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Ombria in Shadow
Ombria is a place heaped with history -- and secrets. There is a buried city beneath it inhabited by ghosts, accessible only through magical passages and long-forgotten doorways. When the Prince of Ombria dies suddenly, his wicked great-aunt Domina Pearl seizes power by becoming regent to the prince's young son, Kyel. Minutes after the prince's death, Domina kicks Lydea, the prince's longtime mistress, out into the streets to die. But she is saved by a strange girl named Mag, a supposed waxling created by a powerful sorceress who lives underneath the city. With the help of Mag and the prince's bastard nephew, a strange, silver-eyed man obsessed with drawing, Lydea tries to save Kyel and somehow defeat Domina.
298 pages, Paperback
First published January 8, 2002
About the author
Patricia A. McKillip
94 books2,997 followersPatricia Anne McKillip was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. She wrote predominantly standalone fantasy novels and has been called "one of the most accomplished prose stylists in the fantasy genre". Her work won many awards, including the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 436 reviews
December 22, 2011
this is a beautiful, dreamy fantasy. it is about a fallen city, the mysterious city under that city, two magical beings, a royal bastard, a cast-out mistress, a kind of changeling, a curious scholar, a lonely child prince. it is about ruthless control and equally ruthless revolution against that control. although it does not have faerie, it is a fairy tale, one that is both modern and classic in tone and structure. the writing is splendid; McKillip's words are like gems that she strings together to make a sparkling kind of wonderful. she does not overwrite her story; her prose is lusciously rich, almost edible - but it is also streamlined, stripped-down, full of ambiguity and meaning yet never spelling things out too explicitly, never getting lost in detail. sometimes you have to step back, to appreciate the vivid beauty conveyed on the page, to wonder over the mysteries being so carefully teased out, piece by piece. the setting, the city of Ombria, is a marvel: a sad, gloomy, violent, desperately alive place, one that has fallen far from its glorious history; a sad, gloomy, mysteriously un-alive un-place, a shadow city beneath and between and co-existing with the living spaces of Ombria, an un-living history. Ombria in Shadow is full of magic, tragedy, mystery, and love.
MAGIC: it is front and center. don't expect rules to this magic, although it doesn't feel random. it is simply not spelled out. it is as ambiguous and mythic as the rest of the tale. its two sorceresses - one a fell and fungal villain of the darkest hues and the other an unsettling force of nature, change, and potential catastrophe - are marvelous creations.
TRAGEDY: there are the central tragedies, of course, the greater ones that dominate the narrative. but McKillip does an excellent job in making the tragedy hurt beyond those larger strokes, beyond the death of a king, beyond the attempted murders, beyond the ruination of a city. she makes the tragedy felt in many small ways... casual violence in the night, the distance between father and daughter, lovers parted and lost, the feeling of disempowerment, the loneliness of a little boy.
MYSTERY: answers are almost always tantalizingly out of reach, parsed out little by little, nothing ever simply dumped on the reader. the ending gives you answers, but they are not straightforward, they require contemplation and a willingness to forsake easy answers and easy satisfaction. when they come, the answers were almost as mysterious as the mysteries themselves. that said, when the riddles of the nature of the two sorceresses were finally answered, separately... marvelous to read, perfect.
LOVE: my gosh i was delighted about the Love that is at the heart of this tale. specifically, the love between children and those people in their lives who love them and care for them - be they parents or friends or guardians. of course i have nothing against Romantic Love and its place in any story. but how refreshing to have that focus changed! there are Love Stories in Ombria, naturally. but this book has at its heart Familial Love - with "family" being one that is both born and chosen.
this is the kind of book that you just want to hold close to your heart, be sentimental over, and think about again... but perhaps not talk about, at least not too much. it is a delicate book, like most precious things.
MAGIC: it is front and center. don't expect rules to this magic, although it doesn't feel random. it is simply not spelled out. it is as ambiguous and mythic as the rest of the tale. its two sorceresses - one a fell and fungal villain of the darkest hues and the other an unsettling force of nature, change, and potential catastrophe - are marvelous creations.
TRAGEDY: there are the central tragedies, of course, the greater ones that dominate the narrative. but McKillip does an excellent job in making the tragedy hurt beyond those larger strokes, beyond the death of a king, beyond the attempted murders, beyond the ruination of a city. she makes the tragedy felt in many small ways... casual violence in the night, the distance between father and daughter, lovers parted and lost, the feeling of disempowerment, the loneliness of a little boy.
MYSTERY: answers are almost always tantalizingly out of reach, parsed out little by little, nothing ever simply dumped on the reader. the ending gives you answers, but they are not straightforward, they require contemplation and a willingness to forsake easy answers and easy satisfaction. when they come, the answers were almost as mysterious as the mysteries themselves. that said, when the riddles of the nature of the two sorceresses were finally answered, separately... marvelous to read, perfect.
LOVE: my gosh i was delighted about the Love that is at the heart of this tale. specifically, the love between children and those people in their lives who love them and care for them - be they parents or friends or guardians. of course i have nothing against Romantic Love and its place in any story. but how refreshing to have that focus changed! there are Love Stories in Ombria, naturally. but this book has at its heart Familial Love - with "family" being one that is both born and chosen.
this is the kind of book that you just want to hold close to your heart, be sentimental over, and think about again... but perhaps not talk about, at least not too much. it is a delicate book, like most precious things.
April 12, 2020
I would recommend this book to people who really enjoyed Peake's Titus Groan or the whole line of the Gormenghast novels. Both are slow, gothic, and obsessed with language and timing.
There were some quite beautiful passages and overall, I did enjoy the story. It wasn't my favorite KIND of story, however, and I wasn't always as engaged in the tale of the magical usurper/regent and her charges as I probably should have been. It was a case of the details carrying the weight of the plot more than the characters.
I can definitely see why quite a few people fell in love with this, however. It brings Fantasy back to the old days where kingdoms were besieged from within. Where history is more of a villain (or something else) than anything.
I think it's pretty well designed to be a quiet, thoughtful read.
Me, however... I didn't really get into it as much as it probably deserves, having won the World Fantasy Award.
There were some quite beautiful passages and overall, I did enjoy the story. It wasn't my favorite KIND of story, however, and I wasn't always as engaged in the tale of the magical usurper/regent and her charges as I probably should have been. It was a case of the details carrying the weight of the plot more than the characters.
I can definitely see why quite a few people fell in love with this, however. It brings Fantasy back to the old days where kingdoms were besieged from within. Where history is more of a villain (or something else) than anything.
I think it's pretty well designed to be a quiet, thoughtful read.
Me, however... I didn't really get into it as much as it probably deserves, having won the World Fantasy Award.
September 4, 2016
Patricia A. Mckillip is a writer with a rare command of rhythm. There's a poetic feel to her work, almost like gentle waves lapping away.
Ombria in Shadow is one of McKillip's adult works. The novel showcases McKillip's talents to an extent unseen in her other stories. McKillip's world building in Ombria in Shadow has the complexities of the most complicated works relating to thrones and power struggles in literature.
McKillip has made the city itself into a wondrous character. Ombria has the unique taste of renaissance Italy. It is a place layered in history, but also Byzantine deceit and deception. And there is a city beneath the city, like in Gaiman's Neverwhere, but this city is inhabited by spirits and accessible only to a few who know its secret ways.
The story itself is something the Borgias would be envious of. The Prince dies suddenly, and the power hungry and suitably wicked great aunt Domina Pearl seizes power as the regent. The protagonist and the deceased prince's lover, Lydea, is tossed out into the alleyways. Yet an unusual girl called Mag, who may even be a waxling product of socrcery, saves Lydea from the evil of the streets. Lydea unravels truths and mistruths, as together, she and Mag set to battle Domina and restore justice to Ombria.
This is a superb novel. I've always loved McKillip but Ombria's renaissance multi-layered world has made me admire her even more so.
Highly recommended.
Ombria in Shadow is one of McKillip's adult works. The novel showcases McKillip's talents to an extent unseen in her other stories. McKillip's world building in Ombria in Shadow has the complexities of the most complicated works relating to thrones and power struggles in literature.
McKillip has made the city itself into a wondrous character. Ombria has the unique taste of renaissance Italy. It is a place layered in history, but also Byzantine deceit and deception. And there is a city beneath the city, like in Gaiman's Neverwhere, but this city is inhabited by spirits and accessible only to a few who know its secret ways.
The story itself is something the Borgias would be envious of. The Prince dies suddenly, and the power hungry and suitably wicked great aunt Domina Pearl seizes power as the regent. The protagonist and the deceased prince's lover, Lydea, is tossed out into the alleyways. Yet an unusual girl called Mag, who may even be a waxling product of socrcery, saves Lydea from the evil of the streets. Lydea unravels truths and mistruths, as together, she and Mag set to battle Domina and restore justice to Ombria.
This is a superb novel. I've always loved McKillip but Ombria's renaissance multi-layered world has made me admire her even more so.
Highly recommended.
April 30, 2022
This was somewhere between classic and modern fantasy, or like classic fantasy with a more modern touch.
There was a mysterious, dream- or fairy tale like atmosphere, the setting is an essential part of the story and the characters are interesting, but not as characterized in detail as I´m used to from more modern works. I feel both the detachment from the characters as well as the story´s lack of a clear focus are what kept me from loving this. The story doesn’t feel muddled, however there isn’t a certain plan or situation the characters are in for a majority of the story, so it never felt like I was settled into the “actual” plot. There is more of a constant flow from one development to the next, especially for Lydea.
I liked how full of mysteries and creative ideas this is. Especially everything around the sorceress Faey really intrigued me. The setting as a whole was very atmospheric and fascinating, and the writing is both pretty and effective. It worked really well in the audio book. I also liked the theme of history and the tales that remain from it.
There was a mysterious, dream- or fairy tale like atmosphere, the setting is an essential part of the story and the characters are interesting, but not as characterized in detail as I´m used to from more modern works. I feel both the detachment from the characters as well as the story´s lack of a clear focus are what kept me from loving this. The story doesn’t feel muddled, however there isn’t a certain plan or situation the characters are in for a majority of the story, so it never felt like I was settled into the “actual” plot. There is more of a constant flow from one development to the next, especially for Lydea.
I liked how full of mysteries and creative ideas this is. Especially everything around the sorceress Faey really intrigued me. The setting as a whole was very atmospheric and fascinating, and the writing is both pretty and effective. It worked really well in the audio book. I also liked the theme of history and the tales that remain from it.
September 6, 2018
McKillip is one of those authors I've been ignoring my entire life, having long-ago assumed that her work consisted of wispy fantasies for adolescents about bonding with unicorns and the like; fortunately, I encountered Mark Monday's review of this, a singularly ethereal and otherworldly novel, and quickly changed some assumptions. The words 'dreamlike' and 'gothic' are used repeatedly to describe this book, and these are quite apropos: McKillip's Ombria, a mixture of Gormenghast and Viriconium, is one of the great metropolises of fantastic literature; surrounded by and connected to its shadow-self where the entire past of the city exists simultaneously, a labyrinth of secret passages and forgotten rooms occupied by ghosts and fragments of memory, a sort of wonderland of ruins. Although many of the elements here verge on the archetypal, McKillip infuses these with an aura of mystery and the uncanny that removes them from the realm of the familiar and makes magic genuinely magical, resulting in a most unique book that deserves to be in the company of Crowley, Beagle, and Tanith Lee.
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June 4, 2024Bože, zašto ova knjiga nije postojala kad sam ja imala trinaest godina??! Ovo je doslovno sve što bi jedna pristojna trinaestogodišnjakinja od fentezija poželeti mogla. Bajne deve u nevolji, romantični tmurni kopilani, zle babe veštice, moćne čarobnice iz podzemlja i njihove čupave šegrtice dobrog srca. Slikoviti magični zamak u slikovitom magičnom gradu i podzemlje koje je istovremeno i vremensko podzemlje, odnosno prošlost tog grada. Ali pre svega i posle svega: autentični doživljaj čarolije kao nečeg nestvarnog, snolikog i beskrajno promenljivog; ovo je fantastika koju ste kao mali mogli nejasno zamišljati ako se nagledate Lavirinta i Legende u kombinaciji s već nekom varijantom Najlepših bajki sveta.
U poređenju s "Ombrijom u senci", postaje jasno koliko se većina savremenih autora fantastike prema svom odabranom žanru ponaša kao da pišu činjenično zasnovane istorijske romane: sve mora da bude realistično, iako realizam najčešće staje kod naziva delova oklopa; magija ide na kap; zmajevski metabolizam mora da dobije paranaučno objašnjenje iako će biti zagarantovano blesavo i neuverljivo; ne daj bože da jezik negde blesne smelom metaforom. U Ombriji u senci... nije tako, i ni na sekund nema pretvaranja da se likovi nalaze, vole i bore u nekom nama sličnom modusu postojanja. Nižu se začudne i prelepe jezičke slike, uvek negde na granici sa onim pozorišnim vilinskim kostimima od jeftinog satena, tila i štrasa, ali nekako uvek - kao u uspeloj predstavi - magija proradi i drži čitaoce.
Nemam nekako snage da objasnim kako ovde bajkovita kič estetika neironično funkcioniše. Funkcioniše kao u Čarobnoj fruli, eto vam.
I moram reći, bez spojlera, da sam samim krajem nezadovoljna, jeste to bila rano najavljena mogućnost ali svejedno spada u manje prihvatljive kategorije završetka fantastičnog narativa. Ima smisla, dobro je sprovedeno, sve je to lepo, ali ipak!...
U poređenju s "Ombrijom u senci", postaje jasno koliko se većina savremenih autora fantastike prema svom odabranom žanru ponaša kao da pišu činjenično zasnovane istorijske romane: sve mora da bude realistično, iako realizam najčešće staje kod naziva delova oklopa; magija ide na kap; zmajevski metabolizam mora da dobije paranaučno objašnjenje iako će biti zagarantovano blesavo i neuverljivo; ne daj bože da jezik negde blesne smelom metaforom. U Ombriji u senci... nije tako, i ni na sekund nema pretvaranja da se likovi nalaze, vole i bore u nekom nama sličnom modusu postojanja. Nižu se začudne i prelepe jezičke slike, uvek negde na granici sa onim pozorišnim vilinskim kostimima od jeftinog satena, tila i štrasa, ali nekako uvek - kao u uspeloj predstavi - magija proradi i drži čitaoce.
Nemam nekako snage da objasnim kako ovde bajkovita kič estetika neironično funkcioniše. Funkcioniše kao u Čarobnoj fruli, eto vam.
I moram reći, bez spojlera, da sam samim krajem nezadovoljna, jeste to bila rano najavljena mogućnost ali svejedno spada u manje prihvatljive kategorije završetka fantastičnog narativa. Ima smisla, dobro je sprovedeno, sve je to lepo, ali ipak!...
March 11, 2010
All of McKillip's novels are beautiful. Her exquisite prose and her ability to capture the sense of magic (both light and dark) that imbues traditional fairy tales ensures that any novel she writes will tantalize and delight. Her style is deliciously archaic, even baroque, and she has a habit of giving the reader the bare minimum of information to make the plot and motivations of her characters understandable, tingeing every action with the spice of mystery. This has worked not very well in some novels -- I found the climax of In the Forests of Serre near-incomprehensible -- but even when the mystery isn't working her novels are delightful confections designed to be savored.
Ombria in Shadow is McKillip at her best -- a dark chocolate truffle, rich and beguiling. The city of Ombria, with its decaying streets, and its shadows that bleed into the underworld of its past, and its hints that there is yet another shadow city that may overlay Ombria itself, is the most breathtakingly beautiful McKillip creation I have encountered since I read Alphabet of Thorn (my first McKillip, though published two years later -- clearly McKillip was on a hot streak). The cast of characters is just as good, each one three-dimensional and bowed (but not broken) by heartbreak. And the central mystery, of how the city will cope with the loss of its prince in an already uncertain time, is always enticingly just out of reach until the climax, when strand after strand of the plot comes together in a breathless resolution that answers a host of questions and raises a dozen more, but which is still entirely satisfying on a visceral level. The denouement is quietly wonderful, granting the happy ending that seemed hopeless in a most unexpectedly melancholic way.
All in all, I don't think I could have loved this book any more.
Ombria in Shadow is McKillip at her best -- a dark chocolate truffle, rich and beguiling. The city of Ombria, with its decaying streets, and its shadows that bleed into the underworld of its past, and its hints that there is yet another shadow city that may overlay Ombria itself, is the most breathtakingly beautiful McKillip creation I have encountered since I read Alphabet of Thorn (my first McKillip, though published two years later -- clearly McKillip was on a hot streak). The cast of characters is just as good, each one three-dimensional and bowed (but not broken) by heartbreak. And the central mystery, of how the city will cope with the loss of its prince in an already uncertain time, is always enticingly just out of reach until the climax, when strand after strand of the plot comes together in a breathless resolution that answers a host of questions and raises a dozen more, but which is still entirely satisfying on a visceral level. The denouement is quietly wonderful, granting the happy ending that seemed hopeless in a most unexpectedly melancholic way.
All in all, I don't think I could have loved this book any more.
April 30, 2015
I love all of McKillip’s work, as least so far. She can really manage enchantment: her Ombria is a strange world, decaying and bright, mysterious and intriguing. There’s a lot going on here: the magic behind Faey and her waxling, the magic behind Domina Pearl, Ducon’s father and Mag’s origins… And there’s characters you can’t help but care about: Kyel, so alone; Lydea, who loves him; Ducon, the bastard son with no designs upon the throne, who spends his time drawing, searching, learning the city and seeing it in ways others can’t. And the details, like Lydea’s bitten fingernails, the charcoal stains Ducon leaves on the bedsheets so everyone knows where he’s been sleeping and when.
And of course, the hidden passageways, the secrets, the two worlds side by side.
It cast its spell very quickly over me; McKillip writes beautifully, of course, and that itself is kind of mesmerising.
Towards the ending — perhaps the last twenty pages — I was less sure of what was going on. It might pull itself together more on a reread, I’m not sure, but I was left not quite knowing who knew what was happening, who understood what, why certain things changed and others didn’t (or if they didn’t change, but people acted like they had to make things easier). I have that feeling with McKillip’s work a lot, though, and it hasn’t deterred me from picking up more.
Originally posted here.
And of course, the hidden passageways, the secrets, the two worlds side by side.
It cast its spell very quickly over me; McKillip writes beautifully, of course, and that itself is kind of mesmerising.
Towards the ending — perhaps the last twenty pages — I was less sure of what was going on. It might pull itself together more on a reread, I’m not sure, but I was left not quite knowing who knew what was happening, who understood what, why certain things changed and others didn’t (or if they didn’t change, but people acted like they had to make things easier). I have that feeling with McKillip’s work a lot, though, and it hasn’t deterred me from picking up more.
Originally posted here.
September 28, 2013
Recipient of McKillip's second World Fantasy Award... and well-deservedly so.
This is definitely one of McKillip's best (does she have a worst? - I don't think so!)
Here, McKillip introduces us to Ombria - a city of shadows and secrets, labyrinthine palaces and alleys, intrigues and magic... Ombria is somewhere between Gormenghast and Tanith Lee's Paradys... that fantasy city that we all dream of (but might not want to actually live in!)
Although the other McKillip book I read recently (Winter Rose) was a quiet story, more involved with emotion than action, this book is action-packed, with murders, sword-fights, desperate flights and pursuits, etc..
At the outset, we meet Lydea, mistress of a prince who has recently been killed in a palace intrigue. The regent to the child heir (Kyel), a viciously conniving old hag known as Domina Pearl, throws Lydea out on the street in all her finery, hoping she will be killed by some cutthroat mugger.
However, Lydea survives, with the help of a mysterious young girl, Mag, who may or may not be human - she is servant to a sorceress, Faye, who lives in the underworlds below the city, who claims that she created Mag from wax, and gave her life, golem-like.
Lydea wishes nothing more than to somehow return to the palace and somehow save the young heir, whom she loves like a son, from the clutches of the regent - but, working in disgrace at her father's tavern, she can see no way to do so.
But Mag has been discovering a mind of her own, and doesn't wholly approve of the poisons and spells that her mistress has been purveying - especially those that have been going to the regent, for her nefarious uses.
And in the palace, plots are afoot to put a young lordling, Ducon, upon the throne. But he would much rather wander the streets of Ombria, living the life of an artist. Will he agree to assassinate his royal cousin? Is the only one young Kyel is safe with his history-obsessed tutor, Camas? Or does Camas care more about his researches into the ancient legends that surround Ombria? ...rumors of a shadow city, of mysterious shifts and transformations....
The story has a rather unexpected ending - and one that some people didn't really agree with - but I thought it really worked, and made sense with clues proffered throughout the story... can't really say more without spoilers!
A wonderful book...
This is definitely one of McKillip's best (does she have a worst? - I don't think so!)
Here, McKillip introduces us to Ombria - a city of shadows and secrets, labyrinthine palaces and alleys, intrigues and magic... Ombria is somewhere between Gormenghast and Tanith Lee's Paradys... that fantasy city that we all dream of (but might not want to actually live in!)
Although the other McKillip book I read recently (Winter Rose) was a quiet story, more involved with emotion than action, this book is action-packed, with murders, sword-fights, desperate flights and pursuits, etc..
At the outset, we meet Lydea, mistress of a prince who has recently been killed in a palace intrigue. The regent to the child heir (Kyel), a viciously conniving old hag known as Domina Pearl, throws Lydea out on the street in all her finery, hoping she will be killed by some cutthroat mugger.
However, Lydea survives, with the help of a mysterious young girl, Mag, who may or may not be human - she is servant to a sorceress, Faye, who lives in the underworlds below the city, who claims that she created Mag from wax, and gave her life, golem-like.
Lydea wishes nothing more than to somehow return to the palace and somehow save the young heir, whom she loves like a son, from the clutches of the regent - but, working in disgrace at her father's tavern, she can see no way to do so.
But Mag has been discovering a mind of her own, and doesn't wholly approve of the poisons and spells that her mistress has been purveying - especially those that have been going to the regent, for her nefarious uses.
And in the palace, plots are afoot to put a young lordling, Ducon, upon the throne. But he would much rather wander the streets of Ombria, living the life of an artist. Will he agree to assassinate his royal cousin? Is the only one young Kyel is safe with his history-obsessed tutor, Camas? Or does Camas care more about his researches into the ancient legends that surround Ombria? ...rumors of a shadow city, of mysterious shifts and transformations....
The story has a rather unexpected ending - and one that some people didn't really agree with - but I thought it really worked, and made sense with clues proffered throughout the story... can't really say more without spoilers!
A wonderful book...
May 8, 2021
Ombria in Shadow is one of two books by McKillip that won the World Fantasy Award, the other being The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, which I read a few years ago. It is set in the city of Ombria, where the prince has just died and his great-aunt, Domina Pearl, is acting as regent for the prince's young son Kyel. Lydea takes refuge in her father's tavern and receives mysterious help from a girl named Mag, who serves the sorceress Faey. Ducon, the dead prince's nephew (and Kyel's cousin), whose charcoal drawings depict the otherworldly counterpart of Ombria; the shadow city. Lydea, Mag, and Ducon are the main viewpoint characters. This book has much more plot than The Forgotten Beasts of Eld; I wouldn't called it fast-paced but it's certainly intricate. There's no obvious single protagonist, but the characters are all interesting, and Domina Pearl is a wonderfully haunting villain. The ending is satisfying, which wasn't the case for me in Alphabet of Thorn and possibly The Bell at Sealey Head, although I don't remember that second one well enough to say why.
What really stands out in this book is the setting. The mysterious city of Ombria was great, maybe the most interesting setting that I've read from McKillip so far. I think I like this better than The Bell at Sealey Head although since that one is similarly intensely focused on a small setting, I'm now wondering how it would compare if I read it again. I'll probably read more by this author, but I'm not sure which book to read.
The writing is beautiful; here are some of my favorite bits:
"Faey lived, for those who knew how to find her, within Ombria's past. Parts of the city's past lay within time's reach, beneath the streets in great old limestone tunnels: the hovels and mansions and sunken river that Ombria shrugged off like a forgotten skin, and buried beneath itself through the centuries..."
"There was the gaudy patch of sunflowers beside the west gate of the palace of the Prince of Ombria, that did nothing all day long but turn their golden-haired, thousand-eyed faces to follow the sun."
"Mag had learned to move through the streets like a musician moved through music, tuning it note by note with every breath, every touch. A rough voice in the dark could render her invisible; at a touch, she was simply gone, up a pipe, down a barrel, down deeper than that, through a shadow or a door. Not being human, she never wondered at what humans did. She had seen them pilfer each other’s watches, slit each other’s throats, break each other’s hearts. She had seen newborns tossed away with yesterday’s rubbish. She had stepped over men snoring drunk on the cobbles; she had walked around women with bleeding faces, slumped in rich, torn gowns, weeping and cursing in tavern alleys. Since she was wax, none of this concerned her; they might have been dreams or ghosts she moved through, until they tried to pull her into their night-terrors."
What really stands out in this book is the setting. The mysterious city of Ombria was great, maybe the most interesting setting that I've read from McKillip so far. I think I like this better than The Bell at Sealey Head although since that one is similarly intensely focused on a small setting, I'm now wondering how it would compare if I read it again. I'll probably read more by this author, but I'm not sure which book to read.
The writing is beautiful; here are some of my favorite bits:
"Faey lived, for those who knew how to find her, within Ombria's past. Parts of the city's past lay within time's reach, beneath the streets in great old limestone tunnels: the hovels and mansions and sunken river that Ombria shrugged off like a forgotten skin, and buried beneath itself through the centuries..."
"There was the gaudy patch of sunflowers beside the west gate of the palace of the Prince of Ombria, that did nothing all day long but turn their golden-haired, thousand-eyed faces to follow the sun."
"Mag had learned to move through the streets like a musician moved through music, tuning it note by note with every breath, every touch. A rough voice in the dark could render her invisible; at a touch, she was simply gone, up a pipe, down a barrel, down deeper than that, through a shadow or a door. Not being human, she never wondered at what humans did. She had seen them pilfer each other’s watches, slit each other’s throats, break each other’s hearts. She had seen newborns tossed away with yesterday’s rubbish. She had stepped over men snoring drunk on the cobbles; she had walked around women with bleeding faces, slumped in rich, torn gowns, weeping and cursing in tavern alleys. Since she was wax, none of this concerned her; they might have been dreams or ghosts she moved through, until they tried to pull her into their night-terrors."
July 28, 2018
This is my fourth McKillip novel (I read the Harpist trilogy first), and in each of them I often struggled to understand what was going on. Her writing is so lyrical, so poetic, that I don't always follow what it's saying. People move around and I can't follow how they got from point a to point b. A plot point develops, a mystery is raised or resolved, and I don't understand what the character just figured out. I generally like it, and the writing is often clever and lovely, if sometimes paradoxically detached; but I'm also repeatedly left making Bertie Wooster faces and saying, "huh?"
With "Ombria," this struggle to understand the narrative made it equally hard to care about the characters for roughly the first half of the book. I just didn't understand what was going on, and had no special investment in any of the people. Around the halfway mark, reached on a plane with little other reading material to hand, this changed; I was interested in the plot and wanted to know what would happen, and was actually willing to pick the book up (I'd laid it aside for a while before then). I still didn't adore any of the characters, but they did interest me, and that's something. I wasn't really ever a tremendous fan of Ducon, but did like the drawings: McKillip's conceptions of magic are fabulous. The relationship between Lydea and Kyel was well-crafted, although it was in Faey and Mag that I was most invested: I very much liked the relationship between the sorceress and her waxling.
As for the plot -- Ombria and the shadow city -- I was still left going "huh?" It was the same issue I had with the final Harpist book: facts are revealed to characters without being fully articulated to the reader, and I'm left halfway in the dark. My conclusion is that McKillip's writing is just too clever for me. Other people seem to understand it fine. XD
With "Ombria," this struggle to understand the narrative made it equally hard to care about the characters for roughly the first half of the book. I just didn't understand what was going on, and had no special investment in any of the people. Around the halfway mark, reached on a plane with little other reading material to hand, this changed; I was interested in the plot and wanted to know what would happen, and was actually willing to pick the book up (I'd laid it aside for a while before then). I still didn't adore any of the characters, but they did interest me, and that's something. I wasn't really ever a tremendous fan of Ducon, but did like the drawings: McKillip's conceptions of magic are fabulous. The relationship between Lydea and Kyel was well-crafted, although it was in Faey and Mag that I was most invested: I very much liked the relationship between the sorceress and her waxling.
As for the plot -- Ombria and the shadow city -- I was still left going "huh?" It was the same issue I had with the final Harpist book: facts are revealed to characters without being fully articulated to the reader, and I'm left halfway in the dark. My conclusion is that McKillip's writing is just too clever for me. Other people seem to understand it fine. XD
July 21, 2022
lusciously gorgeous and half-comprehensible, that's the classic fantasy GOODS
March 10, 2024
I need to read more of this author— this was a beautiful, dreamlike story unlike anything I’ve ever encountered. Highly, highly recommend to anyone who likes literary fantasy, books about hidden worlds, and complex characters.
June 15, 2025
“Faey lived, for those who knew how to find her, within Ombria’s past. Parts of the city’s past lay within time’s reach, beneath the streets in great old limestone tunnels: the hovels and mansions and sunken river that Ombria shrugged off like a forgotten skin, and buried beneath itself through the centuries. Other parts were less accessible. Everyone knew of past, like they knew the smells of wild rose and shit and frying sausage, and the direction of the wind and the cry of gulls around the rotting docks. But though they relied on sausage and air, few paid attention to the city’s past. That suited Faey, who lived along the borderline of past and present. Those who needed her followed the scent of her work and found her. Those who didn’t considered her a vague seep out of someone’s cistern, an imprecise shadow at the end of an alley, and walked their ceaseless, complex patterns above her head, never knowing how their lives echoed down the intricate passageways of time in the hollow beneath the city.”
Ombria in Shadow is a novel of dualities. From the very first chapter, McKillip establishes that the central duality of her novel is that of two cities-Ombria itself and its shadow, the crumbling ruins underneath it. The novel begins with Lydea, the prince's mistress, telling his son a tale about a legendary shadow city, counterpart to Ombria. The first reaction of some readers may be to assume that the shadow city is somehow evil, or houses some great threat to the city above, but McKillip makes it very clear that the underground is a reification of Ombria's history, upon which the city and palace have literally been built. Perhaps some readers may assume that the underground is sinister and presents a threat to the city above. To an extent they are correct, but the underground is also a source of power for those who live above it. From the shadow city, the sorceress Faey supplies the rich with spells so that they may keep their power. Her clients are only those old enough to know the secret of Ombria's shadow, including the regent Domina Pearl and some elderly nobles. The power struggles of the elite, however, are limited to the royal palace, and the city beyond is of little consequence to the people who rule it. There is a disconnect between the rulers of Ombria and their subjects that McKillip models by setting up spatial boundaries within Ombria.
The two primary locations of the novel, three if including the shadow city, are the palace and everything that surrounds it. The reader is shown the palace in great detail, with all its rooms and secret passageways, but the city surrounding it is relatively ill-defined. McKillip introduces the reader to a couple taverns and storefronts, but how far are they from the palace? Where are they in relation to each other? McKillip is not interested in providing a clear map of the city, but makes it clear that Ombria outside of the palace is falling apart. Her prose articulates decontextualized details of architecture in the charcoal paintings of Ducon, the only royal who wanders freely through the city. Ruined doorways, cracked windows, broken piers, and shadowy alleyways are Ducon's subjects, and they pervade both the city and the palace. McKillip's disorienting prose transforms space into abstraction. Maps and architecture, ordered structures, are replaced by an ambiguous web of shadows and decay, concepts rather than concrete places.
It is these small details, broken and shadowy spaces, that unite the city and the palace in spite of the clear boundary set up between them by Domina Pearl and the elite. Most importantly, these spaces--doorways, alleys and darkened windows, are secret entrances into the shadow city, an impossibly vast space which connects to both city and palace. Mag, an apprentice to Faey, crosses the boundary between city and shadow, or city and palace, at will. Her knowledge of the shadow city allows her to transgress the city boundaries at will, and from the dealings of Faey we know that knowledge is power.
Ombria in Shadow is about a city that has forgotten its history. Trapped under the rule of a tyrant, people long for the better days that their parents can remember, but they are also unaware of the spatial transformations that have taken place in their city. To them, there has always been a fence between the palace and the city, and the history of Ombria is a forgotten secret guarded closely by Domina Pearl and the nobles to serve their own interests. Only characters who have crossed the boundaries between palace and city (Ducon, Lydea, and Mag) have the power fight against the tyrannical Domina Pearl and the ability to see the true state of Ombria. The transformation that gradually takes place in the final chapters reasserts the place of the current struggle in a cyclical history of struggles.
When Faey, an avatar of Ombria's secret history, rises to the surface, a cataclysm marks an end to the current state of Ombria and the beginning of a new one. Without showing exactly how the climactic collision between shadow and light resolves, McKillip introduces the reader to a new political order in Ombria, headed by Ducon with his consciousness of all Ombria's faults and the will to fix them. The ending is abrupt, hopeful and happy, with all characters comfortable and the villain soundly defeated. All seems well, but in the final lines, Lydea begins to forget the story she once told the prince's son of the shadow city. The cycle of history is already being forgotten anew, and the happy resolution will undoubtedly be impermanent.
There is much more say about the role that McKillip assigns to art and representation in historical struggle and societal transformation, but this review is already far too long. Suffice it to say that McKillip's prose has led me to reevaluate the artistic possibilities of fantasy as a genre, and the capacity for abstraction in her prose is inspirational.
Ombria in Shadow is a novel of dualities. From the very first chapter, McKillip establishes that the central duality of her novel is that of two cities-Ombria itself and its shadow, the crumbling ruins underneath it. The novel begins with Lydea, the prince's mistress, telling his son a tale about a legendary shadow city, counterpart to Ombria. The first reaction of some readers may be to assume that the shadow city is somehow evil, or houses some great threat to the city above, but McKillip makes it very clear that the underground is a reification of Ombria's history, upon which the city and palace have literally been built. Perhaps some readers may assume that the underground is sinister and presents a threat to the city above. To an extent they are correct, but the underground is also a source of power for those who live above it. From the shadow city, the sorceress Faey supplies the rich with spells so that they may keep their power. Her clients are only those old enough to know the secret of Ombria's shadow, including the regent Domina Pearl and some elderly nobles. The power struggles of the elite, however, are limited to the royal palace, and the city beyond is of little consequence to the people who rule it. There is a disconnect between the rulers of Ombria and their subjects that McKillip models by setting up spatial boundaries within Ombria.
The two primary locations of the novel, three if including the shadow city, are the palace and everything that surrounds it. The reader is shown the palace in great detail, with all its rooms and secret passageways, but the city surrounding it is relatively ill-defined. McKillip introduces the reader to a couple taverns and storefronts, but how far are they from the palace? Where are they in relation to each other? McKillip is not interested in providing a clear map of the city, but makes it clear that Ombria outside of the palace is falling apart. Her prose articulates decontextualized details of architecture in the charcoal paintings of Ducon, the only royal who wanders freely through the city. Ruined doorways, cracked windows, broken piers, and shadowy alleyways are Ducon's subjects, and they pervade both the city and the palace. McKillip's disorienting prose transforms space into abstraction. Maps and architecture, ordered structures, are replaced by an ambiguous web of shadows and decay, concepts rather than concrete places.
It is these small details, broken and shadowy spaces, that unite the city and the palace in spite of the clear boundary set up between them by Domina Pearl and the elite. Most importantly, these spaces--doorways, alleys and darkened windows, are secret entrances into the shadow city, an impossibly vast space which connects to both city and palace. Mag, an apprentice to Faey, crosses the boundary between city and shadow, or city and palace, at will. Her knowledge of the shadow city allows her to transgress the city boundaries at will, and from the dealings of Faey we know that knowledge is power.
Ombria in Shadow is about a city that has forgotten its history. Trapped under the rule of a tyrant, people long for the better days that their parents can remember, but they are also unaware of the spatial transformations that have taken place in their city. To them, there has always been a fence between the palace and the city, and the history of Ombria is a forgotten secret guarded closely by Domina Pearl and the nobles to serve their own interests. Only characters who have crossed the boundaries between palace and city (Ducon, Lydea, and Mag) have the power fight against the tyrannical Domina Pearl and the ability to see the true state of Ombria. The transformation that gradually takes place in the final chapters reasserts the place of the current struggle in a cyclical history of struggles.
When Faey, an avatar of Ombria's secret history, rises to the surface, a cataclysm marks an end to the current state of Ombria and the beginning of a new one. Without showing exactly how the climactic collision between shadow and light resolves, McKillip introduces the reader to a new political order in Ombria, headed by Ducon with his consciousness of all Ombria's faults and the will to fix them. The ending is abrupt, hopeful and happy, with all characters comfortable and the villain soundly defeated. All seems well, but in the final lines, Lydea begins to forget the story she once told the prince's son of the shadow city. The cycle of history is already being forgotten anew, and the happy resolution will undoubtedly be impermanent.
There is much more say about the role that McKillip assigns to art and representation in historical struggle and societal transformation, but this review is already far too long. Suffice it to say that McKillip's prose has led me to reevaluate the artistic possibilities of fantasy as a genre, and the capacity for abstraction in her prose is inspirational.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2026
I might have found my most favorite book of the year and it’s only February
December 8, 2025
“Ombria oculta” es una historia con una fantasía tan pura que parece moverse entre lo real y lo irreal, lo terrenal y lo onírico y nunca sabes exactamente en qué lado del espectro estás. Es una maravilla en ese sentido. Los personajes no están completamente definidos y eso es parte del juego: parecen transformarse a cada paso, especialmente los tres que se corresponden con los puntos de vista que ofrece McKillip. La joven Lydea, el bastardo Ducon y Mag, la chica de cera. Hay más personajes importantes en la trama pero estos tres son los que cuentan, en tercera persona, la historia. Sin embargo, para mí el personaje más intrigante es el de la hechicera subterránea, pues nunca se sabe a qué mundo o a qué lado de la frontera entre el bien y el mal corresponde.
Lo que me empujó a leer este libro, casi desde la primera página, fue que, cuando me di cuenta de lo que tenía entre las manos y me fui adaptando a ello, la curiosidad por saber a dónde me llevaría era muy fuerte. Porque al principio, al menos las primeras páginas, la lectura de “Ombria oculta” es como tirarse a la piscina por la zona donde no se hace pie. Hay que ir avanzando hacia el terreno donde sí se hace. Este no es un libro lineal de desarrollo progresivo lógico, no es “Las bestias olvidadas de Eld”, es otra cosa, requiere capacidad de maravilla y por ello, no creo que vaya a ser para todo el mundo y aun así a mi me pareció fascinante.
La unica pega que le pongo a este libro es la villana. Domina Perla, tambien conocida como “La perla negra” es un personaje al que todo el mundo parece tener miedo por su crueldad, su longevidad mágica y mil leyendas a su alrededor que no se cuentan pero se sabe que existen… y en realidad no podía ser un personaje mas plano, menos interesante y tan absolutamente blanco, en el sentido de que prácticamente no hace nada en el libro, salvo amenazar de vez en cuando, ni siquiera quiere hacerle daño a otros personajes, aunque no por la bondad de su corazón, claro. Ni daba miedo, ni creaba tensión… no se, para mi la tension y la excitación venía de otras partes, no de la villana. Y se supone que es la causa de todos los males que originan que la historia sea contada.
Lo que me empujó a leer este libro, casi desde la primera página, fue que, cuando me di cuenta de lo que tenía entre las manos y me fui adaptando a ello, la curiosidad por saber a dónde me llevaría era muy fuerte. Porque al principio, al menos las primeras páginas, la lectura de “Ombria oculta” es como tirarse a la piscina por la zona donde no se hace pie. Hay que ir avanzando hacia el terreno donde sí se hace. Este no es un libro lineal de desarrollo progresivo lógico, no es “Las bestias olvidadas de Eld”, es otra cosa, requiere capacidad de maravilla y por ello, no creo que vaya a ser para todo el mundo y aun así a mi me pareció fascinante.
La unica pega que le pongo a este libro es la villana. Domina Perla, tambien conocida como “La perla negra” es un personaje al que todo el mundo parece tener miedo por su crueldad, su longevidad mágica y mil leyendas a su alrededor que no se cuentan pero se sabe que existen… y en realidad no podía ser un personaje mas plano, menos interesante y tan absolutamente blanco, en el sentido de que prácticamente no hace nada en el libro, salvo amenazar de vez en cuando, ni siquiera quiere hacerle daño a otros personajes, aunque no por la bondad de su corazón, claro. Ni daba miedo, ni creaba tensión… no se, para mi la tension y la excitación venía de otras partes, no de la villana. Y se supone que es la causa de todos los males que originan que la historia sea contada.
April 25, 2015
I was slightly disappointed with this novel and almost gave it 2 stars.
The writing,prose style impressed at times very much but the story was lacking something until the last dozen pages and the characters was a bit thin,not so intresting except Mag,Faey.
Next i want to read one of her Fantasy Masterworks books to really judge if she is to my taste or not. Her prose that seemed full of spark,style lost its lustre because i didnt feel for the story until it was too late.
The writing,prose style impressed at times very much but the story was lacking something until the last dozen pages and the characters was a bit thin,not so intresting except Mag,Faey.
Next i want to read one of her Fantasy Masterworks books to really judge if she is to my taste or not. Her prose that seemed full of spark,style lost its lustre because i didnt feel for the story until it was too late.
November 10, 2017
I mean, it's a McKillip book. Of course it's good.
The end was a bit of a mess though; where was the conclusion?
The end was a bit of a mess though; where was the conclusion?
June 15, 2020
Magical, almost dreamlike, with an excellently original premise.
June 2, 2022
Avis Lecture 🧐📖 "Les Fantômes d'Ombria", Patricia Mckillip 💕
🏆 World Fantasy Award 2003, Mythopoeic 2003 et Prix Imaginales 2006 du meilleur roman étranger.
Le 6 mai dernier, une autre grande dame nous a quitté. Mckillip fait partie de mes auteurices chouchou, alors même que je n'ai lu qu'une infime partie de ses romans. Ses univers oniriques et plein de douceurs m'ont toujours enchanté.
Finir un de ses romans, c'est comme sortir d'un rêve, ce moment de flou, entre deux mondes qui se chevauchent...
Et bien "Les Fantômes d'Ombria" c'est exactement ça !😁
Ce n'est pas mon préféré de l'autrice (à ce jour "Alphabet of Thorns"), mais j'y retrouve cette plume si enchanteresse et son inspiration très baroque. Difficile de résumer le récit, le 4eme de couverture même veut tout et rien dire à la fois. C'est une expérience de lecture que je vous laisserai découvrir.
Les amateurs de contes seront servis, on y retrouve tous les codes et les archétypes de personnages présents dans ce genre. Ainsi donc, vous retrouverez la Sorcière, le prince et la jeune fille MAIS et c'est là où le récit se démarque à mon sens, c'est cette ville d'Ombria et son reflet... Une ville qui devient personnage à mesure que les pages se tournent, une histoire de cités parallèles qui n'est pas sans me rappeler Gemina et Nihilo de Guillaume Chamanadjian. 💕
J'ai beaucoup aimé la dimension politique du récit, puisqu'il fait état de gouvernance et de régence. De même, j'ai trouvé les personnages très attachants.
Les Fantômes d'Ombria est une histoire d'équilibre entre le Bien et le Mal et bien que la thématique puisse paraître simpliste ainsi que sa construction proche du conte, sachez qu'il n'en est rien ! C'est un roman solide et étherique à fois... Profitez en, malheureusement les romans traduits de l' autrice se comptent sur les doigts d'une seule main... Et merci @editionsmnemos d'avoir rendu accessible ces romans ❤️
🏆 World Fantasy Award 2003, Mythopoeic 2003 et Prix Imaginales 2006 du meilleur roman étranger.
Le 6 mai dernier, une autre grande dame nous a quitté. Mckillip fait partie de mes auteurices chouchou, alors même que je n'ai lu qu'une infime partie de ses romans. Ses univers oniriques et plein de douceurs m'ont toujours enchanté.
Finir un de ses romans, c'est comme sortir d'un rêve, ce moment de flou, entre deux mondes qui se chevauchent...
Et bien "Les Fantômes d'Ombria" c'est exactement ça !😁
Ce n'est pas mon préféré de l'autrice (à ce jour "Alphabet of Thorns"), mais j'y retrouve cette plume si enchanteresse et son inspiration très baroque. Difficile de résumer le récit, le 4eme de couverture même veut tout et rien dire à la fois. C'est une expérience de lecture que je vous laisserai découvrir.
Les amateurs de contes seront servis, on y retrouve tous les codes et les archétypes de personnages présents dans ce genre. Ainsi donc, vous retrouverez la Sorcière, le prince et la jeune fille MAIS et c'est là où le récit se démarque à mon sens, c'est cette ville d'Ombria et son reflet... Une ville qui devient personnage à mesure que les pages se tournent, une histoire de cités parallèles qui n'est pas sans me rappeler Gemina et Nihilo de Guillaume Chamanadjian. 💕
J'ai beaucoup aimé la dimension politique du récit, puisqu'il fait état de gouvernance et de régence. De même, j'ai trouvé les personnages très attachants.
Les Fantômes d'Ombria est une histoire d'équilibre entre le Bien et le Mal et bien que la thématique puisse paraître simpliste ainsi que sa construction proche du conte, sachez qu'il n'en est rien ! C'est un roman solide et étherique à fois... Profitez en, malheureusement les romans traduits de l' autrice se comptent sur les doigts d'une seule main... Et merci @editionsmnemos d'avoir rendu accessible ces romans ❤️
July 27, 2021
Diciamo più un 3.75
E' davvero molto difficile per me scrivere questa recensione perché il libro mi è piaciuto e solitamente se una cosa mi piace molto tendo ad essere poco oggettiva.
Ho trovato questo libro nella sua traduzione italiana per puro caso, pur possedendo già inglese The forgotten beast of Eld che però non avevo ancora letto.
C'è da dire che vengo da un lungo periodo a pane e Marillier quindi le pecche le noto tutte e molto facilmente.
C'è tanto potenziale sprecato, materiale che potrebbe fornire pagine a iosa, perché tra le varie cose credo che uno dei problemi principali sia che il libro è troppo corto.
Forse essendo abituata a storie di minimo 350 pagine, 250 mi sono parse veramente poche per affrontare una storia in cui c'era un così temibile nemico, una maga al di fuori dello spazio e del tempo, una concubina in fuga, per non parlare della vera protagonista della storia abbandonata sullo sfondo, ovvero la città di Ombria.
Lo stile è poetico ed evocativo, mi ha ricordato un po' la Laini Taylor de Il sognatore, ma soprattuto quei vecchi film fantasy che guardavamo a Natale noi millenials tipo Fantaghirò o Sorellina e il principe del sogno, Desideria e l'anello del drago e via discorrendo.
Il libro mi è piaciuto ma sono ben consapevole che si poteva fare di meglio.
Cercherò di leggere quanto prima La maga di Eld (anche se in italiano è praticamente introvabile)
E' davvero molto difficile per me scrivere questa recensione perché il libro mi è piaciuto e solitamente se una cosa mi piace molto tendo ad essere poco oggettiva.
Ho trovato questo libro nella sua traduzione italiana per puro caso, pur possedendo già inglese The forgotten beast of Eld che però non avevo ancora letto.
C'è da dire che vengo da un lungo periodo a pane e Marillier quindi le pecche le noto tutte e molto facilmente.
C'è tanto potenziale sprecato, materiale che potrebbe fornire pagine a iosa, perché tra le varie cose credo che uno dei problemi principali sia che il libro è troppo corto.
Forse essendo abituata a storie di minimo 350 pagine, 250 mi sono parse veramente poche per affrontare una storia in cui c'era un così temibile nemico, una maga al di fuori dello spazio e del tempo, una concubina in fuga, per non parlare della vera protagonista della storia abbandonata sullo sfondo, ovvero la città di Ombria.
Lo stile è poetico ed evocativo, mi ha ricordato un po' la Laini Taylor de Il sognatore, ma soprattuto quei vecchi film fantasy che guardavamo a Natale noi millenials tipo Fantaghirò o Sorellina e il principe del sogno, Desideria e l'anello del drago e via discorrendo.
Il libro mi è piaciuto ma sono ben consapevole che si poteva fare di meglio.
Cercherò di leggere quanto prima La maga di Eld (anche se in italiano è praticamente introvabile)
March 9, 2025
“[Ombria] palace, like the city, had been sinking into itself longer than memory, floors shrinking, chipped paint revealing underlayers, joists and beams shifting restlessly, night by night, century by century” (Ch5). It’s a location where history and secrets are endless. It has a buried city beneath it inhabited by ghosts, accessible only through magical passages and long-forgotten doorways. A place of wonder!
Ombria in Shadow is a magical and mesmerising experience, it evokes the gothic wonder of the Gormenghast series, where the location is as important as the characters and they go through change throughout the course of the novel. It doesn’t have the grotesque beauty of that series, yet there’s something enrapturing about the whole endeavour. There’s magic littered throughout the tale, not just in the ghost city but also in how it’s written. It feels like a tale of long ago, a forgotten history. It’s definitely no shock it won the World Fantasy Award; it’s an immense accomplishment.
Patricia A. McKillip's writing is rich and lush as you expect. She doesn’t leave a word wasted. It has a dreamlike aesthetic with the prose and how a scene shifts, dreamlike in its approach. The story flows organically, it isn’t strictly plot-driven, more so used to capture that wonder of Ombria. It oddly has a fragmental feeling like one would have as a dream. Which is used quite intentionally without feeling out spoilers.
The characters are pretty great across the board and deeply sympathetic. They are quite multifaceted and really loved following Mag, Lydea, and Ducon's perspective. The character has a sombreness to them that really fits the overall theme of the book. That said, I would say I preferred The Forgotten Beasts of Eld slightly more because of that mother-and-son relationship of Sybel and Tamlorn. I was more emotionally attached in comparison; that said, some of it is quite intentional due to its focus.
There are many questions, but some are directly answered. The answers that aren’t directly stated are in the text, like a dream; it all comes down to interpretation and uncovering the hidden truths, like the palace of Ombria. The conclusion was rather fitting and beautiful, it’s definitely not an epic conclusion, nevertheless a fitting one. If I can still ponder upon the book about the feeling it conveyed, like the Gormenghast series, it’s doing something right. In conclusion, it’s a fantastic book, there is reasons why it won the World Fantasy Award and it’s rather short.
8.5/10
Ombria in Shadow is a magical and mesmerising experience, it evokes the gothic wonder of the Gormenghast series, where the location is as important as the characters and they go through change throughout the course of the novel. It doesn’t have the grotesque beauty of that series, yet there’s something enrapturing about the whole endeavour. There’s magic littered throughout the tale, not just in the ghost city but also in how it’s written. It feels like a tale of long ago, a forgotten history. It’s definitely no shock it won the World Fantasy Award; it’s an immense accomplishment.
Patricia A. McKillip's writing is rich and lush as you expect. She doesn’t leave a word wasted. It has a dreamlike aesthetic with the prose and how a scene shifts, dreamlike in its approach. The story flows organically, it isn’t strictly plot-driven, more so used to capture that wonder of Ombria. It oddly has a fragmental feeling like one would have as a dream. Which is used quite intentionally without feeling out spoilers.
The characters are pretty great across the board and deeply sympathetic. They are quite multifaceted and really loved following Mag, Lydea, and Ducon's perspective. The character has a sombreness to them that really fits the overall theme of the book. That said, I would say I preferred The Forgotten Beasts of Eld slightly more because of that mother-and-son relationship of Sybel and Tamlorn. I was more emotionally attached in comparison; that said, some of it is quite intentional due to its focus.
There are many questions, but some are directly answered. The answers that aren’t directly stated are in the text, like a dream; it all comes down to interpretation and uncovering the hidden truths, like the palace of Ombria. The conclusion was rather fitting and beautiful, it’s definitely not an epic conclusion, nevertheless a fitting one. If I can still ponder upon the book about the feeling it conveyed, like the Gormenghast series, it’s doing something right. In conclusion, it’s a fantastic book, there is reasons why it won the World Fantasy Award and it’s rather short.
8.5/10
December 30, 2022
Ombria teeters on the brink of destruction: a child ruler sits on the throne while a dangerous regent vies for power. But Ombria is a city of magic, of hidden doorways and underground sorceresses, and what seems to be her end may only be a transformation. McKillip's illustrative voice creates a fantastic sense of place intertwined with a deep, organic magic: an absorbing, unusual, superbly realized city, Ombria is the book's true protagonist. The characters which people it have melancholy depth and sympathetic troubled relationships; the plot which moves it is both finely knit and inevitable--the strange but natural outcome of the city's identity. But the climax has flaws: the city's fate knits up nicely but some character threads feel hastily knotted in, and the ending uses a trope I dislike: . But, while the characters have moments of crystalline resonance, while the plot has a beautiful denouement, don't read it for that. Read Ombria in Shadows for McKillip's lyrical writing and the shadowed, mournful, magical world which it evokes. It's not a flawless book but it is a remarkable one, and it was exactly what I wanted. I recommend it with enthusiasm.
September 4, 2024
Ombria is a vaguely Renaissance city, full of strange and peculiar magics, not least the magic of McKillip's prose. Tyrants, witches, endangered princes, the brave inn-keeper's daughter who was the last prince's mistress, the loyal bastard, the clever witch's apprentice, and the magic of cities and histories, faces that always change and always remain the same. This is the most urban of McKillip's books, and it captures the essence of what I love about great cities: the sense that the city itself has a nature and that it shapes everyone who lives within it, no matter how separate from each other they may appear to be.
One of my favorite McKillips, for the messiness and confusion and complexity of the city, for the many-threaded history, even though I have mixed feelings about the final chapter.
One of my favorite McKillips, for the messiness and confusion and complexity of the city, for the many-threaded history, even though I have mixed feelings about the final chapter.
August 21, 2015
McKillip is a beautiful writer. If this story doesn't pull you in within the first 50 pages, it is not going to change in the next 240, so you may want to try something else. I was impressed by the first 50 pages, and really liked the entire book. No predictable plot, the story felt meandering. Brief yet thorough characterizations. Seamless mix of "real world" and magical elements. Interesting, mysterious characters. Story of the perfect length. I'll be reading more McKillip.
January 19, 2019
Pretty fun fantasy that has a very strong fairy tale feel. While a lot of the book can be a bit slow, the world that McKillip builds is fascinating enough to keep your attention.
April 26, 2019
This book was odd, but in the best possible way. The world building was fascinating, and as always, Ms McKillip's prose was beautiful.
May 21, 2026
It was a delicate thing of slender ivory sticks and a double layer of folded rice paper. One side was a painting, the other an intricately cut silhouette, a shadow world behind a painted world that could be seen when the fan was held up to the light.This exquisite fantasy by the late Patricia McKillip introduces us to a polity where everybody and everything seems to lack something: a ruler who will soon lack the breath of life, with a regent who has not as yet tasted death; a boy prince who lacks father, nurse and perhaps a friend, and a young man who lacks pigment, his father unknown; an ageless fay who has no discernible single form, and a creation of wax who for some time is missing a true heart and the capacity for individual thought – until she receives both, along with the truth.
And they all inhabit a city state with plenty of shadows but lacking a clear light to see what’s true and what’s false; a polity which also lacks good governance; an urban labyrinth with an underworld hidden in shadows, lacking solidity because enveloped in the mists of time.
Its essence is contained in the story of the fan; yet in this kaleidoscopic world – shifting from stark monochrome to streams of colour glimpsed through a prism – spells and ensorcellments rule the pace of life, and if magic doesn’t achieve the ends sought, why then, violence may take its place.
Here on Faey’s walls hung art that seemed earlier still, and verged upon artless. Strange landscapes and animals, the suggestion of a city’s streets, an even vaguer, blurred face glimpsed in a glittering fog, were depicted on what looked like the round tops of wine barrels, or on stretched hide.Ombria is the real star turn here, the canvas on which are painted the fleeting, occasionally fleeing, figures of McKillip’s imagination compounded with archaic archetypes. Like some Italianate acropolis drifting between the Renaissance and the Baroque, the palace sits atop the city’s maze of thoroughfares, which in turn merges into an undercity which occasionally emerges onto a dockside or bridge. But over against all is a shadow city which only a few individuals may access, even though it may be sensed or occasionally glimpsed like the silhouette on the other side of a fan held up against a trembling flame.
— Chapter 16, ‘Here and There’.
Lydea is the mistress of Royce Greve, the Prince of Ombria – or rather was, for when he mysteriously falls ill and dies she’s summarily ejected from the palace by the sinister Domina Pearl, who proclaims herself regent to the prince’s young heir, Kyel. His coronation over, Kyel is tutored by the scholar Camas Erl, and watched over by the boy’s pale cousin, Ducon, who, as it happens, spends much of his time wandering Ombria, sketching characters, shady corners and portals in charcoal, his own face and hands becoming smudged as if in chiaroscuro.
And what of Lydea? She’s watched over by the ‘waxling’ called Mag, a girl who’s been told she’s been created from candle wax by the sorceress called Faey, an otherworldly creature who dispenses spells and potions to any client who is able to find and pay her. And it is this scenario – with its dramatis personae of mistress, boy prince, tutor, artist, villainess, sorceress and apprentice – that we are drawn into a world of make-believe and imminent peril, of transformations and poisons, symbolised by the beauteous rose, the pain that is its thorn, and the charcoal – itself once-living wood, now charred – that has the potential to depict things that may or may not exist.
McKillip’s Ombria is a place that, among other qualities, anticipates the halls of Susanna Clarke’s haunting Piranesi while recalling the decaying corridors and rooms of Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast lorded over by the Earls of Groan. In fact the descriptions of Ducon Greve’s obsessional sketching and portraiture reminds me of the evocative and fantastical images Peake did for his Gormenghast characters.
Yet Ombria is its own place, however much it may resemble other locations we’ve read about, or seen, or experienced: its claustrophobic, mendacious, it’s terrifying, it’s alive; and it takes us a while to realise it’s held together by a genius loci who has been hiding in plain sight.
It’s McKillip’s own genius that conjures up a world peopled by such distinctive, gradually fleshed-out characters, much as the Brontë siblings imagined their own Genii to preside over Glass Town, Anglia and Gondal and diverse inhabitants; it’s McKillip’s humanity and skill that made me love and care about the flawed, vulnerable individuals struggling to make sense of and survive in this crumbling world threatening to shake itself apart. Will Ombria collapse, enter a decline, or somehow renew itself? I mayn’t be the only person to have had my heart in my mouth for Ducon, Kyel, Lydea and Mag, and it could be the same for you.
June 24, 2025
"I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"About how we know what's real. How we wake out of a timeless place and recognize time. How you know me here, now, even when nothing or anyone else in this place is familiar. I might have been wandering through your dream, but you knew immediately which of me will bring you paper."
Ombria in Shadow is the fantasy novel I've been looking for. It's not like most others - it's mysterious, vague and imprecise, with a fuzzy, fairytale vibe.
Patricia A McKillip is a creative writer, and she makes this novel feel very natural. The twists are often unpredictable - but instead of thinking up crazy solutions, she just doesn't follow genre conventions. She builds up a character, and then something reveals that character in a completely different light. She sets red herrings everywhere. An book is given to a character to study, presumably of great meaning, then it turns out the character that gave the task is mentally not all there. An item of great personal value is given to a character, and then destroyed a few scenes later without fulfilling its purpose.
The city of Ombria is described in an atmospheric, vague way that allows you to gist the feel of it, rather than drawing specific maps. I adored this. When authors write fantasy in a way that is too precise I end up taking them too seriously. No fantastical setting can endure a critical eye simply due to the nature of it. Magic doesn't exist in real life, so the explanations for its sources and its exact mechanisms are always lacking, because our real-world understanding of biology, chemistry and physics simply doesn't support it.
So I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that Patricia A McKillip was not interested in explaining the exact mechanism by which a witch crafts her magical poisons, but rather revel in the wonder and phantasmagory of it. Then I can't help but be starry-eyed. I don't need to nitpick physics if they are not provided.
The main theme of the novel was counterpart. The city - and its shadow. The ancient sorceress vs the unholy undead witch. The high-born bastard in the castle and the low-born bastard in the city. To me, it also looked like these kinds of dual characters were just what the author wanted to play around with, without really impregnating this with another meaning.
Here's a quote that highlights this, from the author's own pen:
Overall, this was a short, more fairytale-like fantasy that subverts the expectations. I think any fantasy fan should read it just to see a different spin on the genre, as well as people who just love reading old-timey fairytales.
October 14, 2021
3.5 stars
From the first page, readers are plunged into a strange shadowy world full of secrets and conspiracies, without warning. The lovely prose washed over me like music. Sometimes the meaning would strike me like lightning, with perfect clarity, and other times the words would lap over me in a diffuse mist of vague understanding. Reading this book is an experience. Characters are sketched in broad strokes, and familial love is the impetus motivating many of them.
Unfortunately, my one major gripe with the book is that Domina Pearl, who is the main villain of the piece, is such a stock evil character, with the typical garden-variety aspirations of Total Control and World Domination. Considering the nuanced prose, I expected more.
In fact, the plot of the book could probably have fit into ten pages, without the sumptuous dressing of the writing. The story is dense with imagery and clever metaphors, but its vague dreamy quality may not charm everyone.
From the first page, readers are plunged into a strange shadowy world full of secrets and conspiracies, without warning. The lovely prose washed over me like music. Sometimes the meaning would strike me like lightning, with perfect clarity, and other times the words would lap over me in a diffuse mist of vague understanding. Reading this book is an experience. Characters are sketched in broad strokes, and familial love is the impetus motivating many of them.
Unfortunately, my one major gripe with the book is that Domina Pearl, who is the main villain of the piece, is such a stock evil character, with the typical garden-variety aspirations of Total Control and World Domination. Considering the nuanced prose, I expected more.
In fact, the plot of the book could probably have fit into ten pages, without the sumptuous dressing of the writing. The story is dense with imagery and clever metaphors, but its vague dreamy quality may not charm everyone.
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