A review by sophiahelix
The Sorceress and the Cygnet by Patricia A. McKillip

4.0

People for whom this is their first McKillip may be surprised to hear that it's actually one of the clearest and most-readable of her books -- I had a much better sense of place, time, and character than I often do (despite the POV changes and jumps through time and space, haha). I also really liked most of the characters more than usual, and felt that they had more purpose and growth than opaque fantasy archetypes. Conclusion doesn't make much sense, of course, since it's McKillip and she loves her abstract prettiness, but it's in smaller proportion here. This may sound like I'm damning the book with faint praise, but since I always want to love McKillip's books more than I end up doing, and this is the first one of hers I didn't have to reread the first five pages over again once I understood what the heck was happening, I really feel like she balanced the elements very well in this book.