Another story with a horse, a sword, and a swordswoman
So I read Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword, which is a sequel to The Hero and the Crown, and I really liked it! However, I'm finding it difficult to find anything to actually say about it. It contains basically most of the same stuff that The Hero and the Crown did that makes it awesome, plus a healthy heaping of The Woman Who Rides Like a Man or something similar. It's got an orphan with a special bloodline and destiny, some evil monsters to fight, lots and lots of horses, dramatically split loyalties, a heroine who is not-sufficiently-feminine, and great-and-terrible magic. Again like The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley manages to weave this all into a story that is much fresher and less cliche than it has any right to be.
I am very curious as to the relationship between this fantasy world and the real world, since the Homelanders, in addition to basically being a pseudo-British Empire, are so actually British Empire that they have Christmas and the legend of St. George and the dragon.
The basic plot is that Angharad "Harry" Crewe is unmarried and kind of weird, and goes to live with some people on the border between the Homeland empire and what's left of the old Damar, which is now all desert. The King of Damar's magical powers sense that she is going to be very important, and important things are pretty necessary right around now because the Northerners (who are part demon and fun things like that) are going to invade, and so he kidnaps her and the Damarians (now referred to as Hillfolk) start training her to be a proper Hillwoman/Rider/Hero/Legend person. Being as she has awesome Damarian magic too, and is being personally looked after by the ghost of Aerin, she actually succeeds in this and saves the day. (The whiff of Great White Savior fantasy that this storyline might have is mostly put to rest by (a) the fact that the Damarians are largely white too, just very sunburned and (b) Harry is part Damarian. Mostly.)
The main strength here, since the broad plot is a little familiar, is that McKinley's atmosphere and characterization are amazing. Harry is extraordinarily believable, especially considering the ridiculous amount of magical powers and destiny she gets landed with in such a short amount of time. The romance is very understated to the point where only about two pages are directly devoted to it. Since you can see that particular pairing coming from miles away, it actually works fabulously that she tells you the action story instead and then is sort of like "Okay, it's here" when it gets here.
Apparently this book was written before The Hero and the Crown, and is supposed to be read before it, too. I liked them both just fine reading them in chronological order instead of writing order, though, so I suppose it doesn't really matter. I would recommend them both, in whatever order you can find them.
I am very curious as to the relationship between this fantasy world and the real world, since the Homelanders, in addition to basically being a pseudo-British Empire, are so actually British Empire that they have Christmas and the legend of St. George and the dragon.
The basic plot is that Angharad "Harry" Crewe is unmarried and kind of weird, and goes to live with some people on the border between the Homeland empire and what's left of the old Damar, which is now all desert. The King of Damar's magical powers sense that she is going to be very important, and important things are pretty necessary right around now because the Northerners (who are part demon and fun things like that) are going to invade, and so he kidnaps her and the Damarians (now referred to as Hillfolk) start training her to be a proper Hillwoman/Rider/Hero/Legend person. Being as she has awesome Damarian magic too, and is being personally looked after by the ghost of Aerin, she actually succeeds in this and saves the day. (The whiff of Great White Savior fantasy that this storyline might have is mostly put to rest by (a) the fact that the Damarians are largely white too, just very sunburned and (b) Harry is part Damarian. Mostly.)
The main strength here, since the broad plot is a little familiar, is that McKinley's atmosphere and characterization are amazing. Harry is extraordinarily believable, especially considering the ridiculous amount of magical powers and destiny she gets landed with in such a short amount of time. The romance is very understated to the point where only about two pages are directly devoted to it. Since you can see that particular pairing coming from miles away, it actually works fabulously that she tells you the action story instead and then is sort of like "Okay, it's here" when it gets here.
Apparently this book was written before The Hero and the Crown, and is supposed to be read before it, too. I liked them both just fine reading them in chronological order instead of writing order, though, so I suppose it doesn't really matter. I would recommend them both, in whatever order you can find them.