Rating: 
Summary: Bland heroine in a Well-crafted setting
Review: After hearing wonderful things about this book for years, I finally picked it up to read. The main character of the story, Harry, is an orphaned girl sent to live with Lord Charles and Lady Amelia in the desert of Damar, a land currently occupied by Outlanders. There, she idles away her days as a member of society similar to Victorian British occupation. And while she can't sleep at night for boredom, she slowly grows to love the desert, a land viewed as a hostile place by most other Outlanders. Things change when the Corlath, the frightening Hill King and a committee of his Riders, arrive at Lord Charles's seeking an alliance with the Outlanders against the Northerners. The Northerners are on the move into Damar with a massive army, yet the meeting erupts into a cultural clash and Corlath and his Riders storm out angrily, intending to return to their Hills. Yet Corlath is haunted by a single glimpse that he had of Harry, and for reasons he doesn't even know himself, he kidnaps her a few nights later to bring her back to his Hills. What follows is the tale of how Harry is quickly assimilated into Hill culture, learning the language and customs and trained in the art of combat until she is made one of the King's Riders. Harry quickly becomes Harimad-sol by dazzling the Hill-people with her skill and ability to wield the Blue Sword -- something no one has been able to do since Lady Aerin's time. Throughout this process, the kelar, or magical gift, within her gradually awakens. McKinley does a flawless job describing the fascinating Hill culture and the nuances of their language. The cultural clash between the Hill People and the encroaching Outlander occupation feels very real, as does the growing threat of the not-quite-human Northern army. Harry's animal companions Sungold and Narknon also take on personalities of their own, showing McKinley's talent with bringing animals to life. The real flaw of the book, I feel, is that things come to Harry too easily. It only takes her six weeks of training to become the best novice warrior in all the Hills. Her companions are more followers than friends. The way she resolves the conflict with the Northerners in the end is pretty melodramatic, not to mention alticlimatic. Harry acknowledges this herself with a little disbelief, which I think is McKinley's way of trying to get the heroine to deal, on a more human scale, of her ability to do superhuman things. Even when her teacher is mortally wounded in battle -- Surprise! There is a little of Harry's quick-fix magic to heal him. She experiences no real losses in the story that would make her more real to the reader, and I found I couldn't sympathize with her obstacles, accomplishments, and joys. The only truly interesting character in the book to me was the wildcat Narknon.
Rating: 
Summary: excellent book
Review: This is, I believe, Robin McKinley's best book. I've read it several times and have enjoyed it each time. Harry is an amazing character and sometimes seems beyond belief. Although she is kidnapped for a reason unknown to her, she never questions Corlath, the king who took her from her room in the Homelander outpost, about it. Her reaction does not, however, seem out of place. The magic that made Corlath take Harry from the outpost is guiding her as well, and in about 8 months she goes from being a somewhat restless girl with nothing to do but attend parties and ride her pony to being a warrior capable of commanding the loyalty of an army. Through Harry, the author does an intensive exploration of the Free Hillfolk culture. There are details about the food, the language, the way they ride their horses, and more. It doesn't feel overdone at all. There are a few parts of the book that are from Corlath's point of view, but mos of it is from Harry's. It makes Corlath even more of an interesting character because you find out just enough about what he thinks of the situation (especially the kidnapping) that you don't end up hating him, but not enough for him to become as familiar as Harry. The magic in this book was fascinating, because it's more of a curse that anything. No one who can use it has much control over it, beyond keeping it from incinerating others on accident; it most useful in battle, but it seems to have a mind of its own. In most books that have magic in them, magic is something you work to gain control over, and it tends to be useful for a lot of things. Reading this book was very refreshing. The magic users can't use their magic to solve every problem.
Rating: 
Summary: The Blue Sword
Review: Imagine first being a happy young girl, content with your quiet life in her home country along with your family; your mother, father, and your brother Richard. Then imagine reaching a certain age and having your only companion, your brother, abruptly taken away to military school. Following this, you're forced to take on a much more sheltered lifestyle. Before you know it, you become and orphan and are shipped out penniless to the continent of Daria, a mysterious place which your now distant brother is stationed on. With all of this, you could assume this wouldn't be a pleasant experience, but this is the intriguing tale of the young lady Harry in the book The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley, which left me with feelings of triumph and really made me cheer on the characters. I felt intrigued and had feelings of triumph by the way the true attitude of harry slowly progresses in showing her true strength, but she never loses her original care for others. In the first few chapters, Harry seems timid and seem dependent on others. By the end of the book, Harry is withholding the flank of the King of the Damarians against thousands of Northlander savages. She puts an end to the relentless attack when she unlocks the power of her kelar, or magic power, to cause the surrounding mountains to crumble, crushing the Northlander forces. Despite her growing separation between her original people and country, she maintains her deep connections with her friends and family. This specific developments is shown all throughout the book, but a clear moment of this is between she and her brother, who both had grown apart over the long years. While desperately trying to outlast the invaders, Richard arrives on the field. As the Northeners close in, she and her brother have a moment of redsicovering the once close connection they had as children. With her recent abduction, Richard expresses his feelings, and has the courage to say what he couldn't before, this being that they are both of Damarian descent, when she first arrived in Daria. This shows that despite all that is happening around her at the current time, she never forgets those she loves. This is an example that shows how the author made Harry unique through the development of her character, but made it so that she never lost sight of her origins. While I did feel triumph for Harry in all her exploist, another event that is a good example is her training to become one of the King's Riders. During this six week long period she starts out as a woman knowing nothing of war, and she goes through a great many hardships to achieve her goal. I felt triumph especially in this chapter when she was sparring with Mathin, her trainer in war. During this she succeeds in knocking Mathin down, a long time experienced warrior. This is a crucial point when she first begins to tap into her kelar powers. I couldn't help but feel great for Harry when she took her first leap at finding her true niche in life. In conclusion, I would normally declare a book worthwile when I feel emotion from the events of the story, and the achievements of Harry did exactly that by making me feel triumph for them. I also particularly liked this book because of Harry's unique development throughout the story, and never forgot the ones she loved.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!!! WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT SUCH A GREAT BOOK?!?!?
Review: This was an amazing book. It's way up there in my top ten! The plot, story, characters seem to come alive as you turn the pages in this book. My friend and I first came found this book in a book recommending books for teens. At first I looked at the cover and thought, I don't want to read this, it's probably some corny fantasy. I'm glad I did read it. Harry, an awkward girl, longing for something, some adventure away from her boring life after her father's death, finds herself kidnapped. This book brings her through trials and tribulations, adapting to a new way of life, discovering parts of herself she never realized were there before. After I finished this book, which I reluctently put down.( I even read slower so I wouldn't finish to soon ) I starting reading 'Hero and the Crown'. ( The book that first recommended these books said that 'The Blue Sword' should be read first, I agree.) I didn't want to start the Hero and the Crown. ! I wanted to read more about those characters and that time period, but now that I've read both, I think I liked 'Hero and the Crown' more. Robin McKinley is a great writer, amazing... I thank her for this book and to anyone who reads the review, I highly recommend these books.
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting, Heroic, Magical
Review: The first time I picked up this riveting piece of fiction, I was automatically hooked. I normally read rather fast, but for this book, "The Blue Sword", I forced myself to slow down! The very beginning of Robin's book was kind of befuddling to me, but once you're past that you can't put it down. Like probably all naive teens, I would sometimes wish that I could escape away into Damar, living the romantic life of Harry (especially when I was feeling down). I normally read this fantastic, enjoyable novel at least once a year. To all fantasy fans(and Robin McKinley fans), I strongly recommend this wonderful story to most ages( above 6th grade. Just an advisory) Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Book
Review: This is one of the best books i have ever read, and i've read a lot. It nearly ranks with The Lord of the Rings, and its the greatest book ever written.
Harry Crewe is a normal girl who has to move from her Homeland (remarkably like England) to her brother's outpost when her parents die. She's bored, sitting around Lord Charles and Lady Amelia's (who pretty much adopted her) house, and riding horses with her airheaded friends Beth and Cassie Peterson. Then one day, everything changes. The king of the Free Hillfolk, Corlath, rides in, asking Lord Charles for help against the demon Northeners. Charles refuses, and Corlath gets mad and storms out. But his kelar (magic) "tells" him to kidnap Harry, which he does. Harry at first has a hard time fitting in with the Hillfolk, and Corlath (who i think of as being really hot)gives Harry a awesome horse named Tsornin (Sungold), and sets one of his riders to teach her to fight, because she has a lot of kelar too. It's really cool when Harry gets mad in training and knocks Mathin (the Rider) off his horse. (and to the person who said that its dumb the way Harry learns so fast, they should re-read the book: her kelar makes her so able to learn! Wake up and use your brain!) Then she wins the laprun trials, the trials of the untried warriors, and Corlath makes her a Rider and gives her the Blue Sword, Gonturan. After she meets Luthe (whom readers of The Hero and the Crown will recognize), she gets in a big arguement with Corlath, and rides of with her friends Senay and Terim, and along with some soldiers from the Homelander fort and some archers, she holds off the leader of the Northeners, and along with Gonturan, Aerin and Corlath's help, defeats the Northeners. Of course, she and Corlath get married, and the book is actually quite romantic :-) this book is great, and i recommend it to EVERYONE who like romance and/or magic.
Rating:
Summary: Review of a Great Book
Review: A Review by Tara The book follows the adventures and awakening of Harry Crewe, a girl with past even stranger than her name. Taken from her boring life in a desert manor by the wild Hillfolk, she awakens to her past and a strange 'gift' only found in native Hillfolk. Upon visions of a great battle, she is taken into the desert for training for an epic battle to come' This was an excellent book. I've no complaints, save that it got a bit slow in the middle as the party was journeying towards the battle. The male characters were definitely well developed. For example, the writer delves into a bit of Corlath's (a supporting character) history and his struggles with his 'gift'. The way that it was written virtually painted a whole new world in front of the reader's eyes, yet leaving just enough familiarity as to not leave one feeling alienated. For example, they live on a completely different world, but still have trains, radios, and etcetera. The writer did a very good job with this. I recommend this book to a slightly older audience because of large words and perhaps concepts the younger readers might not understand. I think generally around the high school level would be a age range. People who like epics, such as Lord of the rings or Dune would most likely enjoy this book as well as those simply looking for an involved adventure. Having both male and female main characters makes this book desirable to both genders. Over all a great book. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: Good Young Adult Fare
Review: Once again, McKinley spins a nice story with a fairy tale feel, a strong but not perfect heroine, and the usual Good Conquers All ending. Nice, engaging young adult fare (I borrowed the book from my kidlet, in fact). If you haven't read McKinley before, buy The Hero and the Crown as well and read them back to back.
Rating:
Summary: Magic, Mystery, and Adventure
Review: The Blue Sword brings to life, the sense of wanting and desire. In this great tale of of insightful adventure, nothing is ever what it might seem. Harry Crewe lived a normal life in what could only be paradise. But all that changed when she found herself in the middle of nowhere with her brother Richard. After being abducted in the middle of the night by Corlath the last King of Damar, Harry must find a way to fit in her new suroundings. Harry, while training to be a Damar warrior or King's Rider, learns more about the Hillfolk's culture and discovers startling secrets about her own past. Caught between feuding armies in an age old battle that could determine the fate of whether humans or demons would rule the last habital paradise in Damar, Harry must bring together the Homelanders and the last of the free Hillfolk to stop the monsterous invasion. I felt a sense of yearning to place myself in this epic story. Even though the story started out slow, I was more than glad to finish what I was reading. Robin McKinley is a great author that describes in great detail what is going on so that you feel like a part of story. I recommend if you start to read this book that you continue on through to the end. You will not be disappointed in this book.
Rating:
Summary: This is a great book!!
Review: I have just started reading this book about 3 or 4 days ago, and I'm at page 40 something. But so far this book is great!!
I would suggest this book to anybody that has an intrest into Medi-Evil books!! Anybody, really, would like this book!! I give this book 4 stars!
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