''The Tower at Stony Wood'' is a 2000
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
novel by American writer
Patricia A. McKillip
Patricia Anne McKillip (February 29, 1948 – May 6, 2022) was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. She has been called "one of the most accomplished prose stylists in the fantasy genre", and wrote predominantly standalone fantasy n ...
. It was a 2001
Nebula Award
The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...
nominee.
[2001 Award Winners & Nominees]
Retrieved 2011-07-13.
Plot summary
At the wedding of King Regis Aurum of Yves to Lady Gwynne,
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
Cyan Dag of Gloinmere learns a terrible secret: his king is marrying an imposter, and the real Lady Gwynne is imprisoned within a tower in the magical land of Skye. As Cyan Dag begins his quest to free her, Thayne Ysse, the son of the defeated king of Ysse, sets of on his own search. To rebuild Ysse's army, Thayne searches for a tower of gold guarded by a
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
. In a third tower near the village of Stony Wood oblivious to her family's concern, Melanthos watches and embroiders a woman ensconced in her own tower. Cyan, Thayne, and Melanthos lives entangle and weave together, and it is only through helping each other that they are able to free themselves.
Nominations
*2001
Nebula Award
The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...
nominee
See also
*
Bard
In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...
*
The Lady of Shalott
"The Lady of Shalott" is a lyrical ballad by the 19th-century English poet Alfred Tennyson and one of his best-known works. Inspired by the 13th-century Italian short prose text '' Donna di Scalotta'', the poem tells the tragic story of Elain ...
*
Selkie
In Celtic and Norse mythology, selkies (also spelled ', ', ') or selkie folk ( sco, selkie fowk) meaning 'seal folk' are mythological beings capable of therianthropy, changing from seal to human form by shedding their skin. They are found ...
*
Weaving (mythology)
Mention of textiles in folklore is ancient, and its lost mythic lore probably accompanied the early spread of this art. Textiles have also been associated in several cultures with Cultural depictions of spiders, spiders in mythology.
Weaving begi ...
References
2000 American novels
Books with cover art by Kinuko Y. Craft
American fantasy novels
Novels by Patricia A. McKillip
Ace Books books
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