Call number
Series
Genres
Publication
Ace (1992), Reprint, Paperback
Pages
248
Description
From the World Fantasy Award-winning author of The Bards of Bone Plain. The Wayfolk are a dark-haired, wandering people who shun doors and walls. Corleu is Wayfolk, albeit with hair the color of the moon. But when his companions and his own true love become trapped in an unearthly swamp beyond the reach of time, he dares to cross a forbidden and forbidding threshold, to enter a dark house that should not exist, to meet with a tinker who is also a king, and to embark on a quest for the one long-lost treasure that may free his people: the heart of the Cygnet. The Cygnet is a figure of myth and legend, like the Gold King, the Blind Lady, the Dancer, and the Warlock. Once Corleu had thought these beings to live only in the stars and in children's rhymes. Now he knows that they are as real as himself, and that it is the Cygnet that holds the others at bay. To find the heart, he must walk paths he never imagined: apprentice himself to a beautiful sorceress of uncertain motives, brave the Fire Bear in its lair, catch the Blood Fox by its shadow, and elude a valiant woman warrior whose destiny is strangely linked to his own. More, Corleu must also wrestle with his own conscience. For if he fails in his quest, those he loves are lost forever to timeless limbo. But if he claims the heart, then the Cygnet falls and so do all who live...… (more)
Awards
Mythopoeic Awards (Finalist — Adult Literature — 1992)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1990
Physical description
248 p.; 6.7 inches
ISBN
0441775675 / 9780441775675
Similar in this library
User reviews
LibraryThing member ncgraham
Mid-range McKillip, I'd say.
The first chapter features some of the author's most poetic writing, as she introduces Corleu, a young man out of place among the restless Wayfolk who, his great-grandmother tells him, long ago wandered out of the stars. Corleu is a "child of the horned moon,"
I love the culture, the lore, and the world of the Wayfolk, and in this chapter McKillip provides one of the most beautiful descriptions of falling in love I've ever read:
Venn's younger sister, Tiel, crossed the camp one day carrying a bucket of water from the stream, and Corleu, chopping wood, glanced up to find that in the interim between her going to the stream and returning, the world had transformed itself under his nose. The wooden ax handle was of a finer grain; the ground her bare feet touched had never been walked on before. Even the air was different: too shallow to breathe...."
When the Wayfolk choose to go south to the Delta for winter rather than the usual Hunter Hold, Corleu's father and mother see danger in this departure from custom, but Corleu follows the rest on account of Tiel. As they journey along through the hazy south, Corleu starts to notice that they aren't making any real progress, that time isn't passing, that they are trapped in some kind of enchantment. He finds a doorway out himself, but in order to free his people and his love, he must find the heart of the Cygnet for the Gold King, whom Corleu previously thought was a story, a constellation in the sky, the sign of one of Ro Holding's four Holds.
But this isn't only Corleu's story. It's also the story of Nyx Ro, a mysterious sorceress who lives in a swamp, and whom he goes to for help in finding the Cygnet. And it's the story of Meguet Vervaine, Nyx's cousin, who serves the Holder and is sworn to protect the country and royal family.
I like Meguet; she's got grit. I like her relationship with the Gatekeeper, one of the most grounded and mature romances I've written in a fantasy book. And I do like the royal family in general. There's one particularly wonderful scene where Iris, the daughter who seems the least magical of the lot, is the only one who is able to perform an important spell. It's a great character moment. And there's a great sense of tension as figures out of legend begin to appear in Ro Holding, although I still missed the Wayfolk after the first few chapters.
The structure bothered me a bit: Part One was from Corleu's point of view, Part Two from Meguet's, and Part Three switched between the two. One said casualty of this set-up is Nyx. By the time you get to the end of the book, you come to realize that Nyx is in reality the most important character to the story, and it's she who changes the most in the course of it. But we are never able to see that change from the inside. Heck, we barely see it through Corleu's and Meguet's eyes. We have to be told about it. Weak.
I'm finding more and more that my enjoyment of McKillip novels varies depending on their endings. All of her books feature beautiful prose, complex and inimitably human characters, and a wonderful air of mystery. In the best of her novels, all of the mysteries come together and are explained in startling but entirely logical ways (well, logical for fantasy novels that place such a high value on symbolism and illusion). My least favorite of her novels are those that build up a great threat and then reveal it to be no threat at all, merely some kind of ploy by a universe to teach the characters a lesson. The Alphabet of Thorn and Solstice Wood fit this category. So does The Sorceress and the Cygnet. So despite the beautiful poetry of the writing, despite the Wayfolk, despite Meguet and her Gatekeeper, I can't say that it's a favorite.
The first chapter features some of the author's most poetic writing, as she introduces Corleu, a young man out of place among the restless Wayfolk who, his great-grandmother tells him, long ago wandered out of the stars. Corleu is a "child of the horned moon,"
Show More
white-haired where all of the other Wayfolk are dark. He gets it from his grandfather, and his great-grandfather, a stranger whom his grandmother once coupled with among the corn one summer day. Who was he? A lord? A commoner? A sorcerer? One of his great-gran's dreams and stories? No one knows for certain.I love the culture, the lore, and the world of the Wayfolk, and in this chapter McKillip provides one of the most beautiful descriptions of falling in love I've ever read:
Venn's younger sister, Tiel, crossed the camp one day carrying a bucket of water from the stream, and Corleu, chopping wood, glanced up to find that in the interim between her going to the stream and returning, the world had transformed itself under his nose. The wooden ax handle was of a finer grain; the ground her bare feet touched had never been walked on before. Even the air was different: too shallow to breathe...."
When the Wayfolk choose to go south to the Delta for winter rather than the usual Hunter Hold, Corleu's father and mother see danger in this departure from custom, but Corleu follows the rest on account of Tiel. As they journey along through the hazy south, Corleu starts to notice that they aren't making any real progress, that time isn't passing, that they are trapped in some kind of enchantment. He finds a doorway out himself, but in order to free his people and his love, he must find the heart of the Cygnet for the Gold King, whom Corleu previously thought was a story, a constellation in the sky, the sign of one of Ro Holding's four Holds.
But this isn't only Corleu's story. It's also the story of Nyx Ro, a mysterious sorceress who lives in a swamp, and whom he goes to for help in finding the Cygnet. And it's the story of Meguet Vervaine, Nyx's cousin, who serves the Holder and is sworn to protect the country and royal family.
I like Meguet; she's got grit. I like her relationship with the Gatekeeper, one of the most grounded and mature romances I've written in a fantasy book. And I do like the royal family in general. There's one particularly wonderful scene where Iris, the daughter who seems the least magical of the lot, is the only one who is able to perform an important spell. It's a great character moment. And there's a great sense of tension as figures out of legend begin to appear in Ro Holding, although I still missed the Wayfolk after the first few chapters.
The structure bothered me a bit: Part One was from Corleu's point of view, Part Two from Meguet's, and Part Three switched between the two. One said casualty of this set-up is Nyx. By the time you get to the end of the book, you come to realize that Nyx is in reality the most important character to the story, and it's she who changes the most in the course of it. But we are never able to see that change from the inside. Heck, we barely see it through Corleu's and Meguet's eyes. We have to be told about it. Weak.
I'm finding more and more that my enjoyment of McKillip novels varies depending on their endings. All of her books feature beautiful prose, complex and inimitably human characters, and a wonderful air of mystery. In the best of her novels, all of the mysteries come together and are explained in startling but entirely logical ways (well, logical for fantasy novels that place such a high value on symbolism and illusion). My least favorite of her novels are those that build up a great threat and then reveal it to be no threat at all, merely some kind of ploy by a universe to teach the characters a lesson. The Alphabet of Thorn and Solstice Wood fit this category. So does The Sorceress and the Cygnet. So despite the beautiful poetry of the writing, despite the Wayfolk, despite Meguet and her Gatekeeper, I can't say that it's a favorite.
Show Less
LibraryThing member CatHellisen
This is a tough one to review. McKillip's name often comes up when I ask for recs of the kind of books I like, and I am definitely going to read more of hers after this. The imagery, the concepts, the language (though occasionally a little overburdened for my tastes) were all the things I
Stories of sorcery, of powers that lie trapped and dreaming, of trickery and mazes and constellations and swamps and moving towers - this is all the stuff I love.
I think my problem came in with a certain flatness of the characters, and, especially in the climax, a lyrical vagueness to the writing that could leave me frustrated because stuff happened without...happening.
That aside, I loved the style of this one, and I'm feeling pretty inspired, which is always a great way to rise from the end of a story.
Show More
like.Stories of sorcery, of powers that lie trapped and dreaming, of trickery and mazes and constellations and swamps and moving towers - this is all the stuff I love.
I think my problem came in with a certain flatness of the characters, and, especially in the climax, a lyrical vagueness to the writing that could leave me frustrated because stuff happened without...happening.
That aside, I loved the style of this one, and I'm feeling pretty inspired, which is always a great way to rise from the end of a story.
Show Less
LibraryThing member t1bnotown
Like many of McKillip's books, this took me a while to get into. I didn't quite get the ending, either- maybe I was just too tired when I read that part. Glancing at it again, I'm still not sure. This is worth reading primarily, I think, for its sequel.
LibraryThing member Karlstar
I really liked the start of this series, though it is fairly typical of McKillip's other novels. There is just a hint of magic and a lack of most common fantasy themes. The characters are noble and somewhat mysterious, but very likeable. Overall, very good fantasy, at least here at the start.
LibraryThing member CatHellisen
This is a tough one to review. McKillip's name often comes up when I ask for recs of the kind of books I like, and I am definitely going to read more of hers after this. The imagery, the concepts, the language (though occasionally a little overburdened for my tastes) were all the things I
Stories of sorcery, of powers that lie trapped and dreaming, of trickery and mazes and constellations and swamps and moving towers - this is all the stuff I love.
I think my problem came in with a certain flatness of the characters, and, especially in the climax, a lyrical vagueness to the writing that could leave me frustrated because stuff happened without...happening.
That aside, I loved the style of this one, and I'm feeling pretty inspired, which is always a great way to rise from the end of a story.
Show More
like.Stories of sorcery, of powers that lie trapped and dreaming, of trickery and mazes and constellations and swamps and moving towers - this is all the stuff I love.
I think my problem came in with a certain flatness of the characters, and, especially in the climax, a lyrical vagueness to the writing that could leave me frustrated because stuff happened without...happening.
That aside, I loved the style of this one, and I'm feeling pretty inspired, which is always a great way to rise from the end of a story.
Show Less