‘Pegasus’ – Robin McKinley

Sometimes being involved in a blog tour can work out really well as it gets you in touch with an author that you’ve never read before and you discover a great read; that was definitely the case when I was introduced to Tim Lebbon’s work for example. Other times, you’re left with a book that really didn’t work for you and you’ve pretty much promised it coverage as part of an author’s blog tour. This is the case right now with me and Robin McKinley’s ‘Pegasus’... I don’t think my post will feature as part of the tour highlights but wanted to say something anyway.

Here’s the blurb,

Because of a thousand-year-old alliance between humans and pegasi, Princess Sylviianel is ceremonially bound to Ebon, her own Pegasus, on her twelfth birthday. The two species coexist peacefully, despite the language barriers separating them. Humans and pegasi both rely on specially-trained Speaker magicians as the only means of real communication.

But its different for Sylvi and Ebon. They can understand each other. They quickly grow close-so close that their bond becomes a threat to the status quo-and possibly to the future safety of their two nations.

I first came across this book over at Aidan’s blog where he had a little moment of waxing lyrical about the lovely cover art. I can see where he’s coming from, it does look gorgeous doesn’t it? The blurb also sounded intriguing, certainly intriguing enough to give it a go when offered a copy. Unfortunately, that was about as far as it went for me.

I should say at this point that I’ve heard a lot of good things about Robin McKinley and her work from other bloggers who have grown up reading her books. If that describes you then you’ll probably get a lot out of ‘Pegasus’, same deal if you have ever dreamed of being telepathically bonded to a flying horse. I didn’t fall into either of these categories however so was perhaps at a disadvantage right from the start. I also have to admit that my ultimately putting the book down unfinished is as much to do with me, and where I’m at right now, as it was the book itself. I’m after escapism and that means a book has to grab me straight away, this didn’t happen here.

What I got instead was an interesting enough back story (humans coming to the lands of the Pegasi) that was at odds with McKinley’s introduction to her main character. Maybe this would have all changed later on in the book but there just didn’t seem to be anything about Princess Sylvi that made her stand out as a character in her own right, she was just there to be bonded with a flying horse and kick the story off. Like I said, I’ll happily attribute this to my own impatience but I was really after a character that would be engaging straight away...

I also found McKinley’s introduction to Sylvi more than a little haphazard in the way that we visited past events from her life with little or no warning that this was going to happen (at least as far as I could tell). I kept finding myself wondering how these events were meant to link up only to realise that there was reminiscing going on and I hadn’t realised, something that really interrupted the flow of the plot for me. In the end, I gave up trying to follow it.

I’ve only read one other book by McKinley so it may well be that this is just her style and something she’s done over the years. If this is case then it may well be that you’ll get a lot more out of it than I if you’re a fan or happy to go with the flow and see where it takes you. ‘Pegasus’ certainly looks like there’s a story in there worth reading but it’s not one that I’m prepared to fight my way into right now. If anyone wants to let me know what I’m missing, maybe I’ll give it another go sometime...