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Summary: Spindle's End: Not what you'd expect
Review: Readers and fans alike will no doubt find this book to be totally enjoyable. The themes from previous McKinley books are there: human-animal connections, evil to be overcome for the good of all, and love where you would least expect it, but it's the heroine's self-discovery that draws me in. The quality of the story, unprecidented in our literature that contains weak female roles, comes also from the strong female main character (typical McKinley), where our heroine overcomes the greatest of tragedies with an unexpected strength not entirely unexpected of her. McKinley fans will relive the magical experiences not unlike "Hero" and "Blue Sword" where the human-animal connection is the factor that tips the scale for ridding the world of evil beings. Delightful!
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Summary: Fun but shallow
Review: This book is loads of fun (I read it in one sitting) but it isnoticeably more shallow than RMcK's previous works. Others havedescribed it as "light", which may be a kinder description of the same complaint.In particular, McKinley seemed to labor more to develop (or underdevelop) the human characters - the animals were much more vividly sketched and perhaps she just enjoyed them to a greater degree. Some of the tertiary human characters were quite flat compared to those in other books. Overall, the novel lacks the compact, seamless intensity of Deerskin and Hero/Blue Crown. But it gets 4 stars for many terrific moments and an overall good read.
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Summary: Fairy-tale fantasy at its best
Review: This is a beautifully written retelling, with delightfully original variations, of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. I found it to be every bit as good as "Beauty" and "The Outlaws of Sherwood." The heroine is not your traditional sort of princess. Cursed on her name-day by the wicked fairy Pernicia, she is carried off by the apprentice fairy Katriona and brought up in a remote area of the country as an ordinary village girl called Rosie. She is strong-willed and intelligent, cuts her hair short, wears trousers, and becomes a horse doctor after apprenticing herself to the smith Narl. Rosie has the gift of beast-speech, or the ability to communicate with animals. And Robin McKinley certainly has a gift for the portrayal of animals (my favorite is Flinx the cat); she seems to know exactly what the various birds and beasts would say if they could talk. Rosie has a great many animal friends -- cats, dogs, foxes, bears, robins, horses, cows, otters, badgers, et al. -- who play a very important part in the story. The happy ending involving the kiss is, well, not quite the same as the traditional one. Read "Spindle's End," enjoy an enchanting story, and find out what happens. This is fairy-tale fantasy at its best.
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Summary: Perfect Fantasy
Review: In this book, one can truly feel like you are there in the character's position.
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Summary: Slightly disappointed ...
Review: I am one of those people referred to by Elythia who like McKinley's more "difficult" books as well as her earlier ones, but it isn't the return to the more light-hearted themes that made me feel a little let down after reading "Spindle's End". Truthfully, I didn't find "The Hero and The Crown" or "The Blue Sword" all that frivolous, myself. What has always appealed to me in McKinley's work is how very individual the people, animals, and locations are. I may not be able to remember the name of Aerin's horse today, but I certainly know him as an individual, from his slightly greedy nature to his proud courage and his moving slightly short behind. I know how Damar smells, and I would know Rose Cottage with my eyes shut ... So, why do I feel as if "Spindle's End" is just an outline for a much deeper book? The people, animals, and places seemed more like sketches than finished characters. I liked Rosie, especially that her nature refused to be channeled into "beautiful Princess in hiding", but I really didn't see enough of her to know, for example, why Fast was willing to run himself to death for her, if necessary. Nor was there enough of who Fast is (other than slightly shallow and fast) to see where this slightly brainless horse would pull the courage from that he used in fleeing Pernicia. And Peony never really existed to me except as a foil for Rosie, and surely she had to have been more than that! As usual, McKinley writes beautifully, and there are moments of brilliance, but I never really felt as if I was in this nameless country of magic the way I do with the other books. It all seemed a rather well made Potemkin Village, and the people and animals merely walk-ons ...
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Summary: Lovely
Review: From my observations of the Amazon customer reviews, and conversations with my own acquaintances, I have the distinct impression that readers of Robin McKinley's novels can be divided into two categories: those who love both her older works (Beauty, et. al.) and the newer, and those who hate Deerskin and Rose Daughter. Let me say that I'm part of the former, but I think that Spindle's End will appeal to both groups. Why? Just saying that it's a beautifully written novel isn't enough, I guess. It combines some elements familiar from early McKinley works (the unconventional hero(ine), the surprising spin on well-known stories) with aspects of the later (beautiful, lyrical prose, a surprising (yet satisfying) ending). But all of these elements, familiar as they are, combine to create a novel that is unique. If you've enjoyed anything by Robin McKinley, buy this book. You'll find something to love. Also--and this isn't a part of the plot at all, so it's not really a spoiler--I was very happy to read that Lissar and Ossin are still happily raising fleethounds.
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Summary: A charming book
Review: Robin McKinley established herself as a fairy tale author with her first book, "Beauty," over 20 years ago. Her growth as a writer is evident in her new tome, "Spindle's End." McKinley leaves behind Beauty and the Beast, which she has developed in two novels, to explore the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. The story developments are surprising at times but work well in her original treatment. The famous kiss which appears in the most popular versions of the tale is presented here with a new twist. The characters are charming and quirky. I was sorry when the book reached its conclusion and Rosie's story ended. McKinley has returned to the lighter touch evident in "Beauty" so this book can be recommended to readers of all ages. Books from McKinley are often years in the waiting for her fans. This book was well worth the wait. For a completely different treatment of the same tale, I also recommend Jane Yolen's "Briar Rose."
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Summary: Charming to the last digression.
Review: This is Robin McKinley's take on one our favorite tales, "Sleeping Beauty". Rosie, McKinley's Princess, is as far from the original character as we have come to expect. While Rosie possesses beautiful golden curls, it is considered so ill-fitting that she cuts them all off into a bob! But I digress... This book is charming, and even more so the characters in it. The characters have volume, and in spite of its enchanted setting, readers could identify with Rosie's frustrations; the fairies' fears; the blacksmith's unimposing nature; even the innocence of the animals. While one could say that digressions in the storytelling often occur (and in great lengths too), they are forgivable and maybe even endearing. I dare say that much of the length of this book has to do with digressions, but I suppose I consider that to be part of the charm. Fortunately, all these side-tales are important to the overall outcome of the book. It just takes some time to realize that, is all. The entire tale is fresh and different and exquisite that this will be my favorite retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" for quite some time. However, I do think that the last part--when the battle between the witch and our protagonists happens--is a little dragging (to put it mildly. Boring, to tell you the brutal truth). Robin McKinley's weakest point has always been battle scenes, which is why her short, precise and almost evasive treatment of it in her adventure books ("The Blue Sword" and "The Hero and the Crown") worked so much better. I always found Robin McKinley's books extremely well-written. I didn't feel particularly impressed by her version of "Robin Hood" or even her take on "Beauty and the Beast" but there's something that just draws me to her work. I would recommend "Spindle's End" if you don't mind being bombarded by seemingly unrelated side-tales. I would recommend "Spindle's End" if you want to be surprised by its "Fairy Tale, yet not quite" ending. I would recommend "Spindle's End" if you're tired of the usual fairy tale princesses.
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Summary: Have we met...?
Review: I intended to like this book from the moment I heard it was coming out. I suppose I'm somewhat dense, since my sister had to realize that the title "Spindle's End" probably had to do with one of our favorite fairy tales, Sleeping Beauty. Now that I've read it, I can't say I'm disappointed, exactly....But for being a new story, it seemed vaguely familiar. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it immensely. The reading was enjoyable, the plot suspenseful. There were funny and sad moments, and the new, somewhat conversational tone of "voice" McKinley uses is quite wonderful. (If you notice, since she's been in England, her expressions and spelling have become decidedly more British.) As always, her plotting and pacing are superb, and her nods to other novels and stories brought a smile to my face. It took me a while to realize why such a satisfying story left me feeling...vaguely DISsatsified; I think it's because it was a little too familiar. All of you reading this should know by now that this is based on Sleeping Beauty, so I won't bore you with plot details. The main character, Rosie, was lovelable and suitably un-princesslike; but then, so was Harry (of "The Blue Sword"), Beauty of "Rose Daughter," and especially Aerin (of "The Hero and the Crown"). I don't object in the least to having a strong female protagonist -- indeed, that's partly why I love McKinley's books. But in this case, I felt always a little distant from Rosie, possibly because we don't get her viewpoint until halfway through the book (but not even at a chapter break, which was one of the occasionally awkward viewpoint shifts). (Incidentally, I also felt that for as long as we had Katriona's viewpoint, we never really got to know her.) I kept being reminded of other heroines; although, to be fair, I've read so much in this genre that it's not McKinley's fault if I make associations with other authors' books (namely Tamora Pierce's "Wild Magic" quartet). The writing was sufficiently different from and like "Rose Daughter" to keep me interested, but the search for answers magical was almost the same, as if these two books were less about the characters than about the magic. Again, it's not McKinley's fault if she wrote about magic and I wanted to read about characters. Fortunately, McKinley never resorted to withholding information from the reader which the viewpoint character knew; and yet, in this case, it felt a little distancing, because when we were thinking with Rosie, we as readers knew that Katriona knew something that Rosie didn't, and we who had just been in Kat's mind wanted to know, too. I agree with the other reviewer who said that her human characters were not as quickly distinguishable as her animal ones, and some characters never got to be a real person. How much can you tell me, for all that we met them, about Aunt, Narl, Peony? At least the romance in the second half of the book was suspenseful and subtle. As for further familiarities, Rosie's first confrontation with Pernicia, in the purple-skied plain, seemed at first to be lifted directly from "Hero" and Aerin's search for Agsdad (? -- my memory fails me), an (unintentional?) allusion which made visualizing this scene more difficult. Yet, overall, McKinley's take on the story was as unique as it could be and still be Sleeping Beauty. What this book really deserves is another, more thorough, reading, and I am sure that the characters will stand out more in my mind. Take this review with a grain of salt, since no writer can please every reader all the time, and before now, I had never been disappointed with McKinley's writing at all. After my second or third read, I will be able to distinguish this country and Rosie's scenes from the others, and I will eventually read books that will remind me of this one. (But that doesn't stop me from wanting another Damar book....) :-)
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: This book is one step away from becoming a masterpiece. While highly entertaining and inventive, there are parts that drag. And the conclusion is so thick with description that it's hard to keep track of just what is going on with the castle. Still, it's a delicious twist on Sleeping Beauty, with a likeable heroine. The characters are well done, though they're outclassed by the animals. And the central theme--of making our own choices despite prophecies, is magnificently done. It's not a book I could read over and over again, but it's still a great book definitely worth reading.
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