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Title: The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley ISBN: 0-441-32809-1 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: March, 1989 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.62 (196 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Dragon's Bane
Comment: The first part of a two-part historical fantasy, The Hero and the Crown won Robin McKinley a well-deserved Newbery Award. The land of Damar will captivate you and linger with you long after you close the book. McKinley's writing and style are exceptional. Let's face it, authors do not write like this anymore - even she doesn't anymore. All the more reason to treasure these intoxicating worlds of words.
The titular Hero is actually a heroine, Aerin, an shunned princess of Damar. From the beginning, life is not good for Aerin and sets the dark mood of the novel. She's the only royal who is not magical - a very strange occurrence for a Damarian. Additionally, her late mother's dubious reputation has cast a shadow on the daughter. Her only allies are Tor, a cousin, and her maimed horse, Talat.
A dragon is tormenting Damarians and Aerin sets out to prove her worth to her people. Her preparations, struggles, and failures are heart-breaking. McKinley's superior descriptive skills are very much in evidence throughout the book. From the moment you begin reading, her words cast a spell, drawing readers into her world like a vortex. It's so easy to empathize with Aerin as she fights every step of the way to finding herself.
This journey leads her to a mage, Luthe, and further battles. There is a sense of constant action, when in fact there are not many actual combats. Aerin's search for purpose, identity is so strong every sentence carried the weight of a sword-clashing charge. The final course of the plot and characters weren't quite to my liking as a romantic teen when I first read Hero, but the inevitability and *rightness* of it comes with a realistic sense of bittersweetness and maturity. I hesitated to write this review at all because I was (and am) afraid I may dissuade a reader from trying this excellent author, but I believe other reviews speak just as strongly in its favor as this one is attempting to.
The more I consider Robin McKinley, the more I believe she isn't so much a young adult author as simply an adult one. Her text and content are fit for an adolescent age bracket, but to get the most of her best work, a great deal more maturity is helpful. I'm still learning from these "kid's" books well into my twenties. These are the kind of books that grow up with you and continue to enlighten, comfort, and push you. Another favorite is the sequel, The Blue Sword.
Rating: 5
Summary: An amazing book by any criteria
Comment: I was given a copy of this book when I was in sixth grade. I'm 24 now, and I've easily read it twenty times. I do a lot of reading in all genres, and this is the only book that I can return to again and again. I loved it when I was eleven, but I was older before I "got" it. It is feminist in nature, but not overtly so... it is more a story of discovering yourself no matter who you are.
McKinley's prose is beautiful, evocative, and completely appropriate in a fantasy context. Aerin, the heroine, is developed with care and affection. And by no means is this your standard formula fairy tale. The plot deals with pain, power, rejection, and the greyness between good and evil.
Though "The Blue Sword," which takes place in the same universe, is an excellent book, I think that "The Hero and the Crown" is my number one reccomendation for fantasy fans.
Rating: 4
Summary: McKinley is a hero
Comment: Have you ever read a book as a child that still managed to resonate as an adult? "Hero and the Crown" was one such book for me. I can still remember reading it as an 11 year old, and presenting a shoe box diorama of the showdown between Aerin and the Dragon in my reading class. While the strong feminist principles were not quite understood as an 11 year old, they are today. Even re-reading it now, you cheer for Aerin as she begins to understand her place in the world, and how what others say really doesn't matter. She longs to be more than the sum of her parts, and proves to be more than capable not only to herself, but to her father and the Damarians.
Great example of Robin McKinley's writing, that transcends age and sex, and is a worthy adventure/fantasy for everyone.
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Title: The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley ISBN: 0441068804 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: April, 1991 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley ISBN: 0064404773 Publisher: Scott Foresman (Pearson K-12) Pub. Date: June, 1993 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Spindle's End by Robin McKinley ISBN: 0441008658 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: 05 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: Deerskin by Robin McKinley ISBN: 044100069X Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: July, 1994 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley ISBN: 0441005837 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: December, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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