The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
With her white hair and black eyes, Sybel has a wizard's power that she has inherited from her father along with his white stone house and his collection of mythical creatures. There's the Lyon Gules, Cyren, the white-tusked boar who holds the answers to all riddles but one, blue-eyed Ter, the falcon to wizards and kings, and even the great dragon Gyld. Then one day, when Sybel is just sixteen, Coren of Sirle comes to her lonely house with a baby for her to hide and raise--Tamlorn, the son of a king. And Sybel finds herself drawn into the world of men. Because how can she not love Tam as he grows from boy to man? And then there's Coren of Sirle himself who seems able to look into her soul and see her like no one else ever has.
"I thought of you with your hair of silver as snow all through that cold, slow journey from Sirle. I felt you troubled, deep within me, and there was no other place in the world where I would rather have been than in the cold night, riding to you. When you opened your gates to me, I was home."5 reasons why I love this book:
- the romance between Sybel and Coren of Sirle
- McKillip's lyrical prose
- Cyren the Boar's wisdom and wry riddles
- all the other mythical, magical animals in Sybel's home
- and did I mention how much I like Coren of Sirle?
Happy Reading!
