In the Forests of Serre
#4743.97 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2003 Reading commitment Low Patricia A. McKillip Last reviewed 2026-10-26
Overview
Patricia A. McKillip's standalone In the Forests of Serre (Ace, 2003) is a fairy-tale fantasy set in a kingdom where a mirror is never just a mirror and a forest is never just a forest: grief-stricken Prince Ronan of Serre earns the curse of the Mother of All Witches by riding down her white hen. It was a finalist for the 2004 Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature.
Fairy-tale retelling, Mythic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
In the Forests of Serre Patricia A. McKillip
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | In the Forests of Serre | 2003 | 1 | core | 3.97 (3,766 ratings) |
Patricia A. McKillip's standalone.
Quick answers
- How many books are in In the Forests of Serre? In the Forests of Serre's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is In the Forests of Serre finished? Complete (2003).
- How much reading does In the Forests of Serre take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is In the Forests of Serre ranked? #474 in this site's official ranking, based on 3,766 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #474?
Ranked #474 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.97 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (3,766 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #473, The Invisible Library (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 1 book · Complete · 4k ratings · Ranks #474 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment fairy-tale retelling fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- Mythopoeic Award (Adult Literature), 2004: finalist: In the Forests of Serre
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.97 across 3,766 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: In the Forests of Serre (McKillip); first-edition ISBNs for Haroun and the Sea of Stories and Luka and the Fire of Life accepted 2026-10-26
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Hachette Australia: In the Forests of Serre (publisher description) Tier 2
- Mythopoeic Society (final ballots) Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-10-26
Rule: Core Canon = In the Forests of Serre (2003), a standalone novel.