Reviewed by Lianne on
Kingfisher is something of a coming of age story, a family drama, and a fantastical quest that’s King Arthur-esque. A lot of elements of this story were familiar to Patricia McKillip’s storytelling: the strange nature of magic and how it comes forth through everyday items and activities, the dream-like cross between reality and magic and dreams and illusions, the gorgeous writing and the cryptic natures of some of the characters that grace the story.
Despite of these familiar elements present in Patricia McKillip’s latest novel, it was much harder to get into this novel. While dreamy at some parts, it overall didn’t feel as fantastical or as dreamy as her previous novels. Part of it might be because of the setting of this story; a bit of a personal preference thing but I do find it a bit weird whenever a fantasy novel has cars and other modern conventions and equipment in it.
The story itself also made it rather difficult to really get into the novel and travel alongside these characters; I appreciated the complexity in the different groups of characters and how they represented different trajectories and storylines that eventually coalesce and how the kingdom’s politics mingled in with the quest for the magical cauldron and the potential return of magic into the world. But I found that I didn’t really connect with the characters; I thought Heloise Oliver was the most interesting character and would’ve loved to have followed her story instead.
Overall, Kingfisher was an interesting enough story but it didn’t feel as self-contained as her previous novels or as wondrous. The ending left me with more questions and an overall sense of dissatisfaction that left me wondering if perhaps this might be the start of a new trilogy from the author. Nonetheless it’s nice to see Patricia A. McKillip come out with a new novel, I look forward to seeing what she writes next.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 17 January, 2016: Finished reading
- 17 January, 2016: Reviewed