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Dragonhaven Robin McKinley Books

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Dragonhaven Robin McKinley Books

I love Robin McKinley's work. This is not one of her best; her main character spends too much time chattering in the initial chapter, and not enough time telling the story. That said, once Jake finds the dead dragon and her baby, the story becomes highly engaging (it sags into chattering again at the end, but that's easier to get through, since you care about the characters by then). I found Ms. McKinley's take on dragons very intriguing. I do recommend this book, but you may need to skim a bit at first. If you do, you'll be rewarded by an enjoyable read.


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Dragonhaven Robin McKinley Books Reviews

I dearly dearly LOVE the work of Robin McKinley. "Sunshine" "The Blue Sword" "The Hero and the Crown" "Spindle's End" and "Beauty" are books I will read continually throughout my life. It isn't just young adult literature - these novels are so amazingly thoughtful, inspiring, thought-provoking and engaging I can find new things within the text each time I read. I am awed, uplifted and inspired with each new reading. All the characters are dynamic, well-drawn and endearing (endearing except of course for the essential bad guy) - but regardless, engaging, dramatic, etc. Her normal storylines are so very clear yet multi-layered. Once you start reading, you can hardly bear to put it down.

In the case of "Dragonhaven," however, this particular version of 1st person gave me a bit of the headache Jake describes from the dragons. "Sunshine" too is written in first person - more like the diary of someone going through something no human has ever experienced before and goes through several months of not knowing what to do about it. This novel is written the same. It's Jake's diary of raising a baby dragon and all the goings-on of Smokehill. And I will say, McKinley's description is, as always, incredibly detailed and evokes wonderful images during the reading. But the frenzied, unorganized, slang-heavy voice of Jake seems to insert a scattered, wordy barrier between the reader and the heart of the story.

On another note, it takes a totally different direction from McKinley's other writings. For one, it's in the voice of a male character. Also, it's in a world very much like our own except for the presence of dragons. This is good, she's branching out, it's new and interesting. I just wasn't as caught up due to the lack of major epiphanies and clear-cut, new found talents that seem to come from a previously-hidden source, etc. Jake is still pretty much just a normal human who did something (raising a dragon and communicating "telepathically") that other humans could learn to do too. It doesn't make him into a new person as wholy as these totally-life-altering situations make McKinley's other characters. It changes him, certainly, and sends his life in a new direction, but I don't see any MAJOR major breakthroughs.

I'll compare it to "Sunshine" a little more as they do have similarities in style and format. Rae definitely has experiences with a vampire no human ever had before, she tends to go off on pages-long tangents in the course of the book, she's never comfortable or confident with her previously-unknown talents or "affinities," and the novel is set in a world of cities, automobiles, phones, computers, etc. BUT, there are HUGE themes of magic, supernatural creatures galore, great personal discoveries, defeat of an ultimate evil, and romance. My favorite story elements, personally. Sure, Jake has some romance in the end, but it's sort of a brief sideline as opposed to a key, hinging element of the whole plot. Yes, intelligent, "telepathic" dragons are certainly supernatural, but in a different way entirely.

Mainly what I'm saying is, there are those books I mentioned at the beginning of the review, and then there's "Dragonhaven" which I doubt I will read again. It was more like trudging through a word-clogged swamp than floating through a rich, colorful, enthralling landscape. Kudos to McKinley for doing the teenage-dialogue so well though! Her description and her talent for dialogue are truly great. Perhaps my biggest issue is that I just don't like listening to frantic, unorganized, hyper teenagers - not even when I was one myself!

Regardless, McKinley is an author of RARE talent and I will continue to return to her works with great anticipation and enjoyment. To use L.M. Montgomery's way of describing people with like-minds, I feel she is essentially a "kindred spirit."
I get that he was fourteen years old when this started....but he talks/writes like a fourteen year old when he's 21 and writing the story. It is disjointed, flips all over the place and can't seem to hold a coherent thought, and I finally gave up and skimmed the last 75 pages because it was the same overdone mishmash. I will always treasure The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown....written in the same style, this book could have been awesome. Instead, it's totally forgettable. Bummer. I wanted it to be so much more.
When I look down the comment section for this book, I think I know why there are so many people who didn't like this book. Its because its not a "Robin McKinley" book, as in, its not written in her usual, enchanting style. But that doesn't make it a bad book. I found it funny and engaging!
The story is about a boy obsessed with dragons, mostly because he grew up around people who were obsessed with dragons, who comes across a dying mother dragon and her . . . clutch? litter? . . . what's the proper term for a group of baby dragons? Normally I would say clutch, which is the term you would use for reptiles and birds, but the dragons in this universe are marsupials. You read right, Robin McKinley has done it again. The thing I really love about her books is the way she takes a theme, say dragons, or pegasi, or your average Beauty and the Beast narrative, and changes it a little so that the story becomes new and refreshing. Marsupials, who would have thought it!
But I digress, and that's the other thing I like about this book, the completely disorganized writing style. After our main character takes in the last surviving baby dragon from the . . . clutch/litter . . ., determined to keep it alive, his whole thought process goes out the window and the book becomes a mess of tangled plot threads until it reaches semi coherency at the end. In most books this would be a major problem, but somehow McKinley pulls this off well because there are reasons WHY Jake is disorganized. First, HE IS A TEENAGE BOY. Second being around dragons give people headaches, I wont explain why because I want you to read the book, but if I had a perpetual migraine that NEVER GOES AWAY, my thoughts may be a little disorganized too. And finally, Jake, our cute little teenage hero, becomes a middle aged mom overnight. He changes his whole life around the needs and whims of the baby dragon, like a lot of moms do, and I think the sudden change is hilarious!
In any case, if you like Robin McKinley's masterful way with words this book may not be for you. But, if you love the way Robin McKinley takes boring old tropes and make them her own, you might want to pick Dragon Haven up. Just don't expect a cohesive plot line till the end of the book.
I love Robin McKinley's work. This is not one of her best; her main character spends too much time chattering in the initial chapter, and not enough time telling the story. That said, once Jake finds the dead dragon and her baby, the story becomes highly engaging (it sags into chattering again at the end, but that's easier to get through, since you care about the characters by then). I found Ms. McKinley's take on dragons very intriguing. I do recommend this book, but you may need to skim a bit at first. If you do, you'll be rewarded by an enjoyable read.