Robin McKinley

As the newly appointed Chalice, Mirasol is the most important member of the Master’s Circle. It is her duty to bind the Circle, the land and its people together with their new Master. But the new Master of Willowlands is a Priest of Fire, only drawn back into the human world by the sudden death of his brother. No one knows if it is even possible for him to live amongst his people. Mirasol wants the Master to have his chance, but her only training is as a beekeeper. How can she help settle their demesne during these troubled times and bind it to a Priest of Fire, the touch of whose hand can burn human flesh to the bone? A captivating tale that reveals the healing power of duty and honour, love and honey.

This is the story of Corlath, golden-eyed king of the Free Hillfolk, son of the sons of the Lady Aerin. And this is the story of Harry Crewe, the Homelander orphan girl who became Harimad-sol, King's Rider, and heir to the Blue Sword, Gonturan, that no woman had wielded since the Lady Aerin herself bore it into battle. And this is the song of the kelar of the Hillfolk, the magic of the blood, the weaver of destinies...

A strange imprisonment... Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage. When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?" Robin McKinley's beloved telling illuminates the unusual love story of a most unlikely couple, Beauty and the Beast.

There are places in the world where darkness rules, where it's unwise to walk. But there hadn't been any trouble out at the lake for years, and Sunshine just needed a spot where she could be alone with her thoughts. Vampires never entered her mind. Until they found her...

It is the heart of this place, and it is dying, says the Beast. And it is true; the center of the Beast's palace, the glittering glasshouse that brings Beauty both comfort and delight in her strange new environment, is filled with leafless brown rosebushes. But deep within this enchanted world, new life, at once subtle and strong, is about to awaken. Twenty years ago, Robin McKinley dazzled readers with the power of her novel Beauty. Now this extraordinarily gifted novelist returns to the story of Beauty and the Beast with a fresh perspective, ingenuity, and mature insight. With Rose Daughter, she presents her finest and most deeply felt work--a compelling, richly imagined, and haunting exploration of the transformative power of love.

As Princess Lissla Lissar reaches womanhood, it is clear to all the kingdom that in her beauty she is the image of her dead mother, the queen. But this likeness forces her to flee from her father's lust and madness; and in the pain and horror of that flight she forgets who she is and what it is she flees from: forgets almost everything but the love and loyalty of her dog, Ash, who accompanies her. But a chance encounter on the road leads to a job in another king's kennels, where the prince finds himself falling in love with the new kennel maid . . . and one day he tells her of a princess named Lissla Lissar, who had a dog named Ash.

All the creatures of the forest and field and riverbank knew the infant was special. She was the princess, spirited away from the evil fairy Pernicia on her name-day. But the curse was cast: Rosie was fated to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a poisoned sleep-a slumber from which no one would be able to rouse her.

Aerin could not remember a time when she had not known the story; she had grown up knowing it. It was the story of her mother, the witchwoman who enspelled the king into marrying her, to get an heir that would rule Damar; and it was told that she turned her face to the wall and died of despair when she found she had borne a daughter instead of a son. Aerin was that daughter. But there was more of the story yet to be told; Aerin's destiny was greater than even she had dreamed--for she was to be the true hero who would wield the power of the Blue Sword...

A compelling and inventive novel set in a world where science and magic are at odds, by Robin McKinley, the Newbery-winning author of The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword , as well as the classic titles Beauty , Chalice , Spindle’s End, Pegasus and Sunshine   Maggie knows something’s off about Val, her mom’s new husband. Val is from Oldworld, where they still use magic, and he won’t have any tech in his office-shed behind the house. But—more importantly—what are the huge, horrible, jagged, jumpy shadows following him around? Magic is illegal in Newworld, which is all about science. The magic-carrying gene was disabled two generations ago, back when Maggie’s great-grandmother was a notable magician. But that was a long time ago.   Then Maggie meets Casimir, the most beautiful boy she has ever seen. He’s from Oldworld too—and he’s heard of Maggie’s stepfather, and has a guess about Val’s shadows. Maggie doesn’t want to know . . . until earth-shattering events force her to depend on Val and his shadows. And perhaps on her own heritage.   In this dangerously unstable world, neither science nor magic has the necessary answers, but a truce between them is impossible. And although the two are supposed to be incompatible, Maggie’s discovering the world will need both to survive.

From Newbery Medal–winning author Robin McKinley, this beloved story illuminates an unlikely love story—Beauty and the Beast. Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in appearance, she can perhaps make up for in courage. When her father comes home with a tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must travel to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father insists that he will not let her go, but she responds, “Cannot a Beast be tamed?” Newbery Medalist Robin McKinley’s beloved and acclaimed novel has been delighting readers for more than forty years. ALA Booklist called Beauty “A captivating novel.” “A reader feels as though it’s all unfolding for the very first time.”— The Guardian An ALA Notable Book for Children A Best Book for Young Adults

Jake Mendoza lives at the Makepeace Institute of Integrated Dragon Studies in Smokehill National Park. Smokehill is home to about two hundred of the few remaining draco australiensis, which is extinct in the wild. Keeping a preserve for dragons is detractors say dragons are extremely dangerous and unjustifiably expensive to keep and should be destroyed. Environmentalists and friends say there are no records of them eating humans and they are a unique example of specialist evolution and must be protected. But they are up to eighty feet long and breathe fire. On his first overnight solo trek, Jake finds a dragon?a dragon dying next to the human she killed. Jake realizes this news could destroy Smokehill? even though the dead man is clearly a poacher who had attacked the dragon first, that fact will be lost in the outcry against dragons. But then Jake is struck by something more urgent?he sees that the dragon has just given birth, and one of the babies is still alive. What he decides to do will determine not only their futures, but the future of Smokehill itself.

Seven tales describe magical beings that inhabit our waters. Some are familiar mer-people; some as strange as as a golden eye in a pool at the edge of the Great Desert Kalarsham, where the mad god Geljdreth rules; or the unknowable, immense Kraken, dark beyond the darkness of the deepest ocean, who will one day rise and rule the world. 1 Prologue: The water sprite / Robin mcKinley and Peter Dickinson 2 Mermaid song / Peter Dickinson -- 3 The sea-king's son / Robin McKinley -- 4 Sea serpent / Peter Dickinson -- 5 Water horse / Robin McKinley -- 6 Kraken / Peter Dickinson -- 7 A pool in the desert / Robin McKinley.

5 tales set from prehistoric to present, market to dragon academy. 1 First Flight - a boy and pet unexpectedly ride a dragon 2 Hellhound - stars a mysterious dog in a graveyard showdown 3 Fireworm - a young man must defend his clan from a creature 4 Salamander Man - a slave saves his village with a fiery spell 5 Phoenix - a girl's new friend is older than he appears

New York Times bestselling author Robin McKinley's vivid retelling of the classic story of Robin Hood breathes contemporary life into these beloved adventures, with Marian taking a pivotal role as one of Robin's best archers.

Master storyteller Robin McKinley here spins two new fairy tales and retells two cherished classics. All feature princesses touched with or by magic. There is Linadel, who lives in a kingdom next to Faerieland, where princesses are stolen away on their seventeenth birthdays-and Linadel's seventeenth birthday is tomorrow. And Korah, whose brother is bewitched by the magical Golden Hind; now it is up to her to break the spell. Rana must turn to a talking frog to help save her kingdom from the evil Aliyander. And then there are the twelve princesses, enspelled to dance through the soles of their shoes every night. . . . These are tales to read with delight!

Because she was a princess, she had a Pegasus… Princess Sylviianel has always known that on her twelfth birthday she too would be bound to her own Pegasus. All members of the royal family have been thus bound since the Alliance was made almost a thousand years ago; the binding system was created to strengthen the Alliance, because humans and pegasi can only communicate formally, through specially trained Speaker magicians. Sylvi is accustomed to seeing pegasi every day at the palace, but she still finds the idea of her binding very daunting. The official phrase is that your pegasus is your “Excellent Friend.” But how can you be friends with someone you can’t talk to? But everything is different for Sylvi and Ebon from the moment they meet at her binding—when they discover they can talk to each other. They form so close a bond that it becomes a threat to the status quo—and possibly to the future safety of their two nations. For some of the magicians believe there is a reason humans and pegasi should not fully understand each other…

Mermaid song / Peter Dickinson -- The sea-king's son / Robin McKinley -- Sea serpent / Peter Dickinson -- Water horse / Robin McKinley -- Kraken / Peter Dickinson -- A pool in the desert / Robin McKinley.

A child and a new puppy work through the difficult initial adjustments and soon belong to each other

It was on a ferry ride to Manhattan that the idea for this anthology was conceived: Sometimes the ground the characters of a story walk on is no more than that; but sometimes the landscape is a character in its own right. Nine writers, including James P. Blaylock, Peter Dickinson, Patricia A. McKillip, P C Hodgell and the editor, Robin McKinley, have written stories where the land is crucial to the tale: the armchair traveller will find the best of fantasy on this grand tour of imaginary lands. 1 • Paper Dragons • [Land of Dreams] • novelette by James P. Blaylock 23 • The Old Woman and the Storm • short story by Patricia A. McKillip 35 • The Big Rock Candy Mountain • novelette by Robert Westall 59 • Flight • novelette by Peter Dickinson 91 • Evian Steel • [Merlin's Booke] • novelette by Jane Yolen 125 • Stranger Blood • novelette by P. C. Hodgell 155 • The Curse of Igamor • short story by Michael de Larrabeiti 169 • Tam Lin • novelette by Joan D. Vinge 199 • The Stone Fey • novelette by Robin McKinley

1 Lily. She has the power to heal, but no speech - until a mage hears words from her mind. 2 Ruen. The princess was abandoned by her uncle deep in a cave to die at the hands of a stagman - who will surprise fate. 3 Erana. Given as a babe to a witch, raised beside the witch's troll son, she learns love comes in many forms. 4 Coral. The lovely newcomer consents to marry an older widower who soon wonders why she wants to live at Butter Hill Farm. 5 Annabelle. In the attic of their new house, the teen finds a knot that leads her on a magical mission.

Un cuento de hadas en el que la magia, la maravilla y las pesadillas conviven En un reino mágico, repleto de leyendas y ensoñaciones, la princesa Lissla Lissar no encuentra un lugar para ella. La belleza y admiración que sus padres evocan a su paso no alcanza a tocarla y su vida es triste y solitaria. A medida que la pequeña Lissar se hace mayor, la ilusión de perfección empieza a resquebrajarse en el reino y el sueño se transforma en pesadilla. Acompañada de Ceniza, su perra fiel, huirá a las montañas buscando refugio tras un terrible suceso, y juntas labrarán un destino muy diferente al que todos en el reino habían imaginado para ella. Robin McKinley pone al servicio de la historia el increíble lirismo de su pluma, y se detiene en detalles cotidianos que arrojan luz y esperanza en este cuento oscuro, reinterpretación del cuento clásico de Perrault «Piel de asno», que pone el foco en la superación del trauma.

From ensorcelled princesses to a frog that speaks, an enchanting collection of fairy tales from the Newbery Medal–winning author. The last mortal kingdom before the unmeasured sweep of Faerieland begins has at best held an uneasy truce with its unpredictable neighbor. There is nothing to show a boundary, at least on the mortal side of it; and if any ordinary human creature ever saw a faerie—or at any rate recognized one—it was never mentioned; but the existence of the boundary and of faeries beyond it is never in doubt either. So begins “The Stolen Princess,” the first story of this collection, about the meeting between the human princess Linadel and the faerie prince Donathor. “The Princess and the Frog” concerns Rana and her unexpected alliance with a small, green, flipper-footed denizen of a pond in the palace gardens. “The Hunting of the Hind” tells of a princess who has bewitched her beloved brother, hoping to beg some magic of cure, for her brother is dying, and the last tale is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses in which an old soldier discovers, with a little help from a lavender-eyed witch, the surprising truth about where the princesses dance their shoes to tatters every night.