Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by quail
Song for the Basilisk by Patricia A. McKillip
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
r/fantasy bingo 2024-25: Entitled Animals
Hard Mode: The animal in the title is a fantasy or sci-fi creature. (DONE)
Another classic (ish) fantasy book, and this one wasn't what I expected at all tbh! It was really flowery-written in a way which was pretty, but also often obscured the meaning of the words so I found it a bit hard to follow at times. The world-building was interesting but as vague as the magic system, which while it was kinda compelling, made it a bit frustrating for me because a) it was hard to follow what the fuck was happening!!, and b) the potential was there but it fell a bit short for me. I love interesting magic systems, but I also love understanding what I'm reading haha. It was basically a revenge story about a kid whose entire house was killed by the Basilisk, but it's just the nickname of a high house and not an actual basilisk, boo. Idk, it was okay! Compelling enough that I finished it cos I wanted to see what happened. Also one of the places was called Luly which I loved, cos that's my nickname for my cat Lula haha.
Hard Mode: The animal in the title is a fantasy or sci-fi creature. (DONE)
Another classic (ish) fantasy book, and this one wasn't what I expected at all tbh! It was really flowery-written in a way which was pretty, but also often obscured the meaning of the words so I found it a bit hard to follow at times. The world-building was interesting but as vague as the magic system, which while it was kinda compelling, made it a bit frustrating for me because a) it was hard to follow what the fuck was happening!!, and b) the potential was there but it fell a bit short for me. I love interesting magic systems, but I also love understanding what I'm reading haha. It was basically a revenge story about a kid whose entire house was killed by the Basilisk, but it's just the nickname of a high house and not an actual basilisk, boo. Idk, it was okay! Compelling enough that I finished it cos I wanted to see what happened. Also one of the places was called Luly which I loved, cos that's my nickname for my cat Lula haha.