Solstice Wood by Patricia McKillip, a book review

Recently, I went back and reread several Patricia McKillip books, something I do every now and again. I hadn't read Solstice Wood in some time and thought I'd give it another try.

It had been some time since I read Solstice Wood because my first look at it(1) was disappointing. Oh, I liked bits of it--the fairy changeling, for example, and the meetings of old friends--but overall, I was disappointed. Winter Rose has long been on my list of "favorite books ever" in part because of the marvelous, terrible, magnificent Queen of Faerie(2). She is sidelined for large parts of Solstice Wood, and that made me mad.

On the other hand, it is by McKillip, and I had recently reread almost everything that I and the library own between us had, so I tried again.

And I liked it much better than I expected. Relyt (the changeling) is awesome. His response to chocolate chip cookies made me laugh, and his reflection on the Queen was pitch perfect; he spoke of her the way a plant might talk about the sun, if it could. If I had never read Winter Rose, I would have really loved the sewing circle magic, and I did like the meeting itself, and the form of magic. Iris/Gran is an admirable matriarch, working to protect her people. The cousinly friendship between Tyler and Sylvia is wonderful; very few books manage family relationships this comfortably.

The book's writing is a little more plain prose than McKillip usually writes, but still has plenty of poetry and power to it. The point of view switching is unusual for McKillip only in that she only switches with chapters rather than moving freely among them every few pages. In fact, I found myself relaxing into the story and thoroughly enjoying it, right up until near the end.

And there we come to the sticking point: Right at the end, the regal Queen of Faerie steps out and asks the local women if they would mind terribly relaxing the boundaries around the town and letting her in and does a quick sort of show to demonstrate that she can be the lovely spring as well as the terrible winter, and really, everyone needs her sort of wild, untamed mystery around. And... that's where the book derails. I had gotten the point a while ago, without anyone needing to spell it out. Also, I have a certain amount of trouble with the Queen being fully blocked by one town (though the implication is that she's kept out of cities as well) and finding this quite such a problem, so I got sulky again and decided maybe I didn't like the book after all.

And then I looked at Relyt on chocolate chip cookies and cheese sandwiches again and thought maybe I did.

So it's still not one of my favorites. Maybe it's better than I thought at first.

Mostly, though, I'll probably stick to rereading The Tower at Stony Wood, Od Magic, and Ombria in Shadow. Other books, too, of course, but those happen to be my favorite McKillip books. Bards of Bone Plain might make their number. I'm not sure yet, though. It will take another reading or two.


(1)Found here on Amazon, if anyone is interested. I very occasionally have posted reviews there. Every now and again, I consider cross-posting the book review parts of the blog there.

(2) Though it has also been a really, really long time since I read it, mostly because I wrote a serious, scholarly, literary critical article on it, and now I'm not sure I'll be able to look at it again with the same wonder. Probably I shouldn't worry. Most books come through the process either unscathed or improved by the process. But... I still find myself not picking Winter Rose up when I reach for McKillip.

The Bards of Bone Plain by Patricia McKillip, a book review

I always look forward to new books by Patricia McKillip, so I was excited to learn about Bards of Bone Plain and read it as soon as I possibly could(1).

It lived up to the anticipation.

Phelan Cle, bardic student, is looking for a simple topic to write his final paper on before graduating. He chooses to discuss the location and events on Bone Plain, a legendary place where a long ago bardic challenge cost a legendary bard his music and condemned him to an endless life without it. Phelan figures there is so little history behind this legend that he will easily be able to sift out the few bits of truth, write a paper, graduate, and think no more of it. Meanwhile, he also has to deal with his father, Jonah Cle, who is constantly drunk and/or lost in the archeological digs he sponsors. Princess Beatrice is busy at the digs, far more fascinated with discovering the past than in attending parties and behaving as a princess should. Her father encourages this; her mother is less pleased. In the course of the dig, she finds a piece of metal engraved with a strange sign, one which fascinates her and leads to the further discovery of a strange doorway. Enter also a mysterious bard (present day) whose appearance angers Jonah and who appears to be bringing magic back into the kingdom and then, through Phelan's researches, the past bard Nairn, who is fascinated by similar mysterious bard in his time.

The lines between legend and history slowly blur and the significance of the two converging timelines becomes apparent as Phelan and Beatrice work to unravel the significance of their finds and to protect their kingdom from magic that may or may not be threatening it.

This being a McKillip book, there are also several minor characters, each with their own concerns and point of view. This being McKillip, everything does pull together to make a coherent, cohesive, elegant tale with a satisfying end.

This being McKillip, I will need to read it more than once to fully appreciate it; one of the reasons I love her work so much is that there is always a good surface story and a number of layers to be uncovered through rereading.

Bards of Bone Plain is one of her more complex tales and weaves in a number of familiar elements: There is a mysterious language, a powerful figure who may or may not be menacing, a riddle from the past influencing the present, music that is more than melody, complicated father-son relationships, and mild romance. It does not feel like a repeat, more like there is a slow buildup of layers, a new angle and a new jewel each time a book comes out.

It used to be a rule that I loved all of McKillip's books but especially "every other" book . I've now lost track of which book I'm on, but I'd put Bards of Bone Plain into the "especially" category.

It's also a book where a number of her favorite elements come together: There are multiple towers, some in the same place, strange languages needing deciphering,

(1) As with the Pegasus review, he timing of thi book review reflects holiday busy-ness and bad colds, not the timing of the reading.

Book Alert: The Bards of Bone Plain by Patricia McKillip and Pegasus by Robin McKinley

I keep meaning to tell everyone: The Bards of Bone Plain by Patricia McKillip and Pegasus by Robin McKinley are both out!!

No, I haven't read them yet, but there has been much dancing and secret rejoicing and there shall be much reading and, given the authors, rereading.

I am also glad that they're keeping the same cover artist and style for the McKillip books. I just wish they'd stuck to their old hardcover size; I really liked it--it was perfect for holding in the hands.  Still, this is a minor gripe, and does nothing to diminish the dancing.

An added note: if you don't happen to want to buy it just now, go to the library. If your library doesn't have it, talk to the librarian. Librarians are generally very nice about ordering things requested. It's one of their many virtues.

Another McKillip Book!

Whew! There is one, The Bards of Bone Plain coming out in December. Mind, it would be nice to have some details, but I'll try to wait patiently.