The Hero and the Crown by Robin Mckinley (1984-10-15)

My daughter and I struggled through this book. I write this not to imply that it is a bad book. The story is a good one and it is very well written, but it strikes me as a story written for young people but in a very adult style. Technically, Ms. McKinley is a very proficient writer, but she uses lots of long, complex sentences that can even be difficult for an adult with above-average reading skills to wade through. My nearly eleven-year-old daughter was frequently lost. Beyond that, the book takes place very much on an emotional, impressionistic, sometimes surreal plane. There are only three action sequences in the entire book: the battle with the great dragon, the battle with the evil northern lord, and the battle before the gates of Damar's capitol city. Each of these is vivid, but brief. For example, Aerin, our heroine, spends more time climbing the stairs of the tower to find the evil Lord Agsded than she does actually fighting him. Her feelings and thoughts as she climbs the stairs are explored at length, but it all culminates in a brief and anti-climactic confrontation.
I'm sure there are young readers out there who love this book. Some of the other reviews here bear witness to that. I think, however, that these are exceptional young readers. The average kid will have a difficult time. The 9 to 12 year-old who takes on this book will need to be both a very good reader and a very patient one. My daughter frequently found other things she preferred to do when it came time to sit down and read "The Hero And The Crown". For that reason, we've held our rating on it to just three stars.

Wonderfully drawn characterless and vivid language make this a wonderful read. It would s so heartening to have a heroine that has such bravery and wisdom. I'd like for as many young women as possible to read it.

I revisited this book after reading and loving it way back in Middle School. While technically a young adult novel, I found I enjoyed it just as much as an adult as I did back then. I love that Robin McKinley has created such a strong, complicated heroine; someone for girls of all ages to look up to.

One of the all-time classics of YA literature, and a joy for adults, as well. McKinley offers women as heroes, women who show great courage and who learn great love. Immersive, satisfying reading, again and again and again.

Recently I've been re-reading some of my favorite childhood books, and have to admit, have found some of them lacking. The Hero and the Crown is happily not one of them! Robin McKinley's prose is as nuanced and lyrical as ever- while completely appropriate for a young adult book (I think I was about ten or twelve when I first read it), she does not "write down" to her readers. In retrospect, it was reading books like this as a child that helped me have the love of literature I have today. I'm itching for the Blue Sword to be released on Kindle (again? It seems it was but isn't available now)- another fantastic book, and highly recommended!

For a while I actually liked this book, somewhere between a 3 and 4 star book. Then the author took a detour which just seemed to sideline my enjoyment of this book. For some reason which doesn't seem clear to me is she introduces another character who from my view point seemed really creepy (forget May December and go much higher) and somewhat of a mess. I have to admit I've been disappointed in books in the Fantasy category with authors going completely off track in the last third to quarter of their books. In my mind the end of the book destroyed my enjoyment of a story I was really enjoying and believe me right now I needed a book that I could enjoy.

For a while I actually liked this book, somewhere between a 3 and 4 star book. Then the author took a detour which just seemed to sideline my enjoyment of this book. For some reason which doesn't seem clear to me is she introduces another character who from my view point seemed really creepy (forget May December and go much higher) and somewhat of a mess. I have to admit I've been disappointed in books in the Fantasy category with authors going completely off track in the last third to quarter of their books. In my mind the end of the book destroyed my enjoyment of a story I was really enjoying and believe me right now I needed a book that I could enjoy.

I hate being contrary to popular opinion, but I did not enjoy this book much. The beginning was fascinating. I appreciated the character and world building. And then the plot happened. And I'm still frustrated. There is so much build up and so little payoff. Much of the beginning of the book builds to an event. Then it happens and "accidentally" it is over and you still have half a book. Then more wandering and building to another major event - which also ends "accidentally." And before it ends, somehow she messed up but you don't get an explanation of how or why. Just a couple sentences that essentially say, "I should have done that differently. Now I can't use the thing I was supposed to use" and that's it. I feel like the book is more a series of accidents than anything else. The main character has no idea what she is doing (except for one thing - which becomes so inconsequential it is laughable) and I still have no idea how the magic system works or why or what the gift is and did she actually learn it?

And there is the fact that from one sentence to another you are jumping from one character's mind to another. Half the time I was rereading to figure out who was thinking what! I will certainly never reread this and I would be hard pressed to pick up anything else by Robin McKinley.