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.

(Amy) I plucked this off the shelf in a recent instance of my "one book from each bookcase" method of padding my reading list, thinking I was picking it up to re-read - after all, it's a Robin McKinley book that's 25 years old, obviously I've read it before.

Oops.

So, yeah, that was a pleasant surprise. The story itself wasn't really anything special, but it lived up to my moderately high expectations for McKinley books. It wasn't spectacular or breathtaking, but what I wanted was a quietly enjoyable way to spend a few hours of this, my brainsleepy period, and a McKinley YA fit the bill perfectly. However, given that I read it with about three-quarters of my brain tied behind my back, I cannot, alas, give a proper review of it beyond this statement that I did indeed enjoy it.

Perhaps next time, when I am in fact re-reading it.
( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ze... ) ( )

Great concept, not well executed. This was one of those books I really wanted to like, and did in the beginning, but found it lacking in the end.

A heroine, great. Dragons, great (even if I usually prefer the dragons as wise comrades instead of brutes to be hunted). Starting with the outcast, educating her, and elevating her as we watch, to city protector, great. These story starting stones would have laid the foundation for a fantastic epic series. Instead, it's all introduced and finished in a two-hundred page book.

The opening chapters weren't too bad, if a bit slow moving or confusing given the language and flashback. After that, it was as if the author laid out an outline and ran out of time or pages to flesh it out. Everything felt rushed. Things that should have been new for the character were taken in stride as unsurprising and passed over for the next new thing.

Then the romantic aspect to the ending, which may have made sense in a longer series, felt sudden, forced, fake, and bizarre. Oh, by the way, that character we've been dealing with all this time, setting him up as her childhood friend, with now mutually newfound other feelings? He's not important. There's this immortal that will show up in a fever-induced dream who is your heroine's instant soul-mate. Oh and that? There's always duty to consider, so he must be set aside also, and we'll return to the original character who now must be the heroine's husband, for the sake of the city. But the consolation prize? She's no longer mortal now, so once this guy kicks the bucket, she can go back to her mysterious soul-mate. Say what?

I would still like to give this author another try, since I know this is only a prequel to a well hailed book. Other than that, this story mainly serves as fodder for my own imagination, and makes me eager to try other more well-known fantasy genre epics that might deal with the knight/dragon stories in more depth, and more to my satisfaction. I would only recommend this as a light read to someone who wants to toy with the genre but has no desire to read longer works. Even then, I bet those who read a lot of fantasy could provide better recommendations. Overall, good ideas were introduced, but the book left me wanting, and thus has very little reread potential. ( )

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 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 ( )

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 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. ( )