szuum's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
linneahedvig's review against another edition
3.0
I've had this sitting on my shelf for years, but sometimes it takes me awhile to get into McKillip books. I love them, though, because they seem so dreamy. I'm not sure what it is, it's not like her characters have no emotion or that they're two dimensional. Maybe they're just two dimensional in that nice dream-fairytale kind of way. Not sure. But all of McKillip's books seem so beautiful in retrospect, even though I can hardly remember what they were about, I remember bits, like a dream. Bits from this book: a firebird floating through a forest, a castle at the top of a waterfall, bees buzzing in golden hair, a monster coming out of a book . . . it was good.
wetdryvac's review against another edition
5.0
Usually I try for something more intelligible than a burble of awestruck cussing, but sweet pants, this book was well wrought. I dunno what to say, other than go read it, and maybe read it a second time. It's worth both of those and a third as well.
daphnefallz's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
xeyra's review against another edition
5.0
It never ceases to surprise me the beauty of McKillip's writing: her words read almost like poetry, with such a prodigious use of metaphors and comparisons and awe-inspiring sentences that makes the readers loose themselves into the world she crafts; she describes it with such talent, to the point we can hear the wind rustling the leaves of a tree.
Seldom have I read another author with such an amazing gift for the written language... she really does make her stories read like poetry... or like a dream you strayed into much like the prince in this story strays into the Forests of Serre.
Seldom have I read another author with such an amazing gift for the written language... she really does make her stories read like poetry... or like a dream you strayed into much like the prince in this story strays into the Forests of Serre.
squishies's review against another edition
4.0
An adult fairy tale - in line with Stardust with Neil Gaiman. So, if you liked Stardust, you'd like this. =) Rather beautifully written.^^^^I love the surprises in this book; when I would think it is over, that everything is going to be okay, something gets twisted and the story meanders along a different path.^^^^The characters were okay, a bit 2D perhaps. I really liked Ronan's mother and Ronan himself. And I quite liked the witch, Brume, too lol.
rachelmac476's review against another edition
5.0
***Dec 2022***
Following the loss of his wife and child, a grief-stricken Prince Ronan goes off to battle in the hopes he will follow them. On his way home, he encounters the ancient witch Brume after accidentally killing her favorite white hen. She predicts that he will have a very bad day. Her prediction comes to pass when Ronan takes off through the strange forests of Serre, chasing a fire bird. Meanwhile, Princess Sidonie of Dacia, accompanied by the wizard Gyre, is sent to marry Prince Ronan in order to secure peace between Dacia and Serre, the latter of which is ruled by King Ferus, a wicked ogre who seeks to conquer as many lands as possible. In Dacia, the aging wizard Unciel, weakened by his last battle, spends his days gardening and recovering while the scribe Euan Ash transcribes Unciel's writing on his adventures.
Of all the Patricia McKillip books I've read so far, this one is my favorite - I do love it a little bit more than the wonderful Forgotten Beasts of Eld. It's such a beautifully intricate tale of magic, grief, and love. All of Patricia McKillip's books are so different from other fantasy novels I've read; these are quiet tales. There are no dramatic love stories or detailed depictions of violent wars. It's just beautifully crafted magical adventures with exquisite writing. I'm not always in the right headspace to appreciate her novels - sometimes all I want to read is some pulse-pounding thriller or high-drama romance - but when I am in the right mood, reading this novel in particular is like slipping into a beautiful dream. Just so lovely.
***July 2021***
Absolutely gorgeous. The worlds Patricia McKillip creates and the stories she writes are magic in and of themselves. At its core this is a metaphor of a man's journey with grief. Reading her novels makes me feel like I'm in some sort of dreamlike trance. I wish I had the words to do this justice, but I don't. I have a whole stack of her books waiting for me on my shelves and I'm excited to dive in.
Following the loss of his wife and child, a grief-stricken Prince Ronan goes off to battle in the hopes he will follow them. On his way home, he encounters the ancient witch Brume after accidentally killing her favorite white hen. She predicts that he will have a very bad day. Her prediction comes to pass when Ronan takes off through the strange forests of Serre, chasing a fire bird. Meanwhile, Princess Sidonie of Dacia, accompanied by the wizard Gyre, is sent to marry Prince Ronan in order to secure peace between Dacia and Serre, the latter of which is ruled by King Ferus, a wicked ogre who seeks to conquer as many lands as possible. In Dacia, the aging wizard Unciel, weakened by his last battle, spends his days gardening and recovering while the scribe Euan Ash transcribes Unciel's writing on his adventures.
Of all the Patricia McKillip books I've read so far, this one is my favorite - I do love it a little bit more than the wonderful Forgotten Beasts of Eld. It's such a beautifully intricate tale of magic, grief, and love. All of Patricia McKillip's books are so different from other fantasy novels I've read; these are quiet tales. There are no dramatic love stories or detailed depictions of violent wars. It's just beautifully crafted magical adventures with exquisite writing. I'm not always in the right headspace to appreciate her novels - sometimes all I want to read is some pulse-pounding thriller or high-drama romance - but when I am in the right mood, reading this novel in particular is like slipping into a beautiful dream. Just so lovely.
"What have you found, pursuing the firebird and contending with Brume? You are not the same man who crept into my firelight, starving, half-mad with love and grief, who would have relinquished his own name to any passing stranger. I was the passing stranger. We both got ourselves tangled in the magic of Serre.
***July 2021***
Absolutely gorgeous. The worlds Patricia McKillip creates and the stories she writes are magic in and of themselves. At its core this is a metaphor of a man's journey with grief. Reading her novels makes me feel like I'm in some sort of dreamlike trance. I wish I had the words to do this justice, but I don't. I have a whole stack of her books waiting for me on my shelves and I'm excited to dive in.
jeszornel's review against another edition
4.0
I love the language this author uses. Although I really enjoyed the story, I really have no clue what the deal with the monster was. I am really confused.....like what? The monster is dead but alive? I did not understand the ambiguous ending with the wizards and the monster. Also, what's the deal between the firebird and the witch??
emmacatereads's review against another edition
3.0
McKillip is, as always, an absolutely enchanting writer, this time folding Russian legends of Baba Yaga and the Firebird into her own meditations on agency and grief. My favorite parts of this story were actually the quiet goings-on of the wizard Unciel and his scribe Euan in the wizard's little garden house in Dacia: I love cozy fantasy, and as dire as the wizard's health was Euan proved a kind and attentive caretaker, and I found myself transfixed by scenes as small as him making soup, or contemplating the hazy dreams of the wizard's one-eyed cat.
This story has some of the most human characters I've encountered in McKillip's canon, authentic for their wickedness and grief as much as their devotion. Our main characters are a stricken prince struggling with suicidal thoughts in the wake of his wife and child's death, a headstrong princess being forced into a loveless marriage for the sake of her kingdom, an ailing, elderly wizard and his novice scribe, and an ambitious sorcerer in search of power. Even the side characters contain multitudes: I flinched in fear from Ronan's abusive father, and my heart went out to his sorrowful queen. Any story with an appearance by Baba Yaga is bound to be entertaining: McKillip's take on her may not be my favorite but her bottle green glasses and beloved chickens definitely added some levity to a surprisingly heavy tale.
The plot was all over the place, which is really what kept this from being a four star read. There's a lot of adventuring out in the woods to find stolen hearts, but nothing is ever really clearly laid out and made me feel like I was reading in circles as characters followed around and around in each others wakes like clockwork figurines charting a tired path. The creature that caused Unciel's illness is never really well-defined beyond being a vague, menacing presence, nor is what exactly happened to put him in such a state. Furthermore, the wizard Gyre had wildly confusing motivations and I could never really put my finger on which version of him was authentic. Overall, more style over concrete substance, but it is clear that McKillip is in a class of fantasy writing all her own.
This story has some of the most human characters I've encountered in McKillip's canon, authentic for their wickedness and grief as much as their devotion. Our main characters are a stricken prince struggling with suicidal thoughts in the wake of his wife and child's death, a headstrong princess being forced into a loveless marriage for the sake of her kingdom, an ailing, elderly wizard and his novice scribe, and an ambitious sorcerer in search of power. Even the side characters contain multitudes: I flinched in fear from Ronan's abusive father, and my heart went out to his sorrowful queen. Any story with an appearance by Baba Yaga is bound to be entertaining: McKillip's take on her may not be my favorite but her bottle green glasses and beloved chickens definitely added some levity to a surprisingly heavy tale.
The plot was all over the place, which is really what kept this from being a four star read. There's a lot of adventuring out in the woods to find stolen hearts, but nothing is ever really clearly laid out and made me feel like I was reading in circles as characters followed around and around in each others wakes like clockwork figurines charting a tired path. The creature that caused Unciel's illness is never really well-defined beyond being a vague, menacing presence, nor is what exactly happened to put him in such a state. Furthermore, the wizard Gyre had wildly confusing motivations and I could never really put my finger on which version of him was authentic. Overall, more style over concrete substance, but it is clear that McKillip is in a class of fantasy writing all her own.
amberacks12's review against another edition
5.0
Patricia A. Mckillip is my new-found favorite author. Written in beautiful prose, concealed meanings and descriptions in her writing create a vivid landscape of wizards and dragons, monsters and stubborn princesses, deceit and hard-won love. With a mysterious phoenix stealing away men's hearts and a cruel one-eyed king with a lust for power. The forest of Serre is full of its own wild magic that cannot be bottled up and controlled, though many try. A wizard too blinded by his own desires to notice what he is turning into and how he hurts others dear to him, a mourning prince who throws himself into harms way to end his life finds he must marry again, a self-sacrificing princess of Dacia come to make a marriage treaty with Serre to keep her country safe, abandoning all love and happiness in the mountains only to find it again in the Ogre's son. Stolen hearts, trampled white hens, a man-eating witch and a book that shows you what is in your heart; all deep within the forest of Serre.