Review - The Hero and The Crown
Sep. 1st, 2008 02:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wilderthanI didn't really know what to expect, when I started reading this book, as actually no one had told me anything about it. I knew I liked Robin McKinley's writing in other places, but that was all, along with the fact that the cover art led me to suspect dragons. It's probably unfortunate that I was also reading Kushiel's Chosen at the same time, because that book is very, very rich in world building and so this book seemed to have very little in comparison. There was some, and I actually got quite interested in the world, but it didn't have the depth and richness that, right now, I'm hoping for, in either setting or characters.
I actually preferred the first half of the book to the second, up to when Aerin defeats Maur. After that, it felt to me as if the tone changed and became even more fairytale-ish, which I didn't quite like after getting to know Aerin in a more personal way. I had my heart in my mouth when she fought dragons, but in the final battle, I didn't really feel much tension at all.
As light reading, though, I enjoyed it. It's fairytale-ish, which I do like, and it's very easy to get along with. While I didn't get deeply invested in the story or characters, I felt some pangs of pathos all the same. I'm not sure I'd say it's a must read, but you could do a lot worse.
I actually preferred the first half of the book to the second, up to when Aerin defeats Maur. After that, it felt to me as if the tone changed and became even more fairytale-ish, which I didn't quite like after getting to know Aerin in a more personal way. I had my heart in my mouth when she fought dragons, but in the final battle, I didn't really feel much tension at all.
As light reading, though, I enjoyed it. It's fairytale-ish, which I do like, and it's very easy to get along with. While I didn't get deeply invested in the story or characters, I felt some pangs of pathos all the same. I'm not sure I'd say it's a must read, but you could do a lot worse.
