Cygnet

The first book I got really annoyed at the Wayfold man, who seemed insistent on being pigheaded and stupid. But it made the story, and it worked.
I really enjoyed the second one more. Dragons hunting Cygnets, love, time, magic and far away places. This wasn't as poetical as some of her other stuff, but would be a great intro, since it is a bit more prosey"."

This book is actually two books originally published separately in the early 90's (The Sorceress and the Cygnet, and The Cygnet and the Firebird). Wow, did I like these books, especially The Cygnet and the Firebird, probably because for some reason I wasn't really that interested in one of the main characters in the first book, who doesn't appear in the second (except as a half-glimpsed figure in one scene). The rest of the characters are wonderful, though, and McKillip's prose is just beautiful. I found myself rereading bits here and these because they were so lyrical.

I haven't read a lot of McKillip recently; I bought the Riddle-Master series a while back because I remembered enjoying it very much when I was a teenager. After show more finishing this book, I decided that I need to reread that series now! show less

I'm trying to read this again. I'm a fan of almost everything I've read my Patricia McKillip but I'm having trouble getting into this one. I'd say it's the worst I've read of her work.