That's the sort of thing, of course, that gets cleared up when you re-read it. On top of that, everyone is running around with questions they are keeping to themselves, and feelings about things they never quite get a chance to articulate, and even I felt that maybe a bit of dictatorial explanation would have been not unwelcome. I can imaging some people feeling that they want less of being told how this is happening, and more of being told what the heck is really going on. I do not think it is to everyone's taste, especially all the underlining of how the stories from the past, and from the land itself, are coming up into the light of day to disturb the order the things. Happily, her characters have so much independent life to them that is easy to fill in the blanks (swoon!) for oneself. I wish that McKillip would maybe be just a tad more forthcoming in the romance department, but she is parsimonious with details (really too parsimonious, in this case). If you want to buy a fantasy book for a folklorist or an archaeologist, this is an excellent one). lots of music, and story, and legend (if you like fantasy books with music, this is a must-read. you know that whole if its fantasy it must be quasi medieval thing? To heck with that! McKillip has two stories going at once, one in the past, and one in the present the past one, with legitimate reason, is quasi-medieval, but then centuries have past, so we get a quasi Edwardian, steam-powered present! With a princess who's an archaeologist by vocation, who drives a steam-powered vehicle. On re-reading I proceed with a more relaxed, comfy, briskness. Except that only holds true for the first time reading one of her books, when I really don't know what is happening and how things are going to tie together. You don't gobble the whole box down, delicious though they are-instead, you make the most of the immersive experience of each bite, and are rewarded with great richness.
McKillip is an author I read in much the same way as I approach a box of really expensive assorted truffles.
And oh the shame of it, it was a Christmas present back in 2011, and it languished all this time, because (and I don't think I am alone in this), it is often easier to put off reading books you know you'll love, that will wait there patiently for you to come to them. It is perhaps one of her best books ever. In short, I read a Patricia McKillip novel, and a rather fine one at that- The Bards of Bone Plain.
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