She scowled at her glass of orange juice. To think that she had been delighted when she first arrived here – was it only three months ago? – with the prospect of fresh orange juice every day…How do I explain the feeling I get when I read those words, the beginning sentences of this book? It is like a shiver goes down my back. Like I just bit into one of those oranges...and it is sweeter and juicier then I expected. Suddenly I feel like I am everywhere and nowhere. A part of me is already with Harry in Istan, drinking orange juice and attempting to be pleased, but another part of me is back to where I’ve stood so many times, behind the last bookshelf at the library, consuming the magical words I’ve dawdled in and played with time and time again. Because that has become as much a part of the memory, too…catching a few words of a favorite book in my favorite way to escape the stresses of school and life… The Blue Sword is probably my favorite book by Robin McKinley. It holds its own in that precious list of books I can’t even put words to, books I’ll read and re-read and probably re-read again. Maybe someday I’ll try and make it a shelf, but I’ve tried before, and failed. The plot of The Blue Sword…Harry Crewe’s Father dies and sent to live with her soldier brother in the wild, untamed Istan, almost a combination of the unsettled United States colonies during the early 1700’s and colonial India in the early 1900’s. I could be wrong there, but that is the imaging I’ve always gotten. She tries to please Sir Charles and Lady Amelia, the kind couple who took her in, but settling down to the relaxed, lazy life of Istan drives her crazy. She loves the desert though…the mysterious wasteland hovering tantalizingly just outside the settlement. No Homelander lives there; it is the land of the mysterious old Damarians, the Free Hillfolk. Rumor has it they possess strange powers, and many a man would give his life for the opportunity to ride once upon their beautiful, powerful horses. When Corlath, the King of the Hilkfold, comes to Istan with a warning and the offer of an alliance, he only half thinks they’ll believe him. It was a desperate move, but these were desperate times. The tall, blond haired young woman he saw as he stormed out should have been only another face…but unfortunately, it is one that won’t go away. His Gift, the trait passed through the Royal bloodline, won’t let him forget it. In fact, it will drive him to do the unthinkable…Kidnap the Homelander Girl.When I first picked up this book…I did so because I felt somehow like I had read it before. I have never been able to figure out why. But oh! I am so glad I did. At the risk of repeating myself, this is the book that, frustrated with the junk our library called teen books, I’d rush over and pick up off the shelf. And I’d re-read those first few sentences, and maybe if my day had gone particularly bad, I’d allow myself to sink into a nearby chair and just keep reading. The first sentence.Then a paragraph. Then a page…You know how some little kids have blankies? Well, I have books.And this was one of them. But enough about that, what makes this book good? Well, Harry Crewe for one. She’s an amazing character. She grows, changes…finds purpose. She has emotions, but they’re not irritating. You don’t feel like beheading the heroine after she spends pages whining about her everything and everyone in her life. But she isn’t annoyingly perfect. She’s human, yet strong and believable . Most of all, what I think makes readers appreciate her…and what makes girls of all ages feel like they can relate to her…is simply because of who she is. Especially when we first find her, longing for something. Hunting for purpose. What teenage girl would argue they’ve never felt that way? Felt like running off into the wild unknown, daydreaming about handsome kings and horses and destiny. I sure have. And Harry…well, she kind of does too. But most of all, we look at her and see a somewhat forgotten girl. Someone who lives each day kind of bored, strong and beautiful, yet surprisingly unaware of it…and unaware of the gift she holds (oooh…yeah, I’m not giving anything away ;) ) And then one day…BAM! She learns who she is and there is adventure and romance and, frankly, awesomeness. And if you like horses? There are some wicked-awesome horses in this book.But there is also a bit of everything. It’s a fantastic plot. It weaves fantasy at some of its best, with actual struggles and memorable, good characters and interesting elements. Of adventure and romance and a hint of mystery and suspense. I know what you’re thinking now…after all this rambling, why did I give it four stars?That is a bit trickier to answer, but in all fairness it must be done.1.tThe writing. Oh it is good! Very good, but not amazing. It needs just a little more maturing to be worth five stars.2.tI have a confession…I didn’t adore (positively, head-over-heels) adore the Corlath. I know! Shocking. Horrifying. But I didn’t. I liked him a great deal…but he wasn’t a five star guy.3.tWell…I guess simply, I love the book, but it isn’t a five star story. The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer was five stars. Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris is five stars. This is four stars.If you love adventure, romance, or even ever felt like running away and finding a purpose…this book is for you. It is passionate and adventure filled and truly one of those forgotten books that proves how stupid modern teen writing is. Compare it to a “modern” fantasy novel, Graceling or Mistwood … The Blue Sword just blows them out of the water. There is no comparison. So, if you have made it to the end of this tiresomely long review of how much I love this book…congratulations. Really, if you are a teenage girl (like at all!) who has ever struggled with feeling forgotten, longed for a purpose, or simply just wanted to chuck life and head for the hills…you’ll love this book. I know I do.To complete in the line I began with… But she had been eager to be delighted; this was to be her home, and she wanted badly to like it, to be grateful for it – to behave well, to make her brother proud of her and Sir Charles and Lady Amelia pleased with their generosity… On a very far-off side note, while I recommend this book, I do not recommend it’s sequel… The Hero and The Sword. Many of the reviewers on here mention how much they love it. Splendid. I found it had all the things that made this book lose a star…and three more.
This book is better than it ought to be, and I'm honestly a bit bamboozled why I received it as well as I did (or why it has such a good rating here on Goodreads). Let me break it down, then, into the Good, the Bad, and the My-Theory-On-Its-High-Rating, starting with...The Bad1. Many technical aspects of this book are just bizarre. There are point of view switches MID PARAGRAPH. Much of the story is told in a third-person-limited focusing on Harry Crewe, a girl sent to the wild and uncivilized Darian steppes where she... FINDS HER DESTINY!!! (surprise!) But every so often, whenever its convenient, we'll get the thoughts of Corlath, the king of the Darian Hillsmen, or Malin, her teacher, or X. It's annoying and lazy.In addition, there is some writing that is just plain nonsensical. Especially near the end, I read through several lines and said, what? Where's the editor? I promise I was not drunk nor high nor sleep-reading.2. Nothing happens in the first 50 pages. I have rarely read a book which has so little momentum for so long. The only reason I kept reading was the high rating it had here. I'm glad I did finish it up, but still.3. Almost nothing happens in the entire book. Now I got through it, and I wouldn't say that I ever felt bored. Actually yes I would. Occasionally, I was bored. Honestly, very little happens - there's all sorts of unnecessary interludes to the action, especially a visit to this mountain wizard Luthe, who serves literally no purpose in the story. And the end, when it does come, is so anti-climactic, which in turn leads me to...4. So easy. In this book there is a magic called kelar whose limitations are never really explained. In fact, this magic becomes essentially an omnipotent force that helps Harry whenever she needs it. Wall blocking your way? NO PROBLEM KELAR TO THE RESCUE. Learn a new language in a couple of weeks? NO PROBLEM KELAR TO THE RESCUE. Learn to fight with a sword and ride a horse in 3 weeks better than people who have been doing it their entire lives? NO PROBLEM KELAR TO THE RESCUE. Confronted with a massive army and a diabolical warlock who has kelar of his own and has been using it his entire life? NO PROBLEM KELAR TO THE RESCUE. Friends mortally wounded? NO PROBLEM KELAR TO THE RESCUE. Confused, not sure where to go in life? NO PROBLEM KELAR TO THE RESCUE.The real hero of the story isn't Harry or the king Corlath, it's... KELAR!The Good1. The world is fully and nicely realized. While there are some claims that a new language was invented... not really. There are a few words here n there and that's all. Nevertheless, it is quite easy to imagine the Darian landscape and its people. They have a real heft to them, the weight of existence.2. Writing is very plain. Which is a negative. But it is very earnest. Which is a positive. While the story is lackluster, the writer never tries to spruce it up with fancy writing. A simple and easy read.3. It's a perfect YA book - it's a coming-of-age (fancy word: bildungsroman) experience through and through. That is its entire point even. My complaints about the lack of conflict are, therefore, not entirely valid when the book is viewed in this guise. The conflict then, would be person-against-self, Darian-Harry vs old Outlander-Harry.My Theory On Its High Rating1. People love a good destined hero or heroine. I don't. I think that having the hero be magically-destined ruins the humanity of that character. An external magic power forcing her destiny removes (or weakens) the element of choice. Which makes for a far less compelling character.2. The book is escapist. The plot itself is about Harry escaping her civilization. Harry is a Mary Sue (very little actual characterization). The detailed setting and culture is perfect for a fantastical escape. I don't think escapism is bad; in fact, I love the idea of a book as a portal into other minds and places. But I do hate Mary Sues. If you were to ask me to describe Harry, I would have trouble writing more than a paragraph or two.3. It's a simple, easy read. People like that, and I have no beef. I actually read books as an almost visceral experience, the pure sense delight of seeing a well-crafted metaphor or a fabulous line of dialogue. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate plain, unpretentious writing either.
What do You think about The Blue Sword (1987)?
I missed my “Robin McKinley window” by about thirty years. If I had had the good fortune to come across this novel when I was fourteen, I’m sure I would have sought out more of her work and enjoyed them to the same extent as I enjoyed authors such as Andre Norton or Lloyd Alexander (whom I did have the luck to meet around this time in my life). As it happens, I’m too experienced a reader (and, mayhap, too cynical?) to fully appreciate the spirit in which the book is written. There were too many niggling “off” things for me to immerse myself, and chief among them was the heroine, Harry, who never became sufficiently “real” enough for me to care for her.But I don’t want to come down on McKinley too harshly or suggest that this isn’t a good book. In fact, I’m including it (and its sequel, The Hero and the Crown) in my nieces’ Xmas care package this year because I think they’d enjoy it. (And, I’m happy to say, I’m enjoying the aforementioned sequel much more than The Blue Sword, the reasons for which I’ll elaborate on in my review of that work when I’m finished.)Recommended? Yes, though not for middle-aged, curmudgeonly sticks in the mud.
—Terence
Effusion warning: the following is not a review - it's more like a wordy shrine to Robin McKinley.This is one of my favorite books of all time. One of the many reasons is that I discovered it all by myself (well, not quite by myself; a librarian put it on the shelf where I could find it - thank you, librarian!).I was browsing the shelves at the Lee Library, and I think it was the title that first caught my attention. If I remember correctly, I took it down and flipped through it. I wasn't completely sure about it, but I checked it out. And that was that! I've been an ardent Robin McKinley fan ever since. Later I took a Children's Lit class in which McKinley was discussed, so I am reassured that even if I hadn't checked out the book that day, my life would not have been McKinley-less for too much longer.As an English major, I (supposedly) read a lot of good books during my time at college. The ones that have stayed with me, however, are the young adult books I read for fun, and I maintain that reading Robin McKinley's books was one of the most important literary experiences I had during my time at school.
—Debbie
I'm actually rounding this up from what I expect would be a 3.5 star rating. The heroic story was great, with an excellent story of a newcomer to an exotic culture who adapts, then excels, complete with training montage and heroic battle. But this is on top of a really problematic setting that makes me reluctant to recommend it to people.Angharad "Harry" Crewe's father passes away and she is sent from "Homeland" to her brother in colonial Daria on the borders of the northern desert power of ancient Damar . Harry feels a strange attraction to this land and really doesn't miss her country of origin at all. The king of the hill tribes of Damar visits the Homelanders to ask for help against a horde of demonic peoples from the north but is rebuffed. During the visit the king, Corlath encounters Harry, and for reasons unknown even to him, ends up kidnapping her and taking her back to his homeland where her heroic story begins.It gets all the stars for me because this is a female hero main character whose strength is with her sword and her performance as an elite warrior. This was in the early eighties, when even now, that is still rare.As a pure adventure tale this is great, but it's pretty clear that the setting parallels actual places and the history of those places is nowhere near as rosy as it is presented here. Homeland is England, Daria is India, Damar is Afghanistan and the northern demonic horde are clearly Russians (especially given what was going on in the world as this book was being written around 1980-82). The colonials live in Daria and are very well-established there, but there is not a single named Darian character, living or dead, in the entire book. They're completely irrelevant, and not even acknowledged by Corlath's people. This is an adventure story, and there's clearly no room to go into the Homeland colonial state, but even the basics aren't there, and knowing anything about the real-world versions of these places, that's really jarring. And before you dismiss that I'm reading in stuff from the real world that's not in the text, just reflect on the term "idealized colonial power", because that's what you're seeing with this setting.
—Lindsay
