Caskey family, decaying southern aristocrats who
employ a supernatural force linked to a nearby
river to ward off threats to their power and posi-
tion, although the bill for these services comes due
in the concluding volume.
Although Michael McDowell’s horror writing
career was quite short, lasting only about four
years, he produced several memorable novels and
pioneered the multipart novel in contemporary
horror fiction. He went on to write murder myster-
ies, historical adventures, and a considerable num-
ber of screen and televisions scripts, including
Beetlejuice(1988) and the adaptation of Stephen
KING’s Thinnerin 1996. If the horror field had not
experienced a slump during the 1980s, he might
have gone on to become one of its major writers,
since he clearly had the talent to do so.
McKiernan, Dennis L.(1932– )
Dennis L. McKiernan’s first published fantasy was
a trilogy, actually a single story in three volumes,
that was clearly deeply influenced by the work of J.
R. R. TOLKIEN.The Darkest Day, Shadows of Doom,
and The Dark Tide,all published in 1984, intro-
duce the mythical world of Mithgar, which has
been the setting for virtually all of McKiernan’s
subsequent fiction. The king of Mithgar calls for a
united front when an ancient evil stirs after a long
period of dormancy, an enemy eventually defeated,
but only after several reversals of fortune. McKier-
nan followed with a two-part novel, The Brega Path
and Trek to Kraggen-Cor,in 1986. The defeated
forces of evil are regrouping in a remote area, so an
expedition must be launched to root them out.
The follow-up is marginally better than the origi-
nal, and the five titles together make up a work of
considerable merit. War in Mithgar is not so much
high adventure as it is hardship, pain, and terror, a
realistic evaluation usually absent in contemporary
fantasy.
Dragondoom(1990) has a much more modest
plot. Adventurers have killed a dragon and stolen
its treasure, and another dragon and a sorcerer en-
gage in an interesting quest to retrieve their loot.
The Eye of the Hunter(1992) returns to Mithgar,
where yet another supernatural evil is stirring. It is
excitingly told but with little to distinguish it from
the earlier and better five-part series. Voyage of the
Fox Rider(1993) is also a quest story set in the
world of Mithgar, but a much better one. A woman
experiences visions of her lost lover and sets out on
an entertaining journey of discovery. Similarly, The
Dragonstone(1997) is another quest story, this time
motivated by prescient visions of a supernatural
threat. McKiernan’s next novel of Mithgar was
split into two volumes as Into the Forge(1997) and
Into the Fire(1998), another homage to Tolkien as
two companions set out on a quest into dangerous
territory menaced by the forces of gathering evil.
Silver Wolf, Black Falcon(2000) is a journey back to
a time before the events in the other Mithgar nov-
els, and once again it is cast in the form of a per-
ilous quest.
McKiernan has also written numerous short
stories set in Mithgar, which have been collected as
Tales of Mithgar (1994) and Red Slippers(2004).
Caverns of Socrates(1995) is arguably science fic-
tion rather than fantasy, since the magic all takes
place in the context of a virtual reality world, but
the frame is largely irrelevant to the story. Once
upon a Winter’s Night(2001) is his best novel, a
variation on the story of the Beauty and the Beast.
A woman wed to a prince of the fairies disobeys his
command that she never look at the face beneath
his mask, and by doing so she unleashes a terrible
curse. Once upon a Summer Night(2005) is a similar
enhanced retelling of a classic fairy tale, in this case
the story of Sleeping Beauty. McKiernan has
seemed content for the most part to produce
Tolkienesque pastiches, better than most similar
novels but nothing out of the ordinary. His rare ex-
cursions into fresh territory are inevitably better
and suggest a considerable unrealized potential that
his most recent work is finally beginning to reveal.McKillip, Patricia A.(1948– )
Patricia McKillip’s first few fantasy novels were for
the younger reader and include the gentle ghost
story The House on Parchmont Street(1973) and the
humorous fantasy The Throme of the Erril of Sherill
(1973). She first attracted the attention of adult
readers with The Forgotten Beasts of Eld(1974),
also marketed for children, although it won the
World Fantasy Award. The story involves a womanMcKillip, Patricia A. 235