Status
Available
Local notes
Fic McK
Collection
Series
Genres
Publication
Greenwillow Books (1984), Edition: 1st, Hardcover, 246 pages. $18.99.
Description
Aerin, with the guidance of the wizard Luthe and the help of the blue sword, wins the birthright due her as the daughter of the Damarian king and a witchwoman of the mysterious, demon-haunted North.
Subjects
Awards
Mythopoeic Awards (Finalist — 1985)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee — Grades 4-8 — 1986)
William Allen White Children's Book Award (Nominee — 1986-1987)
Newbery Medal (Medal Winner — 1985)
Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (Nominee)
Sunshine State Young Reader's Award (Nominee — 1988)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 1985)
Language
Original publication date
1984
Physical description
246 p.; 6 inches
Media reviews
Miss McKinley, the author of ''The Blue Sword,'' a 1983 Newbery honor selection, has in this suspenseful prequel, which is the 1985 Newbery Award winner, created an utterly engrossing fantasy, replete with a fairly mature romantic subplot as well as adventure. She transports the reader into a
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beguiling realm of pseudomedieval pageantry and ritual where the supernatural is never far below the surface of the ordinary. For those who like fantasy fiction, as I do, ''The Hero and the Crown'' succeeds. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member Stevil2001
I have loved The Hero and the Crown since I first read it in junior high, and I was excited to teach it, but I recognize that it is an odd book. Aerin embraces her magical destiny and falls in love with the immortal Luthe-- but puts that love to sleep so "that she might love her country and her
What's going on here? I have a friend who strongly reacts against Aerin's double marriage, and some of my students definitely considered the whole tower battle and journey into the future extremely weird. I think that looking at The Hero and the Crown's place in both the fantasy genre and the young adult genre helps provide an answer to this.
In her excellent monograph Rhetorics of Fantasy (2008), Farah Mendlesohn divides the fantasy genre up into a number of different approaches, based on the relative positions of the reader, the protagonist, and the fantastic. In the portal-quest fantasy, the protagonist "leaves her familiar surroundings and passes through a portal into an unknown place" (1): The Wizard of Oz, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone are all prototypical examples of the form. The immersive fantasy, however, "presents the fantastic without comment as the norm for both the protagonist and for the reader: we sit on the protagonist's shoulder and [...] we are not provided with an explanatory narrative" (xx), for "the point of view characters of an immersive fantasy must take for granted the fantastic elements with which they are surrounded" (xxi). Then there's the intrusion fantasy, where the fantastic breaks into a "normal" world (xxii). (Mendlesohn also has the liminal fantasy and the "irregulars," but those are less relevant to my purposes here.)
On first glance we might see The Hero and the Crown as an immersive fantasy: it takes place in a magical land, different from our own, from the beginning. However, as you dig into both it and Mendlesohn, you start to realize that's it's not so simple. (Genre never is, except when it gets, well, generic.) The novels bears traces of the intrusion fantasy as well. The threat to Damar is an external one; the dragons that Aerin battles throughout the novel might be in Damar, but they are not from it. They are magical creatures from beyond. Furthermore, the book is extremely reminiscent of the portal-quest fantasy, and we should note when using the term that though portal-quest fantasies depart from a real world, they do not have to depart from our real world. One of Mendlesohn's prototypical portal-quest fantasies is, after all, The Lord of the Rings, which starts itself in a magical land, the Shire, but she argues that Tolkien makes the Shire real so that it can frame an adventure into a fantastic land, that of the rest of Middle Earth (2, 31).
Something similar is happening in The Hero and the Crown. It incorporates many of the typical features of the portal-quest fantasy: quests (well, duh); an alliance of perspective between reader and protagonist, both of whom are naïve; portals that transition between places and times; exploration of an unknown land; a thinned land that requires restoration by the story's end; a connection between the king and the well-being of the land (when the right monarch is in place, the land itself is also right); and the existence of a moral universe (good and evil are objective qualities). The reason Aerin's journey to Luthe's land (where she also experiences some temporal dislocation) and Agsded's tower are so surreal is that McKinley has to mark them as fantasy worlds within the context of what seems to us a fantasy world. Aerin is used to the magics of Damar; she is not used to the magics of these other worlds that she has passed to.
Okay, but so what? Something we should always keep in mind when discussing genre, is that genres have not just features (characteristics) but projects (things they do). Mendlesohn mentions that "the classic portal tale is much more common in children's fantasy than in that ostensibly written for the adult market" (1) and she also says that portals "mark[ ] the transition between this world and another; from our time to another time; from youth to adulthood" (1, emphasis mine). So why is this the case? I think it's because of portal-quest fantasy's commitment to a moral universe: Mendlesohn says that "a quest is a process, in which the object sought may or may not be a mere token of rewards. The real reward is moral growth and/or admission into the kingdom, or redemption" (4). Young adult literature is often about teaching readers moral lessons, for better or for worse, and so the form of portal-quest fantasy is well-suited to it. The reader and the protagonist are positioned together, and so when the protagonist accomplishes moral growth, so too does the reader. Aerin accomplishes a lot of moral growth in The Hero and the Crown: she learns how to take responsibility for herself, learns how to channel her anger appropriately, learns how to set a long-term goal for herself and work toward it, learns how to coexist with those who dislike or resent her, learns how to bridge the gap between aristocracy and commoners, learns to like education and reading, learns how handle romantic and sexual feelings, and probably learns other things I'm forgetting.
So I think there's a couple things going on with the weird doubling effect at the end of the novel. Partially, there's a recognition that childhood remains when you pass into adulthood. Aerin may have crossed the portal from reality to fantasy, from childhood to adulthood, but childhood never goes away, you always carry both worlds within you, and so does Aerin.
Additionally, Aerin has to move from her immortal life back to her mortal one in order to implement the moral lessons she's learned-- because if the protagonist does not implement them, how can the reader? We're explicitly told that "it was her love for Luthe that made her recognize her love for Tor" (207). If fantasy worlds exists to teach the reader how to behave in the real world, we have that literalized in The Hero and the Crown, hence both worlds must persist. But unlike in Narnia or (to bring up another portal-quest fantasy) Susan Cooper's The Silver on the Tree, Aerin does not need to give up her fantasy life. In what surely is a fantasy (in the imagining-you-have-obtained-an-unobtainable-thing sense) she can have both lives.
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husband" (246). One of my students was excited at what she saw as the embrace of polyamory, but I don't think that's quite what's happening here. In addition, you get the really surreal stuff when Aerin goes to confront her evil uncle Agsded. This is the part of the book that's stuck with me the most since childhood. The tower Aerin climbs to confront Agsded is nearly infinite: "She had been climbing forever; she would be climbing forever. She would be a new god: the God That Climbs" (182). Then, when Aerin defeats Agsded, she falls almost as long and ends up in a strange place. What had been a tower in a wasteland is now rubble in the middle of a jungle. She sees people there, and is then jerked back to where she had been, the desolate plateau from which the tower had risen, and Luthe explains to her that she had traveled "a few hundred years" into the future until he pulled her back (200). Aerin then returns to her native land of Damar and defeats the remnants of the evil that threatens it before marrying Tor, the new king.What's going on here? I have a friend who strongly reacts against Aerin's double marriage, and some of my students definitely considered the whole tower battle and journey into the future extremely weird. I think that looking at The Hero and the Crown's place in both the fantasy genre and the young adult genre helps provide an answer to this.
In her excellent monograph Rhetorics of Fantasy (2008), Farah Mendlesohn divides the fantasy genre up into a number of different approaches, based on the relative positions of the reader, the protagonist, and the fantastic. In the portal-quest fantasy, the protagonist "leaves her familiar surroundings and passes through a portal into an unknown place" (1): The Wizard of Oz, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone are all prototypical examples of the form. The immersive fantasy, however, "presents the fantastic without comment as the norm for both the protagonist and for the reader: we sit on the protagonist's shoulder and [...] we are not provided with an explanatory narrative" (xx), for "the point of view characters of an immersive fantasy must take for granted the fantastic elements with which they are surrounded" (xxi). Then there's the intrusion fantasy, where the fantastic breaks into a "normal" world (xxii). (Mendlesohn also has the liminal fantasy and the "irregulars," but those are less relevant to my purposes here.)
On first glance we might see The Hero and the Crown as an immersive fantasy: it takes place in a magical land, different from our own, from the beginning. However, as you dig into both it and Mendlesohn, you start to realize that's it's not so simple. (Genre never is, except when it gets, well, generic.) The novels bears traces of the intrusion fantasy as well. The threat to Damar is an external one; the dragons that Aerin battles throughout the novel might be in Damar, but they are not from it. They are magical creatures from beyond. Furthermore, the book is extremely reminiscent of the portal-quest fantasy, and we should note when using the term that though portal-quest fantasies depart from a real world, they do not have to depart from our real world. One of Mendlesohn's prototypical portal-quest fantasies is, after all, The Lord of the Rings, which starts itself in a magical land, the Shire, but she argues that Tolkien makes the Shire real so that it can frame an adventure into a fantastic land, that of the rest of Middle Earth (2, 31).
Something similar is happening in The Hero and the Crown. It incorporates many of the typical features of the portal-quest fantasy: quests (well, duh); an alliance of perspective between reader and protagonist, both of whom are naïve; portals that transition between places and times; exploration of an unknown land; a thinned land that requires restoration by the story's end; a connection between the king and the well-being of the land (when the right monarch is in place, the land itself is also right); and the existence of a moral universe (good and evil are objective qualities). The reason Aerin's journey to Luthe's land (where she also experiences some temporal dislocation) and Agsded's tower are so surreal is that McKinley has to mark them as fantasy worlds within the context of what seems to us a fantasy world. Aerin is used to the magics of Damar; she is not used to the magics of these other worlds that she has passed to.
Okay, but so what? Something we should always keep in mind when discussing genre, is that genres have not just features (characteristics) but projects (things they do). Mendlesohn mentions that "the classic portal tale is much more common in children's fantasy than in that ostensibly written for the adult market" (1) and she also says that portals "mark[ ] the transition between this world and another; from our time to another time; from youth to adulthood" (1, emphasis mine). So why is this the case? I think it's because of portal-quest fantasy's commitment to a moral universe: Mendlesohn says that "a quest is a process, in which the object sought may or may not be a mere token of rewards. The real reward is moral growth and/or admission into the kingdom, or redemption" (4). Young adult literature is often about teaching readers moral lessons, for better or for worse, and so the form of portal-quest fantasy is well-suited to it. The reader and the protagonist are positioned together, and so when the protagonist accomplishes moral growth, so too does the reader. Aerin accomplishes a lot of moral growth in The Hero and the Crown: she learns how to take responsibility for herself, learns how to channel her anger appropriately, learns how to set a long-term goal for herself and work toward it, learns how to coexist with those who dislike or resent her, learns how to bridge the gap between aristocracy and commoners, learns to like education and reading, learns how handle romantic and sexual feelings, and probably learns other things I'm forgetting.
So I think there's a couple things going on with the weird doubling effect at the end of the novel. Partially, there's a recognition that childhood remains when you pass into adulthood. Aerin may have crossed the portal from reality to fantasy, from childhood to adulthood, but childhood never goes away, you always carry both worlds within you, and so does Aerin.
Additionally, Aerin has to move from her immortal life back to her mortal one in order to implement the moral lessons she's learned-- because if the protagonist does not implement them, how can the reader? We're explicitly told that "it was her love for Luthe that made her recognize her love for Tor" (207). If fantasy worlds exists to teach the reader how to behave in the real world, we have that literalized in The Hero and the Crown, hence both worlds must persist. But unlike in Narnia or (to bring up another portal-quest fantasy) Susan Cooper's The Silver on the Tree, Aerin does not need to give up her fantasy life. In what surely is a fantasy (in the imagining-you-have-obtained-an-unobtainable-thing sense) she can have both lives.
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LibraryThing member Ilithyia
This was a reread, though it's been many years since the last time I read it, but there has been much discussion about it on various threads lately so I thought I would come back to it.
I think this has always been one of my childhood favorites, though I wasn't sure why at the time - perhaps it was
Now as an adult, I can appreciate the masterly way McKinley writes this story. I've recently read many books on the art of writing and grammar (in my pursuit to be an English teacher) and I find her prose to be astounding. I love the way she tricks you very eloquently into reading flashbacks without realizing they are until you're back at where you started. It's amazing the way she can say in three pages what some authors would take thirty. I like that she doesn't feel like she has to pad her books with unnecessary details - if nothing interesting happens in two years, she doesn't mention it. She rarely breaks her prose with gaps on the page either - instead she actually segues from paragraph to paragraph, changing ideas and time periods without the need to break the readers' concentration.
I'm not sure I can praise this book highly enough. Now to address xicanti, I do understand your sentiments about the middle of the book. When I was younger the entire sequence of the dragon head on the wall taunting her completely freaked me out! I think I understand it better now. Also I think the middle is a way to show that even heroes (or heroines) find themselves lost at some point along the way. I love the scenes with Tor falling in love with Aerin, and most especially the scenes with Luthe! I think I've had a crush on Luthe since I read the book the very first time.
I think this has always been one of my childhood favorites, though I wasn't sure why at the time - perhaps it was
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the dragons or Luthe, or just the fact that I'm partial to redheaded characters. Now as an adult, I can appreciate the masterly way McKinley writes this story. I've recently read many books on the art of writing and grammar (in my pursuit to be an English teacher) and I find her prose to be astounding. I love the way she tricks you very eloquently into reading flashbacks without realizing they are until you're back at where you started. It's amazing the way she can say in three pages what some authors would take thirty. I like that she doesn't feel like she has to pad her books with unnecessary details - if nothing interesting happens in two years, she doesn't mention it. She rarely breaks her prose with gaps on the page either - instead she actually segues from paragraph to paragraph, changing ideas and time periods without the need to break the readers' concentration.
I'm not sure I can praise this book highly enough. Now to address xicanti, I do understand your sentiments about the middle of the book. When I was younger the entire sequence of the dragon head on the wall taunting her completely freaked me out! I think I understand it better now. Also I think the middle is a way to show that even heroes (or heroines) find themselves lost at some point along the way. I love the scenes with Tor falling in love with Aerin, and most especially the scenes with Luthe! I think I've had a crush on Luthe since I read the book the very first time.
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LibraryThing member foggidawn
Aerin is the daughter of the king of Damar -- but by his second wife, a woman who was widely distrusted and whom many suspected of witchcraft. Aerin herself is looked down on by most of the royal court, even when she discovers a fireproofing ointment that enables her to slay dragons with less
This is probably my second-favorite McKinley book (after Beauty). Aerin is a great, complex character -- she consistently undervalues herself, but that doesn't stop her from attempting heroic action, not for the glory of it, but because it's a dirty job that someone has to do. The romance in the story, not to give too much away, is likewise complex. And, though the story is pretty tightly focused on Aerin, secondary characters (even the unlikeable ones) get their moments of poignance and character development.
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chance of personal injury. Dragons, after all, are vermin, and though they can be fierce, none of them grow much larger than a dog in Aerin's day. The Great Dragons are considered creatures of legend . . . until the day that one of them appears. Maur, the last of the Great Dragons, awoken by malicious Northern magic, returns to terrorize Damar -- and Aerin may be the only person who can face him. Even if she can defeat Maur, she will have to face greater and more dangerous challenges before she can take her rightful place in Damar.This is probably my second-favorite McKinley book (after Beauty). Aerin is a great, complex character -- she consistently undervalues herself, but that doesn't stop her from attempting heroic action, not for the glory of it, but because it's a dirty job that someone has to do. The romance in the story, not to give too much away, is likewise complex. And, though the story is pretty tightly focused on Aerin, secondary characters (even the unlikeable ones) get their moments of poignance and character development.
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LibraryThing member SheWhoReads
This was one of my favorites back in middle school. I almost read my copy to pieces! It's got everything: adventure, derring-do, magic, wonderful characters, and excellent writing.
LibraryThing member CeridwynR
This feels very old fashioned in style. It's 25 years old, but really takes it's inspiration from the old style of mythic fantasy. However, classic high fantasy with a strong heroine is never a bad thing. The mythic style makes it feel rather rushed however, especially towards the end, and I never
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felt a personal connection to Aerin. Show Less
LibraryThing member bluesalamanders
Aerin-sol, daughter of the Damarian king and his second wife, is practically an outcast at court. Between her pale skin and red hair, and her clumsiness and bad temper, and the fact that her royal 'Gift' has not appeared, only her father, her friend and cousin Tor, and Teka, her nursemaid growing
Then she gets sick, and, during her convalescence, discovers kenet, an ointment which is proof against dragon fire, and with it she discovers a new place in court. But to save her country and her people, she must go up against Maur the Black Dragon, an evil sorcerer, and her own inner demons.
This was the first McKinley book I ever read, and it introduced me to my now-favorite author. The story-telling in this book is wonderful; McKinley's forte is description over dialogue and action and here there is plenty of it. There are several convoluded sequenses that can be difficult to follow - including the timing at the begining of the book - but at the end of the day, it does make sense and perhaps it adds to Aerin's own confusion about her life.
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up, still acknowledge her. Then she gets sick, and, during her convalescence, discovers kenet, an ointment which is proof against dragon fire, and with it she discovers a new place in court. But to save her country and her people, she must go up against Maur the Black Dragon, an evil sorcerer, and her own inner demons.
This was the first McKinley book I ever read, and it introduced me to my now-favorite author. The story-telling in this book is wonderful; McKinley's forte is description over dialogue and action and here there is plenty of it. There are several convoluded sequenses that can be difficult to follow - including the timing at the begining of the book - but at the end of the day, it does make sense and perhaps it adds to Aerin's own confusion about her life.
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LibraryThing member stephxsu
Aerin has never felt complete at home among her fellow dark-colored Damarians. Fair-skinned and redheaded, Aerin prefers riding with her father's discharged war horse Talat instead of attending balls. People whisper about her being a "witchwoman's daughter," a reference to how her mother, a poor
One day, Aerin discovers an old recipe for an ointment that could keep the wearer safe from dragonfire. This starts her off on an incredible, legendary journey, where she fights one of the greatest dragons of all time and an evil sorcerer. Could it be that she really isn't as awkward and unmagical as she thinks she is?
Robin McKinley has written a splendid book, with breathtaking action sequences and touchingly romantic moments. Every kind of reader will find something he or she likes in this book that is every bit as legendary as its heroine.
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Northerner, supposedly enchanted Aerin's father the king and had a child with him, then died when she found out her child was a girl. Despite that, Aerin has no magical abilities, unlike all other members of the royal family, another reason why she thinks she does not belong. One day, Aerin discovers an old recipe for an ointment that could keep the wearer safe from dragonfire. This starts her off on an incredible, legendary journey, where she fights one of the greatest dragons of all time and an evil sorcerer. Could it be that she really isn't as awkward and unmagical as she thinks she is?
Robin McKinley has written a splendid book, with breathtaking action sequences and touchingly romantic moments. Every kind of reader will find something he or she likes in this book that is every bit as legendary as its heroine.
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LibraryThing member ragwaine
Decent writing, cool idea about dragon head. Too many things left hanging and under-described. Not too child-like and not cute.
LibraryThing member Nikkles
One of my all time favorite sets. A classic fantasy adventure with a great shero (female hero). I read this as a young adult and it really shaped how I judge books and writing, this being a example of the right way to do it. Fantastic story and characters that make you think about your life without
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telling you to think about your life. A great book. Show Less
LibraryThing member xicanti
This is a beautiful book with some truly poetic moments. For the most part, Aerin's struggles and triumphs are very relatable. Though the book has something of a legendary feel, the reader really empathizes with the heroine's adventure. At times, I was moved to tears.
However, there's a rather
The ending made up for this segment, though. I once again found myself immersed in Aerin's world. Overall, I enjoyed the book very much, and look forward to rereading it.
However, there's a rather
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strange segment near the middle of the story where I felt my connection to Aerin's tale waver and die. I think I must've missed something pretty crucial, as I found it difficult to piece together just what was going on; it didn't exactly come out of nowhere, but I didn't feel as though its ties to the rest of the story were as strong as they could've been. The whole sequence felt distanced from the rest of the book, as though things were happening simply because the author had decided they ought to happen rather than as a natural progression of the story.The ending made up for this segment, though. I once again found myself immersed in Aerin's world. Overall, I enjoyed the book very much, and look forward to rereading it.
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LibraryThing member laranth
Aerin doesn't fit in. She's clumsy, likes riding better than dancing, and can't sew worth a darn. And the worst is, she's a princess of the royal family, but she doesn't have any of the magical Gift that is the royals' greatest treasure. So she goes hunting the small dragons that infest her land of
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Damar, and so goes hunting destiny. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheBooknerd
What's neat about McKinley is that she revives popular legends and fairytales like Robin Hood and Sleeping Beauty. For that reason much of her work seems to straddle the line between adult fiction and young adult/children's fiction. I first encountered The Hero and the Crown when I was in fifth
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grade or so -- post-Nancy Drew but pre-Dean Koontz and Nightwylde. So this was a nostalgic read for me. While not the most engaging, this book fits the bill when you're in a fairytale kind of mood. It is slow at points but the quality of McKinley's writing is worth appreciating. And even though it's aimed towards a younger audience, both the story and the characters are sophisticated and complex. Show Less
LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
As usual, I like this book despite not really liking Aerin. Somehow she strikes me as...not passive, exactly, but more done-to than doing. Which is weird since she defies all convention and goes out to become a warrior and all the rest...but it seems almost accidental. Talat because he's as lame as
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she is, the book by accident, start her down the path...anyway. I do like the story. And it's Damar, which is great all by itself! Show Less
LibraryThing member raizel
Good, but without the impact of, say, Deerskin, or Rose Daughter and Beauty.
LibraryThing member annekiwi
I love this book. It has the elements of a fairy tale, a young princess whose mother dies in childbirth, a father who loves her, but is king and has to attend to the kingdom first, a jealous cousin, etc. What I really love, however, is the fact that the princess isn't perfect. She's clumsy, trips
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over her own feet, breaks things and then can't use the family magic to repair them, etc. She is also a scientist, intent on making a special elixir that will enable a person to withstand fire so that she can fight fire-breathing dragons. And of course, there's the horse. What 13 year old girl isn't in love with horses? Some romance but not enough to overshadow the action. And a quest or two to keep things interesting. A great antidote to regular fairy tales. Show Less
LibraryThing member stubbyfingers
After I finished reading this I discovered that I had read it previously 16 years ago. I read the entire book this time without the slightest inkling that I had read it before. Obviously it didn't make much of an impression on me last time--although I guess enough of an impression to make me want
At any rate, this time it definitely did leave an impression. I loved the first half of this book. This won the Newbery Medal in 1985, but if I hadn't known better, I wouldn't have guessed that this book is targeted for younger audiences. This is the story of a king's only child, Aerin, a daughter from his second marriage. Rumor has it that his second wife was a witch who ensorceled the king into loving her so that she could bear his heir and take over his kingdom, but then died of despair when she gave birth to a daughter instead of a son. Aerin grows up in a court that never quite accepts her, knowing that her destiny lies elsewhere. This is the story of how she discovers exactly where her destiny lies.
Aerin's character comes as alive and as real as any I've read. The author pulled me into the story and had me caring a great deal for what was going to happen to Aerin. I didn't want to put this down.
But about halfway through the novel, things change a bit. All of the main battle scenes were ethereal and ambiguous and I didn't enjoy those parts. I felt like I was just slogging through those pages waiting for the story to rematerialize and get back on track. But once it did, the story picked right back up again. If it wasn't for these parts I would've given this 5 out of 5 stars.
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to keep it with me for the past 16 years.At any rate, this time it definitely did leave an impression. I loved the first half of this book. This won the Newbery Medal in 1985, but if I hadn't known better, I wouldn't have guessed that this book is targeted for younger audiences. This is the story of a king's only child, Aerin, a daughter from his second marriage. Rumor has it that his second wife was a witch who ensorceled the king into loving her so that she could bear his heir and take over his kingdom, but then died of despair when she gave birth to a daughter instead of a son. Aerin grows up in a court that never quite accepts her, knowing that her destiny lies elsewhere. This is the story of how she discovers exactly where her destiny lies.
Aerin's character comes as alive and as real as any I've read. The author pulled me into the story and had me caring a great deal for what was going to happen to Aerin. I didn't want to put this down.
But about halfway through the novel, things change a bit. All of the main battle scenes were ethereal and ambiguous and I didn't enjoy those parts. I felt like I was just slogging through those pages waiting for the story to rematerialize and get back on track. But once it did, the story picked right back up again. If it wasn't for these parts I would've given this 5 out of 5 stars.
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LibraryThing member MusicMom41
This novel is the prequel to The Blue Sword in which we meet Aerin, the “first” woman to wield the Blue Sword. This story gives a lot of background for the elements of The Blue Sword which bring flashes of recognition when you encounter them, but the story itself stands very well on its own. In
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my opinion (not shared by many I know who have read both) this is a superior story. It is better written, better plotted and has better characterizations. The details are finer and I was much more involved in Aerin’s fate than I was in Harry’s. Also there was a “proper” ending with detail and not just a “summary” of how people paired off. I think both stories should be read and in the order written, but if you must choose just one I would suggest this one, especially for adults. Highly recommended Show Less
LibraryThing member nolak
Aerin is the daughter of Damar's king, but has never been accepted as full royalty, because her mother is said to be a witch-woman who ensnared the king. However, Aerin's destiny is to wield the power of the Blue Sword and become a heroine.
LibraryThing member MuseofIre
Prequel to The Blue Sword, suffers from having to provide backstory to a story that doesn't need it. Aerin's problems aren't especially challenging and her confrontation with Agsded is particularly anticlimactic. Her relationship with Luthe is beautifully depicted though.
LibraryThing member macha
this was a pretty good read, i thought. not innovative, but of its type engaging and well written.
LibraryThing member megpyre
i didn't love the hero and the crown nearly as much as i loved the blue sword. this is not to say that i haven't read it three times. it is a very good use of the time invested into the reading of it and a must read for anyone who like the blue sword.
LibraryThing member Imshi
I read this one before even knowing of The Blue Sword, and after reading both I like The Hero and the Crown better. I like Aerin - I sympathize with her - and the first half of the book is an extremely enjoyable read.
However, to me, the end of the book feels rather muddled. There's an awful lot
I do think it's a very good book, and I've reread it loads of times, but every time I get to the end my attention wanders.
However, to me, the end of the book feels rather muddled. There's an awful lot
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going on there, and for me the busyness of it takes away from what should be a dramatic final conclusion - except it's not, because there's so much stuff happening all of a sudden (Luthe! Giant battle! Falling in love with Tor!) I do think it's a very good book, and I've reread it loads of times, but every time I get to the end my attention wanders.
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LibraryThing member pandoragreen
One of my favorite books from my childhood. I love everything McKinley has written, and wish there was much more of it.
LibraryThing member CeridwynR
This feels very old fashioned in style. It's 25 years old, but really takes it's inspiration from the old style of mythic fantasy. However, classic high fantasy with a strong heroine is never a bad thing. The mythic style makes it feel rather rushed however, especially towards the end, and I never
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felt a personal connection to Aerin. Show Less
LibraryThing member debnance
Aerin, the daughter of a witch and the king she bewitched, lives a lonely life, derided by her countrymen, scorned for her lack of gifts. Somehow she takes an elderly, broken-down warrior horse and heads off to kill a small dragon. In the process, she finds her life. It was grueling to read the
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parts of the story where Aerin faces the enormous dragon, burning off her hair, scarring her. It felt, for some reason, more difficult to read than stories of men facing dragons. I do not know why.I don’t know what children would make of this story. Big vocabulary. Tragedy. Love. But I liked it a lot. Aerin learns much from a mystical mage, falls in love with him, and yet chooses to leave him to save her people, her ungrateful, cruel people. Show Less
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