Robin McKinley

I've just re-read The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley, and am now in the middle of The Hero and the Crown. I LOVE these books! Her heroines are smart and funny. Her writing is good and the adventures are really exciting. This is fantasy for people who like to think. They are old -- like 20 years, so some of you may have missed them, but McKinley is still one of my favorite fantasy/fairy tale authors.

My only quibble is that she doesn't write enough! And I was really hoping that these two books would be a trilogy. In The Blue Sword, she describes Damar, a desert culture resisting colonization by a large empire. The Hero and the Crown is a prequel; i.e., she travels back 500 years to the "Golden Age" of Damar to tell the story of some of the legends introduced in the first book. I'd love a story about Luthe, the oracle from both books, or a story about Damar now, or . . . gosh anything! I just want to go back to Damar, hear about Lady Aerin, find out if Harry has had songs written about her.

Alas, I am forced to re-read the only Damarian literature out there, these two books and a short story, "The Stone Fey." McKinley has other books, also wonderful, but Damar calls to me. Sigh.