The sequel to
The Riddle Master of Hed,
Heir of Sea and Fire begins a year
after the disappearance of Morgon of Hed, with his betrothed, Raederle,
the second most beautiful women of An. Where Mogon is, no one
knows, although Deth, the High One's harpist, seems to have disappeared
along with him. Soon, however, news reaches An that Morgon has
died, as the land-rule has passed to Morgon's land-heir.
Strangely, the High One appears to have no concern for Morgon, either in
his death or in preventing it. Mathom, Raederle's father and King
of An, vows to find the answer for the sad and bewildered ruler of Hed,
and Raederle embarks on her own journey to Erlenstar Mountain to ask the
High One why.
She first goes to Caithnard the tell her brother, Rood, who had been
friends with Morgon. She finds him and his University in a crisis,
wondering if the tenets of riddle-mastery are still relevant, now that
the High One seems disinterested in one of his land-rulers fate.
She also discovers that the wizards, who everyone thought were dead, had
been freed of Ghisteslwchlom's control. Here she tells the others
of the message from Isig that Morgon had found a starred sword in the
heart of Isig Mountain and had awakaned the dead Earth Masters'
children. Raederle and a small contingent of the Morgol of Herun's
guards force her father's ship captain to sail north to take them closer
to Erlenstar Mountain. The captain is, in fact, willing to go,
until they discover that that the land-heir of Hed, Morgon's sister
Tristan, is a stowaway, also enroute to Erlenstar Mountain.
Kidnapping a land-ruler is too much for Bri, the captain and he turns
back.
However, he was sighted by Ymris war ships, who think he is running
from them, and they escort him to Ymris. Ymris is fighting a war
against rebels, and not overly successfully. Here Raederle
and Lyra (the captain of the Morgol's guards, and the land-heir to
Herun) discover that Astrin (land-heir to Ymris) does not believe that
Morgon is dead--he went to Erlenstar Mountain to find answers and death
was not one of the answers he was looking for. But that would mean
that the High One--who appears to be Ghisteslwchlom--intentionally took
the land-rule from Morgon, for only the High One can do that.
Raerderle and Lyra are determined to continue their quest, so Raederle
convinces the King of Ymris to send Tristan back to Hed (thus placating
Bri). The King expects Bri to return Raederle and Lyra to their
homes, but in walking with Astrin in the Earth-Masters' ruined city on
Wind Plain, Raederle found a bright, dodecahedral stone, which she uses
to create an illusion of a bright star in the ocean, so that the Ymris
ships do not follow her and Bri can sail north without any
difficulties. In making her illusion, she discovers a powerful
mind interested in the stone but is pulled back to the world
safely. (Raederle is becoming something of an illusionist, thanks
to teachings from a pig-woman, a formerly bound wizard, from whom she
also learns that she is descended from a shape shifter.)
They arrive in Isig where they are told that Morgon was seen several
days prior. He had been in Erlenstar Mountain a year with
Ghisteslwchlom probing his mind for an image. During
Ghisteslwchlom's probing, Morgon saw into his mind and learned his
secrets, which he used to defeat Ghisteslwchlowm. It was during
this fight that Ghisteslwchlowm took his land-rule. Deth spent the
year harping, reminding Morgon of the ultimate betrayer that Deth
was. Morgon was so incensed that he vowed to kill Deth for that
betrayal and is travelling to all the land-rulers requesting that they
bar Deth from their land. This news disturbs the three women, who
find Morgon's anger and Deth's betrayal inconsistent with their
characters.
That night a shape-changer comes to Raederle, causing her to hunger
after the shape-changer's power. Through her journey, as she
realized her ancestors are the ones who are hunting Morgon, she refuses
to take the power she knows she has. Like Morgon before her, who
long refused to abandon his name as Morgon of Hed to take up the name
Starbearer, she refuses to leave Raederle of An to take up a name
related to the enemies of the man she loves. But the shape-changer
causes her to hunger for the power, and torn, she flees from Isig.
She blunders into the camp of Deth, who regrets that his actions have
doomed him (either from Morgon or from the High One whom he claimed to
harp for). While talking with him, Raederle shapes the fire the
way the shape-changer demonstrated for the first time. She falls
asleep, Deth covers her with his cloak, and leaves unseen. Lyra
finds her the next morning, having wasted time following Raederle's
wandering threads and skirting her illusionary lake. They decide
to abandon their quest to Erlenstar Mountain, knowing that it is only
Ghisteslwchlom who lived there, and return with Bri to Herun, where
Morgon was last heard to be going.
When they arrive at Herun, they find that Morgon has come and gone, as
well as the Morgol, so they continue to Caithnard. Here an
emissary from Hed passionately persuades Tristan to come home, Raederle
discusses he heritage with the Masters, and unexpected finds
Morgon. Although first angered at learning of her heritage, he
chooses to continue to love her and takes leave of her, although not
before she pleads with him not to kill Deth but to follow riddle-mastery
and find out who he is.
Raederle continues through An towards its captial (and her home)
Anuin. She discovers that in her father Mathom's absence, the
wraiths of Hel, with their old enmity to each other and the living
rulers of An are beginning to tear apart the country. Realizing
that Morgon would be travelling through this, she makes a bargain with
Farr, an wraith whose skull she acquired, to protect Morgon as he
travels to An. In order to survive Farr, she is forced to encircle
herself with an illusion of fire, becoming quite skillful through the
process. When the wraiths reach Anuin, she discovers that they
have protected Deth instead of Morgon and furthermore, brought their
quarrels into the heart of An.
Morgon, who, unbeknownst to Raederle, had been protecting her from any
attempt the wraiths might make on her, arrives in Anuin and makes the
explosive situation even more so by his confrontation of Deth.
Deth has little to say in his defense except that the Earth-Master's
children, who had given Morgon the sword, were promised a man of
peace. Morgon, who had previously killed only reluctantly,
realizes that he does not wish to become a killer and refrains from
killing Deth, who quickly flees. Morgon, who has somehow acquired
some power over the land-law of An, promises to defuse the wrath of the
wraiths. This time, however, Raederle refuses to be left behind.
Heir of Sea and Fire ends the
way
The Riddle-Master of Hed
ends: abruptly and raising more questions than it answered.
It parallels its predecessor by chronicling Raederle's refusal and
ultimate acceptance that her real place in the world is not what she
originally though. Through the journey more details of the realm,
its inhabitants, and the questions confronting them are disclosed, still
leaving the reader, like the land-rulers, hungering for answers.
McKillip explores several themes confronting us as readers. She
continues to pose the question "why does God seem so unconcerned about
us" (although the High One only has some of the Christian God's
characteristics). The question, first raised by Morgon in the
previous volume, become ever more poignant as Morgon, one of the High
One's land-rules endures severe hardships without the High One appearing
to notice. The second theme is the process of self-discovery so
often found in young adult literature. The third major theme is
that of love and acceptance--Raederle's love for Morgon is stressed by
his absence and her nature: can he love someone who is the nature
of his enemies?
Written much like the first volume,
Heir
of Sea and Fire is a poetic portrayal of the world and the
questions confronting it. Certainly an excellent addition to the
series but waiting for the conclusion in the third.
Review: 9.5
A well-written furthing of the plot and
deeping of the intensity and urgency of the questions facing the realm.