Old style fantasy, a young orphan girl with a special gift and a legendary sword, blue blood love interest, skillful horse riding, mind reading and visions, too feminine for my taste.

I'm continually baffled by the fact that so few people know Robin McKinley's work. I don't understand why paparazzi is not constantly hounding her, why she isn't asked to speak in universities all over the world. The woman is great at what she does. Great. Killer. I love her work. Nobody does heroines like McKinley, and her worlds are rich and beautiful and textured, and her stories are so satisfying.
I can't recommend her highly enough, and this may be my favorite of all her books.

Far, far better than its prequel-successor The Hero and the Crown, from the quality of its fantastic culture-building to the structure of its plot. While The Hero and the Crown bears every mark of being two stories mashed into one through editorial interference and, perhaps, under pressure from promises implicit in The Blue Sword, this first-written book is a near-perfect short fantasy novel.

Harriet "Harry" Crewe, recently orphaned, immediately engages our sympathies as she travels apprehensively from the Homeland, where she never really fit in, to live in a desert outpost on the far fringe of the Homeland empire. Nobody, least of all her, expected that she might be kidnapped; and Corlath, the Damarian king at uneasy peace with his colonial Homeland neighbors, never expected that he would become a kidnapper. It isn't love or infatuation that drives him to do the deed, either - it is his kelar, the Gift of magic and foresight into his people's fate, a possible chance for them survive the pending invasion from the North, that he sees embodied in Harry.

McKinley is probably more well-known for her folktale retellings, but The Blue Sword is an original work fantasy lovers shouldn't overlook.

This is a book that I absolutely would have loved - had I read it when I was 10.

This book was beautifully written, as all of McKinley's stuff is, with compelling characters and a good storyline. I especially loved the slow and gradual reveal of the nature of the bad guys. And while I have absolutely no problem with reading young adult books, this one was just too YA for my current tastes. Things came too easily, all wrapped up too neatly, not enough costs for what was achieved.

I don't feel any particular desire to read the sequel/prequel The Hero and the Crown, but I think this would be a wonderful read for a kid learning to love fantasy.

I love this book. I haven't read it for many years, but it called to me for a reread. Harry has come to Damar after her father's death to be with her brother. There is something about the land that draws her like nothing else ever has. When Corlath, king of the Hillfolk, comes to Istan to warn of a threat to all of them there is something about him that speaks to her also. After his warnings are ignored, Corlath leaves, but returns in the dark of night to steal Harry away, as his powers demand. This begins a journey for Harry that opens up a whole new world and way of life to her.

I absolutely love both Harry and Corlath. Harry is miserably unhappy in the Homelander settlement. She is used to being able to do things and her life is now very restricted. She also doesn't feel like she really fits in anywhere. She finds a couple people there that seem to feel the same way about Damar that she does, that see the beauty of that land. When Corlath kidnaps her, she doesn't understand why. She also feels like she doesn't fit in there, as she is mostly ignored at first. When the magic of the Hillfolk finds her, Corlath starts to soften toward her and begins to understand why he was called to take her. His elite guard, the Riders, begin to accept her when they see that she possesses the same magic the king does. Then Corlath has one of the Riders begin to train her as a female warrior. Her journey through the fear of her kidnapping, the culture shock of her training, then her melding of her two worlds is an incredible story of growth. It is not easy for her. We see the difficulty of her training, the culmination of that training, and then the decisions she has to make along the way.

Corlath is a man with an impossible job. He has a very small kingdom that is being threatened by a less than human foe. His attempts at getting some help fail, but his powers require him to steal away the Outlander girl without telling him why. Their initial days together are rough because he doesn't want her there and she can tell. But when her visions make it obvious that she will play an important role, Corlath takes steps to make sure she is ready. I loved the way that Harry eventually takes to the training, though it is difficult at first. We also see her discomfort with the way everyone seems to be counting on her, though she is determined to do her best. She also has no trouble standing up to Corlath and trying to make him see what she tries to tell him. She wrestles with her decision on what she has to do, but ultimately does what she feels is right.

The characters in this book are so well done that they feel absolutely real to me. I can feel their torment and their happiness and I can't help rooting for them, even when I know what will happen.
My favorite part in the entire book is Harry's reappearance at the Outlander fort. I also love her training sessions and her return to Corlath at the end. I highly recommend this book and its prequel The Hero and the Crown to everyone, but especially those looking for strong female role models for girls.

Harry Crewe is a young girl with a peculiar sense of placelessness. After she is orphaned, she comes out to the colony of Daria to be with her brother. Here, she finds her destiny – or perhaps her destiny finds her – when she is abducted by Corlath, king of the Hillfolk of Damar.

This is probably the most accessible of McKinley’s work, but her lush prose shines throughout, and there is a real sense of old-fashioned adventure as Harry is swept away into a new culture. The romance was sweet and I enjoyed the way the side characters were sketched. And the excitement of the battle and the sword is a vivid thing.

Of course, there is quite a strong sense of colonialism and the importance of blood and heritage which I did not always love, but understood within the framework of the story. It did also get a little boring how easily everything came to Harry, especially compared to how hard Aerin worked in her own book – I wish I could learn a language in a week and swordplay in six! The perks of the kelar, I suppose.

Overall, I did enjoy the prequel The Hero and the Crown better, for its greater complexity – I suspect we all come down on one side or another with these books really. But The Blue Sword is a perfectly good swash-buckling adventure all the same.

I know I read this book years ago, but somehow, I have no memory of doing so. I'm not sure why. The plot in The Blue Sword is very basic, but the story isn't about the inevitable progression of events: this is a story of becoming. It's beautifully written and Harry's slow opening up is wonderfully done.

I think I need to buy a copy of this.

She had always suffered from a vague restlessness, a longing for adventure that she told herself severely was the result of reading too many novels when she was a small child.

...My friend, there are some things that I cannot tell you. Some I will tell you in time; some, others will tell you; some you may never know, or you may be the first to find the answers.

Robin McKinley has a such a distinct writing style, and I've enjoyed every book of her's that I've ever read. Harry is such a great character, stubborn and curious - and very down-to-earth considering how frequently people refer to her as a hero.

I loved the world-building of Damar, the culture and the legends, the kelar. It's a classic story of a girl who feels invisible, uncomfortable in her own skin, who finds her place and herself - but the strength of Robin McKinley's writing and the depth of the characters prevents it from feeling too familiar.

تصنيف : فانتازيا رومانسية
الصفح 282
مؤسسة هنداوي pdf
الكاتب: روبين مكينلي
ترجمة : محمد يحي

⭐ترجمة متقنة للغاية ❤

What was that? She just, because she's "special", gets a magic cat, a magic horse, a magic sword and suddenly has random powers? And yet, she's one of the most passive, plodding, incurious "heroes" I've ever read. She gets kidnapped, doesn't ask questions. Continually given dangerous drugs without her knowledge or consent, oh, no big deal. Going to be put into these violent "trials", oh, no need to know anything about them. Seriously, she never really questions any of this. Or when she does, very briefly question anything, she just gets told "oh, we can't tell you because...uh, fate or something" and she's all "oh, that's fine, I didn't actually really want to know anything about any of the things that are going on around me or what's happening to my life".

This book proves once more that standards for YA fiction have gone significantly down over the last 10 years. You just rarely come by this kind of writing any more.

"The Blue Sword" is an age old story of a young woman who after years feeling not belonging, invisible, and insignificant, finds her strength after being kidnapped by a mysterious Hill-king who possesses magic powers. Gradually she discovers an ancient magic inside herself, comes to terms with her abilities, acquires friends and love and a place where she truly belongs, as unexpected and unfamiliar as this place is to her.

Yes, the story is familiar, but the sign of a real writing talent is to make it special and unforgettable. McKinley certainly succeeds in it. Her writing is flawless and sophisticated, the imagery of mysterious land of Damar is vivid - the horse-riding, the nomadic life style, the castle in the Hills - I get shivers just remembering the tangibility of the descriptions!, and the characters (even non-human characters - horses, hunting cats) are oh so well drawn. I mean a SWORD in this book actually has more personality than famed Bella Swan!

I just don't understand why this book is not better known these days or known as a "hidden gem"? A vocabulary is too sophisticated, or not enough making out in it? It makes me sad that books like this are so obscure and all kinds of trash sells millions of copies!

If I have to point any flaws in the book, I'd say I wish the writing had a little more intensity to it, or I would have loved to see more passion in Harry, to see her unleash the power of her kelar onto a man she loves. But this is a crazy fantasy of mine, there is no real reason to spoil a perfectly good story.

This is certainly not my last Robin McKinley book.

I used to adore this book as a teenager. I finally reread it because I never finished the series. Well. Definitely question my taste as a teenager. This was all kinds of "wtf is this".

A lame kidnapping.
A pitiful plot.
A girl that's got the wits of a teaspoon.

Final Rating: 2 ⭐

I'm done with this series. Moving along!