The Throme of the Erril of Sherill: With the Harrowing of the Dragon of Hoarsbreath

Rating:
Summary: Do not let the cover fool you!
Review: Mckillip is perhaps my favorite writer, and with any favorite author I like to collect all her books. This one I recently found, and (silly me) I must say that I was put off by the artwork and short length. I must have waited an entire week before I read the two stories within, but once I started Mckillip had me sucked in again!

The cover to this edition looks like something you'd find on a children's book. And some may classify this as exactly that, but hidden beneath these magical worlds lies a much darker, adult theme. Once again, Mckillips perfectionist's use of symbols and metaphore depicts the struggles of man against his ancient enemy, himself. All the while, the reader is transported in worlds of utmost beauty and realism that I could smell the wood fires and taste the wormspoor deep in the caverns of snowy Hoarsbreath. And by the end of each tale I felt a new man. Older, perhaps, or just a little less ignorant. Patricia Mckillip has a way of doing that with nearly all of her works.

So, if by chance you run into a copy of this novel don't let the "Magic Quest" emblem along the top scare you away. These are not your average, run-of-the-mill children's stories. But then again, when was ANYTHING written by Mckillip "run-of-the-mill"? Highly Recommended!!

Rating:
Summary: Succeeding in Something Does NOT Imply a Happy Ending
Review: We are presumptious and gullible if we believe that to overcome an obsticle is to overcome unhappiness.The first of two of Patricia's "darker" stories, The Throme of the Erril of Sherill, is about someone who has everything- but hapiness. He is absolutely miserable and pining away for what does not exsist. He refuses to allow anyone around him to know happiness as long as he suffers (including his Damsen & most loyal Cnite). Sent on a quest to find what does not exsist, the poor Cnite has little hope of success... The second story takes place in a cold mountainous realm that knows sunshine only 2 months of the year. Where dwarves live in the fire-lit comforts of deep caverns filled with gems and gold and tales and laughter...this is Hoarsbreath, a peaceful contented place until one day when a dwarf from the outworld returns home with some most disturbing news and an even more unsettling mission. Peka "feels" something most dissettling about this dwarf, Ryd. She feels both disaster and success...could such be one & the same? *****

Rating:
Summary: Just for children? Think again!
Review: We are presumptious and gullible if we believe that to overcome an obsticle is to overcome unhappiness.The first of two of Patricia's "darker" stories, The Throme of the Erril of Sherill, is about someone who has everything- but hapiness. He is absolutely miserable and pining away for what does not exsist. He refuses to allow anyone around him to know happiness as long as he suffers (including his Damsen & most loyal Cnite). Sent on a quest to find what does not exsist, the poor Cnite has little hope of success... The second story takes place in a cold mountainous realm that knows sunshine only 2 months of the year. Where dwarves live in the fire-lit comforts of deep caverns filled with gems and gold and tales and laughter...this is Hoarsbreath, a peaceful contented place until one day when a dwarf from the outworld returns home with some most disturbing news and an even more unsettling mission. Peka "feels" something most dissettling about this dwarf, Ryd. She feels both disaster and success...could such be one & the same? *****

Rating:
Summary: Just for children? Think again!
Review: While these two stories come in a book that looks like something for a low reading level, do not be fooled by appearances. Both "The Throme of the Erril of Sherril" and "The Harrowing of the Dragon of Hoarsbreath" are stories that can be read once when younger, then revisited when older to learn the depths behind the stories.

Both stories possess similar themes. In the first, Magnus Thrall, "the dark king of Everywhere" is a bitter, dissatisfied man because he does not own the one thing he wants--the haunting, beautiful Throme written by the Erril of Sherril--and in his dissatisfaction he allows no happiness to those around him, not his daughter Damsen, not his favored Cnite Caerles who loves Damsen. When he sends Caerles on a quest to bring him back the mythical Throme, it is a quest doomed to failure--and even if it succeeds, will Magnus Thrall prosper from it? The second story takes place on a frozen island known as Hoarsbreath, where gold is mined deep in the icy heart of the mountain. When Peka Krao, a miner's daughter, discovers Ryd Yarrow the Dragon-Harrower in her mountain, she also learns that he plans to root out the dragon that coils sleeping around Hoarsbreath. To do so would be to destroy all that Hoarsbreath is--dark, cold, secret, grudging with its gold and stark in its beauty--but who will be hurt more if Ryd succeeds?

These are not easy questions to answer, and Patricia McKillip presents them honestly. Of course, with the honesty she also offers a wealth of sumptuous, vivid language, rich imagery, humor, and everything else you might expect in a good story. Your expectations will not be disappointed here. Disregard the "kid's cover"! Read the book!