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hedyharper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Blood, Death, Death of parent, and Misogyny
clevermird's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
The Blue Sword follows Angharad "Harry" Crewe, an orphaned young woman staying at a remote desert military outpost. When Corlath, the king of a neighboring nation, arrives for a diplomatic conference, the magic inherent in his people tells him that she has a roll to play in the fate of his country. Willing or no, Harry finds herself in a strange land filled with danger and adventure in equal portions.
This story is a very classic "fantasy adventure" setup. There's the young audience-surrogate outsider with a destiny, the wise older mentor, the magic sword and the evil demon army bearing down. The worldbuilding is fairly basic, but enjoyably written, same with the characters. As is typical of a McKinley work, horses feature prominently (something my 11-year-old self appreciated greatly and still does to a lesser extent) and the book includes gorgeous, tactile descriptions that set the scene perfectly.
As is also typical, the book struggles a bit with pacing, taking a long time to get going and then rushing the finale. Harry adjusts to her new life and picks up warrior skills a bit too fast to suspend disbelief and the ending borders on deus ex machina.
But nonetheless, I just really like this book. Maybe it's the winsome writing style. Maybe it's the lack of pretentiousness, the willingness to embrace tropes without the need to snark at them that can sometimes permeate newer fantasy novels. Or maybe it's just nostalgia. In any case, the rating reflects my feelings about the book's actual quality, but I highly urge checking it out - like me, you might find more than the sum of its parts.
Moderate: War, Colonisation, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Drug use, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Death, and Death of parent
isabelmary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This is 80s fantasy and you can absolutely tell. Huge Chosen One tropes with a smattering of white saviour for spice. The villain / evil is extraordinarily undeveloped and hand-wavey, as is the magic and the nature of the Chosen One vibe. Once you get into the Chosen One swing of things you never really doubt that Harry will succeed at most challenges, so the stakes never feel super high. All of these are (perhaps rightly) unfashionable and critiqued today.
So this book won’t be for everyone, or even every fantasy fan. For me though, the prose was lovely, the pacing though steady was on point, the romance was subtle but enjoyable, the small cast of secondary characters (shoutout Mathin shoutout Sungold) made me care, and the world building gave me enough detail to feel immersed and interested. Mystery and curiosity sustained the first half of the novel. All in all, it was a supremely comforting book, and the well-worness of its plot beats only made it more so. Not groundbreaking by any means but what it set out to do was accomplished with absolute excellence.
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Colonisation and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent
aconfundityofcrows's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Kidnapping, Blood, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Violence, and Racism
Minor: Death of parent and Death
f18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, War, Violence, Drug use, and Blood
Minor: Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury