Beyond Reality discussion

Have you finished reading The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip, book 1 in the Riddle-Master trilogy? What did you think?

Spoilers OK for this first book only!

I finished this book today and it does end on a bit (!!) of a cliffhanger—I can see why some people just read on into the next book!

I feel like I use this disclaimer a lot, but let me just say (again) that I am not a particularly critical reader. I want to be entertained; I don’t mind having to think and figure things out, and yes, poor grammar will turn me off (not a problem in this book).

I enjoyed the story. I was grateful for both the map in the front of my copy and the list of people & places in the back and referred to both several times. I found the characters interesting, the shape-shifters especially, and I liked idea of the “land rule” being a deep connection with the land itself—something we could use more of these days.

I know other authors have probably unpeeled the onion layers of their plots more skillfully, but I was throughly entertained. My only gripe was related to the stars on Morgon’s forehead—when did we first learn he had them? It seemed like it kind of came out of the blue the first time he was shown the harp with 3 stars.

And the riddles are not what one expects. They are more obscure bits of history with a moral or lesson (the stricture) attached.

I'm not yet finished (the release of "Rythm of War" had me distracted), but I'm kind of surprised that I actually enjoy reading this series. It cleary has a lot of issues, the most prominent certainly the rather simple prose and story structure, which usually lead to dnf for me. But at the same time it hits some nostalgic nerve within me, so that I'm intending to go through the whole series.

Fascinating ... (will finish it when I'm done with RoW)

I just finished the The Riddle-Master of Hed, and am starting the second book.
It was quite enjoyable. It felt very....dream-like... at times, which I liked. Morgon is a good lead character, the shapechangers are creepy, and that ending was definitely a cliff-hanger! Really hoping to see Astrin and Xel at some point again.

We see the stars in the first scene at that dock, after Deth has told him Mathom vowed Raederle would wed the winner of the riddle game with.. whatshisname, the dead king in the tower. I am very fond of that whole opening. McKillip gets so much into it. But anyway... here's the quote: ": Do you want to marry Raederle?”

He stood up again, desperate with uncertainty, ran his hands through his hair, and the wind, roused from the sea, whipped it straight back from his face. “Raederle.” A pattern of stars high above one brow flamed vividly against his skin. He saw her face again, at a distance, turned back to look at him. “Raederle.”

He saw the harpist’s face go suddenly still, as if the wind had snatched in passing its expression and breath. The uncertain: Do you want to marry Raederle?”

He stood up again, desperate with uncertainty, ran his hands through his hair, and the wind, roused from the sea, whipped it straight back from his face. “Raederle.” A pattern of stars high above one brow flamed vividly against his skin. He saw her face again, at a distance, turned back to look at him. “Raederle.”

He saw the harpist’s face go suddenly still, as if the wind had snatched in passing its expression and breath. The uncertain"

That's pretty clearly the first time Deth has a clue the ending of the Age is here.

Elaine wrote: "A pattern of stars high above one brow flamed vividly against his skin."

Whoa! I read right past that, concentrating on Moron thinking about Raederle. Thanks!

Yes I missed that too! I remember wondering why Deth went so suddenly still - and that quote makes it all completely clear! I think I'd assumed that Deth knew about Morgon before that!
I just finished re-reading this before going onto Book 2, and I really do like it. SImplistic in style yes, but no bad thing that. And short! Yet she gets it all in. No chapters and chapters of the journey - some other fantasy authors could learn from that.
And yes, it certainly does have a dreamlike quality.

David wrote: "Yes I missed that too! I remember wondering why Deth went so suddenly still - and that quote makes it all completely clear! I think I'd assumed that Deth knew about Morgon before that!
I just finis..."


He says SOMEWERE (probably end of #3) he'd heard rumors of child with stars on his face growing up in Hed, but rumors are one thing, seeing it is another.