BTW this is a Damar book, fellow Damar fans. All that we know is that it happens after The Hero and the Crown.
Very interesting... The story would have been fine without the pictures. At the same time, I would be lying if I said that they ruined the book--I enjoyed them. The outcome is not what one is generally lead to expect in todays fiction trend, and that was refreshing. Should have been listed as YA instead of children's at my library, but then so should so many "children's" books. For one, there are unmarried people in the same bed, and I really don't want my young siblings to casually read about such things. That is serious stuff.
SPOILERS AHEAD
I think that Maddy made the right choice personally. There was something inhuman and very unhealthy about the relationship with Fel... He really didn't seem to care. I think that she was some pastime for the fey. We are reminded by contrast of his strangeness when Donal comes home. We are told that Donal and Maddy do actually love eachother, and Maddy is reminded by this when she sees Donal again.

I had missed this short story by McKinley in my chronological reading of her works because it was listed separately as a children's book. I picked it up while browsing the library stacks (in YA fiction). This is certainly no tale for young children. A young woman shepherds her sheep over rocky hills and meets a stone fey, and they begin a mysterious and obsessive relationship. McKinley is as obscure as is her tendency, but here she prevents even the other characters in the story from recounting the old stories to help us fill in the gaps. It is left to us to imagine and wonder and wish....

Pretty pictures accompanied by a vague story that leaves too little unexplained. Also, clearly not really great for kids, because "damn" is one of the first words in the book.

Beautifully written. I didn't know this book existed. I loved goin back to Damar, even for a short while.

Dumb book.

Interesting little fairy story (of sorts) about a young woman who is working to earn money so she and her fiance, who is also away at work to earn money, so they can be married and buy their own farm. She takes care of a sheep herd, and goes out with them, and her herding dog, every day. Things go well until she meets a stone fey, who fills her mind and heart with his cold beauty and makes her drift away from family and plans and all that she thought she cared about. I like the way McKinley resolves the story, but I'm not going to say any more about it than that.

A sweet, mature and well illustrated... love story? fable?
either way, I enjoyed dipping back into the world of the Blue Sword again

I was a little bemused by this book. I'm not sure who the audience is. From the outside, it looks like a childern's picture book. But the inside reads like an adult (or possibly young adult) short story someone illustrated beautifully and then published as it's own little book. I love the concept, but I've never seen anything like it before. It was shelved in the "J Fic" section of my library, which was completely inappropriate, but I found it anyway because I'm trying to work my way through all of Robin McKinley's books.

This was a lovely story about not letting otherworldly magic seduce you away from real life and love, and about how real love is its own kind of magic. And there was a dog. The illustrations were lovely, and I really enjoyed it.

This story was largely unsatisfying and weirdly mature for a picture book. I wish McKinley had written more novels about Damar. This didn't bring back the magic of Harry and Aerin's stories.

Another lovely, mind-twisty story from Robin McKinley. Normally I feel unfulfilled with short stories, but this one was just right!

I like reading Robin McKinley because she really lets you into her characters' heads. This story left me a little in the lurch. I'm not quite sure of all the implications because she left so much of the heroine's interaction with the fey out of the prose.

Review coming soon!