#riddle-master

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

🌹 your recs are always top tier so I will gladly and most expectantly exchange a rose for one of them!!!

for you I think I'll recommend my beloved, one of the only true fantasy series I regularly read, Patricia McKillip's Riddle-Master trilogy, which begins with The Riddle-Master Of Hed. it follows the recently inherited ruler of a small, quiet region whose escapades from his college years come back to haunt him in the form of a riddle that he was born to either solve or fulfill. the secondary plot revolves around a neighboring princess, who, because of post-grad land-ruler's college escapades along with her own father's prophetic visions, is now involved in an arranged marriage with him. their choices, both magical and practical, will shape the future of their world forevermore.

[woodencannon]

riddle me this

[ihaveonlymydreams]

so you've read the Riddle-Master trilogy, right?? bc I don't really have anyone to talk about that series with very much, but I'm always thinking about Raederle's struggles with identity and her connection to the Earth-Masters, and how the truth scares her so much until she finally can come to terms with it... compared with Morgon not WANTING his connection to prophecies or riddles, but never fearing it, embracing his path with some pushback and complaining but largely just acceptance — and how those opposing reactions to their circumstances each temper and bolster each other! I guess I was just wondering if you have any additional thoughts 😅

I have read it, but I need to reread because it's been years! I always did think the two of them complemented each other very well. I'm sorry I don't have a whole ton to add at the moment 😅.

Oh but hey maybe @theeleganceofthehedgehog has some thoughts?

[plumkitten12]

"Logically it would seem that someone wants to kill me, but that's their business; I don't want ot be bothered trying to figure out why."

- Morgon from "The Riddle-Master of Hed" by Patricia A. McKillip

[woodencannon]

some riddle-masters

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

inkpot gods was literally on some spotify playlist I’d saved and I didn’t even realize it until I went to save the song (because it’s SUCH a good song) and I saw it was already in that playlist which is wild to me ANYWAY please I would love to hear about your riddle-master playlist !!

OKAY here ^^ is the playlist in all its glory it's a LOT of Florence + the Machine due to the fact that I heard Never Let You Go and went wait... that's THE most Raederlecore song I've ever heard in my life.... idk if I can adequately explain most of the songs on here but a lot of them are very much about Raederle and Morgon both having this fear or rejection of who/what they are and what they're destined for. some of them are kinda just there for vibes but I WILL say Hey Kid is on there very specifically for Lyra and Tristan's respective arcs, I talk most about Raederle (idk if you ever saw that one thing I wrote about her lol I think about her a LOT) but Tristan has always stuck out to me as just being..., she's such a younger sister. she almost reminds me of my younger sister. the opening scene of the first book being this domestic scene between siblings means so much to me. and the way Morgon is at heart a brother... no matter what else he may be, he's still a brother, and that isn't about any binding magic or riddles. it's just who he is.

anyway yeah this playlist is something I have thought a lot about and put together over like a couple years so I'm pretty proud of it 😅 I hope you like it!!!!

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

interesting how the primary imagery i choose to hammer home for Morgon is forest, the shape of a tree, and for Raederle it's the fire. arguably their most important respective imageries are music/wind and the sea, but instead it's easier to see the forest and the fire. fire can burn the trees but can also heal the forest. a forest is fuel, what powers the fire. these things shape themselves together, somehow.

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

one of my primary Tumblr character traits is constantly talking about This One Book Series from the late 70s that almost no one I know has read or cares about and remains generally obscure despite winning several awards, and I think that's very cool of me