Rating: 
Summary: A Literary Obsession
Review: Alphabet of Thorn is a fantasy set in the Kingdom of Raine. The old king has died suddenly by falling off his horse during a hunt. His fourteen year old daughter has just been crowned as the Queen amid great splendor and masses of people. The people are still not sure what to make of the new queen.In this novel, Nepenthe is an orphan raised by the Royal librarians and trained as a transcriptor. She rides out with a fellow transcriptor to pick up a tome in an unknown alphabet from the mages of the Floating School and finds herself obsessed with both the tome and the mage who delivers it to her. She lies to the other transcriptor, saying that the mages have translated it after all, and she begins to neglect her other work to translate the tome with the alphabet of thorn. Bourne is the apprentice mage who delivered the tome to Nepenthe. He also finds himself obsessed ... with Nepenthe! Suddenly, he thinks of her constantly and sees her everywhere. He discovers that he can find her anywhere and can move to her through space with only a single step. Tessera is the new queen, who wanders restlessly through the castle and environs at odd hours. She is found at the bottom of the steps leading down the seaside cliff to the tomb of Mermion, the first king of Raine. She is said to have been in the woods of the Floating School talking to birds, to a mounted warrior and to Bourne. She frustrates Vevay the mage, her mentor in the kingly arts, for she is so different from her father. In this story, Nepenthe, Bourne, Tessera and a great number of other people are threatened by an unknown danger. Tessera is warned by Mermion, the Dreaming King, to beware of the thorns. Vevay finds the tome with the alphabet of thorn and scans it for dangers, but finds nothing. What could the danger be? This story is typical of the author, a mythical tale populated by believable and interesting characters faced by a legendary danger. The young queen matures tremendously during this tale as she learns to face her fears and strike back at danger. Bourne also matures during the story. Nepenthe doesn't develop so much as gradually showing her hidden feeling and strengths. Highly recommended for McKillip fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of myth and mystery.
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic read
Review: Alphabet of Thorn is another fabulous book by Patricia A. McKillip. It's the story of a young transcriptor named Nepenthe, who lives in the land of Raine, who becomes obsessed with a book written in a thorny alphabet that tells the story of the conqueror Axis and his companion, Kane. This tale pulls in all of the people around her, from Bourne and Laidley who both love her, to the sorceress Vevay, to the young inexperiences queen of Raine herself, Tessera.
This book is another of McKillip's beautiful fantasy tales. It is slightly more straightforward then her other work, but it is still full of the beautiful language and imagery that makes her work so unique.
I highly recommend Alphabet of Thorn; it is a beautiful story that you'll never want to put down.
Rating:
Summary: A fantasy of delicate beauty and magic
Review: AS usual Mcillip effortlessly draws the reader into this latest fantasy tale.
Nepenthe is a scholar and translator of languages, raised by the librarians of the royal library of Raine after having been abandoned as an infant by her mother. Raine is in fact twelve 'crowns' or lands at a very uncertain point in its history. The king is dead and his young daughter Tessera is being crowned queen. The mage Vevay, chief counsellor to the king, fears she cannot rule well and hold the realm together.
Tessera is strangely apart from her duties and almost seems simple-minded.
At the same time, a book written in a strange 'alphabet of thorns' is put into Nepenthe's hands for translation. She should have simply handed it to the librarians, but instead she secretly kept it for her own work by some strange compulsion and attraction she felt for this alphabet.
As Nepenthe is drawn ever more fascinatedly into the book (an ancient saga of Axis, Emperor of the Night and Kane his infinitely powerful sorcerer), so too is the security of Raine brought into question by powers both tangible and, even more dangerously, intangible and magical.
A sleeping king rises to warn of terrible danger, magic awakens in the confused Tessera, a mysterious wood with a life of its own draws wanderers in, evil leaps from history into the present ...
McKillip's prose always flows and eddies to draw in the reader's attention and almost make one read faster to catch its meanings. This tale is not nearly so dense and fey as some others. Yet, it also is full of ideas only glimpsed and a rich world that is not merely skimmed over as a mere background.
This is a finely realized, beautiful tale.
Rating:
Summary: In the end, all endings are the same....
Review: Fans of Patricia McKillip will know to some degree to what to expect in her novels -- magical atmosphere and beautiful, totally original plots. In her latest novel, "Alphabet of Thorn," McKillip delves into a strange language, and an invader who cannot be stopped. The Twelve Crowns of Raine have a new queen -- very young, very timid and very unhappy. Lost in the shuffle is Nepenthe, a girl left to unravel old, mysterious alphabets. She was abandoned as a baby and raised in the library, and is quite happy there. Her knack with languages comes into play when she gets a book from student mage Bourne, the nephew of a possibly treasonous nobleman. The book is written in a language made out of thorns that no one except Nepenthe can decipher. It tells the story of the warrior emperor Axis and the sorcerer Kane -- except that the book also shows that Kane was a woman. She was Axis's cousin, lover and right hand. What makes the book puzzling is that Kane claims to have helped Axis conquer countries that hadn't existed yet. As Nepenthe struggles to uncover the mystery of Kane and Axis -- and her own origins -- the queen of Raine is warned... about the thorns that will destroy Raine. Patricia McKillip's novels are both predictable and unpredictable -- you can expect lots of rich language, ornate kingdoms, and enticingly weird magic. At the same time, you can never predict how that magic is going to appear. In "Alphabet of Thorn," McKillip tackles something old and something new, magicwise. On one hand, there's the floating magic school and stuff like that. On the other, there's Kane's frightening, majestic, bend-time-and-space magic. As always, her writing is lush and slightly dreamy. McKillip includes lots of little details like peacock feathers, pearls, crumbly books, candles and pebbles. She revitalizes ideas like the abandoned person with a Hidden Identity, the long-dead king who will return in times of need (sort of a female King Arthur) or the disguised sorceress. The only downside is that when a certain part of Kane's story is revealed, Nepenthe's secret is also out in the open before it's actually revealed. Nepenthe's a nice lead character, reluctant and confused without being self-pitying; her lover Bourne is rather less defined, but still good with his own confusion. Other supporting characters like the naive young queen, kindly librarion and the aging sorceress are nice supporting roles; Axis and Kane are rather lacking in dimension (king obsessed with conquering, and a sorceress obsessed with him) until the end. They seem as distant and weird as they do to Nepenthe. McKillip expands her boundaries in the enticing, mysterious "Alphabet of Thorn." It's an adult fairy tale that revitalizes the ye olde kingdom genre, and tells a good story while it's at it.
Rating:
Summary: In the end, all endings are the same....
Review: Fans of Patricia McKillip will know to some degree to what to expect in her novels -- magical atmosphere and beautiful, totally original plots. In her latest novel, "Alphabet of Thorn," McKillip delves into a strange language, and an invader who cannot be stopped. The Twelve Crowns of Raine have a new queen -- very young, very timid and very unhappy. Lost in the shuffle is Nepenthe, a girl left to unravel old, mysterious alphabets. She was abandoned as a baby and raised in the library, and is quite happy there. Her knack with languages comes into play when she gets a book from student mage Bourne, the nephew of a possibly treasonous nobleman. The book is written in a language made out of thorns that no one except Nepenthe can decipher. It tells the story of the warrior emperor Axis and the sorcerer Kane -- except that the book also shows that Kane was a woman. She was Axis's cousin, lover and right hand. What makes the book puzzling is that Kane claims to have helped Axis conquer countries that hadn't existed yet. As Nepenthe struggles to uncover the mystery of Kane and Axis -- and her own origins -- the queen of Raine is warned... about the thorns that will destroy Raine. Patricia McKillip's novels are both predictable and unpredictable -- you can expect lots of rich language, ornate kingdoms, and enticingly weird magic. At the same time, you can never predict how that magic is going to appear. In "Alphabet of Thorn," McKillip tackles something old and something new, magicwise. On one hand, there's the floating magic school and stuff like that. On the other, there's Kane's frightening, majestic, bend-time-and-space magic. As always, her writing is lush and slightly dreamy. McKillip includes lots of little details like peacock feathers, pearls, crumbly books, candles and pebbles. She revitalizes ideas like the abandoned person with a Hidden Identity, the long-dead king who will return in times of need (sort of a female King Arthur) or the disguised sorceress. The only downside is that when a certain part of Kane's story is revealed, Nepenthe's secret is also out in the open before it's actually revealed. Nepenthe's a nice lead character, reluctant and confused without being self-pitying; her lover Bourne is rather less defined, but still good with his own confusion. Other supporting characters like the naive young queen, kindly librarion and the aging sorceress are nice supporting roles; Axis and Kane are rather lacking in dimension (king obsessed with conquering, and a sorceress obsessed with him) until the end. They seem as distant and weird as they do to Nepenthe. McKillip expands her boundaries in the enticing, mysterious "Alphabet of Thorn." It's an adult fairy tale that revitalizes the ye olde kingdom genre, and tells a good story while it's at it.
Rating: 
Summary: A unique premise
Review: Having read this and Forest of Serre back to back, I would have to say this is the better of the two books. It is more straightforward than McKililp's usual tales, but offers us two stories in one to compensate. The mysteries and truths behind the ancient (in story terms) subplot of Axis & Kane was as spellbinding as the main story itself. A very nice work but would have enjoyed a lengthier ending. While it wrapped things up fairly, it was a few pages too sudden and could have used that extra time to flesh things out a bit more.
I also will add that it is refreshing for a fantasy book to concentrate on someone other than a member of the royal family, a knight, magic guild student (although one is present here), all powerful sorcerer/sorceress, everyday hero etc. The main center here is an orphan girl that works in the palace's library unweaving languages as a translator. And while that may seem boring, her fate and the tale that she translates is far from it.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous, of course!
Review: I always expect the best from McKillip. Here the fascination was in two interwoven stories, coming together in a terrifying climax. McKillip threw out some great red herrings, too, as a major character who I thought was someone else in disguise turned out not to be. In a rare turn, though, I was disappointed in the ending. A child's fate is in the balance, and nobody thinks to consult the father. He's more than just a sperm donor, you know! Despite this, McKillip is my all time favorite and I will continue to look forward to new work. Deby Fredericks, author of THE MAGISTER'S MASK
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to her usual standards
Review: I am a big fan of Patricia McKillip's work, and I have read most of her books. I was a little disapointed then when I finished Alphabet of Thorn and realized That Was It. The characters lacked depth to me in this book. She tried to tell two completely different stories at once, and it interupted the story arc to the point of distraction. This book lacked cohesion, and an overarching plot. I also missed any emotional climax, and felt a little disapointed when I had finished. I recomend reading "In The Forest of Serre" by the same author instead.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastical Fantasy
Review: I am new to McKillip's work but love her cover art, so I couldn't help it! "Alphabet of Thorn" was pretty interesting, was written just beautifully, but I can't get past some parts.
I don't know if it was the whole premise; an orphaned girl in a quiet library, how low-key could you get with that? or that I felt the story didn't really take off at first. I really can't say all the amazing things about the story. But the world McKillip created was very "realistic" with detail and dream-like wordings. It felt like the story could be expanded, but then was abruptly cut off at the end. The end just ended---it didn't really conclude as much as I would've liked. Is this normal for this author? But truly, it was a masterful story.
I really enjoyed the part about the sleeping ruler in the cave who is buried at the base of the city. The ruler awakens when trouble threatens its kingdom. It made me think of Arthur and I liked that.
An orphaned girl lives and translates in the palace library. One day she is given a book of thorns that "speaks" to her...
her story is entertwined with the new queens, and the mages of the Floating School.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly lucid...
Review: I have read several of McKillip's books, and while I haven't always understood them completely, I've never disliked them. McKillip's style is vague and dreamy, more apt to give impressions rather than photographic descriptions. If you can appreciate that style, give her books a try; if not, might I suggest you look somewhere else? As to the Alphabet of Thorn in particular, I found it surprisingly grounded in reality (as real as fantasy gets, anyways!) for one of McKillip's stories. (Never fear, it was still occasionally obtuse and mystifying, but less so than her previous works.) It was an interesting premise, and had me hypothesizing until nearly the end. Once the mystery was revealed, the book quickly drew to a close in a moderately anticlimactic finish. Don't get the wrong impression; this was more of a disaster-averted-at-the-final-moment sort of anticlimax rather than a disappointing conclusion. This is also one of the few of her books I'd be willing to reread at some future date (once I've forgotten the answer to the riddle of thorns). Give it a try.
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