Customer Reviews

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

For many years there has been a wizard in residence atop Eld Mountain, living in peaceful contemplation with a group of magical heraldic animals. The last one called a reluctant princess to him with a spell, just as he called the animals, and before she died of loneliness and sorrow she bore a daughter. This daughter, named Sybel, becomes the wizard-in-residence, spending her long days conversing with the wise Beasts and never missing the company of humans. One day a handsome prince brings her a child; her nephew, in danger from political maneuvering. Sybel comes to love little Tam, but as he grows he draws her into the world that she has always ignored. There is danger there; Sybel is lovely and powerful and men covet both attributes. She loves Tam enough to release him to his destiny as Prince Tamlorn; in Coren she finds not only love but acceptance into a family. But across her new life falls the shadow of hate and revenge. Sybel finds no amount of power can spare you from your own humanity. As you might suspect, many readers have treasured copies of this book for years, and I suspect Stephen R. Donaldson of being one of them. Could WHITE GOLD WIELDER or DAUGHTER OF REGALS have existed without this book? It's a seminal work, a book of wonder that has inspired and taught all its readers. On one level, a fairy tale; beneath the surface, a story of choices and ethics. If you turned your eye inward, would you like what you saw inside your mind? Even atop the loneliest mountain in the farthest land, your own humanity will seek you out one day and demand an accounting.

Enter a land where wise old boars speak, as well as falcons, lions and cats. A land filled with sorcery, beauty and evil . . .

Known as the ice white lady, Sybil was raised to live to care only for the mythical beasts under her control - powerful, beautiful and wise, and feared by man - she knows none of the ways of men and prefers to keep it that way. Until one day, when a young babe is left in her arms, and she learns to love, and gets entangled in a War she wants no part of.

THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD is a treasure worth seeking out. It's an imaginative story of love, betrayal and forgiveness, filled with intriguing characters you won't soon forget. The dialogue is sparse and the tale is short but there is an abundant amount of character growth and plenty of plot points to ponder. There's also enough magic and surprises to keep those pages turning. I never knew quite where the story was going to lead. I'm now on the hunt for her other work.

This book is a World Fantasy Award winning novel for a good reason.

Wizardry has never seemed so seductive or so dangerous as when Patricia McKillip gives a glimpse of it, with a lesson on revenge and hatred and what they do to a person. This is probably my least favorite of her books, but that is still several notches above the average fantasy.

The protagonist, Sybel, is the daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter of powerful wizards, living in an isolated house on a mountain with an array of magical animals. Among them are an ancient dragon Gyld, riddling Boar Cyrin, the deadly Ter Falcon, and others. With telepathic links to her beasts, she has no need for human beings outside the walls of her home. But the animal she still longs to find is the Liralen, a legendary white bird.

She is temporarily distracted from her quest when a nobleman, Coren, arrives with a baby, and asks her to care for it. Sybel learns how to love the child, Tamlorn, and for several years they are happy (with the help of an old lady). She also summons a strange smoky creature called Blammor, which terrifies many people -- but hardly affects the calm, icy Sybel.

Coren returns and is attacked by Gyld, then brought into Sybel's house by Tam. She is angered when she finds that Coren is there to bring Tamlorn back to the world of men, where his father is a powerful and cold-hearted king named Drede. As time goes by, Sybel sees that Tam wants to see his father. She eventually relents and sends him to his father's home, with Ter Falcon to watch over him. Drede offers to let her come and stay near Tam, but she knows that he would only seek to use her wizardry against his enemies.

A dangerous wizard comes hunting for Sybel at Drede's bidding, and tries to seduce her -- before being killed by the Blammor. Sybel is furious and wants revenge on Drede -- but what will she do to gain revenge, and what would the cost of revenge be?

I sometimes wonder if Sybel was an experiment for Patricia McKillip, to see if she could write the ultimate "Ice Queen" and still make her sympathetic. I found Sybel less sympathetic than understandable, in that her lack of unnecessary emotion makes her clear-sighted in some situations, while simultaneously making her more susceptible to hatred. She is not really an admirable character in some respects -- we see her engaging in casual theft, using people like pawns, and coldly threatening to set deadly animals on Coren, but at the same time we see her love for Tamlorn and her struggling emotions for Coren.

Like so many of Patricia McKillip's books, the plot is deceptively simple with nuances woven through it. McKillip's thoughts on revenge are intertwined with the "Riddle-Master" trilogy, "Fool's Run," and "Song for the Basilisk." Here we see how hatred and its offspring, vengeance, might destroy a person from the inside out and destroy what they most care for.

The writing is not as lush and luxurious as in many of her other books, nor is the magic in it as take-your-breath-away as that of the Riddle-Master trilogy. We don't get inside Sybel's head very often. Nor is the attraction between Coren and Sybel quite as well-defined as some of her other romances. Coren himself is a wonderful male lead: handsome, brave, compassionate, forgiving, good-natured and with a tragic streak to make him more real. Tamlorn is an excellent portrayal of an innocent, sweet-natured boy raised in a semi-idyllic enviroment, but who craves something of the outside world.

This is an excellent YA fantasy, but which is not childish in any way. Adults can also benefit from the weave of words and the lesson inside it.

Twenty years ago I was recuperating from the flu, still too sick to read anything challenging, but too bored to reread something. My eyes lit upon The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. I had recently devoured the Riddle-Master of Hed trilogy and had been saving Forgotten Beasts for just the right moment. It was perfect. It whisked me away to a world of magical beasts and interesting people, and I have been recommending it to people ever since. However, I had not reread it until today (recuperating once again from the flu). I was delighted to find that it was still charming, and lyrical, and interesting, and complex. While reading a bit like a tale told by a bard, its people are real: they struggle with love and hate, and loyalties to friends, family and country. The magic is rare and awesome; the magical animals have both personality and power. Although classified as a Young Adult novel, I doubt there is an adult who cannot enjoy it. The writing is clear and jewel-like. As the tale weaves toward its climax, you will be surprised with the result. I had tears in my eyes when I finished. This is a beauty that has withstood the test of time and should be read by all lovers of fantasy.

My grandmother is an old Hungarian woman with a number tattood onto her arm. When I was little I spent a lot of time at her house. I have never watched much TV, it bores and annoys me for the most part. My grandmother's house smelled comforting, and the basement was full of old things, old clothes, old string and yarn and buttons and bits of fabric, and even a few old books. I'd scour her house for books to feed my addiction, I loved (and still love) the smell of old books. Once upon a time and long, long ago I found a copy of The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. It still sends shivers down my spine whenever I re-read it. I loved it, then. It was sacred to me, it shaped who I am... true books you read when very young tend to do that. And then I lost it, and grew up, and the buttons and string are old and dusty, and my grandmother's house is visited less and less often. Years later I vaguely remembered the book, recalled bits and pieces and the feeling that finding it and reading it was Most Important. I couldn't even remember the title or the author. I hunted through her house, and through mine, and could not find it. My grandmother and parents didn't know what I was talking about it. It was out of print for quite a while, I believe. I scoured all the old used bookstores of New York City, and found nothing. Until one of my many trips to Strand, when I went to the fantasy/science fiction section, and the first title to hit my eye was the right one. Absolute child-like wonder. I paid for it and took it home in a sort of daze, and read it, and it was as important and true and beautiful as I remembered. It's still the book I read quietly aloud when the real world is too... well, too real for me to deal with. The only other book this has happened to me with was The Golden Key by George MacDonald. It just took me so long to figure out which books I was half-remembering, and whether or not I had merely dreamed them. ::small smile:: I just had to share that with you. I think you might understand.

From the moment I picked this book up, I couldn't put it down. I stayed up reading it to a very late hour and, knowing I had much to do the next day and that I had to wake at an early hour, I reluctantly peeled my eyes away from the pages. The next day, every spare moment I had was spent on reading this beautiful book. I loved it. It is so full of suspense and adventure, love and wisdom. I believe that many people (adults too, for even though I am only twelve, I have read many adult books and have found them to be even less mature than this one)would find this book amazing.

When I was in college, I remember talking to two close friends about the books that we liked the best. There were three works that each of us put in our 'best-ten' list: The Lord of the Rings, Watership Down, and The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. In my opinion, there are three great stengths to this book. The first is the utter beautiful writing itself. The plot is not earth-shaking, the scale is certainly not epic...but this makes the simple beauty of her writing shine all the more, like a magnificent diamond in a simple setting.

The second strength is that Patricia McKillip has a true and deep sense of the reality of hatred. Anyone who truly hates another person (and, for many years, I was very much in this category) will recognize EXACTLY how Sybil thinks and feels, and this is brought out in an utterly convincing fashion. The hatred is one of the central pillars of the story, and it is the pivot not merely of Sybil's life, but the life of anyone who hates deeply.

The third great strength, which is closely linked to the second, is the way that McKillip portrays the way in which hatred destroys not merely the person who is hated, but the one who hates as well. It eats away at the person, until there is nothing left within, and there is no hope for a cure, for things to be made right again. This is not to say that there IS no hope for salvation...merely that the one who hates reaches a point where he (she) can no longer see it, and this salvation must come from the outside. There is redemption, but only after terrible pain, not merely for Sybil but for all who love her as well. This is truth, and I have recommended this book to people whose lives were being eaten away by hatred.

What else can I say? This books succeeds at both an artistic and an existential level. And very few books are so successful at either.

I must admit, I am new to these types of books. And to tellyou the truth, I only read this book because a friend told me to readit, and i only did because i was bored of waiting for harry Potter #4. This book, was the GREATEST book I have read in a long time, it held my attention from the first word to the last word. It was written beautifly and detailed. The Characters were 3 dimensional, and you usually don't see that in many books. The characters were expertly made. The plot was intoxicating. I recomend this book to all of the people that are like me, Read this book! You'll love it!

I first read this beautiful book when I was 12. I am now 36 & can attest this book is even richer & more resonant as an adult. The underlying themes of love, intimacy, & abuse of power are issues in everyone's life, whether you are a witch who must learn to love a human or an everyday millenial! The language is so lovely, so entrancing, you will find yourself reading aloud even if alone. If you're shopping for a favorite pubescent, BUY THIS. If you're shopping for yourself BUY THIS! And if you've ever read any fantasy at all BUY THIS!

This book is great! I LOVED IT! In this book,the setting is mostly on Eld Mountain.A beautiful wizard named Sybel is born there.She even can read animal's minds! But one day when she is 16,a man named Coren appears at her door and asks for her to take in a baby.It is a relitive of hers whose parents had died.His name was Tamlorn.Finally she takes him in and as he grows, learns to love him.But one day when Coren comes back for him, it breaks Sybel's heart.Will she decide to give him back? Find out for yourself and hurry up and buy the book!