Product Description

THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD is a spellbinding tale of chilling sorcery, human complexities, and dynastic war. Sybel is just sixteen when she is given a baby to raise. Born and brought up on Eld Mountain, with only the fantastic creatures called there by wizardry as playmates, she knows nothing of humankind . . . until the baby awakens emotions she never knew she had. And when Coren, the man who brought the baby to Sybel, returns to Eld, her serenity is shattered once again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #924736 in Books
• Published on: 1996-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author
Patricia McKillip won the very first World Fantasy Award for THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD, and has gone on to win many more awards in the field, including the Mythopoeic Award. She lives in Oregon, USA

Customer Reviews

A beautiful, beautiful book
I first read this book many years ago, and then managed to lose my copy of it. I rebought it recently, and I was afraid that perhaps being older and more critical it might not be as good as I remembered. I had no need to fear; for sheer beauty of writing, evoking all that is best in fairy stories in a truly original way, I honestly don't think I've ever read anything better. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to read fantasy with a sense of wonder again, with both the magic and the powerful emotions of the characters, light and dark, coming through strongly.

Delicious! I can still taste it!
I read THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD this past summer, and whenever I recall it, the general essence of the book, it's feel, comes back. It was truly astounding and thoroughly mesmerising; her descriptions and plot are wonderful. It's the kind of book that is surreal and dreamlike, not because of its setting, but because of the writing and the way she uses the English language. It will stay on my Bookshelf of Excellent Books, except for when I'm rereading it.

Low-key fantasy has spellbinding power
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is a neglected classic of the fantasy genre. McKillip tells the story of Sybil and Coren in a setting which is beautifully realized without detracting from the developing relationships between the characters, which is what the novel is really all about. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is refreshingy different in that the fate of the imagined world is not what is really at stake, but rather the personal realtionships of a sorceress, a nobleman and a lost prince. The Boar, Cyrin, is also one of the most memorable characters I have encountered in twenty years of reading fantasy fiction.