Spindle's End is the first book I've read by Robin McKinley since Deerskin. I prefer it to Deerskin, but I also prefer The Blue Sword to Spindle's End. Like Deerskin, Spindle's End is the retelling of a fairy tale. This time around, it's about Sleeping Beauty.

McKinley takes all sorts of liberties with the tale. All the main elements are there: a beautiful princess, an evil fairy, a handsome prince, good fairies, magical sleep, and an enchanted castle blocked by thorns. However, that's about where the similarities end.

At the onset, I thought the main plot twist would be the homosexuality of the princess, but it just didn't shape up that way despite the hints of tribadic inclinations. Nonetheless, the ending isn't as straight as traditional tellings of the tale would have it.

I liked the cute little references to other stories and folktales, such as King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, Christianity, and Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword.

Plenty of talking animals show up, but this isn't gratuitous anthropomorphics. It all fits in with a vital plot element: magical abilities possessed by someone who should have none.

The book is slow to start (the first chapter or so is mostly scenery), but takes off when the evil fairy Pernicia makes her appearance. That's when the action begins, and the characters become more engaging. Near the end, I had a difficult time understanding what was going on, but at least the characters in the book seem to know what they were doing....

I have long been a fan of Robin McKinley's books, and was prepared to love it. But it just did not grab me the way Hero/Blue Sword/Deerskin did.

The character development of humans was lighter in detail than in any of her previous books. I felt how everyone feared Pernicia, but never understood why. And I had no idea how she, a mere fairy, made up a searching spell that lasted over 20 years (which shouldn't be possible), a fact the book alludes to but never explains. The story also has a tremendous number of characters both human and animal. Somehow with a few succinct lines, each animal's personality shines through. This makes the contrast with the humans even more apparent. I didn't feel I knew Narl, Aunt, Ikor, Rowland or Peony.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book as it is true to McKinley's style. It is a great new spin on a familiar tale. For that I can say that definitely rates 4 stars! But I know that McKinley is capable of more....and I hope she gives us another book on Damar.

If you've read McKinley's Beauty, than you're already familiar with her ability to create the most wonderful characters with her lyrical prose. As in Beauty, the heroine in Spindle's End is a completely drawn character whose courage, intelligence, kindness and humor deviate from the stereotypical pretty princess with nothing to do but be rescued. The story is magical, the supporting characters (especially the wonderful animals) make you wish you knew them yourself and the plot keeps you engrossed throughout the novel. McKinley has an amazing talent to take what is old and make it fresh without abadoning the traditional tale entirely. Unlike Deerskin (which is another fabulous and somewhat misunderstood McKinley piece,) Spindle's End can be enjoyed by all ages. Her writing is colorful and inventive without being wordy or dense. The author's spin on the wake-up kiss and the happily-ever after-ending may not be standard, but they are satisfying. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Parents - read it with your child...you'll both enjoy it (and you can help them out with some of the bigger words.) If you enjoy Jane Yolen or Patricia McKillip, you'll definitely like McKinley.

As I started reading this book I was afraid I wouldn't like it at all. Fortunately, the four stories are arranged in ascending order-from worst to best, so by the time I finished I had a rather favorable impression.

The book starts off with an original tale by McKinley. Starting with the preface, this tale was difficult to break into. I was glad when a plot finally appeared, but by the end I was almost heart-broken by McKinley's description of Faerieland. It is interesting as an alternative viewpoint, but I certainly don't want it to be that way!

The other original McKinley tale, "The Hunting of the Hind," I enjoyed much, much more. I could feel sympathetic for the characters and some of the magical elements were particularly lovely.

McKinley also retells "The Princess and the Frog" and "The Twelve Dancing Princesses." She brings out the darker side of each of these tales, which left me shivering at the end, rather than glowing with the usual happy fairy tale feeling. To many (although not to me) this dark side may be preferable, and one certainly can't deny McKinley's talent for creating atmosphere in her writing. Thus, the book earns three stars and my recommendation to those who love the darker side of fantasy.

The Door in the Hedge is a wonderful (and wonder full) collection of fairy tales, most old, two new. Ms. McKinley brings her incredible gift of "purple poesy" to play here, creating rich characters and landscapes. Although readers who prefer linear, action-packed, base language stories may not care for this latest offering of High Traditional Fantasy, those who came to love the genre because of Grimms, Anderson, Perrault, and McDonald will definitely want to add The Door in the Hedge to their collections!

This book reminds me of what fairy tales used to be: magical. No more gender roles, psychological undertones and hidden messages, these stories are all wonderful and pure. McKinley's writing is luminous, her retellings a fresh drawing of the old tales with unexpected depth and candor. Her original stories are compelling and speak directly to the reader, making them a part of her story. She makes her heroes and heroines far more human than any two-dementional Disney-generation character. Each story is almost a novel in itself, giving complete insight into the minds and hearts of the characters, sweeping away the reader into a world of color and light. Warning--this book is not for anyone lacking in imagination, it draws as much out of the reader as it gives to them, and is not for the cowardly.

McKinley's book, "Beauty", ranks as one of my top ten favorite books, so when I heard that she had written another book on the same topic, I thought, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" I decided to read it anyway and was I glad I did! Although it didn't grab my attention at first (those Pilgrim's Progress-type names threw me off and I kept comparing it to "Beauty"), it gradually sucked me in, and by the end, I was rooting for Beauty to stay with the Beast. I didn't care for certain characters (Master Jack, as one example) and was confused by the differing accounts of the curse/legend/story attached to the Rose Cottage, but overall, I enjoyed it. It did not have the dark, almost evil, overtones of McKinley's "Deerskin", which I was half-expecting, since other reviews have compared it to Donna Jo Napoli's "Zel", but it did have a few. I still like "Beauty" better, but it was well worth the read and I will now be buying my own copy for periodic rereading. However, I recommend to all readers that they find a copy of "Beauty" and read it, too, if they never have. Read them both!

This book in my opinion was great, but not what I expected. This was the 4th Mckinley book I read (Spindle's End, The Hero and the Crown, and the Blue Sword) and I was surprised at how frail this heroine was. There was no real adventure in this book and only a few places to go. The author however, has done a wonderful job of retelling what I always thought was a boring fairy tale. Compared to her earlier book, Beauty, this book was unusually dull. Beauty and Rose Daughter both have a lot of the same details. I think Robin should have cut the length of this book for reading some of it was a real drag. But the interesting parts were capturing. I especially loved the ending because it isn't the one you expected and not one you are happy with but makes the book less of a fairy tale. Read it.

I, like other McKinley fans of long standing, felt many trepidations about reading this new telling of the story of Beauty and the Beast. McKinley's first version (Beauty) has been a favorite of mine for years and I wasn't sure if I was ready to risk not liking one of her books or, worse yet, damaging my long-held wonder for this gorgeous fairy tale. I agonized for a bit and decided to risk it. Then I read it in one day. True, it lacks some of the fantasy-come-true elements of Beauty and some of McKinley's earlier books, but what it has instead is a realism that is utterly captivating. It is truly the work of a refined intellect, and one can clearly see the beautiful maturity of the author revealed in this book.

Everyone will of course compare this book with Beauty (I do, myself), but they are unlike in the way that wildflowers and roses are unlike. Each has spectacular lovliness, but where the wildflower is untamed beauty, the rose is cultivated, perhaps more deeply wondrous.

Which do I prefer? Both, of course.

McKinley's "The Blue Sword" is one of my favorite books, and I've read almost all her other works, some of which I liked, some of which didn't excite my interest. On a whim, I decided to give this one a try.

The first four short stories in this collection are set in Damar, the same world as "The Hero and the Crown" and "The Blue Sword" -- Luthe even makes an appearance in a couple of the stories. However, they are for the most part nothing special. The best story in this collection is the title story, which is set in modern times. Even though it's well-written and has the quietly magical feeling that McKinley conveys so well, somehow it doesn't really quite capture the heart in the way her best work does.

Overall, I'd give this book a so-so review. If you're a fan of Damar and McKinley, borrow it from the library and read it, but it's not worth purchasing.

I'm not sure what it was about these stories. I love Robin Mickinley stuff, and I've read practically everything she's ever written, and loved it! But these stories were obscure, and even though there was nothing that was very sad about each one they were just depressing. Each story left me feeling that there must have been something more to it. I was dissapointed.

This is a short story collection containing five stories: The Healer, The Stagman, Touk's House, Buttercups, and A Knot in the Grain. The first four stories are set in McKinley's Damar universe, the first three even feature Luthe. The last is a departure for her because it is set in modern times and doesn't have a very large fantasy element.

The Healer, is the story of a girl named Lilly who has the power to heal but is also mute. She meets a mage who can hear her telepathically and they set off on a journey to restore Lilly's speech. This is a fairly strong story and a great pick to start the book with. The characters are fleshed out well and the love story was enjoyable.

The Stagman, is about a princess named Ruen who is left, by her greedy uncle, as a sacrifice to a human/stag hybrid. Is the Stagman really as bad as people think he is? This is probably my favorite story in the collection. I liked all the characters and the plot was very interesting. It would have worked much better as a novel though. By the time the story was over there were still far to many unanswered questions.

Touk's House, is the story of a girl named Erana who was raised by a witch. As she grows up, she befriends and eventually falls in love with the witch's troll son. This is a fairly decent story. The plot is really interesting but it would have been much better if the characters had been developed a bit more.

Buttercups, is the story of a old farmer named Pos who marries a young girl named Coral. Pos loves his wife very much but has doubts about her affection for him because she spends too much time on buttercup hill. This is a cute story but it's, unfortunately, very boring.

A Knot in the Grain, is about a teenage girl named Annabelle who is forced to move away and leave behind her entire life. She finds little comfort in her new house but one day she discovers a secret compartment in her new bedroom. It was a great idea to make this the last in the collection because the tone is very different from the others. It's not a love story and it's not even really a fantasy story. What makes this story special is how authentic Annabelle's character is. McKinley captures the emotion that goes along with moving to a new place very well.

I'd recommend this book to people who are already fans of McKinley's work. You don't really need to be familiar with the Damar series to enjoy the stories but it certainly helps. I also feel that McKinley is better suited to longer stories. If you are looking to get into McKinley's work it'd be a good idea to start with Beauty or one of the Damar books.

Imaginary Lands is a collection of Fantasy stories . I think that it was a dull book, the sentence fluency was choppy and some of the words used I couldn't understand at all. I only read three stories which were kind of interesting, the first one that I read was about a man named Arram who helps an old woman see the inner beauty in herself with magic. I thought it was a nice story but there was too much information that was a waste of time to read and had no relation to the story line. The next story was a little better, it was Evian Steel. Evian Steel was about a girl named Elaine who is sent to become a magic sword forger and is befriended by a girl named Veree who is about to make her first sword. Veree knows a secret about the sword that Elaine hasn't learned yet, Veree has to cut herself and make her vein bleed into a basin, the blood gives the sword its uniqueness. Will Veree be able to do it? The third story I enjoyed quite a bit, it was the curse of Igamor. The story starts with a legend of a horse who steels children and evil, greedy adults, like the lord of Aigues Mortes, his Chancellor, and constable. Is Igamor as mean as he sounds?

This is one of the best books I have read. Robin McKinley paints such beautiful pictures with her words. I started reading her books for a book report, but now I read them every chance I get! If you need a book to keep you occupied, this is the one for you!

If you are thinking of reading this because you want to read new stories by Peter Dickinson, be my guest. If you want to read this because you've heard that there is a new story about Damar, or you love McKinley's writing don't get your hopes up. This collection is flawed with any number of problems, the two largest being -

Problem number one: Peter Dickinson. I've never read any of his novels but from the short stories I read here, I won't be buying anything by him anytime soon. Boring, plain and simple. Assessment: Taking up valuable space that should feature McKinley.

Problem number two: McKinley is a very gifted writer, her Damarian books are among my all time favorites because she knows how to use language and she creates compelling,action-oriented female protagonists who get to have their fairy-tale wishes come true and have some adventure too. Aerin and Harry are both troubled girls, partly because of who they are. They both go on journeys of self-discovery where they rely on themselves (with a little help from their friends) and conquer their fears as well as their enemies. And that is why her last story, A Pool In the Desert is such a disappointment.

We have a down-trodden daughter Hetta, in a patriarchal household who is being suffocated by her souless existence of cleaning house, taking care of her mother and giving up everything she wants in deference to her father. In a classic McKinley tale, the daughter would discover that she needs to do something, would screw up her courage and take some action to make things better, preferably by getting herself a good horse and a magical sword. Instead she drifts around, passively accepting until she has a dream where she somehow ends up in Damar. Discovering this wonderful escape she longs to return, but isn't able to summon up the resources to do much about it.

So basically she moons after this guardian she meets and mopes around until she manages to fall head first into a pool of water, is magically transported to Damar (back in time, too)and lives happily ever after.

McKinley's newest Damar story basically betrays the wonderful and strong heroines of her past novels and for that there can be no excuse. Hetta is pathetic. She escapes yes, but she doesn't confront her circumstances, actively seek a way out or seem to worry at all about the fate she abandons her younger sister Ruth to. She is the apothesis of everything McKinley's previous heriones have stood for and I can't understand why she chose to write this lackluster, heretical story set in, of all places, her beloved Damar.

The only partially redeeming thing about the story was the twist at the very end, which I won't give away for future readers, as to how her sister discovers that Hetta achieved her escape. The rest of McKinley's stories rate equally low on the disappointment scale in that I didn't care an iota for any one of the characters and was bored.

Assessment: Strictly for hardcore McKinley fans who must read everything she's written.

This book contains six short stories, three by each author. They all have something to do with water and the spirits or powers therein. "Mermaid Song" tells of poor Pitiable, who lives a wretched and abused life with her grandfather, and who discovers a mermaid trapped in a shallow pool by the receding tide. "The Sea-King's Son" tells of a land girl who falls in love with a water man. "Sea Serpent" relates of the woes begotten by a viscious serpent conjured by a woman on her betrayers. "Water Horse" being another oppressed girl who is chosen to apprentice one of the Gaurdian's of their island. "Kraken" relates the tale of a merprincess who rescues a man and his lady love from drowning, only to have to give them and herself up to the Kraken. "A Pool in the Desert" speaks of yet another oppressed girl, who dreams her way into Damar.
I personally had never read any of Peter Dickinson's work, but if these stories are any example, I wont be. His stories are oppressive, and his characters are colorless, his descriptions unenthusiastic. I dutifully read each story in turn, but it was very difficult to keep from skipping his. I absolutely adore Robin McKinley on the other hand. Unfortunatly, her work also seemed to contain a very depressed vein. Her other books make you feel for the characters and the land. They are rich and vibrant, I never wanted "The Hero and The Crown" to end, while I felt like I was slogging through these stories. "Water" should not be used as a judgement of her talent. For the die hard McKinley fans, it ought to be read simply for her contributions which, while not her best, far exceed Dickinson's attempts. If you are looking for Mckinley's short works I highly recommend "The Door in The Hedge" or "A Knot in the Grain". Both of these easily surpass "Water".

I read a lot and most of the books are good, but this one is Awesome! It is cool because it has fantasy and reality combined together to make the most loved tales. It makes you have this feeling inside that you are actually IN the book, not on the couch reading it! I hope you will enjoy it too.