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emilyatmidnight 's review for:
The Hero and the Crown
by Robin McKinley
This book tells the story of Aerin, the hero of myth and legend in The Blue Sword.
Aerin is a fantastic character. Even as the daughter of the king, she is held back in her own court by her mother's reputation as a foreigner and a witch. Aerin's foriegn red hair keeps her late mother's legacy freshly tied to her in the minds of both the court and country of Damar. Tormented by some, and overly protected by others such as her father and her cousin the heir to her father's throne, she never really gets a chance at proving herself.
That is, until she starts to study ancient myths about dragon hunting and befriends a retired war horse. Stubborn and determined to carry her destiny forward, she fights a dragon on her own, and wins. Many would be satisfied by the honor of this victory and her subsequent place as a warrior serving the king, but she is compelled forward to bigger and better things by her determination and by the hand of fate.
I especially love the way that Robin McKinley portrays the pain of battlegrounds and the way one's mind can freeze up even and especially when you need it most. Aerin's victories felt incredibly justly earned as we feel her fight through the clutches of death and mortal injury to deal final blows. Then, there is no hand waving over the severity of her injuries. She languished on her deathbed multiple times in this book after narrowly defeating a foe---but luckily, these moments are also written well, preventing the story from feeling too slow as she heals.
Tor is a fairly simple character: a crown prince who falls in love with Aerin in a really natural and touching way. He is characterized as clear-headed and just, and is, overall, a very likable character.
Luthe. Luthe on the other hand is written as such a whimsical character. He is very fettered by his own fears, though through the eyes of Aerin is far more capable than he believes himself. Luthe also falls in love with Aerin and their story broke my heart into a million peices.
The story itself doesn't have a predicable path, and for a moment I thought we were reaching the main climax at 46%. But ultimately, it flows very well as with each new feat, Aerin discovers more about herself and her destiny.
The final faceoff with a wizard was about as abstract and confusing as the final faceoff between Rand and the Dark One in Eye of the World (Wheel of Time #1), but it didn't bother me as much in this book since that wasn't actually the final battle nor was it the peak of Aerin's arch in the book. So for those reasons, the ephemeral confusion of the scene was fine to me; also, having a magical fight be harder to follow and physical fights easier to follow tracks well enough.
Since this story is very much back story for The Blue Sword, it made me really want to reread that book!
Aerin is a fantastic character. Even as the daughter of the king, she is held back in her own court by her mother's reputation as a foreigner and a witch. Aerin's foriegn red hair keeps her late mother's legacy freshly tied to her in the minds of both the court and country of Damar. Tormented by some, and overly protected by others such as her father and her cousin the heir to her father's throne, she never really gets a chance at proving herself.
That is, until she starts to study ancient myths about dragon hunting and befriends a retired war horse. Stubborn and determined to carry her destiny forward, she fights a dragon on her own, and wins. Many would be satisfied by the honor of this victory and her subsequent place as a warrior serving the king, but she is compelled forward to bigger and better things by her determination and by the hand of fate.
I especially love the way that Robin McKinley portrays the pain of battlegrounds and the way one's mind can freeze up even and especially when you need it most. Aerin's victories felt incredibly justly earned as we feel her fight through the clutches of death and mortal injury to deal final blows. Then, there is no hand waving over the severity of her injuries. She languished on her deathbed multiple times in this book after narrowly defeating a foe---but luckily, these moments are also written well, preventing the story from feeling too slow as she heals.
Tor is a fairly simple character: a crown prince who falls in love with Aerin in a really natural and touching way. He is characterized as clear-headed and just, and is, overall, a very likable character.
Luthe. Luthe on the other hand is written as such a whimsical character. He is very fettered by his own fears, though through the eyes of Aerin is far more capable than he believes himself. Luthe also falls in love with Aerin and their story broke my heart into a million peices.
The story itself doesn't have a predicable path, and for a moment I thought we were reaching the main climax at 46%. But ultimately, it flows very well as with each new feat, Aerin discovers more about herself and her destiny.
The final faceoff with a wizard was about as abstract and confusing as the final faceoff between Rand and the Dark One in Eye of the World (Wheel of Time #1), but it didn't bother me as much in this book since that wasn't actually the final battle nor was it the peak of Aerin's arch in the book. So for those reasons, the ephemeral confusion of the scene was fine to me; also, having a magical fight be harder to follow and physical fights easier to follow tracks well enough.
Since this story is very much back story for The Blue Sword, it made me really want to reread that book!