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Title:
The Hero and the Crown
Series: Damar
#2
Author: Robin McKinley
Rating: 2 of
5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy / Middle Grade
Pages:
207
Words: 80K
Publish: 1984
A
story about a girl with no self-confidence, even as she kills a
dragon and defeats her half-demonic uncle and prevents him from
taking over her country. I got totally sick of the main character
thinking everyone was making fun of her or was talking behind her
back or putting a negative spin on every interaction she had with
every other person.
Then
presto-chango, right at the end of the book, she’s all confident
due to the power of love, but mainly because she’s now in love with
2 men, one a mortal king and one an immortal magician. No thank you.
In
many ways, stylistically, this reminded me of Patricia McKillip, but
at about half the skill and none of the positive that McKillip always
brought to her stories, even in the darkest moments. I’m done with
this Damar series and I’m very definitely done with McKinley.
★★☆☆☆
From
Wikipedia
Part one
Aerin
is the only child of Arlbeth, king of Damar, and his second wife.
Aerin inherits her mother's pale skin and fiery red hair, setting her
apart from all other Damarians and causing her to be feared and
ostracized. Her particular nemesis at court is Galanna, a beautiful
but vain young woman, who spread rumors that Aerin's mother was a
witch and that Aerin is illegitimate. Galanna taunts Aerin for having
failed to develop the Gift, known as kelar, an ability to use
magic that all members of the royal family inherit to some degree.
During one of their regular fights, Galanna convinces Aerin to eat
the leaves of the surka plant, which is poisonous to all those not of
royal blood. While eating the surka plant does not kill Aerin, it
makes her extremely ill.
During
her recovery, Aerin stumbles upon a book about the history of Damar
and the enormous dragons of old that used to terrorize it, of which
only much smaller relatives still exist. Seeking privacy in the
pasture of her father's now-injured war horse, Talat, Aerin reads
through the book while forging a friendship with the stubborn and
proud horse. At the back of the book she finds a recipe for kenet, an
ointment meant to protect the wearer from the effects of fire. While
experimenting with the ointment, she also trains herself on mounted
combat with Talat. Eventually, she sneaks off to slay a small dragon
that has been terrorizing a village. Her success earns her some minor
notoriety and requests for assistance from other villages. In the
meantime, trouble comes from the north, in the form of one of the
western barons, Nyrlol, who threatens civil war.
Part two
Arlbeth
fears that the Hero's Crown, an item of power, has finally fallen
into the hands of the demonic Northerners, and that Nyrlol's madness
is a symptom of their growing power. He is forced to ride west with
many of his court, including Tor (his male heir and Aerin's only
friend), to deal with Nyrlol, but denies Aerin's request to join him.
However, just as Arlbeth prepares to ride north, a messenger arrives
bearing news that the last of great dragons, Maur, has reappeared and
is terrorizing Damar. Arlbeth has no choice but to deal with Nyrlol
first. But Aerin, having been left behind, decides to fight Maur on
her own.
After
a tremendous battle, Aerin narrowly defeats Maur, claiming as her
trophy a red stone left behind when his body burns itself to ashes.
Aerin is severely injured but manages to drag herself onto Talat, who
carries her home. Maur's skull is brought to the castle as a trophy
but its presence seems to taunt Aerin and her health does not
improve. In her declining state, Aerin dreams of a blond man by a
lake who beckons her to come to him so that he may help her. Aerin
leaves Tor a note and rides off on Talat to find this man, Luthe.
Luthe,
a sorcerer, heals Aerin by placing her in the Lake of Dreams, which
causes her to become "no longer quite mortal". Luthe
teaches her some magic and Aerin learns that it is the kelar that
gives the royal family their magical abilities. Luthe then reveals
that Aerin's mother and uncle, Agsded, along with Luthe, were
students of a master mage. Agsded was the best student but used his
abilities for evil. A prophecy foretold that one of Agsded's own
blood would defeat him; in fear, Aerin's mother fled to the south to
have a child (Aerin) with Arlbeth. When Aerin is fully recovered,
Luthe sends her north with the dragon's red bloodstone and Gonturan,
The Blue Sword, to challenge Agsded.
As
she travels, Aerin is joined by armies of foltsza (large mountain
cats) and yerigs (large wild dogs). After an extensive magical battle
in which Agsded is eventually defeated and the Hero's Crown is
recovered, Aerin is rescued by Luthe, who escorts Aerin back as far
as his lake on her way home. They become romantically involved; Aerin
leaves him but promises to return one day, as they are both immortal.
She
returns to find the kingdom losing a battle with the Northern demons.
Using Gonturan and her army of foltsza and yerigs, and giving the
Hero's Crown to Tor, she helps defeat the Northerners, but at the
cost of many lives, including Arlbeth's. Aerin, with Tor's help,
finally rids the kingdom of Maur's evil skull, but in the process the
skull turns Damar into a desert. Aerin marries Tor, whom she truly
loves in her own way, and they help rebuild the kingdom together as
its rulers.
