The Blue Sword

[qos]

Thank-you, queenofhalves and the other folks who recommended that I read The Blue Sword. I finally got around to it this weekend, and enjoyed it a great deal. Harry is very much my kind of heroine: kidnapped into adventure and discovering that she has unguessed-at talents, tremendous leadership potential, physical and moral courage, and the ability to become a bridge between worlds. My only dissatisfaction was that the portrayal of the love element of her relationship with Corlath wasn't a bit better developed. The ending didn't exactly jar, but it seemed more a result of genre expectations than what McKinley showed between them in the story. (Or maybe I was just reading too fast and doing so with more than the usual number of distractions?)

Comments

[saskia139.livejournal.com]

It did kind of jar with me, too, that all of a sudden Harry was All About The Babies. But it remains one of my favorite books, and Mathin is a wonderful character, don't you think?

[qos.livejournal.com]

The baby bit didn't jar me, but that was probably because my own writing lately has been dealing a lot with the topic of kingship, and the duty of the sovereign to produce heirs. Especially when his/her house has been reduced down to one or two members, as Corlath's had. Also, even though Harry was definitely an action heroine, I also took it for granted that she was a woman of her time, in which bearing children was seen as an inevitable part of woman's function.

And yes, Mathin is a wonderful character -- and Jack too. In their own ways they too resonated strongly with my internal mythos.

[queenofhalves]

mckinley heroines always get the prince the way the prince always gets the princess in fairy tales. i think there's definitely some gender reversal going on there, especially since the heroine always ends up ruling the kingdom too. the men are usually sidekicks. :>

there are some exceptions to this, though. i recommend reading the hero and the crown (my personal favorite!) and deerskin if you want more about damar. they're both quite different from the blue sword, but definitely still very mckinley.

[saskia139.livejournal.com]

I didn't realize Deerskin is a Damar story--it's based on one of the lesser-known Grimm tales, isn't it?

[queenofhalves]

yes, "donkeyskin"... there are a few tiny clues that it happens in damar, i can't recall what, as i read it shortly after it came out.

[qos.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reminder about her other books. I'll definitely check them out -- although if I'm smart it won't be until the Christmas holiday. I'm starting to fall behind on my reading for school. . .