Here are three more books by Robin McKinley:
- Spindle’s End, Ace Books, June 2001 - This is a retelling of the story of Sleeping Beauty. However, for those who are familiar with Robin McKinley’s books, you will not need me to tell you that this is not the story of a languid princess waiting passively to be rescued by a man. The story is full of strong female characters who are not afraid to wrestle with fate.
- Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits, A collection of short stories by Peter Dickinson and Robin McKinley, Putnam Publishing Group, June 2002 - Peter Dickinson is Robin McKinley’s husband. They started a project which was envisioned to encompass four books based on: water, fire, earth, and air. So far only the first has been produced - this one. Each author wrote half the short stories in the book. Those written by Robin are: “The Sea-King’s Son,” “Water Horse,” and “A Pool in the Desert”. I liked all three of these stories a great deal. While her stories in A Knot in the Grain seemed rather distant and dull, these stories have the freshness and humanity marking her earlier books. I found the magical water garden in “Water Horse” highly intriguing and wish that she would write a novel in this world. “A Pool in the Desert” is set in her Damar universe for those of you who love The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown. And I have to admit that this story moved me to tears.
- Sunshine, Berkley Publishing Group, October 2003 - This book is a departure from her earlier novels in that it has a couple of graphic sex scenes which would cause many parents to consider it inappropriate for children and adolescents. It also has some pretty graphic scenes of bloody violence. However, for adults it is an excellent read. This book won the 2004 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature.
For further information, see:
http://www.robinmckinley.com/
http://www.mythsoc.org/awards.html