Summary
Magnus Thrall, King of Everywhere, welters away in misery, pining for the nonexistent Throme, supposedly written by the Erril of Sherill ages past in another world. In his suffering he will not allow anyone around him to know happiness, including his weeping daughter Damsen, who yearns for the world outside the castle, and his loyal Chief Cnite Caerles, who seeks Damsen's hand. The king refuses to allow the match unless Caerles finds him the Throme.
So in an atypical quest, the Cnite goes seeking what the king demands. With small hope of success, he seeks it in various strange places, only to be misdirected and receive confusing advice as he in turn gradually loses his sword, shield and armor. He borrows a dagon from a girl named Elfwyth, falls victim to a boy's borebel trap, and is cautioned against the cold-hearted Lady Gringold by a jingler in a norange orchard. He visits the Mirk-Well of Morg, the Floral Wold, the Dolorous House of the dead Dolerman, and, in the end, the Western Wellsprings, repository of the answer to Everything.
Ultimately, he solves his dilemma in an imaginative way by writing his own Throme from "the tales and dreams and happenings of his quest."
Reception
Kirkus Reviews noted that "McKillip's enchantment with words is matched by some felicity and Noonan's pictures echo the mood of delicate fantasy, but the author has not escaped the Peril of Preciosity in her quest for the quintessence of a genre." The author, "it seems, has not decided whether to spoof traditional romance or to emulate [James Thurber's] The Thirteen Clocks in this fanciful distillation about a questing Cnite." [2]
Publishers Weekly called the book "[a] treat for the imaginative child, the reader who appreciates genuine fantasy and an inventive use of words." [3]
Brian Stableford also assessed The Throme of the Erril of Sherill, as "comic fantasy in the manner of James Thurber." [4]
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Patricia Anne McKillip was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. She wrote predominantly standalone fantasy novels and has been called "one of the most accomplished prose stylists in the fantasy genre". Her work won many awards, including the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2008.
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The Sorceress and the Cygnet is a fantasy novel by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in hardcover by Ace Books in May 1991, with a paperback edition following from the same publisher in January 1992. The first British edition was published in hardcover and trade paperback by Pan Books in June 1991, with a standard paperback edition following from the same publisher in May 1992. It was subsequently combined with its sequel The Cygnet and the Firebird into the omnibus collection Cygnet, issued in trade paperback by Ace Books in March 2007.
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