Dreams of Distant Shores
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Featuring an original introduction by Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn.
Bestselling author Patricia A. McKillip (The Riddle-Master of Hed) is one of the most lyrical writers gracing the fantasy genre. With the debut of her newest work, Dreams of Distant Shores is a true ode to her many talents.
Within these pages you will find a youthful artist possessed by both his painting and his muse and seductive travelers from the sea enrapturing distant lovers. The statue of a mermaid comes suddenly to life, and two friends are transfixed by a haunted estate.
Fans of McKillip’s ethereal fiction will find much to delight them; those lucky enough to be discovering her work will find much to enchant them.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
McKillip (Wonders of the Invisible World), winner of the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, collects nine dazzling shorter pieces (both originals and reprints) in this outstanding collection. The brief, creepy "Weird" opens the volume, merging an oddly romantic picnic in a bathroom and a mysterious threat outside into something that exists in a darkly beautiful interstitial place. The longest piece, "Something Rich and Strange," which appeared originally as a standalone novella in Brian Froud's Faerielands series, is an ecological fairy tale that contains the most gorgeous of McKillip's prose ("her blind stare of pearl and wormwood") and the weakest of her plots, but even weaker McKillip is well worth reading. The newer stories also shine. "Mer" is a small gem about a nameless witch, a fishing village, and a mermaid statue. "Edith and Henry Go Motoring" features a toll bridge that leads travelers on an unexpected journey. Beyond the short fiction, the volume finishes with an essay on writing high fantasy, and an appreciation of McKillip's work by renowned fantasist Peter S. Beagle. Fans of exquisite prose and ethereal fantasy will need to own this.
