I reread my aging, brown-edged copy of this fantasy novel. It's got a goofy cover, which embarrassed me when I bought it, even as I carried it around and re-read it time and again way back before college. I hadn't thought about it for years, but the book was McKillip's first (at age 26?!) and an award-winner, so it seemed worth a revisit.

Dang! It's still just as engaging to me: a solitary wizard-woman lives with her magical beasts peacefully until a soldier appears carrying a newborn baby for her to adopt. McKillip sets a poetic tone, but it's relatable. Sybel, the wizard, has to learn, essentially, to be human. It's an adventure fantasy candy-coating a love story, and I gobbled it right up again. What a pleasure to rediscover this book!

I thought The Changeling Sea was my favorite McKillip novel, but this one has climbed back into first place.