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rxh05d's review
5.0
McKillip's writing makes me feel like I'm dreaming. I'm not sure if it makes sense or if I understand everything about the universe but it reminds me of the most epic magical dreams I've had.
thejosh2099's review
4.0
This book hit all the notes I wanted it to, if not quite in the way I hoped. To be fair, I was hoping for something of the caliber of Le Guin - and that's not fair at all, because at least in my mind, that's hoping for something to match the best prose that exists in fantasy. Even so there was much about this that hearkened to the airy magic of Le Guin's Earthsea and I loved it.
It felt a little disjointed reading it, but I think that was intentional based on the nature of the plot and the narrative style. And that ending had me like O.O
It felt a little disjointed reading it, but I think that was intentional based on the nature of the plot and the narrative style. And that ending had me like O.O
gianlucafiore's review
5.0
TIL: me at 8 years old had more taste than many at 40 (or 60).
This book held the passing of time from when I first read it at the above mentioned age. It is magical, with a sense of depth that is not given by the size of the world nor by the number of characters, as in many more recent fantasy series, but by the mystery enveloping the history of the world. This pretty much puts this book in its era, mid 70s. Which is not bad at all.
It is much more well written than a lot of modern fantasy. It is far from perfect, with the main negative being the actions of Morgon being too mechanical, yet it's leaps and bounds ahead of a lot of fantasy I've been reading in my 30+ years history as a reader of the genre. A classic.
This book held the passing of time from when I first read it at the above mentioned age. It is magical, with a sense of depth that is not given by the size of the world nor by the number of characters, as in many more recent fantasy series, but by the mystery enveloping the history of the world. This pretty much puts this book in its era, mid 70s. Which is not bad at all.
It is much more well written than a lot of modern fantasy. It is far from perfect, with the main negative being the actions of Morgon being too mechanical, yet it's leaps and bounds ahead of a lot of fantasy I've been reading in my 30+ years history as a reader of the genre. A classic.
ukko's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
metaphorosis's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews
Summary:
Morgon has a crown gathering dust under his bed. And his sister is none too happy that he risked his life riddling with a ghost to get it. When the High One’s harpist turns up and tells them what else the crown means, Morgon sets out to find out who he really is.
Review:
This book is one of the things that got me interested in fantasy to begin with. There were others – Donaldson, Lewis, Vance, Zelazny – but this series was among the most accessible. I wasn’t (at the time) impressed by McKillip’s earlier work, but this book in particular made a lasting impression on me. I’ve re-read it a few times, but not visited in some decades now. I saw Ace’s omnibus volume, and thought I’d go back and see how the story has stood the test of time.
Quite well. McKillip’s introduction seems dismissive, and it’s true that the book lacks some of her usual (perhaps later) finesse. The seams are visible, and there’s a certain meandering repetition – he wakes up from dreams a lot, he decides to go home a lot. Overall, Morgon seems more anxious and neurotic than I recall, less light-hearted. But the magic still works.
The world is fascinating, but a little clumsy at times. There’s a lot of magic lying around – the Wind Plain and its ruins seem a clear fore-runner to the Bone Plain and its tower in a later book – but its all ancient, it’s origins buried in history. Most people seem normal until Morgon begins actually meeting them. Then, it seems everyone he meets is old. This ruler? 700 years old. That person? A thousand years old. Even the first time I read this I remember wondering, “No one knows what happened back then, but wait – almost everyone he meets was already alive ? That doesn’t make sense.” It doesn’t, really. The later books try to make it work, but it’s better glossed over. And the book works despite it all.
The Riddle-Master of Hed isn’t quite as perfect as I remember it, and some of McKillip’s references are a little more visible to an older eye – a pigherder turns up a lot – but it’s still a great book. I heartily recommend it to anyone who hasn’t already encountered it. This isn’t a classic to read because it’s old, but because it’s a lot of fun.
Summary:
Morgon has a crown gathering dust under his bed. And his sister is none too happy that he risked his life riddling with a ghost to get it. When the High One’s harpist turns up and tells them what else the crown means, Morgon sets out to find out who he really is.
Review:
This book is one of the things that got me interested in fantasy to begin with. There were others – Donaldson, Lewis, Vance, Zelazny – but this series was among the most accessible. I wasn’t (at the time) impressed by McKillip’s earlier work, but this book in particular made a lasting impression on me. I’ve re-read it a few times, but not visited in some decades now. I saw Ace’s omnibus volume, and thought I’d go back and see how the story has stood the test of time.
Quite well. McKillip’s introduction seems dismissive, and it’s true that the book lacks some of her usual (perhaps later) finesse. The seams are visible, and there’s a certain meandering repetition – he wakes up from dreams a lot, he decides to go home a lot. Overall, Morgon seems more anxious and neurotic than I recall, less light-hearted. But the magic still works.
The world is fascinating, but a little clumsy at times. There’s a lot of magic lying around – the Wind Plain and its ruins seem a clear fore-runner to the Bone Plain and its tower in a later book – but its all ancient, it’s origins buried in history. Most people seem normal until Morgon begins actually meeting them. Then, it seems everyone he meets is old. This ruler? 700 years old. That person? A thousand years old. Even the first time I read this I remember wondering, “No one knows what happened back then, but wait – almost everyone he meets was already alive ? That doesn’t make sense.” It doesn’t, really. The later books try to make it work, but it’s better glossed over. And the book works despite it all.
The Riddle-Master of Hed isn’t quite as perfect as I remember it, and some of McKillip’s references are a little more visible to an older eye – a pigherder turns up a lot – but it’s still a great book. I heartily recommend it to anyone who hasn’t already encountered it. This isn’t a classic to read because it’s old, but because it’s a lot of fun.
rqweaver's review
5.0
McKillip's prose is gorgeous. I get lost in the story and then have to go back a few pages to notice the words. It's worth lingering over each sentence but the rhythm of the story sends me hurtling ahead.
lyndiane's review
4.0
The truly remarkable aspect of a well-written fantasy is its ageless appeal; a half-century from now the story would have lost none of it's charm.
nobodyatall's review
2.0
I don't know whether I liked this or not. It doesn't seem to go anywhere, nothing is answered. It's one of those prophesied heros with all the skills but great reluctance things, maybe it was one of the first but I can't really be bothered. Also, I was left on a massive cliffhanger and have no great desire to read the sequel.
wishanem's review
3.0
In a way that is common in Fantasy novels, particularly in older ones, the story begun in this book does not nearly wrap up by the end. This is clearly part one of at least two, and almost certainly 3 or more books. All the way up to the last page new elements of the story are being added, with an implicit promise of development, and very little pay-off. The ending isn't entirely unsatisfying, but it really does feel like a story finally leaving the introductory phase rather than something concluding.
On the positive side, the book's protagonist has a delightful reluctance to be a hero that is rooted in a very reasonable attitude towards getting oneself killed and a pig-headed stubbornness about being led around by fate instead of making his own decisions. The book is full of surprises and many of them feel like twists, so I never knew what to expect from chapter to chapter. There's a big reveal at the end that I absolutely did not see coming, but which didn't surprise me a bit in retrospect.
On the negative, mostly nitpicking, but so very many small complaints. The pace in this book feels meandering, partly because there are mysteries layered on mysteries, and partly because the world of the book is vague and fairy-tale-ish. I didn't have a sense of the scope or scale of the regions the book took place in, and the world was neither close enough to real history or supported enough by detail to ever really give me reasonable expectations. New magic powers and sorts of magical creatures were rolled out regularly, with rare explanations, and the book's protagonist (being a roll-with-the-punches sort) mostly didn't provide much by way of reaction regardless of whether the magic was new to him or not. In the cases where he was upset by something he learned, it was more effective, but as a reader I felt like he knew a lot more than I did for the vast majority of the book. Speaking of things he knew that I didn't, the book introduces scads of characters with names and important-sounding titles or details, but rarely takes the time to give them more than a sketch of description or characterization. I couldn't track which of the 200 or so named characters would come up again, and thus needed to be remembered, and which were one-offs who could be safely forgotten.
I think a TV or movie adaptation of this book would probably be better than the source material, because almost all of the weaknesses of this story would be shored up by having a visual medium and a decent musical score.
On the positive side, the book's protagonist has a delightful reluctance to be a hero that is rooted in a very reasonable attitude towards getting oneself killed and a pig-headed stubbornness about being led around by fate instead of making his own decisions. The book is full of surprises and many of them feel like twists, so I never knew what to expect from chapter to chapter. There's a big reveal at the end that I absolutely did not see coming, but which didn't surprise me a bit in retrospect.
On the negative, mostly nitpicking, but so very many small complaints. The pace in this book feels meandering, partly because there are mysteries layered on mysteries, and partly because the world of the book is vague and fairy-tale-ish. I didn't have a sense of the scope or scale of the regions the book took place in, and the world was neither close enough to real history or supported enough by detail to ever really give me reasonable expectations. New magic powers and sorts of magical creatures were rolled out regularly, with rare explanations, and the book's protagonist (being a roll-with-the-punches sort) mostly didn't provide much by way of reaction regardless of whether the magic was new to him or not. In the cases where he was upset by something he learned, it was more effective, but as a reader I felt like he knew a lot more than I did for the vast majority of the book. Speaking of things he knew that I didn't, the book introduces scads of characters with names and important-sounding titles or details, but rarely takes the time to give them more than a sketch of description or characterization. I couldn't track which of the 200 or so named characters would come up again, and thus needed to be remembered, and which were one-offs who could be safely forgotten.
I think a TV or movie adaptation of this book would probably be better than the source material, because almost all of the weaknesses of this story would be shored up by having a visual medium and a decent musical score.