The Hero and the Crown

Rating:
Summary: One of the best...
Review: I have read every kind of fantasy novel from Eddings to Jordan. This book is my favorite. I love reading it today just as much as the first time I read it when I was tweleve. In fact, I just ordered a new copy because my old one is worn out. I cannot praise this book enough.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting fantasy with realistic characters
Review: The Hero and the Crown was a wonderful book. All the characters were well formed. I could relate to everything, like Aerin's experiences with Galanna. I think we have all had Galannas in our lives. Her quest was suspenseful and exciting, and so were her loves. I have to say, though, that I found her ability to put away her love for Luthe and live with Tor amazing. Still, I can relate to her being in love with two people at once. I also admired the way she handled her immortality, which was a big shocker to her. This was one of the best fantasy books I have ever read.

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Summary: Tor and Luth are way cool!!!
Review: I love everything about this book! Especially about the bit of romance in it. You'd think and wish YOU were Arien. Tor is one of my faves no matter what [e-mail] thinks. Sometimes I wish more guys would be like him. I also think that Luth is cool.

Rating:
Summary: one of the best novels i have ever read
Review: I first boought "The Hero and the Crown" when I was 11, and I never finished reading it. But last week I finally started to read it again and I could not put it down. I saw so much of myself in Aerin, and I only wish that I could become more like her. She went from being an unwannted first sol who was insulted by being called the witchwoman's daughter to being a beloved Queen of Damar. What more can a person ask for? I cried when she left Luthe for the second time, and I felt the pain Aerin felt. This is definitely a book I will cherish and re-read for years to come.

Rating:
Summary: Almost too good to put into words
Review: Robin McKinley is the the kind of author you only find once in a life time. The Hero and the Crown is the same. My homeroom teacher recommended this book to me last year(I was twelve). I started reading that night. The next day my school had a feild trip and I read it on the bus. Now, being able to read while your surrounded by incredibly hyper teenagers just goes to tell you how engrossing this book is. When I went to the bookstore to get another book my teacher suggested, I came across this one again and bought it. I must have re-read the thing through at least four times in this last year, and re-read just parts of more times I can count. I've gotten every one of Robin McKinley's books that I've come across since I read this one, and not one is dissapointing in the slightest. Her charachters are amazing and you can't put the book down. Not to mention the trouble you have getting it out of your head; the impossible standards it sets for other authors; and the frustration it causes when your finisheed reading. I don't think threre was a thing wrong with this book. And if the teacher who suggested this to me would just happen to be reading these reveiws, THANK YOU!

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Summary: The Book I live by.... really! The very best!
Review: As you can maybe see from my email address, I am really into this book. I read it for the first time in 6th grade (1986) and have read it one, two, or even three times a year since. Even my non-reading mom knows the first line of the book--"She could not remember a time when she had not known the story; she had grown up knowing it." For young tomboys like me this was not only a validation of our yearnings for boyish glory, but also a reassurance that love comes even to those who do not, like Galanna, spend hours and hours on appearance and make man-catching Priority #1. I am adopted, and have fantasized more than once that maybe Robin McKinley is a long-lost relative, she seems to understand me so well.... This also is a reason this book was so powerful to me-- I REALLY know the feeling of being the outsider in a loving family. Finally, there is Talat. Some love Tor, some love Luthe. Myself, give me Talat and the open meadows and I'll never ask for another thing as long as I live. He is everything a horse-lover could ever dream up and more, and is portrayed so realistically ("slobbered purple and green down her tunic"...what a horse thing to do!) that one knows Robin McKinley owns horses. Who else would know this?! For those of you who have muddled through this much of my review (more like a rave or even rant) I have only five more words to say to you, and if you act on them you won't regret it: YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!

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Summary: Mckinily has done it.... created the ultimite series.
Review: It's like a cake... The fantasy makes the cake, the way you're thrown into the story is the frosting, and the sprinkles are a touch of romance. I do agree with the below reader, that Luthe would have made a better match than Tor. But she wrote the Blue Sword, where she mentioned the marraiage of Aerin and Tor, BEFORE she wrote this book, so she couldn't really help it. But man, it tore at my heart when she left Luthe. I wonder if Aerin never really died, and when Tor died, she left her position as Queen to join Luthe in his forest haven... now that's something to think about.

Rating:
Summary: I love Luthe
Review: I love Luthe. Sigh. I read this book such a long time ago, probably when I was 11 or so. I didn't like Aerin but i did like her name, and I did like her with Luthe but not with Tor, though I like both Luthe & Tor (Though I like Luthe better). Anyway, I just reread the book now that i am 18 and i like Aerin better now too. And I still like her better with Luthe.

I read Robin McKinley's other book, Deerskin, a few days ago, and i was struck by the books' parallels. I tried to read The Blue Sword once but i wasn't too into the main character so i stopped. but i think i'll try again soon.

The Hero and the Crown is a really good book, especially if you're young and dreaming of dragons and magic. I love Luthe. I think he is like, my ideal. Anyway, I'm only giving this book 4 stars though because I find the story is...odd sometimes. Like i didn't notice it when i was younger, but now that i'm older and more well-read, i do find it a bit choppier of a sort...like it's not exactly the perfect story. But I still love Luthe, and it's still an awesome read.

Sorry if my review sounds so muddled. it's late and i'm tired...

Rating:
Summary: I want to live in Aerin's world.
Review: I noticed that most of the reviewers seem to be fairly young. I am an old lady of 34 and I still enjoyed it! Along with the Blue Sword, it is one of my favorite books ever.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely amazing
Review: I have read a great deal in my life, but Robin McKinley is my favorite author, and this is one of her best books.

As usual, I appreciated McKinley's excellent character sketches the most. Aerin is a hero, but she is believable. She has fears, she has weaknesses, she doesn't always make the right choices, but in the end her strengths win out over her weaknesses. I especially appreciated this after having read "The Blue Sword" and then having come back to this book. In "The Blue Sword" Aerin is merely a distant hero, almost like a goddess. In this book you learn that she was a real, approachable woman. Her shyness, eventually overcome for the good of others because she couldn't let them down no matter what they thought of her, made her easy to relate to. I also appreciated the characterizations of Tor and Luthe, and the ways in which McKinley showed Aerin "growing up" and moving beyond mortality (and hence in a way outgrowing Tor, although she still cared for him fiercely). I ached when I read the ending, imagining what it must have been like for Aerin, Tor, and Luthe.

The only fault that I could find that seriously bothered me was that the triumph over the enemy (involving the crown; I won't say any more) was accomplished too easily. The book was leading up to a large climax, and then he was killed in only a chapter or so. However, everything else was great. Many people have mentioned a sense of darkness that the book held; I didn't see any of that. It wasn't all happiness and light, but it focused more on the positive and on Aerin triumphing against enormous odds, partly because of her own inner strength and partly because of outside help. It showed fighting and battle realistically, with pains and aching and tiredness instead of just flashing swords. I have read this book more than once already and am looking forward to continuing to read it.