“Atmospheric, complex, compelling, and filled with rich imagery.” —Booklist
This brand new edition celebrates the 30th anniversary of a classic, luminous novel. In McKillip’s (The Forgotten Beasts of Eld) stunning cinematic prose, the human world and the realm of faeries dangerously entwine through chaotic magic. Discover the spellbinding legend of generational atonement and redemption between a reluctant mage, a powerful wizard, a struggling heir, fae royalty, and a mysterious scullery maid.
This brand new edition celebrates the 30th anniversary of a classic, luminous novel from the World Fantasy Award–winning author Patricia A. McKillip (The Forgotten Beasts of Eld). In McKillip’s stunning cinematic prose, the human world and the realm of faeries dangerously entwine through chaotic magic. Discover the spellbinding legend of generational atonement and redemption between a reluctant mage, a powerful wizard, a struggling heir, fae royalty, and a mysterious scullery maid.
When the White Wolf descends upon the battlefield, the results are disastrous. His fateful decision to end a war with powerful magic changes the destiny of four kingdoms: warlike Kardeth, resilient Pelucir, idyllic Chaumenard, and the mysterious Elven realm.
Twenty years later, Prince Talis, orphaned heir to Pelucir, is meant to be the savior of the realm. However, the prince is neither interested in ruling nor a particularly skilled mage. Further, he is obsessed with a corrupted spellbook, and he is haunted by visions from the woods.
The legendary mage Atrix Wolfe has forsaken magic and the world of men. But the Queen of the Wood, whose fae lands overlap Pelucir’s bloody battlefield, is calling Wolfe back. Her consort and her daughter have been missing since the siege, and if Wolfe cannot intervene, the Queen will keep a sacrifice for her own.
“Driven by a formless fury when the prince of Kardeth refuses to halt his invasion of the kingdom of Pelucir, the great mage Atrix Wolfe creates a fearful hunter, ‘a warrior with no allegiance but to death.’ But the ensuing massacre of both armies and the king of Pelucir appalls the mage, and he flees to the mountains to live in wolf form among wolves until, 20 years later, the queen of the Woods demands that he seek out her daughter, who disappeared at the time of the great bloodbath. The ensuing story involves aspiring mage Talis Pelucir, son of the slain king, and Saro, a young, mute scullery maid in the castle of Pelucir whose background is unknown. Steeped in medieval legends of the wild huntsman, living trees, and shape changers, McKillip’s tale is decidedly atmospheric, complex, compelling, and filled with rich imagery.”
—Booklist
“No writer has better captured the elusive power of language than Patricia A. McKillip. The Book of Atrix Wolfe is a shimmering tale of language, power, magic, and soul.”
—Rambles
“Prince Talis, heir to the Pelucir throne, has been away from his homeland studying magecraft. At the wizards’ college, he discovers a mysterious book of spells whose words carry hidden meanings. Returning to Pelucir, Talis encounters the Queen of the Woods, who is looking for her daughter, Sorrow, lost ever since the mage Atrix Wolfe misused his magic to divert a war. Now Talis and Atrix must solve the riddle of Sorrow’s existence, and rid the world of the evil that Atrix conjured. . . . Connoisseurs of fine fantasy will delight in this expertly wrought tale.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A man who lives among wolves and hides from his magical mistake from the past finds his talents again needed among humans when a queen asks him to search for her missing daughter. His quest leads to unexpected love and adventure in McKillip’s gentle fantasy.” —Midwest Book Review
Patricia Anne McKillip, widely considered one of fantasy’s finest writers, was the bestselling author of more than thirty adult and children’s fantasy novels, including The Riddle-Master of Hed, Harpist in the Wind, and The Bards of Bone Plain. McKillip received three World Fantasy Awards, for The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, Ombria in Shadow, and Solstice Wood; for the latter, she also received the Mythopoeic Award. Born in Salem, Oregon, McKillip lived in Germany, the UK, and the Catskills in New York.
Praise for Patrica A. McKillip
“McKillip’s is the first name that comes to mind when I’m asked whom I read myself, whom I’d recommend that others read, and who makes me shake my grizzled head and say, ‘Damn I wish I’d done that.’”
—Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn
“I read, and reread McKillip eagerly. She reminds me that fantasy is worth writing.”
—Stephen R. Donaldson, author of the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
“Patricia McKillip is the real thing and always has been. She shows the rest of us that magic can be made with words and air; that is it worth doing and worth doing well.”
—Ellen Kushner, author of Swordspoint and Thomas the Rhymer
“Ever since finding and loving The Riddle-Master of Hed many years ago, I have read everything Patricia McKillip has written. You should too.”
—Garth Nix, author of Sabriel and the Keys to the Kingdom
“Some authors we read for their characters and their plots, others for the beauty of their language. I read Pat McKillip for all three.”
—Charles de Lint, author of The Riddle of the Wren and The Blue Girl
“World Fantasy Award winner McKillip can take the most common fantasy elements, dragons and bards, sorcerers and shape-shifters and reshape them in surprising and resonant ways.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
The Book of Atrix Wolfe: 30th Anniversary Edition
Patricia A. McKillip
“Atmospheric, complex, compelling, and filled with rich imagery.”
—Booklist
This brand new edition celebrates the 30th anniversary of a classic, luminous novel. In McKillip’s (The Forgotten Beasts of Eld) stunning cinematic prose, the human world and the realm of faeries dangerously entwine through chaotic magic. Discover the spellbinding legend of generational atonement and redemption between a reluctant mage, a powerful wizard, a struggling heir, fae royalty, and a mysterious scullery maid.
The Book of Atrix Wolfe: 30th Anniversary Edition
by Patricia A. McKillip
ISBN: 978-1-61696-400-9 (print); 978-1-61696-401-6 (digital)
Published: February 25, 2025
Available Format(s): trade paperback; digital
This brand new edition celebrates the 30th anniversary of a classic, luminous novel from the World Fantasy Award–winning author Patricia A. McKillip (The Forgotten Beasts of Eld). In McKillip’s stunning cinematic prose, the human world and the realm of faeries dangerously entwine through chaotic magic. Discover the spellbinding legend of generational atonement and redemption between a reluctant mage, a powerful wizard, a struggling heir, fae royalty, and a mysterious scullery maid.
When the White Wolf descends upon the battlefield, the results are disastrous. His fateful decision to end a war with powerful magic changes the destiny of four kingdoms: warlike Kardeth, resilient Pelucir, idyllic Chaumenard, and the mysterious Elven realm.
Twenty years later, Prince Talis, orphaned heir to Pelucir, is meant to be the savior of the realm. However, the prince is neither interested in ruling nor a particularly skilled mage. Further, he is obsessed with a corrupted spellbook, and he is haunted by visions from the woods.
The legendary mage Atrix Wolfe has forsaken magic and the world of men. But the Queen of the Wood, whose fae lands overlap Pelucir’s bloody battlefield, is calling Wolfe back. Her consort and her daughter have been missing since the siege, and if Wolfe cannot intervene, the Queen will keep a sacrifice for her own.
“Driven by a formless fury when the prince of Kardeth refuses to halt his invasion of the kingdom of Pelucir, the great mage Atrix Wolfe creates a fearful hunter, ‘a warrior with no allegiance but to death.’ But the ensuing massacre of both armies and the king of Pelucir appalls the mage, and he flees to the mountains to live in wolf form among wolves until, 20 years later, the queen of the Woods demands that he seek out her daughter, who disappeared at the time of the great bloodbath. The ensuing story involves aspiring mage Talis Pelucir, son of the slain king, and Saro, a young, mute scullery maid in the castle of Pelucir whose background is unknown. Steeped in medieval legends of the wild huntsman, living trees, and shape changers, McKillip’s tale is decidedly atmospheric, complex, compelling, and filled with rich imagery.”
—Booklist
“No writer has better captured the elusive power of language than Patricia A. McKillip. The Book of Atrix Wolfe is a shimmering tale of language, power, magic, and soul.”
—Rambles
“Prince Talis, heir to the Pelucir throne, has been away from his homeland studying magecraft. At the wizards’ college, he discovers a mysterious book of spells whose words carry hidden meanings. Returning to Pelucir, Talis encounters the Queen of the Woods, who is looking for her daughter, Sorrow, lost ever since the mage Atrix Wolfe misused his magic to divert a war. Now Talis and Atrix must solve the riddle of Sorrow’s existence, and rid the world of the evil that Atrix conjured. . . . Connoisseurs of fine fantasy will delight in this expertly wrought tale.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A man who lives among wolves and hides from his magical mistake from the past finds his talents again needed among humans when a queen asks him to search for her missing daughter. His quest leads to unexpected love and adventure in McKillip’s gentle fantasy.”
—Midwest Book Review
Patricia Anne McKillip, widely considered one of fantasy’s finest writers, was the bestselling author of more than thirty adult and children’s fantasy novels, including The Riddle-Master of Hed, Harpist in the Wind, and The Bards of Bone Plain. McKillip received three World Fantasy Awards, for The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, Ombria in Shadow, and Solstice Wood; for the latter, she also received the Mythopoeic Award. Born in Salem, Oregon, McKillip lived in Germany, the UK, and the Catskills in New York.
Praise for Patrica A. McKillip
“McKillip’s is the first name that comes to mind when I’m asked whom I read myself, whom I’d recommend that others read, and who makes me shake my grizzled head and say, ‘Damn I wish I’d done that.’”
—Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn
“I read, and reread McKillip eagerly. She reminds me that fantasy is worth writing.”
—Stephen R. Donaldson, author of the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
“Patricia McKillip is the real thing and always has been. She shows the rest of us that magic can be made with words and air; that is it worth doing and worth doing well.”
—Ellen Kushner, author of Swordspoint and Thomas the Rhymer
“Ever since finding and loving The Riddle-Master of Hed many years ago, I have read everything Patricia McKillip has written. You should too.”
—Garth Nix, author of Sabriel and the Keys to the Kingdom
“Some authors we read for their characters and their plots, others for the beauty of their language. I read Pat McKillip for all three.”
—Charles de Lint, author of The Riddle of the Wren and The Blue Girl
“World Fantasy Award winner McKillip can take the most common fantasy elements, dragons and bards, sorcerers and shape-shifters and reshape them in surprising and resonant ways.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review