The Forgotten Beasts Of Eld

Sybel is only sixteen when she is brought an orphaned baby to raise. She has little love for humans, having been raised alone on Eld Mountain with only the magical beasts her father summoned with magic for playmates, yet she accepts and is obviously transformed by the experience. Oddly enough, I love how detached and pragmatic she is. Her fearlessness awards her a vicious legendary bird, her ruthlessness when betrayed is not to be underestimated, and she is a beautiful, powerful, sorceress. In another story she could be the villain, but here she is thoroughly the heroine. This little-known gem landed the 1975 World Fantasy Award, and was nominated for many others. McKillip's elegant prose lends this dark fairytale a dreamy, mythic quality. A fantastic read featuring a fantastic heroine.