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.
Rating: 
Summary: A great author
Review: I haven't read a book of McKillip's that wasn't truly enjoyable, and as I've read most of her books now, for me, that's saying a lot. This was a wonderful addition to a spectacular body of work. If you like McKillip's other books, chances are you'll enjoy this one as well.
Rating: 
Summary: not as good as I hoped
Review: I haven't read many of Patricia McKillip's books. I read the Riddlemaster series long ago as a child. I picked this one up out of sheer boredom from the library. I know it's a children's book, but some younger books are still appealing to adults. This one is not. The characters Nepenthe and Bourne are okay, if barely two-dimensional. The subplot of Axis & Kane is poorly handled and confusing. And the young Queen of Raine is barely tolerable. I didn't like the writing style, with its flowing wordy passages that are hard to follow. The key elements of the plot are confusing and unexplained. They seem to pop up out of nowhere and leave the reader waiting for the rest of the explanation. Overall, the book has a very rushed feel to it. I think it would have been better if the author had taken more time with it and expanded the stories. Storylines would have followed a bit more logically and the characters would have been more likable. It's another case of a great premise spoiled by bad writing.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow going and ethereal, but not among her best
Review: If you are a McKillip fan, you might enjoy this less than some of her faster-paced fiction. I found it slow going, predictable and not particularly well written.
Rating:
Summary: An elusive, cobwebby fantasy
Review: It's hard not to fall in love with Patricia McKillip's characters, who try to do right in the face of an unknown but overwhelming doom. The new Queen is young and inexperienced, and many doubt that she will be able to hold the twelve Crowns of Raine into one dominion. One Crown openly revolts. But that isn't the doom that the mages seem to sense. The true doom of Raine has something to do with thorns.
Deep in the library tunneled through the stone beneath the palace, an orphaned transcriptor is translating a book received from the mages of the Floating School. It is written in an alphabet of thorn that only she can read. Could a book about the conquests of an ancient king and his shadowy mage bring about the destruction of Raine?
"Alphabet of Thorns" is a twining, cobwebby sort of tale. The author strays into this elusive type of story-telling when there is no strong villain such as the Basilisk-prince or the evil Domina Pearl plotting and spinning at the center of her novel. McKillip's "Ombria in Shadow" and "Eye of the Basilisk" are easier to read because of their villains. This fantasy is a-brim with the author's quicksilver, magical descriptions but it doesn't proceed directly from Point A to Point B. As much as the spirit is willing to linger in the wondrous Floating School for mages, or drink ponds of wine with the coronation guests, or descend to a hollow in the cliff where a skeleton sleeps "with a crown on its head and a great sword at its side," the eyes do sometimes wander off to a book with a brisker plot.
This is an intricate, spell-binding fantasy, but it's not McKillip's best.
Rating:
Summary: DELIGHTFULLY DIFFERENT
Review: Ms. Mckillip has written a delightful little story weaving into one tapestry magic, love, war and conquest. I say little story because it only took me a couple of hours to read it, but this isn't reflecting on the size of the volume but more on my inability to put it down once I started. I found it impossible to drag myself away from Nepenthe, an orphaned translator in the royal library, Bourne, her magician apprentice lover and the young queen Tessera, for whom the thorns mean the end of her reign and possibly her life. While not an epic by any means ALPHABET OF THORN is a darn good story, well written and rich in characters and character development. Marvels of marvels it's also a single volume novel so you won't be gritting your teeth waiting for the next installment. All in all I have to say I liked it, a lot. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating:
Summary: Orphan Nepenthe studies books in the royal library
Review: Orphan Nepenthe studies books in the royal library but knows little of the world outside its walls, so when a young mage gives her a book which defies her translation skills, it becomes not only her obsession but her key to venturing beyond the library walls. Alphabet Of Thorn is a strong story which once again uses Patricia McKillip's base of fairy tales as its foundation.
Rating:
Summary: She continues to stay on top...
Review: Patricia A. McKillip has done it AGAIN with this book, Alphabet of Thorn. It's just as good as her other books, but it IS easier to understand-it's much less dreamy than her other books, a lot less confusion. You don't need to be a fan of hers before you pick this up-anyone can can enjoy it. I would warn you though, because as soon as I started reading it, I got as obsessed with this book as Nepenthe, the 16-year-old translator, got with her book of thorns! Once I picked it up, I wanted to constantly read it. Although I didn't enjoy all of the charactres as much as I enjoyed Nepenthe, Bourne-a mage from a floating school of wizardy, and the characters that Nepenthe reads about, Axis and Kane. In my opinion, Vevay, a very powerful mage, wasn't that interesting to read about. But since every chapter the book changes viewpoints, you're never with someone you don't like to long, and there is a bit of variety. I also think that a certain romance between two of the characters was much too rushed. Yes, they belonged together, and they had "chemistry", but I think that the author should have slowed it down a bit. Otherwise, this book is definitley one of my favorites of hers. She is such a good writer; if you're already a fan, you don't need to be worried, and if you're just getting into her, this is a good place to start out. Have fun!
Rating:
Summary: Patricia McKillip, on her game: one of her best.
Review: She is my favorite fantasy author and one of my favorite authors period, but that doesn't mean she always hits a home run. Her use of language is consistantly stunning, but occasionally her tales seem to stray too far from comprehensible structure. This one is one of her best. It is the author at her strongest, with wild, imaginative use of language paired with a strong story that reveals itself with pinpoint precision. Nothing matches the pitch-perfect trilogy of the Riddle-Master, but this is clearly one of her best since then. I always recommend a McKillip book to read, but this is one I can point to and say - this is how it should be.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent fantasy
Review: The King of the Twelve Crowns of Raine is dead and his fourteen year old daughter Tessera is crowned Queen on Dreamer's Plain. She is woefully unprepared for her office since most thought she has years to train to be a good leader. Already the second crown led by Ermin of Sealton is plotting to overthrow the queen as his nephew Bourne is placed in the Floating School of Macie to learn how to be a weapon for his uncle in the coming battle. Bourne is not interested in power or being the nephew of a high king. His interest is in Nepenthe, a scribe in the huge library in the castle. She is an orphan who was taken in by the Librarians and grew to love books and knowledge. She is currently interested in the ALPHABET OF THORNS a work about an Emperor who lived three millennia ago and the sorcerer Kane who loved him. Little does Nepenthe know that she is the bridge between past and present and the future of the world rests on her shoulders. Patricia A. McKillip always writes about worlds of wonders and magical adult fairy tales that have a universal appeal with their happily ever after endings. ALPHABET OF THORN is an exceptional work of fantasy with vulnerable heroines, dashing heroes and a villain that is all too believable in his quest for power. The land of Raine is a wondrous place, one this reviewer would love to visit (only if Bourne is borne away). Harriet Klausner
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