Song for the Basilisk - Hardcover

McKillip, Patricia A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0441004474 ISBN 13: 9780441004478

Publisher: Ace Hardcover, 1998

Synopsis

Haunted by visions from his obscure past, Rook is led by the bards of his adopted home to wander the land of the power-hungry basilisk who destroyed his family, in a novel by the World Fantasy Award-winner.

About this title

About the Author:

Patricia A. McKillip is a winner of the World Fantasy Award, and the author of many fantasy novels, including The Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy, Stepping from the Shadows, and The Cygnet and the Firebird. She lives in Oregon.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Once the city of Berylon was benevolently ruled by Raven Tormalyne, until his rival, the ambitious Arioso Pellior, the Basilisk, burned Tormalyne Palace. Of all the family, only young Rook, cowering under the ashes in the fireplace, survived. Rook was sent to the remote island Luly, where he became a bard (poet/musician) and produced a son, Hollis, but could never bring himself to remember his heritage. Nearly 40 years later, young Griffin Tormalyne, a distant relative, arrives at Luly, forcing Rook to confront his past. So he travels into the magical hinterlands, where, after various adventures, he recovers his memory and some of his inherited magic powers. But when he returns to Luly, Griffin is dead and the school burned. The Basilisk, meantime, a master of subtle magics, trains his dragon-eyed daughter Luna to succeed him. Rook, arriving in Berylon, takes a job cataloguing old music manuscripts that the Basilisk recovered from ruined Tormalyne Palace, and acquires a magical pipe to use against the Basilisk. But there are further complications: relatives of Griffin are smuggling in weapons and plotting against the Basilisk; the Basilisk's plain, empty-headed daughter Damiet falls in love with Rook; Hollis shows up; and Rook finds himself strongly attracted to Luna, a magician more powerful than her father. Previous McKillip offerings (Winter Rose, 1996, etc.) have been charming, elegant wisps; this one, after a rather laborious start, presses forward with altogether more determination and substance: a significant improvement overall. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ace Hardcover
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0441004474
• ISBN 13: 9780441004478
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 314