Patricia A. McKillip

10 universes Last reviewed 2026-10-08

Patricia A. McKillip was born February 29, 1948, in Salem, Oregon, and died May 6, 2022, in Coos Bay, Oregon, at age seventy-four. She studied at the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, California, before earning BA and MA degrees in English from San Jose State University in the early 1970s. An American fantasy and science fiction novelist, she wrote primarily standalone works after 1994 and was regarded as one of the most accomplished prose stylists in the fantasy genre. Her debut novel, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (1974), won a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, an honor she won again in 2003; she also received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2008. Her acclaimed Riddle-Master trilogy (1976-1979) included Harpist in the Wind, which won a Locus Award in 1979. Later novels included Ombria in Shadow (2002) and Kingfisher (2016). She holds the record for the most Mythopoeic Fantasy Award nominations, with fifteen, and won four times overall. She was married to poet David Lunde and spent her childhood in Oregon, Great Britain, and Germany.

Universe(s)

Books

• The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (1974) · The Forgotten Beasts of Eld Core Canon
• The Riddle-Master of Hed (1976) · Riddle-Master Core Canon
• Heir of Sea and Fire (1977) · Riddle-Master Core Canon
• Harpist in the Wind (1979) · Riddle-Master Core Canon
• The Book of Atrix Wolfe (1995) · The Book of Atrix Wolfe Core Canon
• Winter Rose (1996) · Winter Rose Core Canon
• Song for the Basilisk (1998) · Song for the Basilisk Core Canon
• Ombria in Shadow (2002) · Ombria in Shadow Core Canon
• Alphabet of Thorn (2004) · Alphabet of Thorn Core Canon
• Od Magic (2005) · Od Magic Core Canon
• Solstice Wood (2006) · Winter Rose Core Canon
• The Bards of Bone Plain (2010) · The Bards of Bone Plain Core Canon
• Kingfisher (2016) · Kingfisher Core Canon

Aggregate across all universes

These are separate, unrelated universes; the totals below are plain sums of already-published per-universe facts, never a blended or averaged score across them. See each universe's own figures above.

• Total Core Canon books across all universes: 13 books
• Award recognitions across all universes: 19 (6 won, 5 finalist mention, 8 nomination)

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