Awards
Newbery Medal Honor Book, 1983
Staff Pick
O Robin Mckinley, light of my life! This book fully ruined reality for me at 15 and I've reread it obsessively in dark times ever since. If only life were as simple as stepping into your magically imbued spiritual inheritance and going head to head with a demon king... Recommended By SitaraG, Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
For over twenty years, Patricia A. McKillip has captured the hearts and imaginations of thousands of readers. And although her renowned Riddle-Master trilogy — The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, and Harpist in the Wind — has been long out of print, it is considered her most enduring and beloved work. Now it is collected in one volume for the first time — the epic journeys of a young prince in a strange land, where wizards have long since vanished...but where magic is waiting to be reborn.
Review
"McKinley knows her geography of fantasy, the nuances of the language, the atmosphere of magic...." — The Washington Post
Review
"McKinley has reworked many familiar mythological motifs into a tale that is completely fresh; her spare and eloquent prose is sheer delight." — School Library Journal (Starred Review)
Review
"This is a zesty, romantic heroic fantasy with an appealingly stalwart heroine, a finely realized mythical kingdom, and a grounding in reality that enhances the tale's verve as a fantasy." — Booklist (Starred Review)
About the Author
Robin McKinley has won various awards and citations for her writing, including the Newbery Medal for
The Hero and the Crown and a Newbery Honor for
The Blue Sword. Her other books include
Sunshine; the
New York Times bestseller
Spindle's End; two novel-length retellings of the fairy tale
Beauty and the Beast,
Beauty and Rose Daughter; and a retelling of the
Robin Hood legend,
The Outlaws of Sherwood. She lives with her husband, the English writer Peter Dickinson.