![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fiveforsilver posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
imperfectletter107. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (227)
Aerin-sol, daughter of the Damarian king and his second wife, is practically an outcast at court. Between her pale complexion and flaming red hair, her clumsiness, and the fact that her magical royal 'Gift' has not appeared, and the general disdain the she is held in by nearly the entire country, only her father, her friend and cousin Tor, and Teka, her childhood nursemaid, still acknowledge her.
Then she gets sick and during her convalescence, discovers kenet, an ointment which is proof against the fire of the small dragons that sometimes harass villages in Damar. With that discovery and her subsequent forays into dragon-hunting, she creates a new place for herself in the country and the 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 convoluted sequences that can be difficult to follow - including the timing at the beginning 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.
107 / 110 books. 97% done!
48 / 75 *new books. 64% done!
3 / 10 ^non-fiction. 30% done!
29472 / 33000 pages. 89% done!
Audiobook time: 27h7m
Aerin-sol, daughter of the Damarian king and his second wife, is practically an outcast at court. Between her pale complexion and flaming red hair, her clumsiness, and the fact that her magical royal 'Gift' has not appeared, and the general disdain the she is held in by nearly the entire country, only her father, her friend and cousin Tor, and Teka, her childhood nursemaid, still acknowledge her.
Then she gets sick and during her convalescence, discovers kenet, an ointment which is proof against the fire of the small dragons that sometimes harass villages in Damar. With that discovery and her subsequent forays into dragon-hunting, she creates a new place for herself in the country and the 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 convoluted sequences that can be difficult to follow - including the timing at the beginning 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.
Audiobook time: 27h7m
