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A review by theaurochs
The Riddle-Master's Game by Patricia A. McKillip
3.0
A book that ricochets from spellbinding and mesmerising to perplexing and tedious, by the end of this I'm very conflicted and more than a little glad to be done.
The whole book and world it is set in revolves around 'riddles' which aren't riddles at all but rather unanswered questions, and matters of truth. It deals extensively with themes of identity- who we are born to be, who we make ourselves to be and who others make us. While sometimes this is explored in a very interesting way, at other times it leaves us mired in too many layers of metaphor, or struggling with yet another character who lied about their identity.
I can certainly admire McKillip for her work here- it is singular in purpose and does have some lovely prose. Everything is tied back in to the true nature of things; the majority of the magic involved deals either with shape-shifting (thus concealing true nature) or controlling powers by fully understanding them and their name (Earthsea-style); characters wear disguises and constantly struggle with them and with themselves; and the structure of the book becomes a longer and longer question until finally we receive the answer which ties it all together.
Despite the final answer tying things together quite nicely, there are large sections in the middle, particularly in the second book, that are just meandering. Our characters trek backwards and forwards over the landscape, chasing each other again and again, and most often there is little in the way of climax at the end. This gives the whole trilogy a very strange pacing, and it honestly gets tiring before the conclusion.
It also suffers from the classic fantasy idea of the only people who matter in the story being royalty- justified in universe but still makes the fantasy world feel very claustrophobic, like noone exists but the kings and queens of the realm.
McKillip's eerie and otherworldly but at the same time very grounded writing style seems to suffer for being dragged out to a full length novel. This does not compare favourably to The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. Still an enjoyable read despite the frustrations.
The whole book and world it is set in revolves around 'riddles' which aren't riddles at all but rather unanswered questions, and matters of truth. It deals extensively with themes of identity- who we are born to be, who we make ourselves to be and who others make us. While sometimes this is explored in a very interesting way, at other times it leaves us mired in too many layers of metaphor, or struggling with yet another character who lied about their identity.
I can certainly admire McKillip for her work here- it is singular in purpose and does have some lovely prose. Everything is tied back in to the true nature of things; the majority of the magic involved deals either with shape-shifting (thus concealing true nature) or controlling powers by fully understanding them and their name (Earthsea-style); characters wear disguises and constantly struggle with them and with themselves; and the structure of the book becomes a longer and longer question until finally we receive the answer which ties it all together.
Despite the final answer tying things together quite nicely, there are large sections in the middle, particularly in the second book, that are just meandering. Our characters trek backwards and forwards over the landscape, chasing each other again and again, and most often there is little in the way of climax at the end. This gives the whole trilogy a very strange pacing, and it honestly gets tiring before the conclusion.
It also suffers from the classic fantasy idea of the only people who matter in the story being royalty- justified in universe but still makes the fantasy world feel very claustrophobic, like noone exists but the kings and queens of the realm.
McKillip's eerie and otherworldly but at the same time very grounded writing style seems to suffer for being dragged out to a full length novel. This does not compare favourably to The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. Still an enjoyable read despite the frustrations.