/Patricia A. McKillipshelf | The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

Sixteen when a baby is brought to her to raise, Sybel has grown up on Eld Mountain. Her only playmates are the creatures of a fantastic menagerie called there by wizardry. Sybel has cared nothing for humans, until the baby awakens emotions previously unknown to her. And when Coren–the man who brought this child–returns, Sybel’s world is again turned upside down.

I can definitely tell this is a book not written recently, even if the copy I have hadn’t been yellow and ripped. I picked up on whim from an old library book sale a few years ago. It’s a very thin novel, not reaching 200 pages in this 3rd edition published almost thirty years ago (they seem to have extended that to the new “norm” of 300+ on the current edition, however). It’s short and sweet, and jam-packs enough plotline to fill twice its original amount.

I do wish that some areas were expanded on, especially character development, but there was enough for it to be a great book. All in all, this is a classic for me in the fantasy genre. The names are very Tolkienesq.