I just learned of fantasy author Patricia A McKillip’s passing last week. She was a poet, wordsmith, and major inspiration of mine since 1977. That was the year I discovered a paperback copy of ‘The Riddlemaster of Hed’ in my junior high school library. It changed my life. The high fantasy of Tolkien, but with…
Read More In memoriam: Patricia A. McKillipThis book (two books, actually) holds a wistful joy for me. The two stories woven within are pure McKillip at her best: lyrical, mystical, with down-to-earth protagonists and a way of bringing the eldritch in for tea. I encountered the first book in 1992 at a World Fantasy Convention, and the second in the summer…
Read More Cygnet, by Patricia McKillipOkay, okay, so I did just announce that I want to do a few more standalone novels, for the challenge in brevity. One of my fantasy favorites, Patricia McKillip, has done nothing but standalone novels for the last decade or so. Even though there are series I wish she could finish. (Pat, are you there?…
Read More ‘Saga’ is not a four letter word