Thomas the Rhymer

Thomas the Rhymer (1990) Ellen Kushner

I thoroughly enjoyed Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint, so I was excited when I saw that Thomas the Rhymer was being re-released.

Thomas the Rhymer is one of the books that managed to be precisely what I want to read. The tale is of Thomas the Rhymer, minstrel who falls for the queen of Elfland. The story is told from four different points of view: The longest narrative is from the point of view of Thomas, but the other three are those around Thomas, two of whom are an older couple who take Thomas in.

Oddly, it is one of those characters, Meg, who I like the best. Something about her view of life seemed to resonate with me. Not that I disliked any of the characters–there was just something about Meg that I particularly liked.

The writing is beautiful, and the storytelling is wonderful–this was one of those books that I read in two days, because I just didn’t want to put it down (one of the reason I tend not to read novels during the week and during the semester.) The food, the clothes, the atmosphere–usually I hate reading about things like that, but they seemed so important in this book that I didn’t skip those parts like I sometimes do.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I only wish that Ellen Kushner had more books out than the three I have already read.

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