and elements sometimes blending together, sometimes pulling apart. There are moments when everything is clear, and moments when you realize you have not understood what exactly has just happened. It starts traditionally enough, when a renowned knight, Sir Cyan Dag, is given a dark warning by a far-seeing bard that the new queen is not what she appears -- namely human.

Riddle-Master: The Complete Trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip
reviewed by Lela Olszewski
McKillip writes in a poetic style that makes her books a delight to read and re-read. And that's only one reason to pick up this reprint of her classic trilogy about a student of magic in a world where wizardry is a dying art.

Song for the Basilisk by Patricia McKillip
reviewed by Victoria Strauss
It is demanding reading. Yet such is the beauty of the writing, the vividness of the images, the truth of the emotions, and the strength of the characterizations, that it's possible to read this book for these things alone, without dipping more deeply into the complex web of symbol and allusion that lies beneath the fairy-tale surface.

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