"Kingfisher" Book Discussion and Pear Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting

A teen waitress searches for her father who hides in the woods at night. A teen boy follows a beautiful woman into the past and learns secrets of the kingdom. A boy who only knows his mother's powerful magic discovers a strange island, shrouded in mystery, where a weekly Friday Fish Fry at the Kingfisher Bar appears to be a sort of cultist practice. And the young female cook goes to work for the most hated man in town, owner of the most expensive restaurant, where food is artistic yet flavorless. All of this younger generation is strongly connected, by the curiosities of youth, and by the truths that their adult families have kept hidden for nearly a century. Mysteries and magic abound in the novel Kingfisher by award-winning writer Patricia McKillip.

1. The author of this book has an amazing ability to tell short, wondrous stories within her stories, using only a few short sentences. One is: “Fire licking wood as the Fire Bear licks her newborn into flesh and blood; she swallows their fire, their immortality.” what do you think is the rest of the story, and what children’s tales might have been the inspiration?

2. Pierce’s mother, the sorceress, told her son that “cooking is my magic now.” Aas she telling the truth? Who else had cooking-magic? Does it ever seem as if real people have that ability as well? If so, where does it come from?

3. Often the sorceress watched him “out of a borrowed set of eyes.” What were some of the shapes she took, and why?

4. Carrie’s father often became a wolf at night. Why did he choose this form, and how did this explain some of his odd behaviors?

5. What was the significance of the Friday Night Fish fry, and the serving cauldron?

6. Why did Todd Stillwater appear so handsome and alluring, and why did his food appear the same, but have such dissatisfying effects? Was one a metaphor for the other?

7. Why did the knights follow the god Severen, and the women of the court obeyed the river goddess, Calluna? Why was there so much division between the two factions? What did each god/goddess represent and what were their “holy objects and places”? Hint: metal belonged to Severen, and was not allowed in Calluna’s sanctum.

8. Daimon’s father questioned him about the woman he followed, and his love for her. Did he love her? Did the type of love change at a certain point? Why? What did his father know about it?

9. King Arden said that knights (or soldiers, or kings) often have a tendency to rumblings of discontent and especially that “the notion seems to spread more often in peaceful times, when there’s little else to complain about.” Why are the soldiers and leaders this way? Are all people? How long can we remain content before finding something to complain about, particularly in peaceful times? Why is this?

10. Daimon and Vivien walked together “again down some path that he had never taken but that he was beginning to remember.” Normal people who aren’t in magical stories sometimes feel this way-why? Was that a different reason than why Daimon did? Had he traveled these roads before somehow? Why did Vivien have him follow her, and why did she wait until he was an adult? Who was it that really wanted to meet Daimon?

11. Why was the cauldron important to Vivien and Ana, and as a result, to Daimon? What role did he play, and had there been others whom they had hoped to help them acquire the vessel?

12. What was the power and significance of the kitchen knife that Pierce stole? Would the story have turned out as it did without it, or did that one object play a pivotal role in unravelling Pierce’s destiny? How?

13. Explain this riddle of finding the cauldron and how it worked out in the end: “The vessel can only be seen through the clarity of understanding. It must be named in order to be truly seen. It can only be truly seen by those who, in the most profound way, already possess it.” Who was able to see it, and who wasn’t?

14. Explain the conundrum of Todd Stillwater’s cooking. How could his food look “Like a sweet explosion of fireworks, like edible music...beautiful little piece of art, food jewelry-it tasted like nothing. Mist...cloud. Just. Nothing”? Did that represent him in a way as well “He shows you a face to fall in love with, then he starves you. You can never have it, and you can’t live without it”? Why were people so desperate for more, since it satisfied nothing?

15. How was Pierce able to break the sorceress’s spell in the mansion? What was her critical mistake, and why was it a mistake?

16. Todd and Carrie’s foods were described in terms of art and music. One of Carrie’s dishes was called “a chord for the palate.” How can a dish have different “notes” and create a musical “chord”? What are some examples of foods that are lower notes, and higher notes? What makes two foods balance each other, but three can create a deeper flavor and balance? Can you think of any examples Carrie made, or that you’ve tasted or created?

In the kitchen at the Kingfisher Inn, Carrie created the intriguing combination of pears poached with vanilla and cinnamon, drizzled with salted caramel and grated lemon peel. To recreate this in a cupcake form, I poached brown pears in a vanilla sauce with a little lemon juice, chopped them up and put them in yellow cupcake batter, and topped it with the most delicious salted caramel buttercream you’ll ever taste. Below is the recipe for Poached Pear Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting.

*For poached pears, you can either poach them yourself using the following recipe, or you can buy canned pears in water (NOT heavy syrup) and toss them in the cinnamon and vanilla.

Patricia McKillip has written scores of unique fantasy worlds for adults and children alike, including those most like this novel: Dreams of Distant Shores, The Bards of Bone Plain, In the Forests of Serre, Od Magic, Alphabet of Thorn, The Bell at Sealey Head, and The Changeling Sea as well as a delightful book of short stories: Wonders of the Invisible World.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs also follows a teen boy into the past, one filled with magic, monsters, and unbelievable histories that unknowingly happen all around us.

Sabriel by Garth Nix is a fantasy classic about a boarding school girl with barely any knowledge of magic, whose powerful father, the Abhorsen, disappears into the Old Kingdom.

The Shattered Court by M. J. Scott is similar to the story of the female protagonist in this book: in a court ruled by tradition,a young woman must learn to balance power and desire, and choose between loyalty and survival.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and the rest of the series by J. K. Rowling also have a magical setting, and a quest to find an object of power, hidden by a riddle.