Fifty years ago, the soon-to-be celebrated young author Patricia A. McKillip (the Riddle-Master trilogy) penned the classic tale of an iron-willed young sorceress and her captivating menagerie. This lovely 50th anniversary hardcover special edition features new illustrations and a new introduction, as well as original cover art by an award-winning illustrator.
Sybel, the heiress of powerful wizards, needs the company of no-one outside her gates. In her exquisite stone mansion, she is attended by exotic, magical beasts: Riddle-master Cyrin the boar; the treasure-starved dragon Gyld; Gules the Lyon, tawny master of the Southern Deserts; Ter, the fiercely vengeful falcon; Moriah, feline Lady of the Night. Sybel only lacks the exquisite and mysterious Liralen, which continues to elude her most powerful enchantments.
But when a soldier bearing an infant arrives, Sybel discovers that the world of man and magic is full of both love and deceit, with the possibility of more power than she can possibly imagine.
'Rich and regal.' - The New York Times
About the Author :
Patricia A. McKillip was the beloved author of twenty-seven fantasy novels, including The Riddle-Master of Hed, Harpist in the Wind, Ombria in Shadow, Solstice Wood, and The Sorceress and the Cygnet. She received the inaugural World Fantasy Award for The Forgotten Beasts of Eld and later received the World Fantasy lifetime achievement award. She was also a three-time Mythopoeic Award winner. Her more recent works included the novel Kingfisher and the collection Dreams of Distant Shores.
Internationally bestselling author Gail Carriger's debut novel, Soulless, won the ALA's Alex Award. Her wildly popular steampunk Parasolverse contains multiple series and was also published as a graphic novel. Carriger has received the Prix Julia Verlanger, the Elbakin Award, and the Starburner Award in Literature. Her novels have been published in eighteen languages. She lives in California.
Review :
"With delicate line drawings to match the sleek, silver majesty of its prose, this fresh edition of the inaugural World Fantasy Award winner stands to be treasured by generations to come." --Foreword "[5/5 stars] If you've never read The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip, you have missed out on a beautiful classic, full of lyrical language and a powerful story. If you have read this, re-visit this classic on the 50th anniversary to see new illustrations and a gorgeous introduction by writers who fell in love with this story long ago, like I did." --The Nameless Zine
"Rich and regal." --New York Times
"Before Daenerys was Mother of Dragons, Sybel commanded beasts of all kinds. McKillip offers up a powerful character full of passion, determination, obsession, and love." --A. C. Wise, author of The Kissing Booth Girl and Other Stories
"I admit it: I have been seduced by Patricia A McKillip's The Forgotten Beasts of Eld . . . gorgeous, lyrical prose." --Guardian
"With its elegant language and lovingly rendered heroine, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld has won the love of readers young and old alike." --Reedsy, The 60 Best Fantasy Books of All Time
"Like the [Lord of the] Rings trilogy or the Earthsea books . . . This magical moonlit fantasy has dignity and romance, heart-stopping suspense, adventure, richness of concept and language and--perhaps rarest of all in romantic fantasy--a sly sense of humor." --Publishers Weekly
"This is what great literature looks like: bold, self-incisive, powerfully feminist without drawing attention to anything but the prose, the characters, and the story." --Usman T. Malik, author of The Pauper Prince and The Eucalyptus Jinn
"This is my favorite book of all time. If I had to pick a desert island book, it would be this one." --Gail Carriger, author of the Parasol Protectorate
"Rich and lyric prose." --Bruce Coville, author of the Dragon Chronicles
"A truly great, concentrated, thoughtful, vicious, exalted fantasy, and everyone should read it." --Max Gladstone, author of the Hugo Award-winning Craft Sequence series
"A stunning masterpiece of fantasy. 10/10 stars." --Fantasy Cafe
"Gorgeous, evocative, and fragile."
--Kirkus
"An extraordinary book, and McKillip deserves all the praise she received for creating such a masterful, brave, intricately crafted universe. 10/10 stars." --Starburst
"Intimate, gorgeous, quiet and deep, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld remains as resonant as ever." --Tor.com
"Wise and deep and lucid and crisp." --Antick Musings
"Fear, hope, love, hatred, and all that makes us human assume magical forms in McKillip's characteristically gorgeous prose." --E. Lily Yu, author of "The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees"
"It is delicious and wise--a true classic." --Susan Fletcher, author of Dragon's Milk
"McKillip's World Fantasy Award-winner is unquestionably a classic of the genre, and it reads as timelessly as ever in this new print and ebook edition." --Barnes & Noble, Week's New Sci-Fi & Fantasy spotlight
"Soaring prose, lyrics to songs our hearts have forgotten they knew how to sing." --Seattle Review of Books
"A remarkable work of literature." --The Royal Library
"Whether you read this magical weaving as a straight fantasy or look deeper and call it allegory, I guarantee you will fall under its spell." --Fresh Fiction
"McKillip's strange, enchanting stand-alone fantasy The Forgotten Beasts of Eld has been reissued...the writing is simply beautiful." --Washington Post
"Full of magic, wonder and fantastic creatures." --Speculative Herald
"This exquisitely written story has something for almost every reader: adventure, romance and a resonant mythology that reveals powerful truths about human nature." --Amazon
"It feels ageless, eternal, light and perfect like a star." --SF Site
"The best fantasy novel of the year and perhaps of the decade.
--Locus
"Patricia McKillip weaves an incredibly rich, poetic, wise and mystical story, holding her readers spellbound." --St. Louis Dispatch-Post
"5/5 stars. This is one of those books that can't come with enough high recommendation." --Seattle Review of Books
"Magical and with very beautiful and powerful writing." --Book Notes
