The Book Pushers | Book Reviews | Book Chatter

  • Home
  • Review
    • A REVIEWS
      • A+ Review
      • A Review
      • A- Review
    • B REVIEWS
      • B+ Review
      • B Review
      • B- Review
    • C REVIEWS
      • C+ Review
      • C Review
      • C- Review
    • D REVIEWS
      • D+ Review
      • D Review
      • D- Review
    • F Review
    • STAR REVIEWS
      • 2.5 Star
      • 2 Star
      • 3.5 Stars
      • 3 Star
      • 4.5 Star
      • 4 Star
      • 5 Star
    • Did Not Finish
    • Review Index
  • About
    • REVIEWER BIOS
    • Giveaway Policy
    • Review Requests/Policy
    • FTC Disclaimer
  • Contact
  • Giveaway
You are here: Home / Review / 4 Star / Review: The Hero and The Crown by Robin McKinley

Review: The Hero and The Crown by Robin McKinley

August 27, 2009 By E_booklover 2 Comments

by Robin McKinley
Published by Ace The Hero and the Crown (Damar, #1) on April 15th 1987
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
four-half-stars

Aerin could not remember a time when she had not known the story; she had grown up knowing it.It was the story of her mother, the witchwoman who enspelled the king into marrying her, to get an heir that would rule Damar; and it was told that she turned her face to the wall and died of despair when she found she had borne a daughter instead of a son.Aerin was that daughter.But there was more of the story yet to be told; Aerin's destiny was greater than even she had dreamed--for she was to be the true hero who would wield the power of the Blue Sword...

One of the joys about moving or even just re-arranging your bookshelves is seeing old friends. You know, the books you re-read at least once a year whose covers are well worn and whose binding is cracked. The ones that even though you know every detail of the story you can still immerse yourself in the author’s world and characters. I decided to re-visit some old friends and share them with you in my next reviews.

 

I am starting with my first old friend, The Hero and The Crown. The Blue Sword, will be my next review. Why am I introducing you to the second book first? This is the order I found them in and when re-reading I persist in sticking to this order. I first discovered this book in elementary school during silent reading time. One of my teachers had a wonderful collection of books in the back of the classroom for us to read and this was one of them.

I was hooked from the opening line “She could not remember a time when she had not known the story; she had grown up knowing it.” Of course I immediately wanted to know what this story was and I did find out as the book progressed. By that time I was fully engrossed in the world of Damar and its inhabitants. Ms McKinley’s skill with words never ceases to amaze me. Her characters are fully fleshed out and three-dimensional including the four-footed kind and the villain. She also treats the reader to lush descriptions of a very different world. Damar has horses, dragons, magic, royalty, demon mischief, hunting cats and dogs and very little modern technology, yet as a reader you are drawn in to the point where you can almost see and smell the world.

Aerin is the only child of the king of Damar. Now Damar is a pretty progressive country so this wouldn’t normally be a problem except that Aerin doesn’t quite fit the mold of heir to the throne. It’s rumored that her mother came from the north, and enchanted the king into marrying her. Why else would he remain single all these years after she died at Aerin’s birth? Aerin herself never seemed to develop any traces of the Royal Gift (magic) that all the other members of the extended royal family first exhibited in varying degrees during early childhood. She also experienced a severe negative reaction to the royal plant, Surka. Legend has it that only those with the Royal Gift can safely handle Surka. Aerin’s inability to do so adds to the concerns that she is not a fit heir. Then there are the little things her clumsiness, inability to care about or keep her clothes looking pristine, and her complete lack of social graces.

Despite these seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Aerin is driven to find something she can do that will benefit her father’s land and its citizens. I am not going to tell you what the ‘something else’ is because that is pretty spoilerific except that it takes a lot of time, research, and practice and is pretty dangerous. Once she thinks she has finally achieved that goal she finds out that while what she is doing is important, it isn’t enough to silence years of concerns. Yet Aerin refuses to give up and eventually lives up to her destiny.

As a reader I thoroughly enjoyed the lush descriptions, the character growth and how the heroine has to work for everything she achieves. While a short book for Ms McKinley, at 227 pages, it is filled with adventure, excitement, pain and lessons. I still, *cough* years later *cough*, take inspiration from Aerin’s struggles when life gets tough. That is not to say that the book doesn’t have its faults. Some of the more romance inclined readers may take offense at the ending and who Aerin ends up with, but Ms McKinley gives a very plausible explanation and it fits Aerin’s character. I hope you will decide to give The Hero and The Crown a try or pull down, dust off and re-read your battered copy.

I give The Hero and The Crown a 4.5 out of 5. Happy reading.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • More
  • Email
  • Tumblr
  • Facebook
  • Print
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit

Filed Under: 4 Star, Review, STAR REVIEWS, YA Tagged With: 4 Star, Fantasy, YA

About E_booklover

E is addicted to books. She discovered at an early age that not only were they her transport to far off worlds, adventures, and exotic cultures, but that she ran into far fewer objects if she walked while reading then if she wasn't reading. She reads across several genres, such as: romance, western,mystery, SF/F and its derivatives. She isn't too picky except for good characterization, settings she can imagine, and a story that flows logically... umm so ok -- she wants a good story. Have any to recommend?

Comments

  1. A Buckeye Girl Reads says

    August 28, 2009 at 5:28 am

    I love re-arranging my bookshelf and finding old books that I had forgotten about. I have an award for all of you here: http://lovesromances.blogspot.com/2009/08/thank-you.html

Trackbacks

  1. The Book Pushers | Book Reviews | Book Chatter & The Odd Rant » Blog Archive » The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley says:
    December 6, 2009 at 6:50 pm

    […] promised with my last review, THE HERO AND THE CROWN (this link opens in a new window), here is my take on THE BLUE SWORD by Robin McKinley.  Before I […]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Us

Welcome to The Book Pushers review blog. If you're an author, publicist, or publisher wanting to request a review, please see our Review Policy before contacting us. Thanks!

If you want to learn a little bit about us, please head on over to the About page and our Reviewer Bios.

We accept digital galleys/ARCs for review. Our preferred method of receiving e-galleys is through Netgalley, where we are a listed Review Organization Accepting NetGalley Titles.

Frequently Auto-Approved

100 Book Reviews

We also receive review copies through Edelweiss.

FTC Disclaimer

Per the FTC regulations, please note that we do receive books for review for free by publishers, authors, publicists, and third parties such as Netgalley and Edelweiss. We also review books we purchase ourselves. For every book we review, we’ll grade them on our honest opinions. So if we don’t like a book, we’ll say so. If it’s a rocking good book, we’ll say so. Simples.

We do use affiliate links such as Amazon Associates, Book Depository Affiliates, and the Barnes and Noble affiliated program. When you click on those links, we earn a very (and it’s very small) small percentage.

Social

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

FACEBOOK PAGE

Categories

Contributers

magazinegraphic

Archives

GIVEAWAYS

Be sure to read our Giveaway Policy before entering any contest!

Affiliate Links

When you click on the affiliate links below and order from them, we earn a very (and it’s very small) small percentage of the commission.

Amazon Books

Kindle Store

Barnes and Noble

buy the book from The Book Depository, free delivery

  • Home
  • Review
  • About
  • Contact
  • Giveaway

Copyright © 2019 ·Agency Pro Theme · Genesis Framework by StudioPress Modified by Lou. · WordPress

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.