Harrowing the Dragon is a collection of fifteen short stories by Patricia McKillip, an author well known in the fantasy genre as a master. This collection is, as reviewers are so fond of saying, of "uneven quality" — which is really just another way for us to say we liked some better than others. Short story collections are hard to review because it's clunky to give a plot summary of each story, but it's also awkward to clump them all together.

For me, the highlights of the collection were "The Harrowing of the Dragon of Hoarsbreath," "The Stranger," "A Troll and Two Roses," "Lady of the Skulls" and "The Lion and the Lark." In these stories, the world around the story is distinct, given an atmosphere and feel that serves the story beautifully. Some of the stories are funny with a wry humor. Others are very grave, concerned with beauty and art and poetry.

Other stories, like "The Fellowship of the Dragon" and "The Witches of Junket", had a common theme of women banding together to deal with some kind of otherworldly challenge. Sometimes it felt a little too much like Girl Power! Down with the Men! We Gals Have Communion with Mystical Things by Virtue of Our Femaleness! — and that is just such an overused (not to say sigh-worthy) concept. It isn't typical of McKillip, either.

Another thing I found frustrating in many of the stories is that they ended at their beginnings. Several could be full-length novels, but they end just as the story is picking up. They are orphaned first chapters with no second chapter to follow. Maddening!

I was a bit surprised at some of the content McKillip includes, much more sexually explicit than what I have encountered in her longer works. It seems a pity that McKillip should fall into the norms of her genre after staying so aloof for all these years, but I suppose it is to be expected.

Whatever their failings, these stories are all written in McKillip's signature lyrical prose, and that alone makes them a pleasure to read. I love this line from the title story:

The world is just another tiny island, ringed with a great dragon of stars and night.

Not every story in this collection can be McKillip's best, but I can forgive much for words strung together like this. ( )

I always approach Patricia McKillip's work with pleasure because of her exquisite prose - very few people write with such beauty while maintaining a firm grasp of reality. These stories are yet more wonderful examples of her wonderful invention and her fabulous wordsmithing. ( )

There is an interesting mixture in these fifteen stories - there are quests, dragons, fairy-tale-retellings, riddles, contemporary settings and even something one would have to count as 'Shakespeare fanfiction', about someone trying to solve how Romeo and Juliet died. Some of the stories are confusing, some have startling twists, some have hopeful endings, and others are a little heartbreaking.
None really stand out in my mind, except for 'The Harrowing of the Dragon of Hoarsbreath' and 'Lady of the Skulls'. (I would have enjoyed 'The Snow Queen' and 'The Lion and the Lark' more if they had not been short stories, although I quite like them how they stand). But nothing bored me; even those I was less fond of were captivating to read, and they are all beautifully written. ( )

More of the same--if you like Patricia McKillip's style, then that means "very good"; if you don't like Patricia McKillip's style, then you won't be surprised in any way.

But I can't imagine why you wouldn't like this.

http://martlet-blog.blogspot.com/2007... ( )