McKillip’s prose is competent enough, and there is some rather nice imagery in this book, even if it often feels overwritten. Yet I had a terrible time trying to get involved in the story. I’m not certain why, but I have a couple theories.
       First, for a quest story to succeed, the quest must have some object that is terribly important. Here, it’s not clear why it’s important for Morgon to go wherever it is he’s going. It’s certainly not clear to Morgon, since he repeatedly changes his mind about his destination. First he’s going to meet his potential bride, then he’s going to confront the High One, then he decides just to go home, then he suddenly reverses course and heads north, where he’s content to run around with giant deer for several weeks, before finally heading off again to meet the High One.
       Second, Morgon does not live up to his billing as a “riddle-master.” Early in the book we are told that he progressed through his studies of riddles faster than any other student ever, and that he went on to defeat a ghost in a riddle challenge that no one else had completed in centuries of trying. Apparently the guy is a super-genius, but one would never know it from any of his actions in this novel. He is rarely called on to do anything clever. If anything, he comes across as a bit dim-witted.  Indeed, the most likable thing about him is that he’s an unambitious, simple-minded farmer who wishes the powerful forces around him would leave him alone.
       Having built up her protagonist as a brilliant “riddle-master,” McKillip needs to let us see him in action. This novel is halfway through before Morgon is ever asked to answer a riddle. The riddles are never an important part of the plot. And when we finally hear some, we find out that these “riddles” are actually just rather dull summaries of things that happened to figures from the past. Morgon’s no riddle-master; he’s more like the master-historian of Hed.
       Even though I liked the surprise at the end of this book, McKillip never captured my interest enough to make me want to read the rest of the trilogy.

What do you think? Your comments are welcome. Please send them to vanaaron@excite.com