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A review by isabelmary
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This 5 star review is more about my enjoyment — I loved this book! Quality-wise it is probably closer to a 4.
This is 80s fantasy and you can absolutely tell. Huge Chosen One tropes with a smattering of white saviour for spice. The villain / evil is extraordinarily undeveloped and hand-wavey, as is the magic and the nature of the Chosen One vibe. Once you get into the Chosen One swing of things you never really doubt that Harry will succeed at most challenges, so the stakes never feel super high. All of these are (perhaps rightly) unfashionable and critiqued today.
So this book won’t be for everyone, or even every fantasy fan. For me though, the prose was lovely, the pacing though steady was on point, the romance was subtle but enjoyable, the small cast of secondary characters (shoutout Mathin shoutout Sungold) made me care, and the world building gave me enough detail to feel immersed and interested. Mystery and curiosity sustained the first half of the novel. All in all, it was a supremely comforting book, and the well-worness of its plot beats only made it more so. Not groundbreaking by any means but what it set out to do was accomplished with absolute excellence.
This is 80s fantasy and you can absolutely tell. Huge Chosen One tropes with a smattering of white saviour for spice. The villain / evil is extraordinarily undeveloped and hand-wavey, as is the magic and the nature of the Chosen One vibe. Once you get into the Chosen One swing of things you never really doubt that Harry will succeed at most challenges, so the stakes never feel super high. All of these are (perhaps rightly) unfashionable and critiqued today.
So this book won’t be for everyone, or even every fantasy fan. For me though, the prose was lovely, the pacing though steady was on point, the romance was subtle but enjoyable, the small cast of secondary characters (shoutout Mathin shoutout Sungold) made me care, and the world building gave me enough detail to feel immersed and interested. Mystery and curiosity sustained the first half of the novel. All in all, it was a supremely comforting book, and the well-worness of its plot beats only made it more so. Not groundbreaking by any means but what it set out to do was accomplished with absolute excellence.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Colonisation and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent