The Sorceress and the Cygnet
core novel 1991 Cygnet
Record
| First published | 1991 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.91 (1,732 ratings, collected 2026-10-26) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780441775644 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
More than a thousand years ago the Gold King, the Dancer, the Blind Lady and the Warlock fought the Cygnet, lost and were banished, and common folk set their story in the constellations to remember it. Ro Holding bears the sign of the Cygnet and rules the other Holds, which bear the other signs. Now the Gold King, seeing a way to restore the old alliance, sets an elaborate plot to trick Nyx Ro, a powerful sorceress and daughter of the ruling family, and Corleu, a wanderer of the Wayfolk who is trying to rescue his lost people, into releasing the vanquished and helping them find the Heart of the Cygnet, while the rest of the Ro family try to intervene.
Where it sits
- Universe: Cygnet
- Series: Cygnet core; position 1 of 2 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Patricia A. McKillip
Awards (verified)
- Mythopoeic Award (Adult Literature), 1992: finalist
Notes
- From the series record (Cygnet): Patricia A. McKillip's duology set in Ro Holding.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series Cygnet: position 1 of 2: next The Cygnet and the Firebird (1993)
Sources
- Worlds Without End: Cygnet series (Ace Books, 1991 and 1993)
- Publishers Weekly: The Sorceress and the Cygnet (Ace Books hardcover, 1991)
- Worlds Without End: The Sorceress and the Cygnet (synopsis)
- Mythopoeic Society (final ballots)
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Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.