Pegasus
*****
Robin McKinley
I like this cover - the clouds, the pegasus flying overhead, the valley, the girl standing in the valley - the light reflecting on the clouds. This is one cover that really fits the book.
No one can deny that Robin McKinley really knows how to write a fairytale novel. This one has plenty of action, a bit of angst, love and romance and loyalties and betrayals.
I was surprised though that it started out so slow for me. Maybe I've become a spoiled reader, expecting books to just get right into the story. With Pegasus we get a build up, with some history and glimpses into the past before the story really takes off. However, this book is very well written. Robin McKinley is one of those writers that have a way with words. The story always feels polished and finished, never awkward. When I say it started out slow for me, it's the pace - the almost leisurely beginning. The plot is excellent and the storytelling is superb.
The main character is a princess, Sylvi whose family has been ruling within a land that used to be ruled by Pegasi. Hundreds of years ago, the two races came into an accord, a treaty. However, I don't think the two sides look at the treaty quite the same way...
Every royal member of the family gets bonded with a pegasus. The pegasi and the humans need a speaker, a magician to help them translate, since even with sign language meanings don't usually translate well between the two races. But when Sylvi gets bonded with her pegasus, she discovers that she can communicate with her pegasus without a speaker, and not only with her pegasus, but others.....and things become complicated from then on. Sylvi and Ebon, her pegasus, become real friends and do things together that haven't been done for hundreds of years, if ever.
A wonderfully written book - and yet I didn't like the ending. That's okay - it's not the authors job to write endings that I'll like, but an ending that rings true to the novel. And this ending makes me wonder if there are going to be other novels in the same world..... It's written well, the words and pages flow along.
Get the book - it would make a great Christmas gift for teens and adults - especially those who have a soft spot for pegasus and fairytales that don't always have a happy ending.
Great review! I am trying to track down a copy at my library, if I can't find one, my birthday is next month I asked Dad for a gift card to the book store. LOL
ReplyDeleteI am also a new follower of your blog! XX
I recently learned that Pegasus is considered by the author to be a first part of two parts. The second part will be released in 2011, around a year from now.
ReplyDeleteTheres a lot more to the book, but there's so many different aspects, that I wasn't sure which part would be a spoiler, even minor. Bottom line, is McKinley's narration and word use is a fine as ever, but be aware that there are quite a few flashbacks, or memories that pop up in the middle of things, and sometimes it gets a little confusing, which is the memory and which is part of the present situation.