I hate to say this but I was disappointed with this book. This book was not bad (I know, what a great sell), it's just that this is my favorite author of all time and that I have loved every other book she has written, so yes, I had really high expectations for this book and it did not live up to them. Lots of the familiar themes from McKillip's other books also appear in this one; music - Song for the Basilisk, riddles - The Riddle Master Trilogy, magic schools - Od Magic. I can't really put my finger on what's wrong (not enough explanation, too neat of an ending) but something is off for me. 
 "I can't come up with an idea that would compel me to sit for days in a chair with a pen in my hand writing an endless succession of words that nobody but one or two masters will read, and only because they have to." 
 "You haven't heard a word anyone's said for hours. Are you in love? She stared at him, dumbfounded. How can I be? she heard herself say, I only saw hime this morning." 
 "The library, oak floors carpeted with lozenges of light..." 
 Reading Challenge: library