The Sorceress And The Cygnet (1992) - Plot & Excerpts
Mid-range McKillip, I'd say.The first chapter features some of the author's most poetic writing, as she introduces Corleu, a young man out of place among the restless Wayfolk who, his great-grandmother tells him, long ago wandered out of the stars. Corleu is a "child of the horned moon," white-haired where all of the other Wayfolk are dark. He gets it from his grandfather, and his great-grandfather, a stranger whom his great-grandmother once coupled with among the corn one summer day. Who was he? A lord? A commoner? A sorcerer? One of his great-gran's dreams and stories? No one knows for certain.I love the culture, the lore, and the world of the Wayfolk, and in this chapter McKillip provides one of the most beautiful descriptions of falling in love I've ever read:"Venn's younger sister, Tiel, crossed the camp one day carrying a bucket of water from the stream, and Corleu, chopping wood, glanced up to find that in the interim between her going to the stream and returning, the world had transformed itself under his nose. The wooden ax handle was of a finer grain; the ground her bare feet touched had never been walked on before. Even the air was different: too shallow to breathe...."When the Wayfolk choose to go south to the Delta for winter rather than the usual Hunter Hold, Corleu's father and mother see danger in this departure from custom, but Corleu follows the rest on account of Tiel. As they journey along through the hazy south, Corleu starts to notice that they aren't making any real progress, that time isn't passing, that they are trapped in some kind of enchantment. He finds a doorway out himself, but in order to free his people and his love, he must find the heart of the Cygnet for the Gold King, whom Corleu previously thought was a story, a constellation in the sky, the sign of one of Ro Holding's four Holds.But this isn't only Corleu's story. It's also the story of Nyx Ro, a mysterious sorceress who lives in a swamp, and whom he goes to for help in finding the Cygnet. And it's the story of Meguet Vervaine, Nyx's cousin, who serves the Holder and is sworn to protect the country and royal family.I like Meguet; she's got grit. I like her relationship with the Gatekeeper, one of the most grounded and mature romances I've written in a fantasy book. And I do like the royal family in general. There's one particularly wonderful scene where Iris, the daughter who seems the least magical of the lot, is the only one who is able to perform an important spell. It's a great character moment. And there's a great sense of tension as figures out of legend begin to appear in Ro Holding, although I still missed the Wayfolk after the first few chapters.The structure bothered me a bit: Part One was from Corleu's point of view, Part Two from Meguet's, and Part Three switched between the two. One sad casualty of this set-up is Nyx. By the time you get to the end of the book, you come to realize that Nyx is in reality the most important character to the story, and it's she who changes the most in the course of it. But we are never able to see that change from the inside. Heck, we barely see it through Corleu's and Meguet's eyes. We have to be told about it. Weak.I'm finding more and more that my enjoyment of McKillip novels varies depending on their endings. All of her books feature beautiful prose, complex and inimitably human characters, and a wonderful air of mystery. In the best of her novels, all of the mysteries come together and are explained in startling but entirely logical ways (well, logical for fantasy novels that place such a high value on symbolism and illusion). My least favorite of her novels are those that build up a great threat and then reveal it to be no threat at all, merely some kind of ploy by the universe to teach the characters a lesson. The Tower at Stony Wood and Solstice Wood fit this category. So does The Sorceress and the Cygnet. So despite the beautiful poetry of the writing, despite the Wayfolk, despite Meguet and her Gatekeeper, I can't say that it's a favorite.
McKillip is an author to be read in quiet places where you won't be disturbed--otherwise you're likely to find yourself leafing back to find out when a character turned into a tree. The language, as in all her books, is very poetic. It often helps with McKillip's books that her sister would draw maps of the locations--I don't think there was one in this edition.No, I'm pretty sure there isn't. You'd think that with a title like The Sorceress And The Cygnet, either the sorceress or the cygnet would be the hero. But the sorceress doesn't appear until late in the fourth chapter, and deliberately stays hands-off. She acts as more or less a reference librarian for means and methods of spells, as does at least one of her sisters. And the Cygnet appears only in silhouette, though if I recall correctly it appears onstage for a cameo at the end.Also confusing is that the Holder of Ro Holding (Lauro Ro) and her household really only appear in the second half of the book, when the cousin/guardian Meguet Vervaine goes home to report. Before that there's not even much in the way of foreshadowing. It's a bit worrisome that people keep joggling the bottled spells on the mantle. Since they don't know what's in them, there's no telling when one would turn deadly. The characters in this book are strong and individual, and it doesn't really matter whether they're male or female. They pick their careers more on the basis of personality than on gender.If you're tempted to skip through the story about the Rider in The Corn at the beginning, don't. It's critical later on.It's not clear what world this is. There's earthlike life, and then there's other, less familiar life. A bestiary would be useful, or at least illustrations. How is a blood fox different from an ordinary fox, for example?You don't have to read this first before you read The Cygnet And The Firebird. There aren't many loose threads that you can't gather up along the way. I don't think I did read them in order the first time. But it doesn't hurt to read them in order, and I will this time.
What do You think about The Sorceress And The Cygnet (1992)?
It's been a long time since I've read a pure fantasy book, mainly because there are so many terrible fantasy books that I've dipped into and not finished. This is a marvellous depiction of legend, with very real characters and beautifully written to boot. I read it in a whirl, never quite knowing where I was in the maze of the plot, and I finished it in a pretty square in Prague, sitting on a wooden bench. It is NOT like anything George Martin would write, nor is it like Tolkien - it reminded me more of George McDonald. It is beautiful and engaging and I recommend it unhesitatingly if you want to leave behind this mundane world for a few hours.
—Deborah Burrows
A boy who loves a girl and wants to save her. This boy tells the tales of the stars and somehow stumbles into them, finding the constellations come to life. A sorceress who helps him in her quest for power. A house full of rooms that keep changing and a house that can move. A woman claimed by her unknown heritage. A man guarding the gate. A maze. Falling, a falling.Another beautiful, complex, intricate, mystical, mysterious, delightful work by McKillip, although I have to admit I was a bit confused about exactly what happened at the big climax scene and some of the reactions that followed.
—Laura
Reading The Sorceress and the Cygnet took me a couple hours, friends, and I spent the entire time simultaneously shrieking that “THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING I HAVE EVER READ I THINK MY LIFE IS CHANGING!!” and also “I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS HAPPENING WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE PLOT WHY DOST THOU SLIP THROUGH MY FINGERS?!”And that really sums up my feelings about this book.I know it is awesome.But I also know that if I had to summarize the story to a friend I’d just stare at them and then go,“There’s a guy with blond hair who hates doors and appears to have inexplicable powers and who knows lots of rhymes and whose girlfriend is trapped in a swamp, and a girl with anger issues who kills birds and has unresolved romantic problems with a guy who as far as I could tell was her brother, and another girl who hypothetically has Magic Sword powers and also may or may not be possessed by the spirits of the dead, and another girl who… is a swan? Or she’s just called a swan? She can sometimes turn into a swan? And all of them might be related to each other? And one of them can telepathically move their house. Oh! And there’s a maze of mirrors.And then all of these constellations start coming to life and maybe they’re threatening to kill everyone but then they don’t because… it was the swan-person threatening to kill people all along? But she changed her mind too? So now everyone is friends with one another! And the guy gets his girlfriend back from the swamp.The end.”It doesn’t make a lot of sense, is what I’m trying to say, and I’m not entirely convinced it’s my fault that I’m confused. It is a little disheartening, though, because the implication is that I’m just not mature enough to understand such a convoluted story. At least according to the description.“This is not a simple novel. The intricately woven plot laced with surrealist qualities will appeal to mature fantasy lovers.”Eh. Four stars anyway, just for the pretty words.
—Monica!
