Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Beauty/Rose Daughter - 5 stars!

     Robin McKinley is a Newbery Medal winner, and in her writing career of over thirty years she has written two retellings of the classic fairy tale: Beauty and the Beast. Separated by twenty years of time and writing experiences, Beauty and Rose Daughter are nevertheless both distinct from each other and are both good books on their own merit. Since they are both retellings of the same fairy tale and share many aspects, however, I will review them both together.

     Both stories follow the outline of the original fairy tale quite closely. The narrator, Beauty, is the youngest of the three daughters of a wealthy merchant. When their father looses all his money, they have to leave their home to live out in the country. Then when their father gets lost on a journey, he stumbles upon the castle of the Beast and incurs his wrath when he takes a rose for Beauty to enjoy. In return for his life, the merchant must send Beauty to live with the Beast, but when she comes to stay, Beauty proceeds to unlock the secrets of the Beast's mysterious castle and the enchantment he is under.


     The two Beauty's of Beauty and Rose Daughter share several traits. They are both loving and help to keep their families together under the strain of leaving their city home in utter poverty. They are both strong young women, not fearless but courageous and intelligent. They both voluntarily agree to the Beast's bargain to save their families, and after they get to know him, they both try to uncover the secrets of his enchantment.

     The Beauty of Beauty is far from a beauty, being plain and thin. Inside, however, she is truly a gem. Her family's livelihood in their new home depends on her resourcefulness after they leave the home they had always known, devastated by their loss. Several years later, she again shows her true courage when she chooses to leave her family, including her sister Hope's little daughter, for the mystery and menace of the Beast's mysterious castle. Her only comfort is the hope that even a Beast can be tamed. 

     In Rose Daughter, Beauty is obsessed with roses, the rare flower which reminds her of her dead mother. In their new home, Rose Cottage, Beauty discovers her green thumb - and something else: A once magnificent rose garden now sunk into weeds and dead growth. She soon returns it to its former glory and in so doing brings to the surface an old rumor about a curse on Rose Cottage. When the Beast commands her father to bring Beauty to his castle, Beauty learns that the Beast wants her to help his roses. But tangled among the thorns is a dark curse of terrible power that Beauty must unravel before she can complete her task and go home.

     In both stories, Robin McKinley creates remarkable families with strong female characters - not just Beauty, but her sisters as well. Her verisons of the original Beauty and the Beast stay true to the original story, but are still unique - from the original, from other versions, and from each other. I had my doubts at first - I thought McKinley wouldn't be able to pull off another version of the same fairy tale. I was wrong. Both Beauty and Rose Daughter are excellent books in their own ways and for different reasons. I would highly recommend them to fantasy readers and those who want to enjoy a classic fairy tale retold by an acclaimed author. They're worth it.

Link to author website: http://www.robinmckinley.com/

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The Hero and The Crown - 5 stars!

     The Hero and The Crown is one of many amazing stories Robin McKinley has written, and is my favorite of her books. It is set in Damar, a country not unlike medival Europe, and follows the journey of Aerin, the eighteen-year-old first-sol of Damar.

     Aerin is the only child of Damar's king, but because her mother was a witchwoman from the North, the palace folk distrust her. Her only real friends are her cousin Tor, her nurse-maid, Teka, and her father's lamed war stallion, Talat. But she rises beyond everything Damar expects of her when she slays the Black Dragon Maur and brings the Hero's Crown back to Damar in time to save her country from destruction. 

     Aerin is a memorable character, a stubborn and sometimes awkward girl who grows up to become a stubborn and sometimes awkward young woman. She is loyal to those she loves, but prefers to hide from trouble rather than face it, a trait that I can only sympathize with. From her fiery red hair to her surprising discovery of a fireproof ointment called kenet, Aerin proves herself to be resourceful when she must be, and more determined that anyone gives her credit for. In Aerin Robin McKinley has crafted a unique and memorable heroine, and that's the most we can ask for.

     In The Hero and The Crown, McKinley writes a captivating story in a very down-to-earth style that is distinctly her own. Her characters are well-crafted and well-written, from Aerin and Tor to Aerin's childhood enemy Galanna and the mysterious mage Luthe. The story was full of vivid detail and feeling, and McKinley put in plenty of surprising plot twists that sprinkle most of her writing: surprises that are interesting, magical, and at the same time very human.

     In my opinion, The Hero and the Crown is a good book on every level. It had memorable and multi-dimensional characters, an amazingly detailed world, and a well-crafted story. The narrative never dragged, despite several chapters of flashback into Aerin's childhood - that part of the story fit in smoothly with the rest. I would recommend The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley to fantasy readers of all ages. 

Link to author website: http://www.robinmckinley.com/