Chalice, by Robin McKinley

[keilexandra]

Chalice
by Robin McKinley
263 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/YA

Mirasol is a common beekeeper unexpectedly named the Willowlands' Chalice, a member of the ruling Circle second only to the Master--who is a third-level priest of Fire barely returned from the temple and not quite human. The usual power-grab complications ensue.

This was interesting but not absorbing; and I was only a little freaked out by the bees. (I'm just glad I don't live in the Willowlands, because I physically could not deal with that in real life. Fiction, though, is okay.) The societal structure appears very patriarchal--Chalice is always female, Master is always male, and the two remain unchanged, stereotypically gendered roles. I also disliked the unrounded, too-EVIL antagonist (not Deager, the Overlord). I guessed from the start that Mirasol and the Master would triumph and live happily ever after; the weird flashback-as-memory narrative structure implicitly promises a happy ending, and it would probably have worked better without cover blurb spoilers.

I hear that Chalice is not among McKinley's best works. Definitely not in the mood for fairytale retellings anytime soon, but what else does she have to offer? This one was not bad at all, just not outstanding. I did like the magic and political systems, the former twisting elemental tradition just a bit to be interesting.

Comments

[gsconahan.livejournal.com]

I'm rather fond of The Blue Sword and Sunshine. The former is a fairly traditional heroic fantasy, the latter urban with vampires and baking.

[keilexandra]

Oh, I have heard good things about SUNSHINE; I think it's on my list already, but I'll double-check. After having struggled through WESTMARK recently (review forthcoming), I may stay away from traditional YA heroic fantasy for the time being.

[glishara.livejournal.com]

Sunshine is a fairly amazing book, I have to concur.

[fairfeather.livejournal.com]

Is this your first McKinley book? It's definitley not her best; too simple for me and I really didn't like the evilness of the antagonist. I really liked the honey, though :)
Most of her books are fairytale retellings, but The Blue Sword and the sequel Hero and the Crown aren't; they're both my favourites of my favourites. And Sunshine isn't really a fairytale retelling, but it's quite good. I'd read those first; she has another non-fairytale book, Dragonhaven, but I really didn't like it.

[fireriven.livejournal.com]

I've heard that Dragonhaven is an incredibly tedious read.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Dragonhaven is doing something interesting with an adolescent male unreliable narrator, but a) I had to sort of talk myself into liking it and b) if I was still spending a larger proportion of my time around adolescent males, I'm not sure I wouldn't have found it too much of what I already had.

[keilexandra]

Tags (o how I love you) tell me that I have read a collection of McKinley short stories called A KNOT IN THE GRAIN, which was interesting (better than CHALICE) but not exceptional. Would you recommend THE BLUE SWORD if I bounce off YA adventure/heroic fantasy books like Lloyd Alexander's WESTMARK?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

The Blue Sword is doing some things with colonialism that are really quite fine. On the other hand, it does have some YA heroic fantasy elements for absolutely sure.

As much as I love it and The Hero and the Crown, if I was making a Keix-specific rec, I'd say Sunshine first, and then the two Damar books.

[keilexandra]

SUNSHINE sounds really interesting--vampiric pseudo-fairytale! (Correct me if I'm wrong.) I do have a soft spot for vampires; high-powered faeries are fun, too; werewolves, on the other hand, are suspect. Not sure how much those generalizations carry over to non-UF.

[fireriven.livejournal.com]

The Hero and the Crown was a very important book to me at 11 or 12, though I haven't read it since. It comes chronologically before The Blue Sword, set in the same world, although I don't recall them being very connected.

Other than that, I really enjoyed Sunshine. If you read that, though, I hope you like baking. Sunshine focuses on her baking a lot. Oh, and vampires of course.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

McKinley's strength for me is that she does day-to-day life very well. Plots, endings, first-person narrators? Not so much.
Also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs-tl6GBOBo