The Forgotten Beasts of Eld Spiral-Bound |

Praise for The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

“Rich and regal.”
—New York Times

“McKillip’s strange, enchanting stand-alone fantasy The Forgotten Beasts of Eld has been reissued. It follows Sybel, a woman with strange powers who collects fabulous beasts, whose power draws the attention of forces battling each other out in the world. Sybel must use her talent — but will she win, or lose, herself? The novel won the World Fantasy Award and the writing is simply beautiful.”
—Washington Post

“With its elegant language and lovingly rendered heroine, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld has won the love of readers young and old alike — it’s a book that feels richer with every rereading.”
—Reedsy, The 60 Best Fantasy Books of All Time

“Like the Ring trilogy or the Earthsea books . . . This magical moonlit fantasy has dignity and romance, heart-stopping suspense, adventure, richness of concept and language and—perhaps rarest of all in romantic fantasy—a sly sense of humor.”
—Publishers Weekly

“This is my favorite book of all time. If I had to pick a desert island book, it would be this one.”
—Gail Carriger, New York Times bestselling author of the Parasol Protectorate

“Before Daenerys was Mother of Dragons, Sybel commanded beasts of all kinds. McKillip offers up a powerful character full of passion, determination, obsession, and love.”
—A. C. Wise, author of The Kissing Booth Girl and Other Stories

“With its rich and lyric prose, its wondrous mix of characters (beasts included!), and its thoroughly enchanted world it was unlike anything I had read to that point. Forty years later I still cherish the experience.”
—Bruce Coville, author of the Dragon Chronicles

“A truly great, concentrated, thoughtful, vicious, exalted fantasy, and everyone should read it.”
—Max Gladstone, author of the Hugo Award-winning Craft Sequence series

“Gorgeous, evocative, and fragile.”
—Kirkus

“An extraordinary book, and McKillip deserves all the praise she received for creating such a masterful, brave, intricately crafted universe. 10/10 stars.”
—Starburst

“Intimate, gorgeous, quiet and deep, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld remains as resonant as ever.”
—Tor.com

“Patricia McKillip creates a world of magic and beauty . . . a wonderful book that is both quiet and powerful.”
—Boxy Robot

“[The] Forgotten Beasts of Eld is a remarkable novel to come from such a young person: wise and deep and lucid and crisp.”
—Antick Musings

“There is a magic and grandeur to McKillip's focused prose, a kind of resounding clarity that lives and echoes in the mind long after the story is done.”
—Ben Loory, author of Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day

“This is what great literature looks like: bold, self-incisive, powerfully feminist without drawing attention to anything but the prose, the characters, and the story.”
—Usman T. Malik, author of The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn

“Its power has only grown with time, taking on increasing urgency and relevance in these latter days. Fear, hope, love, hatred, and all that makes us human assume magical forms in McKillip's characteristically gorgeous prose.”
—E. Lily Yu, author of “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees”

“In some ways, it feels more like a dream than like a novel, more like a spell cast over the reader than like prose. It is delicious and wise—a true classic.”
?Susan Fletcher, author of Dragon’s Milk and Shadow Spinner

“More than 40 years after it was first published, McKillip’s World Fantasy Award-winner is unquestionably a classic of the genre, and it reads as timelessly as ever in this new print and ebook edition.”
—B&N Week’s New Sci-Fi & Fantasy spotlight

“Soaring prose, lyrics to songs our hearts have forgotten they knew how to sing.”
—Seattle Review of Books

“Before Daenerys was Mother of Dragons, Sybel commanded beasts of all kinds. McKillip offers up a powerful character full of passion, determination, obsession, and love. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is a tapestry woven of beautiful phrases and poetic language, which builds in repeating patterns to form a dazzling whole.”
—A. C. Wise, author of The Kissing Booth Girl

“A remarkable work of literature.”
—The Royal Library

“Whether you read this magical weaving as a straight fantasy or look deeper and call it allegory, I guarantee you will fall under its spell.”
—Fresh Fiction

“Exquisitely written and has the feel of an original fairy tale, with all the emotional strength of the very best fables and legends.”
—Tor.com

“I admit it: I have been seduced by Patricia A McKillip’s The Forgotten Beasts of Eld . . . gorgeous, lyrical prose.”
—Guardian

“McKillip’s world is clear and intricately drawn, with Sybel’s secluded life juxtaposed to the kingdom in turmoil just beyond her reach. The combination makes for a magical reading experience.”
—Foreword Reviews

“The book is full of magic, wonder and fantastic creatures. It tells a heart warming story of an independent woman who grows as a person and learns some important life lessons. This really is a wonderful read, and I fully understand why McKillip is recommended so highly.”
—Speculative Herald

“Winner of the World Fantasy award, this exquisitely written story has something for almost every reader: adventure, romance and a resonant mythology that reveals powerful truths about human nature.”
—Amazon

“It feels ageless, eternal, light and perfect like a star.”
—SF Site

“The best fantasy novel of the year and perhaps of the decade. It’s a mythical kingdom fantasy with a marvelous heroine, satisfying strange beasts, and chilling sorcery.
—Locus

“Patricia McKillip weaves an incredibly rich, poetic, wise and mystical story, holding her readers spellbound.”
—St. Louis Dispatch-Post

“The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is a stunning masterpiece of fantasy. 10/10 stars.”
—Fantasy Cafe

“5/5 stars. This novel, like so many of McKillip’s stories, reads like a waking dream, one readers will want to escape into again and again. This is one of those books that can’t come with enough high recommendation.”
—Seattle Review of Books