The Forgotten Beasts of Eld Kindle Edition

Despite it being published over 30 years ago, I just read this sophisticated and compelling novel for the first time. It’s a coming of age story centered on an isolated heroine, Sybel, with tremendous but untested power, and while it is marketed as YA, it really is a novel that adults can enjoy and, dare I say, appreciate even more than teens.Thematically, the novel explores how and why one so powerful (and even ones not so powerful) could be used and abused to further the machinations of man. It also does not shy away from pointing out how even the best of intentions can be interpreted as abusive and does not back down from portraying a heroine capable of the very real human failing of holding others to a double standard.Against a really simple but beautiful metaphor, Sybel ultimately learns that one cannot merely survive one’s fears by staring them in the face, but also must accept them as part of herself. It’s also some of the best feminist fiction I’ve read in recent years and deals considerably (though not overtly) with the role of consent and choice as well as puts forth thoughtful ideas about captivity and free will.Anyway, it was a terrific read and if you like lyrical, nuanced prose that is complicated and poignant despite its simplicity and dialogue that is by turns delicate and unsentimental, romantic but fierce, ambiguous and direct, then this is highly recommended.

This story is disgusting. Anyone with any sense of morality or justice should be appalled.Featuring..1. A pale-skinned, white haired, virginal female protagonist so beautiful & powerful that every powerful man who sees her instantly desires her for her power and/or beauty, who...2. Uses her power to enslave the minds of intelligent, magical creatures, and to control men, but we're supposed to feel pity for her when someone attempts to do the same to her3. The man who merely refuses to take "No" for an answer (instead of attempting to revoke her free will) is framed as sympathetic, and romantic for ignoring the Ice Queen's demands to leave her alone, throwing himself at her until he "melts her heart"4. She engages in truly despicable behavior, further enslaving the minds of powerful men, and lying to the man she supposedly (somehow) now actually cares about5. She makes an absolute mess of things, then runs away from the mess. Her powerful friends clean it up for her. Only the Bad People die. Everything turns out okay in the end, everyone still loves the Supreme Ice Goddess, and she never actually has to face any ramifications for her actions whatsoever.6. So she goes back to enslaving the minds of intelligent magical beasts.There is no moral lesson. Nothing to be learned. McKillip uses verbosity & vagueness to disguise idiotic nonsense as "cryptic wisdom," while reinforcing the most toxic and oppressive stereotypes of the fantasy genre. It's trash, from cover to cover. Thumbs down, zero out of five stars, do not recommend.

Sybel is the daughter and granddaughter of wizards, and a wizard herself, continuing the family tradition of collecting strange and magical animals. She has not mixed with her neighbors much, or at all, and has no children.Then a local, lesser lord, Coren, arrives at her gate carrying a baby boy. The baby is Tamlorn, the son of her mother's younger sister, and also of King Drede.But Drede believes,with some reason it must be said, that Tamlorn is in fact the son of one of Coren's older brother, Norrell. Norrell and Rhianna are dead, killed by Drede. Coren asks her to love, protect, and raise Tamlorn.Twelve years later, Coren comes back, wanting to take Tamlorn away, to help Coren's family overthrow Drede, take revenge for Norrell's death, and place Tamlorn on the throne. Tamlorn doesn't want to go, and Sybel sends Coren away.But this makes Tamlorn curious about his father. When Drede arrives, having discovered that Tamlorn really is his son, and Rhianna and Norrell never had the chance to be alone together, Tamlorn wants to meet him. Ultimately, he decides he wants to go with Drede.This is the point from which Sybel's life truly becomes complicated.Up to this point, she has more or less replicated the lives of her father and grandfather, living in her tower, collecting and caring for her magical animals, studying magic. And raising one child. This is a point of some difference, in that Tamlorn is not a wizardling, and Sybel sought the help of a local witch woman, Maelga, which her father and grandfather never had, and they become, in effect, a family of three, rather than a family of two.But now Tamlorn is gone to become Drede's heir.And Coren and his brothers still want their revenge.They have a plan. Drede also has a plan, based on his fear of having such a powerful wizard close by, and with an interest in his heir. And Sybel is determined not to be used.When Drede pays another wizard, Mithrin, to eliminate the danger he sees in Sybel, while enabling him to keep her as his meek, contented, but still magically powerful wife, he unleashes something that will disrupt all their lives, as Sybel becomes a third party seeking revenge.In many ways I'm describing the wrong things about this book. Sybel, Coren, Tamlorn, Maelga, and even Drede are all multilayered and interesting characters. Sybel's magical animals are not just living trophies, but powerful, opinionated, and often wise. The language is beautiful and rich, but never so ornate as to be a distraction. And the three major contenders here, Sybel, Coren, and Drede, all need to confront their fears in the most literal and terrifying way possible, if they are to survive and achieve their goals.This is a wonderful book, and it's a joy to reread it after many years.I bought this audiobook.

Patricia A. McKillip is one of the best fantasy writers out there. If you haven't read this book or her Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy, you're missing out. Just brilliant lyrical writing, complex plots, so much emotion that you'll feel you've been mangled and wrung out by the time you finish. The only other authors that can wrench you this emotionally are Connie Willis and Brandon Sanderson. Absolutely brilliant and I recommend this book for anyone who loves fantasy, romance, or simply brilliant writing.

Sybel is the latest in a line of keepers of a group of fantastic beasts dwelling on Eld Mountain. She cares nothing for the outside world until the warrior Coren brings into her care a baby boy, Tamlorn. Tamlorn is the son of the king, but Sybel cares nothing for his heritage. A dozen years later, the outside world returns to intrude on their peaceful lives, and Sybel and Tamlorn must choose their fate.The Forgotten Beasts of Eld was originally published in 1974 and has since become regarded as a classic, foundational volume of modern fantasy. It mixes elements of epic fantasy - armies readying for battle, politics - with elements of fairy tales, particularly the magical beasts who live with Sybel and the way that the magic works, with sorcerers gaining power over one another through the knowledge of names and stories.McKillip's writing discipline is awesome to behold. In just 200 pages she packs in more story and more ideas than most entire trilogies. The writing is elegant and stylish for all of its tremendous pace, and the character development of Sybel, Tamlorn and Coren is superb. Particularly powerful is the discussion of the intersection of power and morality: just because you can do something does not mean you should. Sybel's grasping of how to wield great power responsibly, unlike some of her opponents who just don't care, is explored well.The superb prose and excellent pacing does sometimes come at the expense of other elements. McKillip provides just enough worldbuilding to support the story and no more; some may feel this hurts immersion, but I never saw it as a problem (and even something of a relief). The characterisation of secondary figures aside from the big three is also more limited, due to a lack of page time. King Drede is presented intriguingly as a complex antagonist with mixed motivations, but we don't really get to know him in depth.These complaints are slight. McKillip's writing is compelling, her storytelling is phenomenal and the way the book balances different elements is superb. It is unsurprising to learn that the novel won the inaugural World Fantasy Award in 1975, and has since become regarded as a classic of the genre. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (*****) is available now in the UK and USA.

Nice story, but shorter than I'd like. Might read more by author though, lovely read!

I liked it, a gentle tale but with interesting incidents. I get where people come from about child forced into grown up world. I get the animals and human contrasts. The love theme and the guardian having to let go of a young one into a potential enemy of good. A pleasant and worthwhile read. Thankyou Patricia for imagining it

Great writer

As always with Ms McKillip , beautifully written and if you enjoy that genre you will certainly like it.I still think she has never bettered the Riddle master of Head trilogy but that's a personal judgement