Customer Reviews

The Tower at Stony Wood

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

A strange, shape-shifting monster has imprisoned the King's bride, Gwynne of Skye, in a tower, and taken her place. Cyan Dag is sent by a mysterious old bard to rescue Gwynne. But his quest--so simple and desperate at first--keeps changing, twisting, turning in on itself. Instead of Gwynne's tower he finds a dark tower of dreams, a dragon-guarded tower full of gold, and a mouldering tower by the sea. And instead of the lady of Skye, he finds Melanthos, a village girl who obsessively embroiders what she sees in a magic mirror; Thayne Ysse, prince of Ysse, who wants to free his country from Gloinmere's rule; and Sel, a strange old woman haunted by something she has forgotten. No matter how hard he tries to keep to his one simple task, he is inexorably drawn into their many stories, which turn out, in the end, to all be different parts of the same story.

Patricia McKillip has created yet another compelling novel that combines beautiful language, evocative imagery, a deceptively simple plot, and well-drawn characters. The only disappointing thing about it, to my mind, is the ending, which solves some problems a little too neatly and easily. It is still, however, a story well worth reading.

There are a very small number of writers who are extraordinary literary stylists. Patricia A. McKillip is one such and this latest novel reads like honey-coated silk. Her stories, always larger than life fairy tale romps in darkened woods, while maintaining a certain strength of characterization and intricate plots, become, at times, almost secondary to the beautiful prose in which they are written. This particular story, based loosely on Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott and more specifically on Loreena McKennitt's song of the same name, tells of a woman, cursed half-mad with love who is locked away in a tower to observe the happenings of the world from her magic mirror, not the window of her chamber. The hero is of course a knight in the grandest of Lancelotian traditions, full of angst and some self-doubt, all kept well-hidden beneath the virilest exteriors. The tale is truly great fun, but again it is the magnificently wrought prose that makes reading such a divine pleasure.

I have nothing but praise for all of Patricia A. McKillip's recent novels, and her latest only strengthens my conviction that she is one of the finest fantasy writers out there. I would go so far as to say that she has the most lyrical prose of anyone in the genre.

The Tower at Stony Wood is a typically enthralling offering, loosely based on Tennyson's poem, "The Lady of Shallot." McKillip never retells, however; she expands, using the lady with her mirror in a tower motif as the bare framework for her story. In Tower, there is more than one tower to be surmounted, more than one maiden to be rescued, more than one quest to finish. The mundane and overdone-- knights on quests, evil queens, dragons, and bards are all given new life and shown at different angles. Rarest of all, there are no evil or malevolent characters. As bewildered protagonist Cyan Dag discovers, not all is as it seems. In fact, very little is as it initially appears.

Each apparently disparate thread is successfully woven into the whole, creating a surreal, beautiful novel of the sort only Patricia McKillip could create. If you have never read anything by McKillip, but appreciate gorgeous writing and intricate plots, do yourself a favor and read this one. And after you've finished, go on and read Song for the Basilisk, Winter Rose, The Book of Atrix Wolfe...

Ailanna

In the midst of the King's wedding, Cyan is stopped, mesmerized, not by the beauty of the new Queen, but by the eyes of an ancient bard. He goes to do the bard's bidding, because he can do no else, and because, in her eyes, he sees truth, and beauty, and pain, and destruction. The bard's tale is unbelievable, yet Cyan must believe it. The lovely Queen from Skye is no queen, but a monster. The real queen languishes in a tower in Skye, unable to look upon the world except through a mirror.

Cyan undertakes his task reluctantly, and by doing so changes the course of history, and the very world in which he lives. For nothing is as it seems, and his purpose is a far, far greater one than merely rescuing a young woman.

Patricia A. McKillip weaves words like the lady in the tower weaves thread, making the mundane into a varicolored magical tapestry. Beautiful words and a fantastical story make The Tower at Stony Wood an ever new and always enduring faerie tale. Like most faerie tales, the ending, for Cyan at least, is not unexpected. Lovers of romance might have wished for a little more depth to that part of the book, but at the beginning of this book, Ms. McKillip doesn't promise a romance, she promises an heroic fantasy, and she more than delivers on her promise.

Rickey R. Mallory

Patricia McKillip brings us a good old knightly quest. I was reminded of reading Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur as a child, except that this being McKillip, she adds an extra level of confusion to the story. Well, the protagonists in the three main threads of the tale (reminiscent of the braided stories in Le Morte D'Arthur where the knights have separate adventures before coming together again) seem equally confused. None of them find what they thought they wanted.

The knight, Cyan Dag, faces a bewildering proliferation of towers, as foreshadowed by the three golden towers on his coat of arms. His only guide is his generous heart. He follows his instincts as he is sent on a quest to rescue a damsel presumed in distress. His journey intersects those of Melanthos, the selkie's daughter, and Thayne Ysse, heir to a conquered kingdom. Their fates seem to get woven together by mysterious sorcerous sisters.

As usual, McKillip takes us through a lovingly depicted, shifting landscape full of odd people and enigmatic magic: a dragon, a bard, a baker who is also a selkie, towers, mirrors, and the difference between weaving and embroidery. Read her for her poetry, not her world-building: I never got the sense that her world was somewhere I could live in, outside this one dreamlike bubble. Her characters are real enough, though, with believable motivations and anxieties.

I enjoyed reading this novel, but found myself not entirely satisfied at the end. A little too much confusion, not quite enough resolution at the end, leaving me with a sense of ``That's it? So what did it all mean! '' Yes, she provided explanations, and everything more or less made sense, but it didn't connect with me in a visceral way. Maybe it was that Cyan Dag's attachment to his lover was so important to the plot, but since she does not go on a quest, we never really see her. I recommend this book, but it is not my favorite McKillip.

I adore Patricia McKillip. I want to sit on a carpet near a fire in a room somewhere and listen for snatches and bits of stories she tells. Her words dance, a compliment many may not truly recognize, but that is why I love her. Her lyricism is is simply beautiful. Her stories are so different from each other, yet they all seem to share a common theme of self-discovery and I find it hard to believe I FEEL for each of her characters. They live their passions and I find things to understand, if not admire in even her hardest creations. (I'm thinking of two Broadway shows this season that failed for just that reason. Characters lived great extremes within their tawdry realities but I could not like them!) Her bad guys are the ones who have shuttered off parts of themselves for any number of reasons; lust for power, passion, boredom, yet they all maintain a nobility. Even Draken Saphier, McKillip's one true villain, is someone I am curious about! In "The Tower at Stony Wood", Ms. McKillip has ascended to new heights of the enigmatic. I have no ability to guess where her tales will lead (I'm pretty dumb that way and enjoy getting lost in the journey) so it was much to my surprise to find myself at a "happily-ever-after." The way the end of "The Changeling Sea" was really Peri's beginning: how Saro's new tale starts when she asks, "Tell me all your names", that's what I pretty much expected. It never occurred to me that the real story of "The Tower at Stony Wood" was to be one of a girl who, for love, forced her father to disown her, despite the intercession of his sworn king. This is a far cry from the ages of peaceful solitude ahead for Morgan and Raederle, yet similar to Sybil's desire to be taken home, but the twistings of this book, as it twines back into itself are brilliant. Horray for Cyan Dag (the green knight who holds the holly bush?) and thanks to the friend who introduced Ms.McKillip to Lorena McKennitt. How she expanded the thought that ".. the wind is full of a thousand voices.." into a full novel and captured in writing what McKennitt does musically is mesmerizing and astonishing! I want MORE!

I love McKillip's writing. But this story was a disappointment. I'm happy to see that others enjoyed it (it's always good to see that what you don't like makes someone else happy), but I wouldn't recommend Tower at Stony Wood. It's an extremely poor representation of McKillip's storytelling talent.

The premise of the story is somewhat intriguing and holds a bit of the spiritual depth McKillip usually brings out in a story. But not only are the 'twists' exceedingly confusing-- they're weak and hardly convincing. McKillip's usual strength at writing strong and beuatiful sentences is not to be found here-- many weak and confusing sentences instead. The three interweaving stories and protagonists were never developed enough for me to actually 'care' for them or believe in them. Many scenes are hard to visualize and are, yes, weak and unconvincing.

I hate to sound so negative, but McKillip has set her own standards high, so this is to her credit. Do try her first trilogy, the Riddle Master, for a fantasy classic-- exquisite storytelling AND writing that deserves more credit from the literary world outside of this genre.

I love her work - I really do. I have read half a dozen by now and ordered the rest already. Her poetic way, her romantic stories, her incredible dialogues keep drawing me in for more.

However, I think after wading through half a dozen of her work, I have to admit that McKillip tends to be rather...well...repetitive. Granted, some might call this 'style'. But I think that with the kind of creativity she is showing, she could surely come up with more startling and overwhelming work.

My favorite so far is 'In the Forest of Serre'. That one seemed a perfect combination of legend, myth, reality. Alphabet of Thorn wasn't that bad, either. This novel, however, from the veyr beginning failed to put its hooks into me like the others did. The story started interesting enough. But I get the feeling that as her careers peaks, McKillip is drawn to write more absurd and vague. Which leaves a good amount of confusion that the reader feels forced to sort through and with this one it led to a point when I was reading merely for the sake of her style, not the story that evaded my understanding with every page. I could not connect the events at all and none of the characters were loveable as they had been in 'Winter Rose' for instance. They seemed aloof and two-dimensional - chess pawns that I wasn't really interested in. The ending felt rushed and completely unsatisfactory. I felt left hanging despite the so-called explanations and couldn't bring myself to accept it somehow. It felt as if the novel was suddenly forced to be finished and she had done exactly that - at the cost of a lame ending.

Sadly, not even her suberp lyrical style was enough to save this story for me. I still think that it is a good read if you have nothing else at hand and feel like a little poetry. But if you want more substantial works, she has other books out there.

What a great story! Truly enjoyable, funny, heart wrenching, aggravating.. Quite a twist on the "damsel in distress", "knight in shining armor, dragon slayer" theme. Often very tongue-in-cheek. Read also Song for the Basilisk, Book of Atrix Wolfe. And, of course, the Riddlemaster..

This is my first book by Patricia McKillip, and I was very pleased. I read some reviewer who called this book "luxurious", and I would definitely agree. Like all luxuries, it isn't essential, but my what a nice read it is nonetheless. If you have exhausted all the essential fantasy reading, like Tolkien, George R. R. Martin, and others, this is a good place to take a breather. If you haven't read anything else by the author, the first thing you need to do is have a look at the cover. Now, be informed that the book reads in a similar manner. Lots of details, lots of color. Somewhere in there is the story, and you have to just let the story emerge, because it will. No, you don't know all the answers, you don't have an omnipotent point of view, but be comforted that the elegant twists of plot near the end will resolve whatever it is that confused you in an earlier chapter. And details are important here.
Speaking of the story, its chock full of knights and damsels, of magical creatures and enchanted realms. Not a lot of romance here, nor a great deal of swashbuckling action, just good nebulous, lush reading. Very post-modern, very well done. I'll read more of her stuff, and I would suggest that any lover of good fantasy should do the same.
If Tolkien is an epic Beethoven sonata, then this is a sumptuous Rachmaninov prelude. As in piano music, enjoy them both for what they are.