The Blue SwordReview posted May 24, 2025
Recorded Books, 1992. 12 hours, 16 minutes.
Review written May 13, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Earlier review written July 2002
Starred Review
2002 Sonderbooks Stand-out: #1 Young Adult and Children's Fantasy Rereads
2009 Sonderbooks Stand-out: Wonderful Rereads
1983 Newbery Honor Book
(I'm writing new reviews for the books that had reviews in the old not-phone-friendly format, and that don't have a blog post. After 2005 in my #Sonderbooks25 celebrations, I may just add to or repost the original reviews.)
I'm cheating just a little bit in my #Sonderbooks25 plan, celebrating 25 years of writing Sonderbooks. My plan was to choose *one* book from each year's Sonderbooks Stand-outs and reread them. Having reread this book in 2010, for my 2001 choice, I picked Gillian Bradshaw's The Sand-Reckoner to reread - but then my eaudiobook holds queue was filled up, and I found an available copy of this book - and I simply had to try it in audiobook form.
And yes, I still absolutely love the story. Horses! Magic! Slow-burn Romance! (And, okay, I'm afraid it's apparent I like books where the heroine gets abducted by a king - an honorable king with good reasons for it.)
I'm afraid I didn't like the narrator. (But I love the book so much, I listened anyway.) She reads it with a motherly voice as one talking about children, rather than as the young adult teenage girl our main character Harry Crewe is. I also wish they'd used a narrator with a British accent, since the "Homeland" of the story mimics British imperialism, in a fantasy world setting. What would the British have done if the "natives" had magic? You find out in this book.
Speaking of that, the use of the word "native" and the attitude toward them stung my ears a little, reading in 2025 - but it is reflective of the time it was imitating - and Harry definitely learns there's a deep and rich culture - and magic - among the Hillfolk.
Listening to it now from a writer's perspective, I hadn't noticed before how often Robin McKinley flits into other people's thoughts. It works in this case, as she shows King Corlath's worries that he has done a cruel thing by kidnapping Harry and perplexity as to why his magic had him do that. She shows us both of their thoughts hovering around the other - both slow to realize they're falling in love. But it's a testament to how much I love the story that this perspective-jumping (other characters, too) doesn't bring it down.
For decades now, I've said that The Blue Sword and The Blue Castle are my two favorite books, and that still may be true, though if pressed, I know by now I'd come up with a dozen more titles on any given day. But I do know this: revisiting the story was an absolute delight. And yes, this will always be a book I will highly recommend.