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The Book of Atrix Wolfe

3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 · rating details · 1,898 ratings · 106 reviews

Twenty years ago, the powerful mage Atrix Wolfe unleashed an uncontrollable force that killed his beloved king. Now, the Queen of the Wood has offered him one last chance for redemption. She asks him to find her daughter, who vanished into the human world during the massacre he caused. No one has seen the princess-but deep in the kitchens of the Castle of Pelucir, there is...more

Paperback, 247 pages

Published September 1st 1996 by Ace (first published 1995)

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Sep 02, 2009 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, fantasy-sci-fi, in-by-of-the-americas, fey

Whenever someone tells me that fantasy novels are incapable of handling deeper, intellectual topics, I counter with this book. Sure, fantasy books take on lots of hot-button topics, often better than novels based in real life. I can usually get people to concede that quickly. The argument is usually about the subtle ideas.

This book is about language: its use, its power, and what happens to people when they do not have it. It is also about learning the language of things, such as flames in the fi...more

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Apr 20, 2008 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's the secret fantasy book for foodies. The plotline has the fairy queen's daughter, Saro, lost within the real world of men and mages. But the best part is that Saro's lost as the pot scrubber in the palace kitchen. Every chapter, huge banquets are constructed and served with musical fanfares. Meringues in the shapes of swans with currant eyes, pot pies with hunting scenes baked into the crust, opulent meals gone cold when crisis hits, then re-purposed into sandwiches for the departing warrio...more

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Jan 08, 2009 Joe rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is extraordinarily well written fantasy. Patricia A. McKillip is really the unsung hero of American high fantasy. I am here to tell you to forget the HELL out of most other high fantasy authors (especially Mercedes Lackey, Melanie Rawn, and Terry Goodkind) because Patricia A. McKillip just writes the shit out of them.

She is so concise and eloquent and purely otherworldly I would hesitate to put her even in the same league as most fantasy authors. She is definitely in the same class as Tolki...more

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Jun 15, 2010 Katherine rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, fantasy

I've read McKillip's work before and loved it, this I did not love. The first clue that this was not going to be another love-fest for me was the strange phrasing and odd over-use of the comma. Annoying. If the plotline had not been so compelling I would never have kept reading (okay, I'll admit it, sometimes skimming), not when my strongest impulse was to discard it. Ha, what I really wanted to do was throw it at the wall. Hard.

I could see what McKillip was trying to accomplish and how challeng...more

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Jun 06, 2007 Mary-Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction

This is my favourite book by McKillip, probably because the element of mystery that she always infuses her fantasy with is so strong here. The young woman Saro is a dishwasher in the castle kitchens who is under an enchantment. The kingdom is harassed by a frightening antlered enchanter. The prince discovers a spell book whose words mean something other than what they say. As usual, the author uses her beautiful and evocative style of writing to weave a spell on the reader much like the enchantm...more

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Nov 02, 2012 Angie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: belovedbookshelf

Originally reviewed here @ Angieville.

It was my friends at Readerville who convinced me to give Patricia McKillip a try. This I remember very clearly. I'd never read any of McKillip's books, though I'd run across them plenty of times what with her books being shelved right next to Robin McKinley's on all the shelves ever. And then there was the matter of her covers. Somewhere along the line, they paired her up with Kinuko Craft and decided it was a match made in heaven. For the most part, I thin...more Originally reviewed here @ Angieville.

It was my friends at Readerville who convinced me to give Patricia McKillip a try. This I remember very clearly. I'd never read any of McKillip's books, though I'd run across them plenty of times what with her books being shelved right next to Robin McKinley's on all the shelves ever. And then there was the matter of her covers. Somewhere along the line, they paired her up with Kinuko Craft and decided it was a match made in heaven. For the most part, I think it is. Craft's luscious, romantic dreaminess blends perfectly with McKillip's sort of stream of consciousness fantasy. Occasionally, I long for something a bit more solid and grounded on one of her covers. But they do fit the bill in the What You See is What You Get department. I started off with The Riddlemaster trilogy and was instantly enamored. Where had this writer been all my life? I loved Morgan of Hed with the three stars on his forehead and the High One's Harper at his side. I could not get enough of that trilogy and still wander into my library from time to time to stroke the pretty omnibus edition I own. Utterly epic in scope, the Riddlemaster books set the bar high. And while I was a bit surprised to find her standalone volumes somewhat quieter affairs, I was no less impressed with the writing and reach. The second book of hers I read was this one. THE BOOK OF ATRIX WOLFE.

Sorrow is a word that means nothing until it means everything.

In a world where the mortal and the magical exist side by side, a young mage killed his king. Desolate from what he'd done, Atrix Wolfe retreats to the woods. Living as a wolf, he hides from the horror of what he wrought. But the Queen of the Wood is not about to let him disappear completely. Not until he performs a task for her. Find her daughter who disappeared into the world of men at the same time as the massacre. Meanwhile, in that very world of men, a kingdom is at war. Terrorized by a horned Hunter, the beleaguered land of Pelucir struggles to survive. Until their orphaned prince Tallis unearths a book without a name. A book whose spells do not always mean what they seem. And behind it all, a girl named Saro scrubs pots in the kitchen below the castle. They called her Saro because she cannot speak. Because her eyes are full of sadness and she has no words to tell them where she came from. But Saro hears everything that goes on in the castle as the swirling parade of rich foods and savory concoctions make their way from her domain up to the feasting tables above. And her part to play in the raging conflict between mages and armies, between mortal and immortal, will not be a small one.

There are no simple words. I don't know why I thought I could hide anything behind language.

THE BOOK OF ATRIX WOLFE is one of Ms. McKillip's headiest designs. From the decadent descriptions of castle cuisine to the throbbing lyric of losing your voice and finding it once more, I was buffeted about by beauty. I may be something of a sucker for books titled after an actual book within the book, if you follow me. Ever since The Book of Three and The Neverending Story. Which is probably what prompted me to pick this one up after The Riddlemaster to begin with. What landed it on my keeper shelf its layers upon layers of meaning. A book about a book. Beautiful words used to explore the value and power of language itself. The spiderweb of horrific events that creep out from one moment of impossible hubris. It doesn't hurt that there are living trees and shapechangers and medieval mythology galore. But it's the tapestry of words, in the end.

Someone living, he realised early, who had not been scarred by the siege or haunted by memory, was valuable to the storytellers. Having no memories of his own, he became their receptacle for memory, and, with his untroubled past, for hope.

Being a living receptacle for memory and hope. That is imagery worth your while. McKillip books are always worth your while. But this one is special. I hope that you read it one day, not only because the words are wondrous and the magic is tangible, but because reading it is like falling into a bed of soft linen and waking the next day to find you've dreamed, oh, the most beautiful dream. (less)

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Dec 21, 2011 Biblibio rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 20th-century, fantasy

Patricia McKillip is a fine writer. Writing in a manner that is both concise and elegant, McKillip succeeds in telling a thought-provoking, surprising and all-around lovely story within the confines of a very small book. Furthermore, she does all this without entirely forsaking character development and world building.

The Book of Atrix Wolfe is not at all what I expected. McKillip is the kind of author I generally associate with gentle fantasy. Though her books have heavy and world-relevant them...more

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Nov 05, 2011 Rita rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: genre-fantasy

I wanted to like this book, and I tried so hard to, but I just couldn't. It's not bad: I'd call it good, actually. If it had been written by anyone else, I'd give it three stars. But I expect more of McKillip, who usually doesn't waste words.

The Book of Atrix Wolfe has a great premise: a powerful mage must deal with the consequences of his hubris. It's thematically complex, which is rare for high fantasy novels. I love what it says about conflict: that you cannot give into your weaker nature; th...more I wanted to like this book, and I tried so hard to, but I just couldn't. It's not bad: I'd call it good, actually. If it had been written by anyone else, I'd give it three stars. But I expect more of McKillip, who usually doesn't waste words.

The Book of Atrix Wolfe has a great premise: a powerful mage must deal with the consequences of his hubris. It's thematically complex, which is rare for high fantasy novels. I love what it says about conflict: that you cannot give into your weaker nature; that the ends don't justify the means; that if you fight death with death you end up with an endless cycle of revenge, and the innocent will suffer. That instead of running from what you fear or regret you must name it, acknowledge it, and speak of it in order to gain control. Some of the sentences are precise, insightful, and quotable: "Someone living, he realised early, who had not been scarred by the siege or haunted by memory, was valuable to the storytellers. Having no memories of his own, he became their receptacle for memory, and, with his untroubled past, for hope."

The final chapters, where all of the themes started to come together, were pretty fucking great. The book says what it means to say eloquently. It just … says it over and over and over again.

I found Saro's chapters particularly tedious: they mostly involve endless descriptions of food (which just makes me hungry and mad) and the servants' overheard conversations about the goings-on at the palace (which rehashes the narrative events without moving the plot forward at all). I don't see why McKillip devoted so many pages to any of it. I also can't understand why she chose the write the prologue the way she did: it spells out the major events motivating the plot, so clearly that you can trace each plot thread to its logical conclusion -- which ruins any narrative tension the novel might have had.

Oh, and there's also the problem of Atrix Wolfe, who just needs to grow the fuck up.

Not really recommended. Read something else by McKillip instead.(less)

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Jan 10, 2011 Douglas rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-recent

Recommended.

Not as good as Alphabet of Thorne, one of this story's chief charms are the long and detailed descriptions of food, as a major kingdom's kitchen is one of the key set pieces.

There's plenty of inventive fantasy here, dramatic moments, chases, dreamy sequences that don't annoy me (that's unusual), and characters that evoke empathy very successfully.

The chief fault of the story is that not much seems to ever happen or matter. It is as if the entire plot occurs in the first chapter (w...more

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Aug 25, 2010 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: patricia-mckillip

Not one of my favorites by McKillip, but not bad either.

I did not feel very attached to the characters for some reason. The characters felt somewhat detached and not fully fleshed-out, almost like characters in a fairy tale. Maybe this was intentional?

The ending left me a bit annoyed simply because the romance felt like it was tacked on at the last minute and without much thought. The male romantic interest annoyed me too. I mean, at first it seems like he has a connection with one person. Then...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Moreth rated it 4 of 5 stars

A book that pays re-reading. As an avid re-reader, that certainly earns an extra star from me. The language works better when I'm not devouring the story-line on the first read, and I very much enjoyed the detailed description of kitchen life in a great castle. (This has to be one of the few fantasy novels that makes me want to go and cook - or just wash the pans from the last time!)
The central theme "Great man makes a mistake - spends years hiding from said mistake - eventually realises he must...more

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Jun 23, 2011 Jen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I read this some years ago so the story line isn't fresh in my mind. However, the book made a huge impression on me. As with all of McKillip's books, it is full of enchantment, mystery and beautiful language. The story is about struggling for perception and understanding, it's about language and finding a voice. It's also about the destructiveness of war (intentional and unintentional). There are two stories going on, that of a young scholar prince and that of a mystical young lady yanked away f...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 12, 2011 Neill Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars

Atrix Wolfe is a powerful mage. In order to end a battle between Pelucir and Kardeth and to protect his home of Chaumenard he conjures a warrior, the Hunter. The Hunter takes energy not only from Atrix Wolfe but also from the consort and daughter of the Queen of the Wood. This being grows outside of Atrix Wolfe's power and causes him to hide and twist his magic. An apprentice mage discovers Atrix Wolfe's magic book and is drawn into the conflict. The interplay between the different worlds of mag...more

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Dec 07, 2012 Margaret rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is my first Patricia Mckillip novel and I was amazed by her writing. One of the most lyrical and elegantly written fantasy novels I've read. I would easily compare her to Ursula le Guin in terms of both depth of ideas and lyricism of writing. The Book of Atrix Wolfe centers around; a young magician and prince, whose country is haunted by a battle that took both the prince's father and mother; a child named Saro who no longer remembers her past; and a mage--Atrix Wolfe--who is haunted by reg...more

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Nov 08, 2009 Rebecka rated it 4 of 5 stars

As usual, brilliant writing from a fellow Oregonian. This book is a bit disjointed in parts, but that could be because I "lost" the book for a a week or two and it took some time to get back to it once I "found" it again. A wizard calls up a powerful evil to stop a war, that he then can't stop. Was the decision the right one? What is just in war? How do you call evil back once you have introduced it to the universe? What does evil do to those who carry it? What do YOU think? Read the book for in...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Susana rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: patricia-a-mckillip, 2012

I found this too be a bitter sweet story. This is the story of Atrix Wolfe, a mage from Chaumenard. Atrix is a powerful mage, who lives amongst wolfes. And then he starts having dreams. Dreams that make him go to the realm of Pellucir. There he finds the castle of Pellucir under siege by the ruler of Kardeth. Everywhere he looks he sees devastion. Death, famine, scavengers surrounds the kingdom. Atrix asks the ruler of Kardeth to leave that foolish quest, before everyone, in the houses of Pelluc...more I found this too be a bitter sweet story. This is the story of Atrix Wolfe, a mage from Chaumenard. Atrix is a powerful mage, who lives amongst wolfes. And then he starts having dreams. Dreams that make him go to the realm of Pellucir. There he finds the castle of Pellucir under siege by the ruler of Kardeth. Everywhere he looks he sees devastion. Death, famine, scavengers surrounds the kingdom. Atrix asks the ruler of Kardeth to leave that foolish quest, before everyone, in the houses of Pellucir and Karedeth, dies,from the cold, from the winter, from the hunger. Kardeth refuses, and tells Atrix that if he doesn't help them againt Pellucir, his land, Chaumenard will be next.
Now Atrix as a mage, cannot intervene, but facing such devastion, he creates a hunter, to frighten both armies and make them stop the war against each other. He creates a hunter out of death, to destroy death.
In a green wood on a hill, the Queen of the Wood watches her consort Illium, and their child Sora. Illium has a little of human in his blood, and so does Sora. On the night that Atrix Wolfe creates the Hunter they stop listening to the words of a Wolf. And being so close, and the magic of Atrix so strong, that the barriers between wolds colapse, Illium is transformed into the hunter, a being of legends and terror, and Sora disappears. And the queen cannot find her.
The hunter kills almost everyone in a bloodshed. Strong as Illium was, he has now the power of Atrix, and no one can stop him.
In the night when the King of Pellucir, and his queen die, their youngest son is born. And a little girl appears by the side of the chopped wood. She is named Sora, like the author says " someone Sorrow". And the prince is Tallis.
Twenty years latter, Tallis finds a book, an unamed book, and takes him with him to Pellucir. The book contains strange spells, on which the words dont signify what they should mean. The hunter listens to them, and once again appears. So once again Atrix is forced to make an appearance in Pellucir. Faced to telling what really happened that night, and who really created the Hunter. Atrix will have to protect the prince, and come face to face with his worst mistake.
Patricia A. Mckillip writing is like an never ending melody of perfection. She creates the most lyrical scenes that i've ever read in my life. In truth, i think, she most be the finest writer that exists.(less)

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Jan 23, 2013 Denyse Loeb rated it 5 of 5 stars

Atrix Wolfe, the greatest known mage in the world, released his magic 20 years ago and the world, both real and fey, is still paying for that one terrible night when he ignored the rules that guide mages and their power. A queen has lost her consort and daughter, an evil has been released, and a princeling mage has a book once hidden. Past and present, the real and the magical, and all these elements come together as the characters try to save and find the balance once again in their world.

Impre...more

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Feb 05, 2009 Ryan Mishap rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: novel, young-adult-fantasy

The titular wizard hides in wolf form from the mistake he made in the past: attempting to end a bloody and disastrous war, he called up a larger monstrosity. In doing so, he affected the land he was trying to protect and also faerie, where the Queen loses her consort and her daughter is taken into the world of humans.
The prince/king’s brother is learning to be a wizard and his path will soon cross the orphan girl’s who works in the royal kitchen. Redemption, hierarchies, choices, and more mak...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Claire rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This has all the lush and rich language that you expect out of a McKillip book and then some! Even though the page count is not high, it is a dense book to get through. I enjoyed jumping between different characters for the most part, but at times it was hard to follow the action. I think if the book was longer, the descriptions of people and events wouldn't have to be so dense and packed with meaning and we would get to see a little more of the supporting cast like Burne and Hedrix. But then it...more

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Sep 09, 2009 Roxanne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

A good solid fantasy novel. The only thing I didn't like about it was the synopsis on the cover flap, which must have been describing some other book: it got details wrong, didn't mention one of the three major characters, and sets the reader up for a romance plot that isn't actually in the book. However, everything that McKillip herself wrote was really good. I'm always intrigued by how McKillip weaves the importance of words into her stories.

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Apr 09, 2008 Xeyra rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2006, fantasy

I cannot say this one was one of my favourites by this author. I confess that it really didn't grab me much at the beginning and there were times when, during the reading, I became confused. McKillip's writing is beautiful but her metaphors and her symbolism and her flowery dialogue and descriptions in this book would occasionally confuse me and I got lost.

This does not mean I didn't like the book, though, because after a while I started immersing myself in the story, started feeling for the cha...more

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Apr 27, 2010 Jonathan rated it 4 of 5 stars

In which yet another King/major male character has a mistress, this being such a recurrent theme in her books that one wonders abut the authors own domestic arrangements.

In which it is revealed that people do not talk to one another, and that Princes and Kings take little care of, and have no interest in, their kitchen staff.

In which a murderer returns to the scene of his crimes.

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Oct 18, 2010 Ian rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I believe this was the first and, to date, only book by McKillip that I've read. Perhaps it was due to the fact that I read it during a particularly stressful year of school, but I remember nothing about this book other than that I did in fact read it all the way through. The cover art is beautiful however, and I didn't hate it, so I'm going to give this 2 stars for now.

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Dec 28, 2009 Elizabeth Hunter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-classic

Another of McKillip's wonderful fairytales for grown-ups, this one reminds me of The Wizard of Earthsea, but takes the Jungian journey to a different place by focusing not only on the dark side of the wizard, but on the ways that other people are drawn into the maelstrom of darkness and the ways in which that darkness is a distinct choice.

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May 16, 2010 Alison rated it 4 of 5 stars

I will admit this book took me a couple of chapters to get into. I didn't understand it at first because it dives right into the story, but once I got into it I was hooked. I don't normally read fiction books, especially fantasy type, but this one was given to me as a gift and in the end I would recommend it, it was a good read.

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Jan 27, 2012 Cayenne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This one was a little more ethereal (read vague and confusing) than usual. I still liked it. I especially appreciated the themes of redemption and forgiveness. After using his magic to create a terrible tragedy, Atrix Wolfe has to forgive himself and learn to live again. Everyone else involved has to learn to forgive him and move on with their lives as well. A beautiful story.

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Jan 24, 2012 Christina rated it 2 of 5 stars

1) Oh, do shut up about the "lenses."
2) Memo to Queen of the Wood: maybe you should have named your child something not homonymous with an emotion. Could have saved everyone some time and trouble.
Bottom line: I didn't care about any of the characters, except for Saro, and her only in the second half of the book. 0 feelings of enchantment. No 247-page fairy tale should be such a slog. Thank you and good night.

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Aug 08, 2009 Jazlyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourites

The first chapter captivated me. A story of magic told from the point of view of the greatest mage ever? Sounds very much like Catherine Webb's Laenan Kite series. But of course, this has its own unique points, and most importantly it was able to hold my attention to the end.

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Dec 30, 2012 Laura rated it 2 of 5 stars

I would have no idea what the plot of this book was until page 200 had I not read the synopsis on GoodReads. It's not a bad book, but I think it might be best described as a fairly decent short story. It either needed to be much, much shorter or much, much longer. I felt like I was reading this book in a dream. The most concrete events happened in a kitchen and even those were vague at best.

I was left with the impression that McKillip had an interesting dream and tried her best to literally tran...more

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About Patricia A. McKillip

Patricia Anne McKillip is an American author of fantasy and science fiction novels, distinguished by lyrical, delicate prose and careful attention to detail and characterization. She is a past winner of the World Fantasy Award and Locus Award, and she lives in Oregon. Most of her recent novels have cover paintings by Kinuko Y. Craft. She is married to David Lunde, a poet.

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Books by Patricia A. McKillip

Riddle-Master: The Complete Trilogy (Riddle-Master, #1-3)

The Riddle-Master of Hed (Riddle-Master, #1)

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“There are no simple words. I don't know why I thought I could hide anything behind language.” — 12 people liked it

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