The Hero and the Crown

Robin McKinley

Nov 2014 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

An outcast princess must earn her birthright as a hero of the realm—in this “utterly engrossing” Newbery Medal–winning fantasy (The New York Times).

Aerin is an outcast in her own father’s court, daughter of the foreign woman who, it was rumored, was a witch, and enchanted the king to marry her.

She makes friends with her father’s lame, retired warhorse, Talat, and discovers an old, overlooked, and dangerously imprecise recipe for dragon-fire-proof ointment in a dusty corner of her father’s library. Two years, many canter circles to the left to strengthen Talat’s weak leg, and many burnt twigs (and a few fingers) secretly experimenting with the ointment recipe later, Aerin is present when someone comes from an outlying village to report a marauding dragon to the king. Aerin slips off alone to fetch her horse, her sword, and her fireproof ointment . . .

But modern dragons, while formidable opponents fully capable of killing a human being, are small and accounted vermin. There is no honor in killing dragons. The great dragons are a tale out of ancient history.

That is, until the day that the king is riding out at the head of an army. A weary man on an exhausted horse staggers into the courtyard where the king’s troop is assembled: “The Black Dragon has come . . . Maur, who has not been seen for generations, the last of the great dragons, great as a mountain. Maur has awakened.”

Ratings and reviews

I first read this as a child and was enraptured by the story of a young, awkward girl growing up to be the kind of Hero that are heralded in legends. Reading it again after years of my own awkward growth and experience opened my eyes to a new side of this story: a struggling girl that grows into a woman whose strength was tempered in the fires of tribulation, which happened to cause her to be heralded as a Hero. It was a real treat to read this again and I know I will revisit this book in the future.

4 stars because of tiny grammar and spelling errors. I thoroughly enjoyed this adventurous "can't keep me down" story! captivated me from the start. perfect for teens/ya. the story had a sort of lord of the rings vibe, main character has to go through trials of physical strength and mental fortitude to ultimately make them stronger; gathering allies along the way and knowing the end that has to be faced or die trying. romance scale is say a 3..no explicit scenes or little innuendos, maybe one reference to having sex but not in so blunt of a phrase.

Truly, one of the greatest works of young adult literature. The Hero and the Crown tackles tough topics like depression and disability in ways that make it both whimsical and relatable. A magnificent story of sword and sorcery but with the wry flavour that only Robin McKinley can deliver.

About the author

Robin McKinley has won various awards and citations for her writing, including the Newbery Medal for The Hero and the Crown, a Newbery Honor for The Blue Sword, and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature for Sunshine. Her other books include the New York Times bestseller Spindle’s End; two novel-length retellings of the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Beauty and Rose Daughter; Deerskin, another novel-length fairy-tale retelling, of Charles Perrault’s Donkeyskin; and a retelling of the Robin Hood legend, The Outlaws of Sherwood. She lives with her husband, the English writer Peter Dickinson; three dogs (two hellhounds and one hellterror); an 1897 Steinway upright; and far too many rosebushes.