Alone and Unobserved

Not to be confused with Patricia C. Wrede (whom I discovered at about the same time), Patricia A. McKillip is the author of seventeen fantasy novels. Her style is unique–a lyrical, ethereal combination of fairy-tale prose, brilliant, crystal imagery, and life-like, multidimensional characters.

The Throme of the Erril of Sherril (1973)
A stylized fairy tale of love, power and greed. Many editions also include the short story “The Harrowing of the Dragon of Hoarsbreath.”
Highly recommended

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (1974)
One of my favorite McKillip books. From her father and his fathers before him, Sybel inherited a menagerie of ancient, magical beasts, a mountain fastness to keep them in, and a wizard’s power to hold them. Powerful, beautiful and young, she thinks of nothing but the moon-eyed, pennant-winged Liralen, a mythical bird that could carry her beyond the edge of the world and show her what lies beyond. Her search for the Liralen is interrupted one night by the arrival of Coren of Sirle. He brings her the child Tamlorn, a baby boy of uncertain parentage whose existence threatens the throne of Eldwold, and asks her to raise and care for him. Sybel cannot know that her decision to accept Tam will bring civil war to the land and introduce her to love, heartache and fear–and both help and hinder her search for the Liralen.
Highly recommended.

The Riddle-Master Trilogy, AKA Riddle of Stars: The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind (1976, 1977, 1979)
The Riddle-Master Trilogy is still some of McKillip’s best writing even after sixteen years. More a serialized novel than a series, Riddleis set in the High One’s realm, a world where wizardry has failed and men live under the benevolent but distant rule of the High One. Morgon of Hed has trained as a Riddle-master, able to solve every riddle but one: Why was he born with three stars blazoned on his brow, and what do they mean? Why do mysterious, unnamed beings seek his life, and why is the High One so puzzlingly silent? It is this riddle that may hold the key to the gathering storm of power that threatens to break over the realm. Morgon and his betrothed, Raederle, must work together and apart to find the answer before everything they know and love is drowned in the sea . . .
Highly recommended.

The Changeling Sea (1988)
Periwinkle is a barmaid in a small fishing village in a forgotten corner of the kingdom. When the village is menaced by a gold-leashed sea monster, she meets a helpful but eccentric wizard and a darkly handsome prince obsessed with the sea. What does the monster want, who tethered it with a chain of gold, and why does it transform into a golden-haired young man every night? In order to help the monster and the prince, Peri and the wizard must brave the Queen of the Land Under the Sea herself.
Highly recommended.

The Sorceress and the Cygnet (1991)
When his tribe is caught in the Dark House, left to wander in a maze forever, Corleu must bargain with capricious ancient powers for their release. What the powers require of him may threaten the existence of all of Ro Holding, for they desire nothing less than the Heart of the Cygnet itself. His quest leads him to the door of Nyx, a sorceress of unknown power and questionable scruples, who may or may not decide to help him, and eventually to a confrontation in the labyrinth under Ro Holding.
Recommended

The Cygnet and the Firebird (1993)
The peace of Ro Holding is disrupted once again, this time by the arrival of a desperate, powerful wizard searching for something within the keep itself. The wizard is followed by a dangerous Firebird whose cry transforms anything it touches into jewels and precious stones–and at night turns into a confused young man. Nyx must follow the wizard through a maze of twisting silver paths to a world full of dragons in order to unravel the mystery and set the Firebird free.
Recommended