A grand slam finish. I know remember what I loved about the Riddle-Master of Hed stories. Patricia has a finesse for fantasy and fiction that is awe inspiring. At every tale of fantasy, every fable, you can tell when the end is near. The same hooks and resolutions, it becomes a familiar cadence that Patricia defies. At many points I thought, there are extra pages in the book the pace tells me I'm coming to an ending. But Patricia says, not yet.
A tale in and of it itself is a wizard haunted by a terrible battle so powerful he has shared the tale with no one. Not the scribe who is magically drawn to his memoirs, or his er-apprentice. Seperate, could be a prince mourning his wife and child in the house of his father. Seperate, could be the princess of the wizard's land to be married to the grieving prince she doesn't know. Seperate, the Baba-Yaga like creature preying upon the woods and forests of the prince's country. Seperate, how the prince chases off after the firebird. But it is all here, In the Forests of Serre.
Where this story goes is beyond belief. I used to think that authors like Mercedes Lackey, Carol Berg, Kristen Britain were the height of fantasy story weaving. I had put McKillip on the side since I had only read the Riddle-Master trilogy. How can someone base an entire opinion upon just one series? You can get a good idea, and originality is a huge part of what my standards go by. I like Lackey for how she challenges the point of view on concepts I take for granted. That is what she is skilled and I love her for it. Carol Berg has a whole new idea in her Ezzarian demon hunters. She takes plunges and spins the tools of tale craft like a rollercoaster. Britain is simply taking the development of Karrigan into a brave heroine beyond ranger, scout, harper that defines character. McKillip is all this and so much more- she's my favorite and I can't wait to read Alphabet of Thorn.
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