May 22, 2010

Heir of Sea and Fire

Title : Heir of Sea and Fire
Author : Patricia A. McKillip
Reading Dates : 21 May - 22 May 2010


The Riddle-master's Game (Fantasy Masterworks)
The Riddle-Master's Game Trilogy. Heir of Sea and Fire is the 2nd book in Patricia A. McKillip's The Riddle-Master's Game trilogy. The books in the trilogy include :
  • The Riddle-Master of Hed
  • Heir of Sea and Fire
  • Harpist in the Wind

Book Summary of Heir of Sea and Fire.
Raederle of An's 2 year wait for the Prince of Hed ends in sorrow when news comes that the land-rule of Hed has passed from Morgon to his brother, Eliard. Believing Morgon dead or mad and needing answers, Raederle and a few of those who loved Morgon make the perilous journey to Erlenstar Mountain hoping for answers from the High One.

Only as they near their destination, news comes that Morgon has been seen alive but terribly changed by his year of imprisonment and torture.  Bent on vengeance, Morgon is pursuing Deth who had betrayed him to Ghisteslwchlomn, the Founder of Lungold.

As Raederle chases after Morgon, she realizes that she is a part of the riddles surrounding Morgon for she is descended of the shape-changers seeking to end the Star-Bearer's life. In the end, Raederle mistakenly brings about Deth and Morgon's meeting while trying to protect Morgon from his enemies.

"They were promised a man of peace." Echoing the earlier words of the dead children of the Earth-Masters, Deth stays Morgon's final blow. Now, Morgon and Raederle must try to unravel the maze of riddles before them.


Book Review of Heir of Sea and Fire.
The Heir of Sea and Fire starts off rather slowly and it isn't until Raederle's initial reunion with Morgon that the story takes off. Raederle's journey to Erlenstar Mountain is not as interesting as Morgon's. Although there are a few difficulties, there is none of the sense of danger which accompanied Morgon's travels. Raederle is in possession of more survival skills with her magic than Morgon at the start of the story. But, we do not truly get a sense of the full scope of her abilities until her flight from the shape-changer and most notably when she seeks to protect Morgon from the Founder of Lungold. So, be patient and wait. It's worth it.

Also while this second book tells of Raederle's adventures, it is also Morgon and Raederle's love story. In the first book we know that Morgon and Raederle are friends, but their feelings are only hinted at. Morgon won Raederle's hand by accident rather than design. However, here we witness the lengths to which the both of them go to in order to protect each other.

Although he doesn't appear until near the end and very little is mentioned of what was done to him in the past year, the author manages to make us feel Morgon's pain. And we understand why the land-rulers in the High One's realm close their borders to Deth immediately after meeting Morgon.  And we see the price the Prince of Hed has had to pay for a destiny he never wanted and sympathize with his desire for vengeance.

'Morgon, an agony breaking into his face, screamed at him in a voice that must have reverberated through the black caverns of Erlenstar Mountain, "What is it you want of me?"'

This is definitely a must read.


Related Links.

3 comments:

  1. It sounds good and so does the Riddle-Master of Hed in th epost before, I am looking forward to reading about the third book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks. I'm currently racing through the third book. Hope to be able to finish it in the next 2 days. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is my late comment here but I had to stop by!
    It looks like its time to read Patricia's classic series again, since I don't remember too much from when I read it as a restless teen.
    It just seemed a little slow the entire time, not just the beginning.
    Lets see how it looks on a second read!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...