Kingfisher

Full review, first posted on FantasyLiterature:Patricia McKillip’s latest fantasy novel, Kingfisher, blends together the disparate elements of an Arthurian-type court, with King Arden, his knights, and their search for the Holy Grail ― in this case, an ancient cauldron with magical powers ― and a contemporary setting, complete with cell phones, vehicles, highways and all of the modern conveniences. Kingfisher also weaves together three different plotlines of three young people who are all [...]

A weird and thoroughly original-feeling mix of Arthurian legend, pagan myth, and contemporary rural Britain - with lots of cooking - meshes to form McKillip's latest novel, 'Kingfisher.'Pierce Oliver (Percival) has been raised in the remote fishing village of Mistbegotten by his mother, Heloise, a retired sorceress. He knows nothing of his father, but when one day he encounters a group of knights from the big city of Severluna, he's impressed by their shiny black limousine and their flashy leath [...]

LOOKIT what I got!*whispers* Please don't be terrible . . .

You'd shudder, your blood would roar, your hair would stiffen tendril by tendril like quills upon the fretful porpentine if you could see, if you could see This one's a bit of a mess, but what a glorious, epic mess. It's a mashup of genres (gothic horror, heroic fantasy, romance, cooking guide) saved by a sly sense of humour that announces itself from the very first pages where we meet Pierce Oliver – a young man out on Cape Misbegotten to catch some crabs for his mother's kitchen. A trio of [...]

3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum bibliosanctum/2016/02/28/bKingfisher is not your everyday fantasy, nor is it the kind of book I usually enjoy. Blurring the lines between genres, this ethereal and strangely abstract tale should have stymied me on so many levels, so no one is more shocked than I am at how deeply it resonated with me. It shouldn’t have worked for me—and in truth, not every aspect of the story did—but I did find certain elements greatly appealing.It helped too that I went [...]

Received to review via NetgalleyThe formatting of this was less than ideal on my Kindle, since I think it’s a proofing copy and thus there were numbers all through the document, and bizarre sections with no paragraph breaks, and all sorts of fun things like that. I did read some of it on my computer, which was better in one way, but not the most comfortable way to read either. In a way, I wish I hadn’t read this now, despite my eagerness for it — there’s a thread of McKillip’s usual en [...]

An ultimately unsatisfying mixture of Arthurian mythos, 21st century Oregon, and—bizarrely— haute cuisine. There are threads in this novel that pull at the heart and whisper of hidden truths, and there's some compelling imagery, and many echoes of McKillip's exquisite poetry, but it's mostly a brightly colored tangle that fails to resolve into a cohesive pattern.Part of the problem is the enormous cast of characters. Some drop entirely out of the story, others reappear after disappearances s [...]

This wasn't my favorite Patricia McKillip book ever, but it was still pretty amazing.The blend of modern technology and ancient magic was an interesting idea to see McKillip play around with, but it left me feeling like more should have been settled by the end of the book. Which is a weird complaint, I know - that just because a fantasy world has cell phones and cars, there shouldn't be as many threads left loose.On the whole, though, that's a very minor complaint. I love the way McKillip can tu [...]

T. S. Eliot (partly taken out of context) once said that "Genuine poetry can communicate without being understood." There's a quality to McKillip's prose that always calls that quote to mind: it's lyrical and precise and beautiful, though not necessarily direct, and that's true in this work as well."Three," Perdita whispered. The word came alive in her head, busily making connection after connection through time, across poetry, familiar images turning unfamiliar faces toward her, linking themsel [...]

It opens with a young man, a sorceress's son, who meets some knights and sets out to find his father. And an inn that is falling to pieces but still has a diner going when he arrives. And a royal court where the king decides to send his knights on a quest for a vaguely defined vessel -- magical but ill-recorded-- which, it turns out, also draws in the past of his illegitimate son.Taking place in a world with motels and sorceresses and cell phones and a polytheistic religion that do not entirely [...]

Though enjoyable, this is my least favorite book I've read by Patricia A. McKillip. As is usual with her books, there is some beautiful writing, but it follows a LOT of characters and some of their stories and more interesting than others.3 1/2 starsFull (But Still Brief) Review: fantasybookcafe/2016/0

I love the imagery that McKillip develops in her books. This is a fun story with just a bit too much going on, but well worth the read.

Kingfisher contains all that I expect from a McKillip fantasy – a type of story that the words “enchanting” and “spellbinding” are made to describe. I always look for the enchantments in her novels. The spells are there in abundance: in the characters in the here and now, behind the veil, and lost in legend; in the music and language; in the everyday events clouded by mists of the mind… or sometimes even literal mists!What is Kingfisher about?Pierce Oliver, son of a sorceress who hid [...]

Kingfisher is technically an urban fantasy, although it is not like any typical urban fantasy book. It's a modern version of King Arthur and the quest for the Holy Grail, but it takes place in a completely different world. It's not modern day Chicago or anything like that.Pierce Oliver lives with his mother, a sorceress, who left his father before he was even born. At the very beginning he meets three knights, clad in leather jackets, and this sparks his interest in finding his father, who presu [...]

3.5Full review available here : thecurioussffreader.wordpressKingfisher was my first Patricia McKillip book but it probably won’t be the last. McKillip’s writing style is very lyrical and the pacing of the book was very good. It was a slow-paced story but I never find myself bored and I flew through this book.The story starts of with only one character, Pierce Oliver, who is searching for his father but after the opening chapter, we are introduced to three other characters whose stories are [...]

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.I've read a bit of Patricia McKillip and always enjoyed her gentle yet acerbic fantasies. This book, though, I could never get a handle on.On the one hand, our characters live in a world much like ours. They use cell phones, work in restaurants that advertise on highway billboards, and vend tickets for cultural sights. On the other, the tickets they're vending are for the temple of an active goddess, knights are drivi [...]

i love mckillip's writing, and this time also was great. the story was different than all the rest and so for the first chapters it needed a bit getting used to for a hardcore mckillip fanatic (that i am) but then the story, the people, the mix of ideas a pro storyteller just gets to you. i am in love and think this world of modern and magic was the perfect direction, this different was good and was at a right time. i also think this world has more stories to tell and hoping for more.

A standalone novel that blends fantasy with a reality.My TakeIt’s quirky. It’s odd. It’s fascinating. It’s a McKillip all right with her beautifully descriptive writing that pulls you right in. It is not, however, the jewel-like stories I’ve read before. No, this is merely a warning that you shouldn’t expect the very fantastical fairy tales you may be used to.Instead, Kingfisher is an easygoing and odd blend of a fairy tale of today with its cellphones, limousines, and electric bikes [...]

3.5 stars - Metaphorosis ReviewsA network of families explore their common past, and search for a powerful historical object in an invented but modern fantasy landscape. Patricia McKillip's greatest strength is her ability to produce dreamy but compelling language - almost invariably about characters searching for a vague but romantic sense of place or self. Usually, the search takes place in a traditional fantasy landscape, where magic is often mentioned but seldom seen. In Kingfisher, she step [...]

*4.5 stars*Gorgeously written and full of a real, shiver-inducing sense of wonder. KINGFISHER blends Arthurian mythology with the most believable & evocative created religion I've found in any fantasy novel except for Lois McMaster Bujold's Chalion series, in a unique high fantasy setting complete with castles, questing knights AND motorcycles, fish fries and cell phones. I liked and admired the first section but didn't find it unputdownable; then I started reading Part 2, and BAM! I was hoo [...]

By now, the world is hardly crying out for more reinventions of the King Arthur legend, which has been rewritten just about every way you can think of. So Patricia McKillip does the smart thing here: she takes a handful of interesting scenes — the young Percival seeing knights pass by his isolated home and resolving to leave for Camelot; his first visit to the Fisher King’s castle, with its strange procession, where he fails to ask the question that could have solved everything; Gareth arriv [...]

This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:bookswithoutanypictures/20Patricia McKillip has long been one of my favorite authors, and when I heard about Kingfisher, I knew I had to read it. McKillip creates ethereal and breathtaking works of art, and I expected Kingfisher to be exquisite. However, this novel doesn’t live up to her earlier stories. It’s not that Kingfisher is bad, per se, but rather that it lacks focus.The story begins with Pierce Oliver. Pierce’s [...]

4.75 stars"Kingfisher" by Patricia A. McKillip starts with a simple young man, Pierce Oliver, who goes on a quest to find his father, despite his mother’s protests. His discovery of previously unknown relatives, acquisition of an unusual knife, and shocking introduction to a complicated society demands that he remember the teachings of his magical mother even as he comes to learn more about his family and heritage. He is not the only one in search of his identity, as the royal offspring and ot [...]

In a world where modern technology exists alongside magic, the magical beasts are not yet quite extinct, and King Arden reigns in the capital city of Severluna, Pierce Oliver has grown up the son of a sorceress who has retired from court to raise her son on a rather bleak cape, where she runs a restaurant. When she finally tells her son the truth about his father, a knight at King Arden's court, she sets off a chain of events that will have major repercussions.Pierce sets out for Severluna, driv [...]

It may be cliche, but I must start this review with, "How does she do it?" Without being at all formulaic, Patricia A. McKillip has managed to write a stunning series of stand-alone novels (shocking in the fantasy genre) that consistently weave wonder, magic, romance, adventure, and stunningly complex characters, male and female with such startling consistency and nary a misstep in over thirty years! In her latest novel, Kingfisher she creates an astounding number of well-define, diverse charact [...]

Here is some brilliant writing. All the Arthurian nuances, echoes, and enchantments (there are a lot of enchantments) somehow make the cars, cell phones, and other modern elements the eldritch parts. Left off that fifth star because it took me a long time to get into the story--not least because the trope where a character asks questions and gets no answers was used so often that it became annoying. But if, like me, you find the general run of fantasy (and SF) verbose and slow, here's a sterling [...]

Patricia A. McKillip, author of my favorite Riddle-Master (paper) trilogy that should be in every fan’s collection, has a tale of a King who sends his knights out to seek the pot that restored health to their river god. At the same time Pierce Oliver, son of a sorceress, drives to the capital city to find the father and brother he’s never met and gets caught up with the quest. The knights set off in motorcycles, limousines, and personal cars and stay in touch with cell phones, or, in the cas [...]

I read this book without having read a description of it or any reviews, so I had no preconceived idea of what to expect. What I found was a somewhat strange, lyrical tale of a world that is like our reality but with a layer of magic and mysticism covering it, or maybe it's the other way around: a magical world with a layer of reality on top. Anyway, there are numerous allusions to Arthurian legends, but I would not call it a retelling of any particular one, at least not one I've read. Too uniqu [...]

This book reminded me of a Tim Powers novel, with ancient, mythical beings battling in the modern day. Except this is the "modern day" of a McKillip fantasy world with sorceresses and kitchen magic and not Los Angeles or Las Vegas. Except apparently Greece is still a thing in this world?Anyway, I liked a lot of this book, but the ending was muddled and left me feeling cheated and annoyed. Also a little depressed at how long it's been since McKillip wrote anything I loved.

Fantasy novels with contemporary settings generally leave me cold, but McKillip's gorgeously lyrical and often ethereal prose style does it for me. I'd read more contemporary-set fantasy if it were more often written with the mystical sense of wonder I find in this one.In my teens I loved Arthurian fiction; I've had my share of delightful daydreams about riding into adventure as a knight. Yet somewhere along the way I lost my taste for it, as it started to bother me more that female characters i [...]