The Book of Atrix Wolfe

From Publishers Weekly
In what is probably her best-known work, The Riddlemasters of Hed, McKillip combined shape-shifting, riddle-solving and the desire for wild and unbridled power into a richly fantastic tale. Here, she returns to those themes, adding a strand of the fairy world to her rich web of enchantment. Prince Talis, heir to the Pelucir throne, has been away from his homeland studying magecraft. At the wizards’ college, he discovers a mysterious book of spells whose words carry hidden meanings. Returning to Pelucir, Talis encounters the Queen of the Woods, who is looking for her daughter, Sorrow, lost ever since the mage Atrix Wolfe misused his magic to divert a war. Now Talis and Atrix must solve the riddle of Sorrow’s existence, and rid the world of the evil that Atrix conjured. Though McKillip’s latest is less strongly plotted than some of her earlier novels, her words and images remain masterfully evocative as she manages to invoke great beauty using the simplest language. Connoisseurs of fine fantasy will delight in this expertly wrought tale.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Driven by a formless fury when the prince of Kardeth refuses to halt his invasion of the kingdom of Pelucir, the great mage Atrix Wolfe creates a fearful hunter, “a warrior with no allegiance but to death.” But the ensuing massacre of both armies and the king of Pelucir appalls the mage, and he flees to the mountains to live in wolf form among wolves until, 20 years later, the queen of the Woods demands that he seek out her daughter, who disappeared at the time of the great bloodbath. The ensuing story involves aspiring mage Talis Pelucir, son of the slain king, and Saro, a young, mute scullery maid in the castle of Pelucir whose background is unknown. Steeped in medieval legends of the wild huntsman, living trees, and shape changers, McKillip’s tale is decidedly atmospheric, complex, compelling, and filled with rich imagery. – Sally Estes