I first read this book some years ago and was delighted to
see its reissue in e-book format. A new generation of
readers can be entranced, as I was all over again, by the
tale of Sybel and THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD, which was
first released in 1974 but feels timeless.
A girl growing up on a mountain with a few generations'
worth of magic inheritance, Sybel doesn't even know she's
lonely; this is how it's always been. Just her, her father
(now deceased) and the family collection of magical beasts,
such as a Lyon, Falcon, Cat and Dragon. Striving to make
her own addition to the collection, Sybel sends out a Call
to a far-off white bird called the Liralen. But all she
gets in return is an inconvenient young warrior in a
mailshirt, Coren, and the baby he has sworn to defend.
The outside world has no business intruding on the mountain
of Eld. Faced with the politics and battles that will
follow a baby prince, Sybel has to think of someone but
herself and start to grow up fast.
The dangers are largely alluded to until late in the tale,
and Sybel is a woman of philosophy and spells rather than
action. Caring for a baby is not something she has
experienced, so despite being female she's not a great
choice as carer. Only her potential power and protectors
make her useful to others. And the more she keeps Calling
the Liralen, the less it seems to hear.
Patricia A. McKillip writes beautifully of fantasy people
and magical beasts, giving each a dignity and presence
which echoes in the mind after the book is closed. This
book won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1975. My
favourite books by her are still the later 'Riddle Master
of Hed' series, which contain many of the same features. In
2008 she was awarded the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime
Achievement. If you have THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD on
your bookshelf you'll probably be delighted with the chance
to add it to your Kindle and carry it around; if you have
never read it, what a treat lies in store. 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. The story is suitable for YA readers or adults.
Young Sybel, the heiress of powerful wizards, needs the company of no-one outside her gates. In her exquisite stone mansion, she is attended by exotic, magical beasts: Riddle-master Cyrin the boar; the treasure-starved dragon Gyld; Gules the Lyon, tawny master of the Southern Deserts; Ter, the fiercely vengeful falcon; Moriah, feline Lady of the Night. Sybel only lacks the exquisite and mysterious Liralen, which continues to elude her most powerful enchantments. But when a soldier bearing an infant arrives, Sybel discovers that the world of man and magic is full of both love and deceit, and the possibility of more power than she can possibly imagine.
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