I've been reading mostly fairly recently published books, lately, and I was wanting something a little different when a friend recommended that I check out anything by Patricia A. McKillip. The name was vaguely familiar to me as a writer of fantasy whose heyday was maybe the 1980s, and I decided to borrow whatever I could find by her that was available as a library e-book. Thus, I came to read The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, which was her second published novel.
It's an enchanted tale, with a much calmer pace and more detached feel than most of what I've been reading lately, but that's not to say that not much happens or that there aren't deep emotions. Neither of those statements is true; this is just a story that is unafraid to take its time, drawing readers in by backstory, setting, and its lore of magical creatures before unveiling more of the protagonist's inner workings and allowing those to propel the story through hatred, deceit, and war to its delightful, surprising conclusion. About halfway through, I went fairly suddenly from not feeling that invested in the main character, Sybel, to finding myself distraught by her choices and hoping things would work out for the best but fearing they wouldn't, or couldn't--and then I could hardly put the book down until it was done. It's definitely not for readers who don't enjoy or aren't in the mood for a traditional fantasy novel, but if you do enjoy that genre, then you'll likely appreciate this tale.
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