Inside look: author Patricia A. McKillip
Karen Tableriou
Issue date: 4/1/09 Section: The Edge
Fantasy novels and the genre as a whole are close to my heart. I started reading them at a young age, and fantasy novels are the ones I still turn to when I'm looking to read for fun. It's disappointing the genre is frowned upon, because fantasy writers are just as great as traditional fiction and non-fiction writers.
My personal favorite has further-deepened my love of the genre and influenced my own fiction writing style.
I discovered her work in the summer during the seventh and eighth grade while shopping at Target. I was going to summer camp and needed all those camping provisions. My mom, being the somewhat frugal lady she is, decided Target was the place to go. While walking down the book aisle, I happened across her book by chance. I ended up reading the novel 20 times that summer.
The author to whom I refer is none other than Patricia A. McKillip. Some may not have heard of her or read any of her work.
The first book of hers I discovered was "The Forgotten Beasts of Eld." When I returned from summer camp, I immediately went to my local library, searched her name and left carrying a stack of all her books the library had.
What is so fascinating about McKillip is her style of writing. I have yet to come across another fantasy author (or an author of different genres) who comes close to the eloquence of her writing.
It's really the way she describes her fantasy worlds that draws me in. She looks at the world through a unique filter. Instead of relying on the usual cliches most writers tend to use, she reinvents standard images, putting a new spin on the mundane.
One of her most eloquently written books is "Song for the Basilisk." The main character doesn't know who he was, only who he is now: a bard on a mystical island.
His past suddenly rips apart the world he knows and now he travels back to the city of his birth to face the tragedies that bound him in lies and secrets. With music being a strong element within the story (hence the title), some would expect it to be the usual drab talk in the language of music.
My personal favorite has further-deepened my love of the genre and influenced my own fiction writing style.
I discovered her work in the summer during the seventh and eighth grade while shopping at Target. I was going to summer camp and needed all those camping provisions. My mom, being the somewhat frugal lady she is, decided Target was the place to go. While walking down the book aisle, I happened across her book by chance. I ended up reading the novel 20 times that summer.
The author to whom I refer is none other than Patricia A. McKillip. Some may not have heard of her or read any of her work.
The first book of hers I discovered was "The Forgotten Beasts of Eld." When I returned from summer camp, I immediately went to my local library, searched her name and left carrying a stack of all her books the library had.
What is so fascinating about McKillip is her style of writing. I have yet to come across another fantasy author (or an author of different genres) who comes close to the eloquence of her writing.
It's really the way she describes her fantasy worlds that draws me in. She looks at the world through a unique filter. Instead of relying on the usual cliches most writers tend to use, she reinvents standard images, putting a new spin on the mundane.
One of her most eloquently written books is "Song for the Basilisk." The main character doesn't know who he was, only who he is now: a bard on a mystical island.
His past suddenly rips apart the world he knows and now he travels back to the city of his birth to face the tragedies that bound him in lies and secrets. With music being a strong element within the story (hence the title), some would expect it to be the usual drab talk in the language of music.
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