Riddle-Master (Paperback)

~ (Author) "MORGON OF HED met the High One's harpist one autumn day when the trade-ships docked at Tol for the season's exchange of goods..." (more)
Key Phrases: harp strap, starred sword, second most beautiful woman, High One, Erlenstar Mountain, Wind Plain (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

For over twenty years, Patricia A. McKillip has captured the hearts and imaginations of thousands of readers. And although her renowned Riddle-Master trilogy--The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, and Harpist in the Wind--has been long out of print, it is considered her most enduring and beloved work. Now it is collected in one volume for the first time--the epic journeys of a young prince in a strange land, where wizards have long since vanished...but where magic is waiting to be reborn.

Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Ace Trade; Ace One-vol ed edition (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441005969
• ISBN-13: 978-0441005963
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (119 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #330,718 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Fantasy Trilogy, August 13, 2001

By	"danielb_com" (Walnut Grove, MN United States) - See all my reviews

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.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a book and author to stumble upon!, September 6, 2000

By	Maryann C. (Bend, OR) - See all my reviews

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!

90 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reissue of a Classic, October 26, 2000

By	Elyon (Mesilla, New Mexico) - See all my reviews

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.