As far as I can tell, I first read Alphabet of Thorn in 2009. At that point I said, “This is one of McKillip’s strongest books, with a lot of palace intrigue and politics, fascinating characters, and a feeling of strangeness lurking just around the corner.” I do think it’s one of her stronger books,...
Fun fantasy read. One of my favorite hobbies, learning languages, was an important part of the story, which was really cool. Characters were engaging, love interests weren't overly mushy and were in keeping with motivating character and plot. Occasionally I found some lines of truly lovely prose.
After reading wonderful things about McKillip's abilities with fantasy, I was very disappointed with this title. The writing style alternated between intensive detailing of the environment and dream-like ramblings through the characters' thoughts. I alternated between being bored and being confuse...
With The Riddle of the Stars, the other Patricia McKillip books that I've read, there was an immediate empathy and affection for the characters. That was not true with this book, although by the end I did have sympathy for them. There just was not enough depth to them, or flesh, perhaps. It was a...
What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said? I bought the book when it first came out, read it once, and promptly lost it (ie lent it out and never got it back) and yet it still haunts me. The building tension between Nepenthe and the text she is translating, the young queen who jus...
This high fantasy is sweet and dreamy and perhaps a little stand-offish. Nephenthe is a translator in the bowels of a library of a palace where the new young queen is not ready to rule. A book with thorny lettering from the floating school of magic becomes the hidden threat winding its way into pa...
Alphabet of Thorn has a dreamlike quality. McKillip is recognized for her 'lyrical prose' and this book delivers in that area. This is the story of a scholarly young woman working away in the depths of the Queen's library. She discovers a secret language in the 'alphabet of thorn' and in unravelin...
It's not a bad book, it may just be that I'm not in the mood to read a YA book about finding one's way in the world and magic bringing to light what one fears and then learning to cope.I like McKillip's work but I can't really get into it. It could be me or it could be the constant prosaic paragraph...
What connection is there between a humble librarian and translator in the palace of Raine and an ancient language of thorns which no one can read but her? This is one of McKillip’s strongest books, with a lot of palace intrigue and politics, fascinating characters, and a feeling of strangeness lurki...
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