The Riddle-Master of Hed

After 12 pages or so, I was in love with Morgon, Tristan, and Eliard. I felt that I’d happily read a book about their domestic life and sibling bickering. Who needs fantasy adventures? :))) Well, this was not to be, of course.

The writing was beautiful, there was a dreamlike quality to it that tasted of magic. (It made me wonder why I hadn’t read anything by Patricia A. McKillip before.)

“…questions he could not ask struggled like trapped birds in the back of his throat.”

“Above them the sky, deep flaming blue during the day, began to stain with night. Their fire flickered back at the huge stars like a reflection.”

The magic of this world is strange, often dark, hidden, deadly, incomprehensible. I liked that, yet I wasn’t show more lost enough in the fairy tale - I wanted more world building, further explanations (maybe that will come in the rest of the trilogy).

The Chosen One’s destiny is done subtly and deftly enough for you not to think “not again”. I did grow tired of Morgon’s indecisiveness after a while.

There were so many characters I wanted to see more of, they were left behind too fast. (Especially the badass warrior Lyra, I wanted her to talk to Morgon more.)

The ending was very unexpected :) show less

I recently finished rereading The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia McKillip. It's been decades since I last read these little novels. They remain favorites from my youth. When I spent a semester in Costa Rica in college in the 1980s, the only books I brought to sustain me were this trilogy for my fantasy selection and David Brin's Startide Rising and The Uplift War, which felt like a duology at the time.

I worried that rereading this high fantasy trilogy would tarnish the sheen of fond remembrance. No such thing! I still savored the lyrical prose, the imagery and metaphors, the characters, the world-building, all of it. I thought then and still think that these would translate well to the cinema given the advances in special effects that show more really bring magic alive on the screen. But of course, I'd hate to see how Hollywood would butcher the story.

The Riddle-Master of Hed opens with Morgon, the Prince of the island of Hed (too small to be a kingdom!) meeting Deth, the High One's harpist when the spring thaw brings the trading ships into port. Deth discovers that Morgon secretly won a riddle game with the wraith of Peven, and Morgon discovers that the King of An had promised his daughter Raederle's hand in marriage to the winner of that deadly contest. Morgon and Deth head out on one of the ships, and so the quest begins.

In the first book, we're introduced to Morgon and the people and places of the High One's realm. Over the course of a year, Morgon discovers he's tangled up in a destiny that goes far beyond his peaceful, agrarian life in Hed, or even his college years studying with the Riddle Masters in Caithnard. Mysterious shapechangers threaten Morgon's life repeatedly, and he and Deth travel through various lands trying to stay alive, meeting land rulers and finding help along the way. Diverted from traveling to An to marry Raederle, Morgon and Deth journey to the High One's mountain to ask who are these shapechangers and what's going on. show less

This is volume one of the Riddle-Master trilogy.

In the world of Morgon, prince of the island of Hed, wizards have long disappeared, and now the seat of learning is the College of the Riddle-Masters at Caithnard (a riddle being a question with a story-answer and a stricture). There is, however, intrinsic magic; land-rulers are bound to their realms, but each bond is different, depending on the land.

Morgon learns that, against his inclinations, he is the Starbearer, and this sets him on a quest to get an answer to the unanswered riddle from the High One, who dwells in Erlenstar Mountain and maintains the land-rule. As he makes his way through the realms, the Starbearer narrowly escapes being killed several times by mysterious attackers, show more but is helped by the rulers and land-heirs that he meets.

I love the way Patricia McKillip writes, and this trilogy is one of my all-time favourites. There is something beautiful and ethereal about her tales; maybe it's because she shows us the emotions and vulnerabilities of her characters, but everything she writes seems to touch my heart.

I like the way she describes something magical, and contrasts it with an immediate change to the mundane, with (for example) an instance of sibling squabbling. Somehow, this really emphasises the strength of the sibling bond. I can empathise with the family ties that shine through the story, for example between rulers and their land-heirs, be they siblings or parent and child.

I fall in love with every Patricia McKillip book I read, but this, for me, was the first and best.

I also want to put in a word for the cover of this edition (the blue one). Just seeing it sends shivers of pleasurable anticipation and nostalgia down my spine. Not only does it depict Morgon's journey through the winter wastes towards Erlenstar Mountain, but it also hints at the peace that can come from shape-changing to a vesta (the horned animal in the foreground) or a great tree. show less

As much as I love Patricia McKillip, The Riddle Master of Hed just didn’t work for me. It had a very confusing beginning, which is normal for McKillip (you learn to just “let go” and trust her process). The confusion never really lets up, though, and the story felt like it was severely lacking in plot and character motivation. However, it did have some really cool, unusual fantasy elements that would be useful for fantasy writers looking for inspiration, so I felt like it was still worth reading for the sake of experiencing those elements.

I recall when I read this whole trilogy in the 90s it had a very magical quality and I was almost afraid to go back to it in case that was lost but it wasn't. It didn't take too long to be completely swept up in the world and, even on a warm late summer day, to feel like I was in the snow fields with the hard of vesta. The world she creates feels very complete and the magic and riddles are part of a civilization that makes sense in itself. Can't wait to read the other two.

Morgon, of Riddlemaster fame, is a very likeable character who admits his human foibles and wants to avoid the complicated fears as well as his destiny which seems written in stone. A hero who wants to have the simple joys of a quiet life, yet is thrust into coping with immense events is a very likable device ~ I am much more engaged with this personality than in any prior reading.

I first read McKillip’s trilogy as each book was published. It was a memorable fantasy but I didn’t read it again until twenty years later. Strangely, I didn’t enjoy the story at all and found the plot overly convoluted and the action obscure. Another 20 or so years have irretrievably disappeared as I now read my fantasy collection to decide whether the show more books are keep or cull. This is going on my keep shelf. Of course the sequels will join them!

My other insight, in this my third reading, is that McKillip is deliberate in writing a story having obscure twists and turns, unexplained scenarios and hidden aspects of people, places and situations. She leaves room for the reader to find enchanting realizations on their own, a device that I have only understood after reading most of Diana Wynne Jones’ narratives.
And of course, I the reader, have changed too. I’m more patient with promising plots and I’m reading this time at a less galloping pace. I can’t remember how the triology ends, but the trip is worth it.

I'm hesitant to recommend this trilogy as the initial story for someone new to McKillip. The author's style is to hide knowledge and arrange for the protagonist to stumble about a little as he/she finds the way through the unknown challenges. All the McKillip books I’ve kept in my library have a similar style and often a common theme of a personal journey to some form of enlightenment. So if this book (and its sequels) are unappealing, come back to them after some other McKillip chronicles. show less

My Tolkien (before I truly discovered Tolkien). I've come back to this series repeatedly -- eight or nine times -- because I'm fascinated by Morgon's journey of discovery. McKillip's vibrant lands, the power of the land-law, the connections to nature -- people turning into wolves and trees -- make me want to live there. Next up on my reading list is "The Heir of Sea and Fire," book two in the series.