Heir of Sea and Fire

Riddle-Master Trilogy, Book 2

By: Patricia A. McKillip

Narrated by: Fiona Walsh

By the vow of her father and her own desire, Raederle was pledged to Morgon, Riddle-Master of Hed. But a year had passed since Morgon disappeared on his search for the High One at Erlenstar Mountain, and rumors claimed he was dead.

Raederle set out to learn the truth for herself, though her small gift of magic seemed too slight for the perils she must face. The quest led through strange lands and dangerous adventures. Only her growing powers enabled her at last to reach Erlenstar Mountain. And there she discovered what she could not bear to accept. Accompanied by Deth, the High One's Harper, she fled. And behind them came a pursuer whose name was Morgon, bent on executing a grim destiny upon Raederle and Deth. Her only hope lay in summoning the Hosts of the Dead, led by the King whose skull she bore.

©1977 Patricia A. McKillip (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Listen to the first book

If you are narrating the 2nd book in a trilogy PLEASE LISTEN TO THE FIRST BOOK!! It’s jarring to hear the names of people and places mispronounced!!!

Book 2 is the lady's crusade

Heir of Sea and Fire is Patricia A McKillip's 2nd installment in the Riddle-Master trilogy. Book 2 begins with Morgon's fiancé (Raederle) taking off to Erlenstar Mountain in search of Morgon who has now been missing for a year and presumed dead. She is accompanied by the Morgul's heir and Morgon's sister. They spend most of their adventure being advised to return home, while Raederle gradually beings to understand her heritage is a bit embarrassing as her 'clan' appears to be Morgon's enemy. The shapechangers and the entity with an incredibly long name serves to further confuse the situation. And then the deal with Deth gets more complicated.

McKillip continues the vague interrelationship among the various player in this mythical world. Exactly what the 'riddle-masters' actually do is never fully explained, Wizards are sorta around and war seem always to be imminent or breaking out for no apparent reason. And the High One is nowhere in sight setting up either non-existence or some bigger issue that justifies letting everything else fall apart.

The narration is acceptable, although character distinction could have been better. Pacing is brisk.

Old favorite

Loved this series as a child and still do. McKillip was a wonderful author and I was sad to see she had passed away earlier this year. RIP Pat.

different everything

I simply can't believe the reader of this decided to pronounce every name differently. Very unprofessional. It was very difficult to connect with the characters, it was like the characters were total strangers to themselves because they were all using different pronunciations for each other than the first book in the trilogy.

Weaker middle book; occasionally careless reader

Plot:
This book was less satisfying to me than the first one in the series. Some characters I grew attached to in the first book appear but do little here. And at least two important events happen through astronomically-unlikely random chance.

Reader:
Fiona Walsh has a pleasant voice and changes it just enough to distinguish characters without being showy about it. This is exactly how I like books read! She pronounces some key names very differently than Prebble did for the first book, but for all I know Walsh's pronunciations could be the correct ones.

The big problem is that sometimes Walsh just reads a sentence wrong! A simple example: someone was told not to provoke the armed warriors around him. His response: "Tell that to THEM." But Walsh says "Tell THAT to them." There were about a half a dozen of these clunkers! And other times when the prose didn't flow well I strongly suspect Walsh made a subtler mistake somewhere.

Ah well. The world of the riddle-masters is still an interesting one, and I still want to know what happens next.

Heir

I've loved this book and this series a long time. I loved the first and it was so nostalgic to listen to this one too. The only thing is that since the narrator changed and they didn't keep the same pronunciations, it was always jarring to hear 'Hed' pronounced as 'heed.'

Exciting, Intriguing

Riddle in riddle in riddle! Each answered in the midst of intrigue only to lead to another exquisite riddle. As history becomes known the future is more in question. I can't wait to begin the third book in this trilogy!!

Marvelous

Masterfully written. Beautifully performed. Incredible images. Thought-provoking twists, and turns. I’m so grateful I was introduced to this series of books.

Glad I didn't pass it up.

I almost passed up this series when I saw reviews on this 2nd book mentioning that there was a different and not well liked narrator. I like Simon Prebble and his narration was one of the main reasons I was looking at this series at all. After finishing all 3 books, I'd just like to say that, yes, it is annoying to switch narrators in the middle of a series and, yes, it is annoying when the new narrator does not bother to familiarize herself with the pronunciation of character and place names, but it didn't kill the book for me this time. I can't bear the Inspector Ian Rutledge books narrated by Samuel Giles because Simon Prebble IS Ian Rutledge for me, so I understand how it can. The narrator wasn't horrible or hard to listen to. She had a pleasant voice, wasn't hard to understand, and I would be happy enough to listen to her again. Yes, Simon Prebble absolutely should have narrated all 3 books but I'm glad I didn't pass it up this series because he didn't. I enjoyed all 3 books very much.

Lovely reading of a wonderful book

Would you consider the audio edition of Heir of Sea and Fire to be better than the print version?

I've loved the print version of this series since it came out in the 1970's. Like so many books I enjoy, I was hesitant to get it in audio--there is a gulf between reading and listening that can be hard to breach. Now that I've listened to it, I am very glad that I decided to get the audio books of the series.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Heir of Sea and Fire?

Raederle's coming to power in the night, under the fearsome gaze of the dead of Hel is one of the most memorable moments of the book, and indeed the series.

Have you listened to any of Fiona Walsh’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was the first time I listened to Fiona Walsh. I thought her voice and characterizations were beautiful and moving.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The key conversation between Raederle and the woman known as Ariel was beautifully done. There is a lot going on in their conversation, much revealed about both of their characters and key plot elements. I felt that Fiona Walsh really did it justice.

Any additional comments?

Changing narrators from the first to the second books in the series was a bold move on the part of the publishers, and I think they pulled it off. With the second book of the trilogy being thoroughly dominated by female characters, it needed a female narrator.