The Cygnet and the Firebird
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 Cover of first edition | |
| Author | Patricia A. McKillip |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | John Howe |
| Language | English |
| Series | Cygnet series |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Ace Books |
Publication date | 1993 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 233 |
| ISBN | 0-441-12628-6 |
| Preceded by | The Sorceress and the Cygnet |
The Cygnet and the Firebird is a fantasy novel by Patricia A. McKillip, a sequel to her earlier novel The Sorceress and the Cygnet. Despite a mixed reception, it was nominated for the 1994 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature. It was first published in hardcover by Ace Books in September 1993, with a paperback following from the same publisher in September 1995. The first British edition was published in paperback by Pan Books in July 1994. It was subsequently combined with The Sorceress and the Cygnet into the omnibus collection Cygnet, issued in trade paperback by Ace Books in March 2007. It has also been translated into French.[1]
Two strangers disrupt the settled life of the inhabitants of Ro Holding, the Hold of the Cygnet, and particularly cousins, Meguet Vervaine, warrior-maid, and Nyx, sorceress and daughter of the Holder Lauro Ro.
Meguet stands guard outside a council meeting when the wily, powerful mage Rad Ilex invades the chamber, seeking an ancient object of power hidden in the castle. Meguet and Nyx are able to resist his spell, and Nyx, ignorant of what the mage is looking for, bars Rad from his search.
Afterwards a magical firebird arrives, whose anguished cries and fiery breath transform people and things into jeweled trees. Moonlight restores them to their original forms, and the firebird to his—that of a tormented, partly amnesiac young man named Brand, son and heir of Draken, half-dragon king of the land of Saphier. Unraveling the mystery of Brand's enchantment and breaking the curse on him become prime goals of the protagonists.
The thwarted Rad, returning, fights Brand and is wounded. He flees, abducting Meguet. Nyx follows, having found what Rad seeks, a magical key containing the spells of the long-dead wizard Chrysom.
To save her cousin, free Brand, and learn the cause of Rad and Draken's enmity, Nyx travels to distant Saphier across the eerie, dragon-haunted desert of Luxour, whose slumbering denizens Draken seems intent on awakening.
