Customer Reviews

Riddle-Master

5 star:		(97)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It had been a while since I had read The Riddle Master of Hed when I came across this edition. I bought it since I didn't own any of the books, and I thought it would make a nice addition to my library. The book arrived, and it sat for a bit on the shelf. Then one day I picked it up and began to read...

From the first chapter of the first book it sucked me into the world of Morgon, land-ruler of Hed. I couldn't stop reading. I couldn't stop turning pages. When I finished Riddle-Master of Hed I HAD to start immediately on Heir of Sea and Fire. I was then drawn into the world of Raederle and her search for Morgon. When I finished that book I HAD to start on Harpist in the Wind. Like the previous two, I couldn't stop reading.... Four days after starting The Riddle Master of Hed, I finished the last paragraph of Harpist in the Wind. Finally I could rest. I had been reading the collection every spare minute, sneaking breaks to read more while at work, avoiding people so I could read without interruption, and reading long into the night. I was exhausted, and throughly satisfied.

Morgon, land-ruler of Hed has a destiny to fulfil. A destiny and an inheritance that he knows nothing about. All he has to work from are clues. Three stars on his forehead, a harp, a sword, and several riddles with no solutions. Raederle is in a similar situation. She is the daughter of a land-ruler, heir of a mysterious people with no name, and in possession of powers she is afraid to use. Both Morgon and Raederle are involved, in ways they don't understand, and often do not want to be, in the ending of an age.

This book presents one of the great trilogies of modern fantasy in its complete form. The complete story arc is here, in one volume, for your time-draining, work-interrupting pleasure. You might want to take a vacation prior to opening it, the book is that hard to put down.

On a recent trip to Boston, I live in the wild west, I was trudging through a bookstore looking for something to read and a copy of this book (the only one on the shelf---slightly dog-eared and full-priced!) called out to me. I picked it up and saw that on the back cover a reviewer compared this trilogy and the author to Tolkein. I had to buy it and make the decision myself. From page one, I was unable to put the RIDDLE-MASTER down for three complete back to back readings! Patricia McKillip deftly weaves a believable tale of Morgan and his friends and their journey from innocence to nearly immortal power. McKillip has a command of language that rivals any fine author and she has the ability to spin a story that is intriguing as well as compelling. Her heroes, Morgan and Raerjle, are characters that follow the hero formula that is as old as the epic and are as human as we all are. This complete trilogy is satisfying because it is all collected in one volume and there is no wait for each of the sequels (seemingly, the original books are out of print and I had never heard of this author). Considering that these tales were written some 25 years ago, there are delightfully fresh and as I stated above, compelling. Oh, by the way, Tolkein has nothing to fear---he is still the master but I would have no problem placing this volume on a shelf along side the copies of his work!

It had been years--or should I say decades--since I read this trilogy, so when I found it reissued in a single volume, I had to buy up. My fond memories of the book were not disappointed, and it still reads as freshly now as it did during the late seventies. Then, when fantasy still remained dominated by Tolkien, or in the hands of overly prolific imitators, two authors stood out, both for the freshness of their approach and their skill of writing: Stephen Donaldson and Patricia McKillip. It's fitting, in the author's acknowledgements, to see their names still linked.

As the author hints in her introduction, this trilogy lacks the maturity of her later works, such as "The Book of Atrix Wolfe," "Winter Rose," or the recent "Song for the Basilisk." Yet all the elements are evident that have contributed to making Patricia McKillip one of the finest authors writing fantasy fiction today: beautiful, at times lyrical, prose, imaginative and original themes and characters, and a wondrous sense of the magical that infuses both her world and story throughout. Each world she creates is unique and thoughtfully rendered, with elements designed to provoke both thought and wonder, and her characters are some of the most striking found in fantasy fiction--no small accomplishment indeed!

While I understand the exuberance behind some earlier reviewers' comments--this work is special and deserving of wide readership--some of the praise here goes overboard. Compared to the second two books, "The Riddle-Master of Hed" is a rough cut, both in conception and in terms of its writing. It lacks the assurance of the later two books, and, despite some marvelous passages, such as the book's opening and the story of Peven, at times rambles and exhibits writing in need of further polish and greater concision. Essential for establishing much of the basis for the rest of the trilogy, and containing many marvelous episodes and characters, it nonetheless displays the lack of focus and more assured writing skills evident in the following two books, and for this reason prevents me from according it full marks. And, this early trilogy is certainly not up to the standard of the author's later and more mature work.

That said, I nonetheless consider this a classic of the genre, far more imaginatively written than scores of other work currently lining retailer's shelves. Further, it is written with a style that sets the author apart from almost all other wordsmiths presently practicing the genre, a beauty of voice that makes her tales compelling and unique. And while I am dubious of the many comparisons to Tolkien, there is a sense and tone of wonder echoing throughout this story that I have never found elsewhere except in Tolkien's work. I cannot recommend this book more highly.

I just want to add the perspective of a not-hard-core fantasy reader-- I just like good stories, be it an oldie like The Brothers Karamazov or a new great like The Life of Pi. And this is one of my all-time favorite stories. It really is worthy of the "classic" label-- it is masterful storytelling, utterly creative, and seems more real than 'real-life' fiction. What matters most to me are characters who are real and story that speaks into my own life-- Riddle Master has both. It has none of the cheesiness or worn-out qualities of some of those fat, best-selling fantasies with 39 sequels that you can buy at airports. This story is deep, and stays with you for life. If you can make it through the second chapter, I don't think you'll find this story hard to get into at all.

Regardless of what many others have said, without a doubt I can say this is McKillip's strongest work. While her writing is always compelling, many of her 'more mature works' lack the depth and complexity of this one. I definitely enjoyed The Book of Atrix Wolfe, Song for the Basilisk, and Winter Rose, but they all left me feeling somewhat dissatisfied, due to the somewhat tidy endings and incomplete characters. They are enjoyable, well-written stories that you forget in a year. Not so with Riddle Master.

It definitely IS high time that those cheesy 70s mass-market paperback covers (that probably kept would-be appreciative readers away) were replaced with this one-volume reprint. I'm not the only one to initially judge a book by its cover. Take the opportunity to experience this beautiful story without having to brave the 3 annoying comic-book paintings, produced by those cover-artists who never read the books. I'm buying a new volume and giving the old ones to someone who doesn't care about aesthetics!

Don't talk to me about Tolkien, Terry Brooks or Stephen Donaldson. Since I first read "The Riddlemaster" (then called "A Riddle of Stars") in my early teens, all other fantasy paled; I've simply never been able to enjoy any of the other authors books because this is simply the best! Morgon of Hed is a wonderful hero, human while retaining that legendary quality. He is written with humor, pathos, & empathy as are all the characters in this cycle. Unusually for fantasy, the female characters are not only strong but individual while retaining their feminine qualities. The world McKillip creates is one that her readers can say "this feels right! These are the rules that should govern the world!" And all the characters, major to minor, have depth & uniqueness. McKillips language creates vivid pictures from epic magic battles to humorous vignettes. If you read fantasy, or know someone who does, this book is indispensable. Buy it today!

For centuries the ghost of King Peven has haunted his decaying castle, playing a deadly riddle-game with visitors: his crown against their lives. He has always won. Now someone has taken his crown, ignorant of the fact that with it goes the hand of Raederle, the second most beautiful women in the known world. The crown has been won by Morgon, Prince of tiny, agricultural Hed, and it's under his bed while he, his brother and sister, and Snogg Nutt the pigherder try to decide what to do with it. Suddenly riddles are gathering like storm clouds over a world scoured centuries ago by the War of the Earthmasters, powerful magical beings who once ruled, then suddenly fled the world. Where did they go? Who were they? Who are the powerful and hostile men from under the sea, and why have they suddenly come after Morgon? Most important of all, why does Morgon have three stars birthmarked on his forehead? Luckily, he's one of the Riddle-Masters and has a chance of finding the answer. Meanwhile Raederle, no shrinking violet, calls upon the powers that she is heir to through her father the King of An, as the ancient dead of An begin to rise and pursue their ancient wars, and strikes a desperate bargain with the dead to safeguard Morgon. Who is the harper named Deth? Where did the wizards go? Why doesn't the High One, source of authority and land-rule, act in some way? And who will fix the leak in poor Snogg Nutt's roof? Even if you turned into a tree and thought about it all winter you'd never figure it out. Secrets as deep as the root of a mountain, as wild as a pack of wolves, as chaotic as the pounding sea: solve them or the world plunges into horror.

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

The story was compelling, the writing was exquisite, and McKillip manages the nearly impossible -- in writing about emotions and experiences that are impossible to put into words, she suggests them so well that the reader is able to feel them. It made me choke up in a number of places, even cry in a few, and there are images burned into my mind that I will never forget. A comparison to Tolkien is probably useless -- McKillip and Tolkien share little except an obvious love of myth and language, and stunning vision and originality.

However, in reading the other reviews here, where reviewers indicate that they found the book confusing, or "weren't able to get into it," it did occur to me that this is not a book for everyone. The language and images are rarely concrete -- they are fleeting impressions, suggested rather than described. The story and writing overall are dreamlike -- you can understand them instinctually, but if you try to analyze or think about them too much, they fade like a dream does upon waking. For people who like their descriptions concrete, or who prefer events to be clearly explained, or who want explanations that are stated directly rather than implied, it would probably make for very frustrating reading.

The best advice I can give to a would-be reader who is not familiar with McKillip's writing style is to not think about it too much while you're reading it -- just experience it. If, after finishing the first book of the trilogy, you're not enthralled, put it down. If you aren't put off by the dreamlike nature of the book, however, you will find it one of the most amazing reading experiences you will ever have.

I was determined to read this trilogy through regardless of how I felt about it, and frankly that's the only reason I finished it. On the other hand, I'm glad I did!

The first book was interesting, if long-winded. It took its time getting where it was going, and had some detours that when all was said and done, seemed unnecessary to the whole of the plot. Still, the writing was much better than average and the story was engaging. The lead character had a very common syndrome caught by leads in fantasy epics: the "wanna go home" whine. Luckily, he got over it; once he did, he became a fascinating individual.

The second book was, IMO, *filler*. It left the lead character in favor of spending time with the character's s.o., who had very little relevance to the story overall. She did a couple of interesting things (raising the dead, for one), but her actions felt like they had very little to do with the actual plot. Most of the time, she looked for her fiance and failed to find him. The point of that was...? Some very gripping things happen to the male lead character during book two; unfortunately, all of them happen "off-stage" and we only heard about them second-hand. That was a great loss.

The third book put the other two to shame. The writing suddenly leapt to life. It got better and better the closer it came to the climax. Once there, everything came together, and a thousand questions that had been ignored for too long were finally answered. I felt like I was reading another story entirely, one that was vibrant and exciting and worth every penny. I regret that the first two parts of the story were not as good, but it was worth reading through them to get to the last part.

There were times when I had to force myself to keep reading, especially during the second book which was the worst of the batch. Unfortunately, you can't skip books -- there's too much information you need to know in both the first and second book in order to appreciate the third. I recommend reading this triology collection anyway, because the final act is so splendid, and even the tedious parts are better written than the standard crap that is published in the Fantasy genre these days.

FWIW, I heard this was one of the author's earlier works, so she was probably still learning her craft at the time. Kudos to her for mucking through it, and turning out something that must have taken a great deal of effort and talent. I look forward to reading other works by her.

Usually when an author is compared to Tolkien, it means that there are lots of swords, sorcery, countries clashing and a dark lord, but that the spirit of the master of fantasy is missing. This is one trilogy that almost lives up to the words -- a majestic, magical adventure that spans all of McKillip's richly invented world.

"Riddle-Master of Hed" opens with the discovery of a jeweled crown under Prince Morgan's bed -- a sign that he outriddled a king who had never been defeated before. Along with the crown, he wins the right to marry his pal's sister, Raederle, the second-most beautiful woman in the continent of An. But Morgan is stopped on his way by a shipwreck and news of something dark and sinister creeping into the lands. Strange shapeshifting creatures are entering the lands, the wizards have vanished from the land, and somehow the three stars on Morgan's brow are connected to their presence and how to stop them. He heads off to Erlenstar Mountain, to find the High One -- and finds more than he bargained for...

"Heir of Sea And Fire" very slowly resolves the cliffhanger ending of "Riddle-Master," focusing instead on Princess Raederle. The land-rule -- a sort of sixth sense given to kings -- of Hed has passed to Morgan's brother, meaning that apparently Morgan is dead -- but Raederle and her father don't believe it's true. She sets off with a few faithful friends, and encounters the semi-sinister harpist Deth, the shapechangers, armies of the dead rampaging through her father's lands -- and disturbing news about her and her heritage.

"Harpist in the Wind" continues from the end of "Heir," with Morgan and Raederle planning what to do next. Strange rebel armies -- of both the living and the dead -- are massing in Ymris, and Morgan is taking the dead armies to Hed in an attempt to protect it. Then he and Raederle set off to find the High One and wring some answers out of him -- only he may not be what they expect. As Morgan grows in power and gains knowledge about all of An, he strips bare the secrets of the High One, the shocking identity of the shapechangers, and begins a new age for the lands...

There was never a less cliched author than Patricia McKillip -- the scope, majesty and richness of her invented world rival the best of the genre. Her plot twists and turns inside the lush, dreamlike prose that she's so good at, making a snowstorm as eerie as a magical showdown that can redefine an entire world's magic.

Her plot can be seen in two ways, as the growth of a naive young prince into a wise paragon of power, and also about the shifting of a land from one era into another. The Four Portions of An are a detailed, real-seeming fantasy world, and her princes, wizards, ghosts, and harpists are wise, sometimes sinister, mysterious and full of power.

Morgan is an excellent hero, who is not arrogant or desirous of the power that he is gaining. As confused by his own destiny as by the events around him, he spends much of the first book resisting his fate. Raederle is an excellent counterpart to Morgan, afraid of her heritage and fiercely determined to follow him wherever he goes. They are not a perfect couple: they bicker and argue occasionally, but they do not allow divisions to sit and fester. Deth is the ultimate ambiguous character, keeping you guessing until the end about what the heck is going on with him.

There are no elves, dwarves, fairies, gnomes, or similar fantastical creatures in this book. It came to me with a bit of a shock at the end that aside from the shapechangers, there were only humans in this -- humans who can learn magic, who make mistakes and who have to search for the truth instead of having it handed to them on a plate. The magic is startlingly eerie, subtle and pervasive rather than being flashy. Similarly, the shapechangers' menace isn't overdone -- much of their creepiness results from the question of what they are, and why they are doing what they do.

The complexity and depth of McKillip's early trilogy is still striking today. Her rich invented world and haunting, complex tale of magic, wizards and riddles make "The Riddlemaster Trilogy" a modern fantasy classic.

Patricia McKillip writes the best prose in fantasy, better even than Tolkien. Her sentences are like glittering jewels that sparkle and enchant with their beauty. Happily, the story itself is not dimmed by the splendor of the author's words.

The story is of Morgan, Prince of Hed, whose life has been marked by Mystery in the form of three stars upon his brow. What these stars mean, both to him and his world, is the main plot of the story and the answer to this mystery is satisfyingly astonishing and impressive.

Riddles and magic, ancient kings and timeless wisdom, powers of wind and earth, fire and sea, each portrayed with wonder and elegance are encountered by Morgan on his journey. Most importantly, the reader is never entirely sure how things will turn out until the very end -- in fact, we are rarely sure how things *are* until the very end. It is when you re-read the story that you really appreciate how deft she was weaving the threads of her story into the wonderful tapestry that is the Riddle of the Stars -- The Riddle-master Trilogy.