The Hero and the Crown – Review

Synopsis:

Content Warning: (As listed by Storygraph users) Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Violence, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Death of parent, War, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Prejudice

A note of my own: Unlike most Newbery books which are meant for ages 8-13, I would suggest that this book is 14+ because of an “fade-to-black” sex scene and a lot of violent injury detail.

An outcast princess must earn her birthright as a hero of the realm—in this “utterly engrossing” Newbery Medal–winning fantasy (The New York Times).

Aerin is an outcast in her own father’s court, daughter of the foreign woman who, it was rumored, was a witch, and enchanted the king to marry her.

She makes friends with her father’s lame, retired warhorse, Talat, and discovers an old, overlooked, and dangerously imprecise recipe for dragon-fire-proof ointment in a dusty corner of her father’s library. Two years, many canter circles to the left to strengthen Talat’s weak leg, and many burnt twigs (and a few fingers) secretly experimenting with the ointment recipe later, Aerin is present when someone comes from an outlying village to report a marauding dragon to the king. Aerin slips off alone to fetch her horse, her sword, and her fireproof ointment . . .

But modern dragons, while formidable opponents fully capable of killing a human being, are small and accounted vermin. There is no honor in killing dragons. The great dragons are a tale out of ancient history.

That is, until the day that the king is riding out at the head of an army. A weary man on an exhausted horse staggers into the courtyard where the king’s troop is assembled: “The Black Dragon has come . . . Maur, who has not been seen for generations, the last of the great dragons, great as a mountain. Maur has awakened.”

Review:

This was a weird one. I say that hesitantly, because I did like it and I found it a fairly compelling fantasy, but it is a Newbery Medal winner and it did not feel like a Newbery book at all.

From the ALA’s website, The Newbery Medal goes to “A “contribution to American literature for children” shall be a book for which children are an intended potential audience. The book displays respect for children’s understandings, abilities, and appreciations. Children are defined as persons of ages up to and including fourteen, and books for this entire age range are to be considered.” (Emphasis added.)

I found it harder and harder to believe this book fit that description. But then again in 1984 “Young Adult” books weren’t really their own category.

I don’t want to spend a whole post explaining the ins and outs of why it doesn’t fit, so I’ll give 3 quick reasons. 1. There is a “Fade-to Black” sex scene in the book. Which is something I have never read in any children’s or middle grade chapter book. 2. The language of fantasy in this book would be hard for children to understand. I think it would take a much higher vocabulary level than 3rd to 5th grade to understand a lot of the text. 3. Graphic detail in the violence, injury and just some really grim scenes. Adults, and event teens would have the understanding to grasp the reason the author put such weight into these scene, but they do not fit the “children’s understanding” qualification for the Newbery Medal.

With that out of the way, I can tell you this is a pretty interesting and unique fantasy book.

It’s hard not to like a lead named Aerin, which is only a little bit different than my name Arwen. She’s a princess, but an outcast. She’s also an only child, a bit awkward, and stubborn. Which is probably why she is able to bond with the equally stubborn Talat, her father’s lamed war horse.

Too injured too carry an armored man into battle, and too proud to let anyone other than the King ride him, Talat is put out to pasture. Aerin wins the horses trust, and then teaches herself how to ride him without a bridle, directly the horse with her legs and shifts of her body. Together they learn a new purpose, dragon hunting.

It’s not a glamourous job, for the dragons of the land are mostly vermin. Until they take on a recently reawaken great dragon.

I would have thought this story was great if it was just girl and horse hunt dragons and then recover from dragon-born injuries. But the author had bigger aspirations for Aerin and Talat. The evil of the dragon and the power that woke him also need confronting.

For such a short book (around 300 pages) this story packs a lot into it. There are no wasted words. I have some hefty tomes of fantasy on my shelves and some of those might be greatly improved if they took lessons in precision writing from McKinley. She tells a sweeping epic, with complicated multi-dimensional characters, and in depth world-building, but fits it in a compact package.

Bottom Line:

Good fantasy adventure book with a strong female lead? Yes. Good Newbery Medal book? No.

“No, I don’t suppose I ever thought the king would let his only, and she somewhat substandard, daughter ride into possible battle, even though sword-handling is about the only thing she’s ever gotten remotely good at.” – The Hero and the Crown

Buy The Hero and the Crown by clicking this link and Amazon will give me a small commission for referring you.

Note: I do not use AI to assist in writing my blog. The words of this review are my own. The synopsis was taken from Amazon or another book seller.