Outside of a Dog: McKinley, Robin: Sunshine

Elaine

Elaine wrote on January 1, 2008 at 5:16 PM:

Even when her books fail for me as novels, I find them compulsively readable, and endlessly rereadable. I just finished my second or third rereading of The Rose Daugther. I think Spindles End is my favorite those. This week.

Kate

Kate wrote on January 1, 2008 at 5:49 PM:

Elaine, the only McKinley book I've tried to read and failed is _The Outlaws of Sherwood_, which on a couple of occasions I've picked up, read five pages, and then put back down. I have no idea why.

I love _Spindle's End_ immoderately.

Trent

Trent wrote on January 3, 2008 at 6:41 PM:

The only two McKinley books I've read happen to be Sunshine and Spindle's End, as it happens, which as I consider it seems odd, since I think she deserves better (i.e, more readerly attention from me).
The impression those two books left me with is that she's a very good writer on the prose level, and that she's compulsively readable as far as setting things up and carrying you through the mid-game, so to speak, and that she doesn't deliver on the end-game pay-off, but that it almost doesn't matter, because she's a good enough writer to make it worthwhile anyway. And with that horribly discursive run-on sentence, I'll leave it, since it's been several years since I read Sunshine, and I probably know not whereof I speak....

Kate

Kate wrote on January 3, 2008 at 7:45 PM:

Trent, I thought this ending was much more comprehensible than that of _Spindle's End_, but that the characterization issues might have robbed it of some of its force.

Even if you don't read _The Blue Sword_ and _The Hero and the Crown_, you should give them to your daughter when she's old enough--say, ten, or so.

Jeane

Jeane wrote on January 8, 2008 at 9:59 PM:

I never heard of Sunshine. I didn't like Spindle's End or Outlaws of Sherwood much, but I really like Hero and the Crown, Blue Sword and especially Beauty. It's not usual for me to love several works by an author and then be indifferent to several other from the same... Another author who does that to me is Dianna Wynne Jones.

Karen

Karen wrote on January 8, 2008 at 11:51 PM:

After I finished reading Sunshine, I was hoping McKinley would someday publish a cookbook. The whole bakery world seemed very real (for a vampire novel).

Kate

Kate wrote on January 9, 2008 at 8:40 PM:

Jeane: I wish I could say "if you liked x, y, and z McKinley books, you'll like _Sunshine_," but I can't--it's sufficiently different from the rest of her books. Also, Diana Wynne Jones for me is completely unpredictable, so I'd hate to try anyway. =>

Karen: the bakery world is definitely a strong point of the book.

Trent

Trent wrote on January 11, 2008 at 12:00 PM:

Kate:

Alright, that's it, I'm jotting those two down to look for on my next library trip. (I've been in a bit of a lull lately for light reading, and have been reduced to re-reading the Bonehunter assault on Lether section from Erikson's _Reaper's Gale_).

Anyway. My daughter loves reading (or being read to--she's not quite that advanced yet..), although at the moment she's heavily fixated on tools and construction equipment, for some reason (we probably read _B is for Bulldozer_ ten times last weekend). I'm hoping to ease her into the fantasy classics as she gets a longer attention span and more interest in slightly more complex narrative.