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Shadows Robin Mckinley Books

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Shadows Robin Mckinley Books

So many of McKinley's books take place in worlds where "modern" technology is not yet a factor, but suddenly we're in a world quite like our own, with scanners. gene therapy, and "pocket phones." However part of that world uses magic to protect itself from disastrously bumping up against other realities, and in Maggie's country, science rules and magic is illegal.

I love the tools the good guys use to save the world ... no swords or massive explosions here! Its animals and origami, books and fuzzy friends, and there's not a bit of cuteness anywhere. The tension builds rapidly, as the main part of the story takes place in about three days. The good guys are neither stunningly beautiful nor overflowing with wisdom or power. They make things up as they go along, and the ties between parents and children, animals and their people, and deep friendships allow them to overcome a very bad situation. I like that this feels like kids awakening to a bad situation and their growing awareness that one's senior year in high school is not meant to be one of life's pinnacles.

I also like the implication that evil doesn't spring from dark supernatural creatures, but from ordinary humans trying to face problems with a military, security, or police state mindset. This is not a political book, and the canine and feline characters kept me smiling. It didn't leave me breathless (like Sunshine) or feeling as though I'd just eaten something splendid and chocolate (Spindle's End), but as if I'd spent an engrossing evening wrapped in a cozy quilt with an animal companion I loved.


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Shadows Robin Mckinley Books Reviews

I have been reading Robin McKinley's books for over 20 years, and I am always excited to get her latest novel. Reading Shadows was something like a homecoming for me; it was pleasant and heart-warming, but not particularly surprising. It had all the standard, familiar characteristics that almost all McKinley's books share. There is a strong-willed but sometimes awkward young female protagonist, lots of animals, some magic, and a motley crew of friends who band together to save the day. I like all these things, just as I like the style and the rhythm of McKinley's prose. So I definitely enjoyed reading Shadows.

I just wish that there were a few surprises in the book. Everything pretty much played out just as I expected it would. I remember reading the Hero and the Crown, Sunshine, and even Dragonhaven practically on the edge of my seat because I was so riveted by the story and was desperate to find out what would happen next. I read Shadows sedately; I was entertained but not captivated. It's a good book and I definitely recommend it, but it's not the best book I've read all year, or even all month.
I enjoyed SHADOWS very much. It is narrated by Maggie who is a new high school senior. Her mother has just married a man named Val who comes from Oldworld where they still practice magic. In Maggie's Newworld magic is so illegal that a couple of generations earlier a medical procedure was developed to remove the magic gene from anyone who had one. Of course, that didn't work quite as expected.

Maggie dislikes Val not just because he is short and hairy and has no fashion sense, but because he is surrounded by scary shadows that only she can see. She stays away from him by spending more time at the Orchard Animal Shelter where she got her own Border Collie Mongo. Maggie seems to have unique understanding with animals.

One day she meets a gorgeous new boy named Casimir who is also from the Oldworld and who has come to study worlds philosophy at the local college. The two of them happen to be together when their is a magical occurrence that which Maggie is able to contain by using origami figures she makes from her Enhanced Algebra textbook. No one is more surprised and confused that this works than Maggie herself.

The military is called in to figure out what happened which raises suspicions about Maggie and Val. When Val is arrested, Maggie and her friends are determined to rescue him. Along the way, Maggie learns a lot about magic and herself.

The story was action-packed. I liked Maggie's relationship with her dog Mongo. I also liked her relationship with her friends Jill and Takahiro who are both closet magic users themselves. The world that the author created was well realized and well rounded.

Fans of fantasy who want an intrepid female main character will enjoy this one.
So many of McKinley's books take place in worlds where "modern" technology is not yet a factor, but suddenly we're in a world quite like our own, with scanners. gene therapy, and "pocket phones." However part of that world uses magic to protect itself from disastrously bumping up against other realities, and in Maggie's country, science rules and magic is illegal.

I love the tools the good guys use to save the world ... no swords or massive explosions here! Its animals and origami, books and fuzzy friends, and there's not a bit of cuteness anywhere. The tension builds rapidly, as the main part of the story takes place in about three days. The good guys are neither stunningly beautiful nor overflowing with wisdom or power. They make things up as they go along, and the ties between parents and children, animals and their people, and deep friendships allow them to overcome a very bad situation. I like that this feels like kids awakening to a bad situation and their growing awareness that one's senior year in high school is not meant to be one of life's pinnacles.

I also like the implication that evil doesn't spring from dark supernatural creatures, but from ordinary humans trying to face problems with a military, security, or police state mindset. This is not a political book, and the canine and feline characters kept me smiling. It didn't leave me breathless (like Sunshine) or feeling as though I'd just eaten something splendid and chocolate (Spindle's End), but as if I'd spent an engrossing evening wrapped in a cozy quilt with an animal companion I loved.