#riddlemaster of hed

[loquaciousquark]

Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I saved your post recommending the Riddle-Master trilogy almost a decade ago, and then I found the post again deep in my blog while looking for something else and impulsively decided to buy it. I just now finished the Harpist in the Wind, and it was really beautiful! The way she describes places and feelings was so unique and gripping. Morgan and Deth in the end really got me. I'm loaning the series for my niece to read now!

Oh man, how awesome! This is incredible to hear--I'm so glad you enjoyed it! The Morgon/Deth friendship lives in my head absolutely rent-free, and the final sequence with the tower, oh man. I can see it in my mind's eye just thinking about it, and it's been probably five or six years since my last reread. Patricia McKillip is my favorite author of all time; while her later books to me don't have quite the same dense lyricism that Riddle-Master does (probably an improvement on readability, frankly--I confess the scene with the dead children under the mountain confuses me every time), there's an effervescent beauty in everything she does that I would kill to emulate.

Gosh, it's most definitely time for a reread. Thank you so much for letting me know, and again, I'm utterly delighted you had a good time! :D

Context post link!

[dreadfutures]

The Riddle-Master of Hed, by Patricia A. McKillip

Chapter 1 audio recorded by @dreadfutures

In a land where wizards have long since vanished, Morgon, Prince of Hed, is confronted with a challenge much different from that faced by Hed's land-bound rulers before him. Although he wants only to rule and work the land of his birth, Morgon must search out a very different destiny--given to him by the stars imprinted on his forehead since he was born. He must wander strange, foreign lands full of untamed magic in the form of riddling wraiths, mysterious harpists, a lost crown, a magical sword, and an all-knowing High One who rules over all. But in his quest for a new life for himself and his people, he must face great dangers--not only to himself, but to his promised bride, his land, and his very way of life.

Riddle-Master is one of the most influential books in my life, and something of an unknown gem. It sits right beside Earthsea on my bookshelf, and I think fans of Earthsea will enjoy the Riddle of the Stars. I hope that listening to chapter 1 might inspire people to read the trilogy themselves, but also I made this for my friends to enjoy because reading is hard.

I hope that we'll end up doing the whole trilogy eventually. <3

[catboydogma]

ty for the tag @calamity-aims this is fantastic :D restrained myself from putting dogma on there as he has only a teaspoon of canon to his name and i can only put one star wars person in this bad boy

rules: choose 4 of your favorite characters from 4 pieces of media as poll options and let your tumblr pals decide which one most suits your vibe, then tag 4 people

tagging @calboniferous , @vaders-georg , @notsomeloncholy , @cybermanolo , and anyone else who wants to join :)

[asstariontrash]

random OC ask: what is the most unique thing about your OC? what is the most mundane thing about them?

how do they feel about those two aspects?

Ty for the ask!!

Hemlock (he/they paladin) is visibly divine. They were born with three very-pale marks on their forehead — they look like someone touched them with their index/middle/ring fingers and that touch left a mark. But the thing is, no god has claimed them ever since. They've had no direct contact with any deity (prior to the game) and their Oath wasn't sworn to any god in particular, but they still have all this radiant power, so someone must like them... it's sort of a "hey what do you want from me???" situation that only gets weirder once their Oath is broken.

Hem's most mundane trait is that they're a back sleeper lol. Can't fall asleep on their side or stomach. Spooning is hard.

Century (any pronouns cleric) is so so weird — but if we ignore all of the usual Durge amnesia weirdness, his most unusual trait is that he has a lot of vocal tics. It's like a verbal muscle memory — a lot of times it's just nonsensical mutterings but sometimes it's upsetting stuff, even after he shakes off the Urge. He's conscious of it and really doesn't want to be the party face because of this. Sometimes he ends up as the face anyway.

Century's most mundane trait is that he's bad at math. Numbers just go in one ear and straight out the other. And dates? This poor person has no idea what year it is much less the month and day of the week. He has so many other problems that this ranks very low on the Things To Improve list.

If you're curious what these two look like, you can see them here!

[northwest-by-a-train]

Riddlemaster of Hed by Patricia McKillip ✨️?

added to TBR | on my TBR | couldn’t finish it | did not enjoy | it was OK | liked it | loved it | favorite | not interested

Can't overstate how much I'd like to read it, but how hard of a time I'm having finding it in France. I have this combination of personal opposition to buying books online coupled with bloodhound persistence. Eventually I do find every book I've ever wanted. Except for 5 or 16 exceptions that drive me NUTS.

[eightopals]

Definitely Prydain, although I hit LotR at age 11, so that pretty much eclipsed Prydain for me.

Elizabeth Goudge - Linnets and Valerians?

Alan Garner? Elidor, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Owl Service.

And great stuff was coming out as I hit adolescence: The Dark Is Rising, The Riddlemaster of Hed, The Changes Trilogy by Peter Dickinson.

Most of Diana Wynne Jones’ books were later, but I discovered them in a library near my office on my first “permanent” job.

*happy*

Pov: you grew up reading weird fantasy in the early 2000s

[anaeovili]

What's the last book you read that had an effect on you?

I wish these-

ahahaha, whoops!

errr book, I’ve been reading the Kingkiller Chronicles recently and they’ve been really good. Prior to that thou I had the best time reading the Riddlemaster of Hed

[snarp]

Does Patricia McKillip know that she writes Taoist Cultivation Novels...

[merryloon]

He lifted his other hand, touched Raederle’s face and she smiled. He said hesitantly, “I have nothing to offer you. Not even Peven’s crown. Not even peace. But can you bear waiting for me a little longer? I wish I knew how long. I need to go to Hed awhile, and then to Lungold. I’ll try to—I’ll try—” Her smile faded. “Morgon of Hed,” she said evenly, “if you take one step across that threshold without me, I will lay a curse on your next step and your next until no matter where you go your path will lead you back to me.” “Raederle—” “I can do it. Do you want to watch me?” He was silent, struggling between his longing and his fear for her. He said abruptly, “No. All right. Will you wait for me in Hed? I think I can get us both safely that far.” “No.” “Then will you—” “No.” “All right; then—” “No.” “Then will you come with me?” he whispered. “Because I could not bear to leave you.” She put her arms around him, wondering, as she did so, what strange, perilous future she had bargained for. She said only, as his arms circled her, not in gentleness this time, but in a fierce and terrified determination, “That’s good. Because I swear by Ylon’s name you never will.

HEIR OF SEA AND FIRE by Patricia A. McKillip

[loquaciousquark]

If it's not too much to ask, could you recommend some books to read? I really enjoy your fics, so I figure you're a good person to ask! Happy to try pretty much anything. Any length, genre, reading level - just anything you think is worthwhile! Thank you!

Oh man, that’s so kind! I’m always nervous about recommending things, but if nothing else, here are some of my favorites that have absolutely informed my adult tastes.

1. Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy by Patricia McKillip. High fantasy from the 70s with prophecy, romance, and IMO the most beautiful prose I’ve ever read. I’ve talked about how important this series is to me here and here.

2. The Queen’s Thief series by @meganwhalenturner. Six books, and the last one just came out last year. (Hamlet nibbled on the spine while I was at work one day and I just about died.) Historical low fantasy in a Mediterranean-esque setting where cleverness always (usually) wins and the gods are very, very, very real. This was the first book I read where the hero gets genuinely, irreversibly hurt, and watching him love the woman who hurt him and watching her heal after the horror has shaped all of my writing ever since.

3. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. My parents gave me a set of this, Sherlock Holmes, and The Odyssey for Christmas when I was about 12, and realizing that people have always been funny and smart and hurtful and proud blew my mind.

4. Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers. Tenth in a series of 30s-set detective novels starring Lord Peter Wimsey and his client-turned-love (and eventually -lover) Harriet Vane. Not all of the Wimsey novels feature Harriet, but the five or six that do are some of my favorite writing ever. I stole my use of epigraphs almost entirely from these novels, and there is a great pleasure in reading fiction when you’ve realized the author is so much smarter and well-read than you, and rather than becoming jealous you just lean back sponge-like to soak it in.

5. The Hercule Poirot novels by Agatha Christie. I’ve always loved period detective fiction, and the moustached Belgian is my favorite. I love the setups; I love the general constructions of the plot; I love the glimpses into certain romances (and doomed romances) seen only through Hercule’s & Hastings’s eyes. I love how you can see the early influences of other detective pieces in the early works develop into new and exciting original takes. The Murder of Roger Akroyd is widely considered to be one of the best detective novels ever written, and I vividly remember having my mind blown by some of the revelations.

6. The Grim & Blackthorn trilogy by Juliet Marillier. Irish-inspired historical fantasy, this trilogy came with me on my recent trip to Chicago, and as @silksieve, @eponymous-rose, and @fistfulofgammarays can attest, it was a high struggle for me not to gorge myself on them back to back. I finished the first book just as my plane landed in Chicago, and the wholly involuntary gasp I gave at a certain revelation made my seatmate laugh, which of course meant I had to sit there and explain to her why the sentence I’d just read changed EVERYTHING. @jadesabre301 recommended these to me because she thought I’d love them, and she was right. Tons of hurt/comfort; it could even be argued that all three books are a slow comfort after the horrifying hurt of the first two chapters of the first book.

Hopefully this at least gives you a starting point! I’m not reading as much as I’d like to these days, but these are perennial favorites.

[dreadfutures]

Ooh, what was your inspiration? Music, aesthetics, plot points, etc- anything you feel like sharing! I love hearing about what inspires artists ❤️ Dead Pasts and Dread Futures has such an interesting Lavellan journey and I’m wondering where you get your ideas - ty and have a lovely night ❤️

Hi thank you!! that means a lot. and thanks for indulging me.

For DPDF, the whole origin of the fic was surviving a series of really bad friend breakups that affected me more than anything else in my life and really shaped my worldview, and Ixchel often grapples with similar things. DPDF is very much about depression and isolation inextricably, from different angles.

Beyond individual relationships it keeps popping up in the form of "inspiration" as I think a lot about being mixed race, about being second generation, about clawing my way to positions of leadership and privilege and how best to open doors and empower my peers and those who come after me, about being both afforded privilege but also being marginalized in those spaces too, about building community and coalitions... They're just really central to a lot of my daily existence and the spaces I move in and there aren't clear answers or narratives so I like to write them when I can. And imagining the world as I wish it could be, where sometimes just saying "it shouldn't be this way" loudly enough will give people pause, is important work to keep me hopeful and motivated to live and do the hard work in my relationships and communities.

On more fun notes, some of my biggest inspirations:

Music

These songs make me incredibly emotional, they all have a lot of personal meaning to me about friendships that I've had and lost, and they also have directly inspired a lot of ixchel's relationships with the people closest to her. just listening to agnes these days is enough to make me cry my eyes out.

beige (yoke lore) - unburdened

bad dreams (faouzia) - stripped

running up that hill (placebo) - x

i found (amber run) - ft. London Contemporary Voices

agnes (glass animals) - stare into his eyes **(see below)

Plots, Language, Storytelling

I find myself drawing elements and plots from lots of my favorite books growing up, such as:

Riddlemaster of Hed (Patricia A. McKillip) (ideas about magic, identity, collectivism vs individualism, pacifism, betrayal and love comingling)

Chronicles of Prydain (Lloyd Alexander)

Earthsea (Ursula K. LeGuin) (magic, accepting darkness within you, collectivism vs individualism, other things)

Thirteen Clocks (James Thurber) (whimsical language, poetry, a different way of writing fairy tales, fridge horrors)

Scarlet Pimpernel (Baroness Orczy) (lifted some of it for Wycome)

The Dark is Rising (Susan Cooper) (shoutout: golden owl eyes)

Song of the Lioness (Tamora Pierce) (man. really complicated and nuanced friendships and interpersonal relationships.)

A version of the Robin Hood story whose author I don't know :(

El Cid

The Bartimaeus Trilogy (Jonathan Stroud)

Specifically themes relating to loyalty, chivalry, doing what's right even when it means you lose or life is harder or it's lonely.

Honorable mentions to Peaky Blinders, Pacific Rim, all the Studio Ghibli films (especially Spirited Away).

But also a lot of fanfics I read growing up were really formative.

Elecktrum's Chronicles of Narnia fanfics, and Tonzura123's Chronicles of Narnia fanfics, were especially impactful with how they treated platonic devotion and loyalty.

** a note about agnes

this was originally in the youtube description but I think Dave removed it. But it means a lot to me so I'm copying it here:

dear friends…nervously excited to share with you the video for Agnes. it’s hard to explain exactly how it feels inside a human centrifuge. you sit in a small egg-like pod about the size of a horse which hangs off a 50 foot steel horizontal frame. It looks like something out of a bond villain’s lair. it’s claustrophobic and uncomfortable and also incredibly hot. slowly the whole thing starts to rotate like a helicopter blade. Faster and faster until every part of you becomes crushed under the extreme gravity. its like being slowly sat on by an elephant, or like your whole body being punched in slow motion. you have to flex every muscle and use every ounce of strength you have to keep going. breathing requires serious effort. movement becomes incredibly strained and almost painful. everything that once weighed 5 kilograms now weighs 50. its difficult even to keep your eyes open. it hurts in places you really didn’t know existed. veins and capillaries burst under the pressure and bruising begins. its a rapid physical overdrive. the blood rushes from your brain making it impossible to think rationally or focus. your eyes are also drained and you get tunnel vision…only able to see small circles of the world directly infront of you and your sight goes completely greyscale…no more colour. your balance and spatial awareness goes and the world begins to spin like you’ve had way too much to drink. but the most striking thing is the way that the machine pulls on your heart. you can actually feel it struggling to beat and changing shape…flattening inside of your chest. Its similar to that horrible sinking, tugging heartache that comes only with complete and overwhelming sadness. and then you pass out. we ran the centrifuge 18 times while i tried to sing along to a song which i find difficult to listen to at the best of times. this was probably the most intense video-making experience I’ll ever have. But its the only way that we could just about begin to simulate for a moment what happens within Agnes. speak soon, dave

[ravenya003]

A friend brought it to my attention late last night that fantasy author Patricia McKillip passed away on May 6th, and though there is an obituary in Locus, the news sadly seems to have been overlooked by other on-line fantasy outlets.

She was one of my favourite writers, having penned well over twenty novels across the course of her career and being the recipient of several awards, including the World Fantasy life achievement award in 2008.

She's perhaps most famous for her Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy, though for my money her best work was written between 1995 and 2010, decades in which she wrote the likes of Winter Rose, The Book of Atrix Wolfe, Song for the Basilisk, The Tower at Stony Wood, Ombria in Shadow, In The Forests of Serre, Alphabet of Thorn, Od Magic, The Bell at Sealey Head and The Bards of Bone Plain – all standalone fantasy novels that melded her distinctive poetic-prose with stories based on fairy tales, mythology, ballads and other fantasy inspirations.

As a younger reader, there was seriously nothing else like them. The cover art featured above was done by Kinuko Y. Craft, and they’re a perfect visual compliment to McKillip’s dense, ornate prose. Oftentimes reading her books was like trying to unravel a tangled knot – but a lot more fun. No matter how complicated things got, you knew you would eventually land on solid ground.

“Night is not something to endure until dawn. It is an element, like wind or fire. Darkness is its own kingdom; it moves to its own laws, and many living things dwell in it.”

― Patricia A. McKillip, Harpist in the Wind

[bailesu]

An Alterrnate Shadowrun - Riddlerun

In the year 2012, with the end of the Long Count, a new age began. There had long been reports of strange things ever since World War II; many believe that the first use of atomic weapons opened the way for the world to change. UFO sightings, Bigfoot, reports of Atlantis, planes and ships vanishing in the Bermuda Triangle. People were increasingly primed for something undeniably supernatural to happen.

On December 21, 2012, when the year died (the real year, not the clumsy system invented by someone who couldn't even set his start date correctly), the old age died with it. The first riddles appeared, carved into monuments, and as the sun moved across the earth from just east of Greenwich to just west of it, ancient monuments appeared, mysterious artifacts of a now forgotten age. What would turn out to have been the last age of magic. Ancient ruins full of danger, magic, strange creatures, and riddles.

Those who unlocked riddles learned magical secrets and became known as Riddlemasters. The secrets could not be taught, but the riddles could be; some had the knack and others did not and formal intelligence was not always the key. Riddlemasters were envied by some, loved by others, and heavily sought out by corporations who wanted to employ them.

But this was not the only change. It was a time of the fall of empires, for the magic of the ancient states, states forgotten by even the wisest historian, from a time before the last ice age had scourged away all evidence, that magic broke the great loyalties of the modern age. Anything much bigger than Belgium fell apart into pieces, able to hold only in loose alliances, and in some places, people found and answered the riddles and became Lord of the Land, with a mystic tie to the land; some Lords made themselves kings and others hid and acted as secret guardians.

With nation-states shattered, the great corporations, who were not tied to the land, flourished and became the real great powers, crossing the shrunken national boundaries. Freed from restraint, these corporations drove a great increase of technology, the Cyber-Age. Those who could not unlock Riddles turned to machines for power. Many of those ended up indebted to the corporations, who made wars on each other that no country could restrain in their shriveled state, save in countries with a Lord of the Land, where Lords and corporate power clashed.

But all of this is matched by a problem for everyone - the angry dead. Those who die by violence, starvation, and other ways that leave them angry or despairing at death rise again as ghosts whenever the sun sets. In areas with a Lord, the dead can be controlled, but in lands without one, the dead stalk the night, trying to get even or bringing fear and despair. Some Riddlemasters also possess necromantic secrets to master them.

There are whispers of another menace - shapeshifters, perhaps dwelling in the ocean, who walk among us, serving some secret, unknown master. They may or may not exist, for it is well known that some Riddlemasters and every Lord of the Land can achieve limited shapeshifting, able to become an animal of each of the three kingdoms (air, water, and land) and a plant. Others can achieve variation of human form. But these shifters can pass as anyone. If they even exist. They may well be the masters of the UFOs.

The UFOs definitely exist - there is too much evidence. But their technology is far beyond ours. They seem only to observe and at times, carry people off and experiment on them, then return them. They have a definite interest in the riddles. What they really want remains unknown and perhaps unknowable.

In the year 2042, young people remember no time before the change; their elders still remember the old world but know they must live in the world they have now. Who will rule in this age is yet unclear. The age of Riddles has begun.

(This is a fusion of the Riddlemaster of Hed, Cyberpunk tropes and late 20th century paranormal silliiness, written for an RPG.net thread.)

[warpedlegacy]

Tag people you want to get to know better!

Thanks for the tag @dreadfutures! I’m gonna tag @a11sha11fade and @howemancing but no pressure! 

Favourite colour: Red but like, deep red, crimson red. 

Favourite food: Chili dogs. Nothing makes me happier when eating one. 

Song stuck in your head: “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush

Last thing you googled: “what is the purpose of a dutch oven”

Time: 7:54am

Dream Trip: Oooooh I’d love to visit ancient ruins, pretty much anywhere, but top of my list are the Pyramids at Giza, Pompeii, the Coliseum, and Aztec and Incan cities. Would also absolutely love to see the Blue House in Coyoacan, the museum where all of Frida Kahlo’s artwork is displayed. 

Last book you read: Last book I finished was The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers. I’m currently reading Riddlemaster of Hed by Patricia A McKillip, A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, and finally catching up on the Saga comics series written by Brian K Vaughan and drawn by Fiona Staples. 

Last book you enjoyed reading: I’ve enjoyed all of them! 

Last book you hated reading: There are only two books I’ve ever read all the way through while actively hating. And those are Catcher in the Rye and Tess of the d’Urbervilles. I can expand on my reasons why if anyone is curious. 

Favourite thing to cook/bake: Pancakes. They’re the ultimate in comfort food for me, especially when I’m cooking them for other people. 

Favourite craft to do in your spare time: Cosplay, though I haven’t done anything with that in a while. *sighs* I miss conventions. 

Most niche dislike: People who shit on a piece of media without giving any actual reasons why they dislike it. It’s fine if something didn’t vibe with you, but to go on a rant and make statements like “[thing] is objectively the worst piece of shit I’ve ever had the misfortune of suffering through and it’s so bad it makes [other maligned thing] look like a masterpiece” without actually giving me any reasons WHY you feel that way is, to me, peak annoyance and just unpleasant to listen to. It also shows me you’ve made no effort to actually engage with said media on its own merits or try to meet it where it’s at before forming your opinion. 

Opinion on circuses now and in history: For their sense of community and displays of talent and athletics and skill? Love it. For their history of ableism, abuse, and animal cruelty? No thanks. I only ever remember going to one show that might be considered a circus, and I did have fun there, but probably wouldn’t go again if offered. 

Do you have a sense of direction and if not what is the worst way you ever got lost: I honestly feel like I have a lousy sense of direction, and can get easily turned around. I have a problem where I can picture my destination clearly in my head, but the steps it takes to get there are a complete blank. I also generally can’t remember basic directions like “did I take a left or right on that path behind me?” I’ve been stopped before while out walking through my neighborhood by people who are lost and asking for directions, and for the life of me I can never give them any guidance that would actually be of any help. I’ve lived here for over a decade. Please don’t put me in charge of navigation unless I have a GPS to follow. The worst I’ve ever gotten lost was probably when I was driving my friends and I around once when we were in our teens. We were coming back from the mall, it was late, and I was relying on my friend in the passenger seat to direct us home. But she fell asleep halfway through the trip. And then I passed a sign for an airport that I knew was almost three hours from my house. When I frantically shook my friend awake, all she had to say was “did you take the right at the McDonalds?” WHAT. We did eventually get home, and no, I did not rely on that friend ever again for directions lol. 

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Favourite food:Song stuck in your head:

Last thing you googled:

Time:

Dream Trip:

Last book you read:

Last book you enjoyed reading:

Last book you hated reading:

Favourite thing to cook/bake:

Favourite craft to do in your spare time:

Most niche dislike:

Opinion on circuses now and in history:

Do you have a sense of direction and if not what is the worst way you ever got lost:

[theeleganceofthehedgehog]

Hmm I also haven't read it in awhile. I think I identified a lot with Morgan for that very reason though (knowing what's right and what needs to be done, pushing back and complaining because he's aware of how hard it will be and how much it will change his own personal world and how much responsibility it gives him, but ultimately accepting in spite of that), hence him being my favorite character and the first and last books of the trilogy my absolute favorites. I think Raederle does complement him well, but as you mentioned, her struggle is more with the reality of her identity and how terrifying that is to be, whereas Morgan's is less with his identity and more with the change it's going to cause to his life and his world. But also I think they kind of force each other to think about things from another perspective, and that helps them both grow into their roles the way they need to.

so you've read the Riddle-Master trilogy, right?? bc I don't really have anyone to talk about that series with very much, but I'm always thinking about Raederle's struggles with identity and her connection to the Earth-Masters, and how the truth scares her so much until she finally can come to terms with it... compared with Morgon not WANTING his connection to prophecies or riddles, but never fearing it, embracing his path with some pushback and complaining but largely just acceptance — and how those opposing reactions to their circumstances each temper and bolster each other! I guess I was just wondering if you have any additional thoughts 😅

I have read it, but I need to reread because it's been years! I always did think the two of them complemented each other very well. I'm sorry I don't have a whole ton to add at the moment 😅.

Oh but hey maybe @theeleganceofthehedgehog has some thoughts?

[fistfulofgammarays]

Tagged by @hotmessexpress99 and @sunshine-hime. Thank you both for the tag! 

Cutting the questions out by themselves because this post was getting super-long, but original located here.

1. What’s your comfort activity?

Alternately sketching and trawling wikipedia, cat(s) on chair, listening to music or a game stream. Alternatively, playing scales or chromatic exercises with amp off, watching documentaries.

2. Favourite book?

I don’t think I can pick one favorite. The Riddlemaster of Hed had a hugely formative influence on me when I first read it though, and its worldbuilding and atmosphere has stuck with me for years and years. 

3. Top 3 favourite characters?

Ah, this is another one where I don’t think I can pick just three. Uh, let’s go with Murderbot (Murderbot Diaries), Sam Vimes (Discworld), Keith (VLD). That’s a pretty representative slice of my brain these days.

4. Favourite meal?

Thai green curry.

5. One thing you’ve always wanted to do?

Hang-gliding. 

Open tag for anyone who wants it!