This is probably my favourite of Patricia McKillip's most recent few books - since Song for the Basilisk, probably. I'm struggling to say something about why I loved it, without giving anything away. Beautifully written, as always, and engaging characters, as - not quite always. I loved the library, and Nepenthe's translations, and loved the Floating School. There's also a lot going on with name meanings, some of which I think I caught, and a lot I doubtless missed: Google Nepenthe, sometime, just for a hint. (Not that I know what that one means definitively.) The ending - though I saw some of what was coming - still managed to take me completely by surprise, and happily so.

Sending this to PDB11, and afer that it's to go to Koalabare as an intro to PMcK - Katayoun already has it, unread as yet.

Having recently re-read Fool's Run I felt that I should wait before reading any more McKillip. But with Hero on one side, and the stag with its antlers on fire calling to me from the cover picture on the other, I think this has to be next...

Patricia McKillip is the one author who, for me, makes each book she writes a thing of beauty. Everything that happens in the book comes across beautifully, and the whole fits together equally beautifully. The book was a pleasure to read, and I could relate to the characters' problems and their solutions, while some of the ideas (especially the school of wizardry) were excellent.

What loses the book its tenth star is that it didn't touch me very deeply. Beautiful, and a good read, but not very moving for me. Which is a shame, because I would have liked to be moved by it.

Anyway, back to Hero next.

Hey, forgot completely about this - what a great suprise after coming back from holiday!

Thanks Hero and PDB11 for sending it on - it's next on my TBR list. :)

Thank you Hero for introducing me to Patricia McKillip!
Initially I took a while to get into this story - I needed to get the hang of the world she had created - the Kingdom of Raine, the Floating School, how everything meshed together. However, once that happened everything was good - I liked the juxtapositioning of the Nepenthe/ Tessera/ Bourne story with the Axis and Kane story (although I couldn't 'get' Kane's motivation for her love for Axis - his predeliction for war wouldn't be my idea of an attractive character trait, but maybe that's just me...)
I also liked McKillip's writing - very lush and poetic, and not always explaining everything to the reader. Reminded me a little of the poem 'The Listeners' by Walter de la Mare. It's occasionally frustrating when writers do this, but it also gives the imagination room to kick-start itself - never a bad thing!

And yes, I loved the library too! As a trainee archivist (soon to be fully-fledged), the following passage definitely spoke to me:

'"Do you like the work?"
She smiled, smelling books now, leather bindings, musty parchments, flaking scrolls that lived with her underground. "Here," she told him, "there is no time. No past, no future; no place I can't go, no lost realm I can't travel to, as long as I can decipher its fish."'

Once again - thank you Hero! Would you like me to send this back to you, or is someone else next in line to read it?

Posted this morning to Hero

Sorry, Koalabare - this arrived back safely a while ago (possibly when we were just back from Worldcon and having visitors) and I totally forgot to make JE to that effect. Great postcard too - thanks! Any other McKillips you want to try, just ask.