The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

[lightreads]

The Blue Sword

2/5. Young woman is abducted by the king of a neighboring nation because magic tells him to, and then she gets a magical horse and then she magically becomes the best fighter ever in the course of six weeks and then she gets a magical sword and then she does magic things, the end.

Yeeeeeah, sorry, no, this bored me thoroughly. And it had me to start with, too; the opening quarter of this book is a slow, absorbing account of this young woman's introduction to a backwater military outpost, and there's a beauty to the way she falls in love with the desert landscape that everyone else just wants to escape. But then all the magic ex machina happens, and meh.

Also, the ethnic politics, yikes. I mean, I guess it's unfair that I first rolled my eyes at the setup – young woman of privilege from the self-proclaimed more civilized and advanced society coming to save the nomadic society, because that's not at all problematic. But then I equally rolled my eyes at the later explanation that no, you see, she's not an outsider, because her great great great whatever was related to the etc. etc., so really she's one of them. Magic, apparently, working on the old "just one drop" theory of race. And yet, equal eye rolls, so there you go

But Light, you cry, I love this book and I read it a thousand times and you don't understaaaaand it.* Yep. That's right. I don't.

*Well, actually I think it's more like this book is of a different era and esthetic, and I was not in the frame of mind to read it as a historical document. I just wanted a damn book to enjoy.

Comments

[readerjane]

All I can remember about The Blue Sword is being disappointed that it wasn't more Hero and the Crown. Not sure I even finished TBS.

[lightreads]

Hm, is Hero that much better? I know everyone loves it -- my wife does too -- but I thought it might be more of the same?

[readerjane]

I honestly don't remember enough about The Blue Sword to know how they're similar or different.

But Hero... Hero is about painstakingly working out something difficult and the triumph when you've done it yourself through sheer grit and persistence. And then, much later, realizing that the obstacle you conquered is a mere pebble compared to the mountain you have to face next.

Hero is about the way Depression gets its teeth into you, and lies, and lies.

Hero is about the uncomfortable realization that you might just outlast everyone and everything you know, and the decision of how to live with that knowledge.

It's not a perfect book. It starts with a lazy, mean-girl sympathy-begging trick; also I think McKinley sometimes gets so attached to a scene that she doesn't know when to let go of it.

But in places, Hero really shines.

[lightreads]

Hrm, you may have sold me on this. BTW, this may be relevant to your interests.

[readerjane]

Ooh, thanks for the link. Yes, I think I may like that blog.

[okrablossom]

Oh, yes! I much prefer Hero and the Crown and get looked at strangely on the internet for saying so. So glad to hear someone else also loves it.

[cahn]

Ha, I came into this thread to say exactly this! (Except that I think I actually finished it. But I couldn't actually tell you anything that happened, except that there is, like, Gonturan and colonialism.)

lightgetsin, mind, Hero and the Crown was written in the 80's, so rationally I'm sure it's got its fair share of problems (it was one of my beloved childhood books so I can't look at it rationally), and it's certainly true McKinley basically just sucks at plot formation in general, but it is much more interesting than Blue Sword.

[thefourthvine]

Yeah, this was my reaction to Blue Sword, too. I think I just came at it too late. I read it for the first time as an adult, and I think this is one of those books with a first-read age limit. Like, if you loved it at the right age, you can re-read it as an adult and all that love is still there, but if you didn't, there's nothing for you in them.