Subject: Review: Song For The Basilisk by McKillip

From: [email-masked] (HKlaus6073)
Date: 09 Sep 1998 20:54:45 -0400

SONG FOR THE BASILISK by Patricia A. McKillip

When the Basilisks destroyed all the residents of Tormalyne Palace, the
boy survived by hiding in a fireplace and willing himself to be part of
its ashes.  When he is found alive, his rescuers know that there is no
safe place for him.  They send him to the end of the world, the remote
island of Luly where the Bards sing. The Bards rename the lad Rook.

Over the subsequent years, they raise Rook as one of their own. He becomes
an accomplished piccolo player and falls in love. However, even though
more than three decades have passed, Rook still suffers nightmares from
that fatal day when a young lad hid from his family's enemy, the house of
the Basilisks. Now, Arioso Pellior, head of the Basilisks, wants to
eliminate any remaining Tormaylnes, including an individual who was raised
by the Bards.

Fantasy award winner Patricia McKillip is at the top of her game with her
newest novel, SONG FOR THE BASILISK. The writing is lyrical and the
suspense inspiring as the story line beautifully unfolds. The characters
seem real as their various motivations are well defined and enable the
subplots to propel forward to a climatic night at the opera. Fans of
fantasy will enjoy the latest work by one of the genre's masters.

Harriet Klausner

%T SONG FOR THE BASILISK
%A Patricia A. McKillip
%I Ace
%D Sep 1998
%O $22.95
%P 320 pp.
%G ISBN 0-441-00447-4