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Review - The Door in the Hedge
Mar. 8th, 2010 11:25 pmThe Door in the Hedge (Robin McKinley)
The Door in the Hedge contains four short-ish fairytales. Two of them are reworkings of existing ones; two of them I didn't know. I've liked all the fairytale retellings I've read by Robin McKinley before, and these were no exceptions. They're magical, and the writing is good, and the fleshing out of them feels natural.
The Stolen Princess is nice, though heavy with detail. I liked the compromise made in the end, and I like that -- as usual -- Robin McKinley wrote a strong female character who could hold on to her identity and memories and do what she needed to do. I liked the ending, the sense of things perhaps coming full circle again.
The Princess and the Frog is okay. I wanted more, I think -- more of Ariyander, and to know what he was doing, and more of the confrontation between him and his brother.
The Hunting of the Hind is lovely. I love, again, the main female character. I wish she'd been named sooner in the story, because at first she was quite anonymous, and when we did get her name, I didn't hold onto it for very long -- she remained 'the Princess' in my mind. That's, if anything, the flaw in these stories -- the fact that the characters are still archetypes rather than being that bit more fleshed out. But she's strong, and interesting, and she does what she has to do.
The Twelve Dancing Princesses is probably my favourite, though. I like the character of the soldier, and the details of his life, and I like the glimpses we get of the sad king and of the people who try and fail to break the enchantment on the princesses.
I'll probably find myself rereading these, one day. They seem likely to stick with me.
The Door in the Hedge contains four short-ish fairytales. Two of them are reworkings of existing ones; two of them I didn't know. I've liked all the fairytale retellings I've read by Robin McKinley before, and these were no exceptions. They're magical, and the writing is good, and the fleshing out of them feels natural.
The Stolen Princess is nice, though heavy with detail. I liked the compromise made in the end, and I like that -- as usual -- Robin McKinley wrote a strong female character who could hold on to her identity and memories and do what she needed to do. I liked the ending, the sense of things perhaps coming full circle again.
The Princess and the Frog is okay. I wanted more, I think -- more of Ariyander, and to know what he was doing, and more of the confrontation between him and his brother.
The Hunting of the Hind is lovely. I love, again, the main female character. I wish she'd been named sooner in the story, because at first she was quite anonymous, and when we did get her name, I didn't hold onto it for very long -- she remained 'the Princess' in my mind. That's, if anything, the flaw in these stories -- the fact that the characters are still archetypes rather than being that bit more fleshed out. But she's strong, and interesting, and she does what she has to do.
The Twelve Dancing Princesses is probably my favourite, though. I like the character of the soldier, and the details of his life, and I like the glimpses we get of the sad king and of the people who try and fail to break the enchantment on the princesses.
I'll probably find myself rereading these, one day. They seem likely to stick with me.
