An Enchanted Ride

Although not as descriptive as most other fantasy books I’ve read, the absence of excessive detail in the writing style of Patricia A. McKillip’s classic Riddle-Master trilogy leaves much to your imagination. The books can therefore have a more personalized meaning to each unique reader. This unimpeded style also creates a fast-paced page-turning story line that keeps everything fresh, unlike some genre novels (like Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time saga) that drag on in the bog of poetic descriptions to the point one forgets previous crucial plot twists.

Within these three novels (The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, and Harpist in the Wind) we follow the travels of a simple rural farmer who is driven by forces unknown within and without himself to far-flung reaches of a throughly enchanted world. We have within the pages many of the standard elements of fantasy: a lost and fallen great kingdom, mysterious ruins, age-old legends, magic and wizards, animal-human transformations, complete absence gun-powder, etc. The author twists and turns the plot around these elements in such an artful way as to keep you constantly on your toes. I felt a heightened sense of awarness after each reading session.

I highly recommend this series.