It's not quite even a matter of character-driven versus plot-driven, though that's one way to look at it. I had grown up on fantasy like McKillip's, which was filled with feeling first and dragons second. Sure, there was magic and questing and even dragons sometimes, but.that was it. When I started branching out and reading stories recommended by my friends and peers, I found many of the sword-and-sorcery books felt flat and empty. McKillip and the cadre of other authors whose work appeared alongside hers became the yardstick by which I measured fantasy. Through her work, I discovered more favorites, like Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow and Charles DeLint. I came across her short stories in Firebirds and Firebirds Rising and The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest. So I checked out The Forgotten Beasts of Eldand Od Magic and Alphabet of Thorn. The covers were gorgeous-intricate, fantastical designs that reminded me of the illustrations in my childhood picture books of fairy tales. But Patricia McKillip's books were some of my favorites. I discovered lots of authors there: Neil Gaiman and Mercedes Lackey and Robin Hobb. As a precocious tween, I started wandering away from the children's section looking for bigger and more complex stories to sink my teeth into. I first discovered Patricia McKillip's work at the library. Though McKillip's last book, Kingfisher, was published in 2016, she continued to write short stories, the most recent of which was included in The Book of Dragons.Ĭaitlin, Brilliant Books bookseller and longtime fan of McKillip's work, weighs in on what made McKillip's particular brand of fantasy unique: Her work was also nominated for Hugo and Nebula awards.
At the time, McKillip was only 26-far from being the high point of her writing career, this initial success was followed by dozens more books and accolades, including a Locus Award, four Mythopoeic Awards, and a second World Fantasy Award. Her first foray into fantasy for an adult audience was The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, which won the World Fantasy Award when it was published in 1974. McKillip began her career writing for young people, publishing both The Throme of the Erril of Sherill and The House on Parchment Street in 1973. McKillip died last week at the age of 74 though, being a leap day baby, she was only able to celebrate 19 true birthdays.
Renowned fantasy and science fiction author Patricia A.
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