“Reading McKillip is the closest you will come to entering a waking dream.” ― Leigh Bardugo, New York Times bestselling author of the Grishaverse series World Fantasy Award winner Patricia A. McKillip (The Forgotten Beasts of Eld) has inspired generations of readers with her enchanting, and subversive fiction. This lovely hardcover career-retrospective edition offers McKillip’s finest short stories. Featuring an original introduction by Ellen Kushner (Swordspoint) and cover art from frequent McKillip illustrator Thomas Canty, The Essential Patricia A. McKillip is a must-have for fans of classic fantasy. Patricia A. McKillip has been widely hailed as one of fantasy’s most significant authors. She was lauded as “rich and regal” (the New York Times ), “enchanting” (the Washington Post ), and “luminous” ( Library Journal ). Within McKillip’s magical landscapes, a mermaid statue comes to life; princesses dance with dead suitors; a painting and a muse possess a youthful artist; seductive sea travelers enrapture distant lovers; a time-traveling angel endures religious madness; and an overachieving teenage mage discovers her own true name. A Foreword Book of the Day “McKillip's stories are shafts of sunlight in a dark wood, moonlight dancing on seafoam, starlit wonders that settle deep in a reader’s heart like a dragon's hoard.” ―Charles de Lint, author of the Newford series [ STARRED REVIEW ] “Gathering glittering selections from the fantasy great’s cherished oeuvre, The Essential Patricia A. McKillip is a radiant collection of fairy tales and modern fables. In a dragon’s tower, too many treasure-seeking men talk past the truest treasure before them. Elsewhere, generations of women who can crochet time and defy storms band together to defeat an ancient evil. In another story, a time traveler wishes that she could change a malicious minister’s deadly visions, but is bound by the rules. And in “The Lion and the Lark,” a loyal daughter falls in love with an enchanted nobleman, following the fall of his feathers as they wait out a curse. The prose throughout is atmospheric, otherworldly, and enchanting. McKillip conjures whole worlds with light trails of evocative terms: a fortune-teller’s tent is “a colorful cave of embroidery, lace, ribbons, flowing cloth” wherein the candle flames weave “a mystery of light and glittering dark”; a “tiny living world within a glass globe” plagues the wizard who stole it from the faerie queen, containing an oak wood, gold light, and trees that “fade to lavender and smoke.” Medieval and fantasy settings are well represented, but there are dashes of the contemporary as well. A sensory pleasure from beginning to end, The Essential Patricia A. McKillip is a must for fantasy readers.” ― Foreword “McKillip’s stories are as stately, luminous and tightly woven as figures in the margins of an illuminated manuscript and as full of secrets trembling on the edge of knowing.” ―Kathleen Jennings, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Kindling “Patricia McKillip is the single writer whose work I treasure above all others. I re-read her books again and again and learn something new from them each time. She is a modern master of enchantment.” ―Terri Windling, author of The Wood Wife “Patricia McKillip is indeed essential. If you want to read the very best fantastical fiction that has ever been written, you have to include McKillip on your list.” ―Theodora Goss, author of Letters from an Imaginary Country “The stories all carry that thread of magic, and each little world is one to treasure as you read it.” ― Girl Who Reads “If you’re a fantasy aficionado, this is a must read. If you want to find out what all the fuss is about over fantasy, here’s a great introduction. If you just want to explore authors that changed fiction―here you go.” ― Tales Untangled Praise for Patricia A. McKillip “Rich and regal.” ― New York Times “Gorgeous, lyrical prose.” ―Guardian “McKillip’s is the first name that comes to mind when I’m asked whom I read myself.” ―Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn “Soaring prose, lyrics to songs our hearts have forgotten they knew how to sing.” ― Seattle Review of Books “Full of magic, wonder and fantastic creatures.” ― Speculative Herald “I read, and reread McKillip eagerly. She reminds me that fantasy is worth writing.” ―Stephen R. Donaldson, author of Lord Foul’s Bane “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 Patricia A. McKillip was the beloved author of twenty-seven fantasy novels, including The Riddle-Master of Hed , Harpist in the Wind , Ombria in Shadow , Solstice Wood , and The Sorceress and the Cygnet . She received the inaugural World Fantasy Award for The Forgotten Beasts of Eld and later received the World Fantasy lifetime achievement award. She was also a three-time M