Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Dec 17, 2009

Jessica rated it:

I chose this book for one reason ... on the back cover, there was a review which read: "Patricia McKillip has done something extraordinary, to write a trilogy comparable to Tolkien." I was sold. Obviously as a writer myself, who is an heir to that honor-ridden, legacy-laced, return-of-the-king obsessed writing culture, I needed to know what a book looked like that COULD be compared to Tolkien ... if for no other reason. What I found floored me.

Patricia McKillip is a mas More...

0 comments like (11 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

erin rated it:

"Weak" story??? "Shallow world-building and characters"????? What on earth?! I would say exactly the opposite. Compared to most of the shallow, sloppy fantasies that are being cranked out these days, this trilogy is absolutely singular in terms of story, world-building, and character development. This is one I come back to--it never disappoints. It was written in the 70s, and while McKillip admits being influenced by Tolkien, she succeeds in creating a unique, complex, and me More...

3 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jan 06, 2011

Kat rated it:

There are some fantasy epics that all literature professors, and most normal people, would consider essential reading for any well-educated person -- J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S.Lewis, Lewis Carroll, etc. So, yeah, I read those a long time ago. But beyond that, there's not much fantasy literature that's essential reading. So, for a long time, I didn't read any. In my drive to be educated, I stuck to the classics (which are classic because they're great literature, usually). But one day, maybe 15 years a More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 08, 2008

Erfan rated it:

As with other books I will slowly add here, this is one I think the world of, particularly this one and for its love story which moved me to the depths but I will mislead by that comment - the love between two people I refer to is not romantic in the conventional sense. There is one of those, done and done well, with a wonderful female character who is strong and practical in her own right. I should not even have to say that, should I?!
But this other relationship takes the whole trilogy to More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 19, 2012

Lumi rated it:

Ugh. It pains me to give a fantasy book zero-stars, because fantasy is one of my favourite genres and I usually find something to like in a fantasy book even if I didn't think it was that great.

But I can't remember liking anything about The Riddle-Master. I found the writing obscure and difficult to get into, none of the characters were especially appealing and it seemed to me the plot just dragged on and on without going anywhere exciting. I'd give more details but I read this awhil More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 22, 2008

Hayley rated it:

The trilogy gets more stars than the main character has on his face.

I was generous, even though it has its flaws. Here is why:

The way McKillip's "magic" system works is so utterly unique that I dare not compare it to anything. Magic is the innate qualities of a thing. You understand the thing completely and you are magically connected to it, able to be it or to use it against others. People are fooled by illusions that are simply the augmentation of a thin More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 08, 2007

Chieze rated it:

When I picked up this book, the only fantasy I had read for a long time were of the large, serial variety (Robert Jordan, George R. R. Martin). I gotta say, this was quite the breath of fresh air.

The characters are all likable, the plot and pacing were perfect, and even though this is only one book (it's a trilogy, but the size of it is about the size of one volume of A Song of Ice and Fire, so I think of it as one book), the world is very immersive. The sense of urgency as the hero More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 12, 2009

Aimee rated it:

It's like someone started with Lloyd Alexander's Prydain, expanded it, threw in a pinch of Cecilia Dart Thornton's - something - and then it echoes of Lord of the Rings and it reads for all the world like a Kinuko Craft painting!
It's told in a dreamlike, legend-like quality, as if the author is a bard spinning the whole, beautiful tale and not someone who expects you to live the story quite alongside the characters - except where it drops, fairly frequently, into detail of startling, beauti More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 31, 2007

Dawn rated it:

This is the first book I read by Patricia McKillip. I was looking for a good fantasy author and she was touted as "the best fantasy author you're probably not reading." I was understandably curious.

I enjoyed the story of Morgon, the Riddlemaster and Prince of Hed as he leaves his idyllic farmstead and embarks on a journey to fulfill a destiny already mapped out centuries before he was born. Morgon's internal conflict is highly engaging and I didn't hesitate to pick up Book More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 09, 2011

Kathy rated it:

A trilogy, all in one – The Riddle-Master of Hed; Heir of Sea and Fire; harpist in the Wind.
The context is a variety of kingdoms in the Realm of the High One, in which the land law is the magic most supreme – binding the king/queen to the land so that they feel the birth of each animal, the grass growing, the corn seed growing, and each has a land-heir, the brother, son, daughter that will inherit the magic at their death – and the land law was deemed at the Settlement, following a terribl More...

0 comments like

Dec 27, 2010

Christian rated it:

I bought and read this book on the recommendation of several family members who had read the original books when they were first published (and when they were much younger readers).

Compared with the other fantasy novels that I've read, this is among my least favorite for the following reasons:
Lack of background on the world
Lack of depth to the characters
Lack of conflict and plot
Poor dialog & formatting

The story was mildly interesting, but has b More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 20, 2010

Sophia rated it:

I bought and read most of this collection in 2004, and then stopped reading near the end because I felt like it was getting repetitive and the story was slow to wrap up. After reading McKillip's latest, The Bards of Bone Plain this month, though, the similar themes made me want to pick it up again. It's still over-long (especially that last book) and wanders a bit, but the fantasy land and the system of magic she created are great, and so is the supporting cast of characters. A lot of things abo More...

0 comments like

Sep 08, 2010

Kathy rated it:

I enjoyed this the second time around-a second time based on a friend's recommendation. A kind of Lord-of-the-Rings lite. I've never [yet] come across a similar underlying purpose/ability?? as used in this trilogy.

The first time I read it:
I began this story with high hopes—its introduction mentioned the author’s influence by Tolkien. McKillip has an interesting premise that really needs to be better developed. Even though she spent 12 years creating this trilogy, she need More...

0 comments like

Aug 23, 2010

Jessica rated it:

I grabbed a copy of this book to read on a plane to Ireland. The plane landed when I had finished all but one chapter, and I ran to the baggage claim to sit down and finish it.

The story was compelling, the writing was exquisite, and McKillip manages the nearly impossible -- in writing about emotions and experiences that are impossible to put into words, she suggests them so well that the reader is able to feel them. It made me choke up in a number of places, even cry in a few, and th More...

0 comments like

Jan 13, 2010

Maureen rated it:

by Patricia McKillip

I linked to a full-sized cover for this one out of habit, but believe me, you don't want to click on it. It is terrible. TERRIBLE.

Which is a pity, because I really like this trilogy. It's McKillip's, for lack of a better term, 'questy' set. Lord of the Rings, Crown of Dalemark--hero sets out on adventure unwittingly, etc, etc. But McKillip works well with the conventions of her genre and ultimately I think that Riddle of Stars stands up as More...

0 comments like

Feb 02, 2009

Jenna rated it:

This is simply a beautiful book. The writing is beautiful - poetic but purposeful. The plot is beautiful - simple, but layered enough to warrant re-reading. The characters are beautiful - neither heroes nor mundane, and straightforward but with layers of complexity. The worldbuilding is beautiful - it never really gets in the way of the story, and while the world is fairly small, it carries a sense of wholeness.

It's a little more concrete than many of McKillip's other books, which t More...

0 comments like

Sep 22, 2009

Patrick rated it:

Poetic, Masterful Fantasy

Riddle-Master is an omnibus collection of McKillip's wondrous Riddle-Master trilogy (The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir to Sea and Fire, and Harpist in the Wind), and is an absolute must-read for lovers of fantasy who enjoy works of whimsy, poetry, and the absolute fantastic, as opposed to the grand, formulaic schemes of epic fantasy.

Don't get me wrong, Riddle-Master is epic, but there are no galloping heroes, storming armies, or political intri More...

0 comments like

Aug 01, 2010

Glenn rated it:

This is my all time favorite series. Even though it is older than most it just brings me to tears every time I read it. The hero is so likable, so everyman, that he is easy to identify with, and Raderle, his love interest is so strong, so independent, the entire second book centers on her! This is over thirty-four years ago! The trilogy makes use of a number of themes from Celtic mythology.The novels take place in a fantasy world divided into a number of countries. Each ruler has a mystical awar More...

0 comments like

Oct 02, 2009

Beth A. rated it:

I really, really wanted to love this book. The author was highly recommended, I loved Alphabet of Thorn, and it sounded like it had a cool premise. But the pace was so slow, I didn’t have a lot of time to read, and when I tried to sneak a little reading in before bed I would fall asleep within a few pages. So this Trilogy, which really reads more like a really long book, felt like it took forever to read. It did have some cool ideas, and some interesting plot developments in the last about 100 p More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jun 04, 2007

HT rated it:

A very different fantasy, and very readable. The world she developed has a unique culture, the story line has a tempo that varies (not all rush, rush, rush - some fast paced, some more moderate), interesting take on heirs to kingdoms, and quite a few twists, turns and revelations that kept me enthralled. Also very re-readable.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 14, 2007

Celeste rated it:

Patricia McKillip is a master story-teller. She has a unique way of building a world that has depth and substance. Reading this book feels like you are getting a glimpse of a place with both a history and a future. There is nothing flat or predictable about her writing. The ending will surprise and touch you.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 04, 2011

Mti Librarian rated it:

I received a copy of this book as a Christmas gift in 1999 and, I'll be honest, didn't like it right away. I had several false starts and trouble getting through the first chapter, but once I got to about page 30 I was hooked and couldn't put it down. I was also a bit put off by McKillip's introduction. She almost seems to come down hard on the young idealistic author that she used to be and not give the book enough credit. She says that she was inspired by the Lord of the Rings trilogy and More...

0 comments like

Mar 04, 2009

Glenn rated it:

Riddle-Master is an avowedly Tolkienian work. It starts with the standard map of the realm. It takes place in a vaguely medieval world of kings and farmers and wizards and such. The hero comes from a quiet, idyllic, rural place, set aside from the wider world of swords and sorcery. The tropes of western folktales abound, including the hero with a hidden destiny, magical objects, shape-changers, and of course lots of traveling on that map from page one.

This is an omnibus edition More...

0 comments like

Aug 25, 2010

Danny rated it:

While McKillip's prosaic writing is masterful, it also makes the book very difficult to read. I found myself screaming, "just get on with it!". While the most interesting characters were never fully developed, the title character was overdeveloped and unlikeable. I grew weary of the constant whining over his destiny, remorse for things he did, or expostulating on everything from life mysteries to romantic endeavors. She wanted to create a Tolkein-like world, but ended up with only t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 22, 2009

Ryan rated it:

Early fantasy from one of my new favorite authors. This trilogy, though, is more straightforward fantasy than the ethreal, complex tales she weaves later. A land of many kingdoms is guarded/ruled by a god some think is no longer there. The wizards were wiped out ages ago by an evil wizard, and Riddle Masters are the scholars. On the samll island kingdom of Hed, the oldest of three orphaned children--heirs to the leadership--takes a dare on an age old riddle in order to obtain a crown and th More...

0 comments like

Sep 27, 2007

Judith rated it:

another of those books i periodically re-read twenty years later...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 11, 2011

Carlos rated it:

I had high hopes for this book. I must say it didn't let me down but it also wasn't at the level i expected.

The world is very good. Some characters are awesome like Raederle, Dadan or the Wolf-king, but the main character wasn't, in my view, up to the task. Sometimes you'll end up not feeling for the character or finding strange that all others give him so much importance without any real motive. To sum it up, he simply lacks charisma.

Since this book is a trilogy, if i had to More...

0 comments like

Aug 06, 2009

Gabby rated it:

Overall I liked it. However, while the language she uses to write is poetic and beautiful, sometimes it was hard to get past it to read the story. Also, there are quite a few instances where the character "realizes" something, but the reader doesn't get in on the joke -- which is odd because we get to see inside the character's mind a lot. The second book was from a different perspective, so that threw me off, and the third one had some chapters very akin to battle scenes that I tend t More...

0 comments like

Dec 16, 2009

Missy rated it:

Still one of the most beautifully written books I've read.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 24, 2010

Kristina rated it:

I've read this trilogy (in its separate books, the originals from the 70s) many, many times. I bought this trilogy edition and read it and this time it didn't hold up as well as it has in the past. I was slightly impatient with the books' slow pacing (particularly the last book) and eager to finish it. Overall, though, this is an excellent trilogy for kids or adults who like fantasies with depth and intelligence. The story is intriguing and the characters are interesting. For some reason I can n More...

0 comments like

reviews