Customer Reviews

Chalice

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Robin McKinley debuted with a fleshed-out retelling of "Beauty and the Beast," and later followed it up with ANOTHER retelling.

And after a few books about dragons and vampires, McKinley returns to her old territory -- she spins up a vaguely medieval tale of a woodland beauty and a charred "beast" entirely out of her own imagination. McKinley's sumptuous prose and her depiction of a "living" land add an extra dimension to a straightforward little love story that drips with sweetness.

Some months ago, the decadent Master of Willowlands and his Chalice were killed in a fire. The new Chalice is Mirasol, whose duty is to fill ceremonial cups and help bind the land.

But then the late Master's little brother arrives from the priests of Fire -- charred black and no longer entirely human. Mirasol is determined to do the best job she can for the new Master, when she isn't tending a woodland cottage covered in bees. Unfortunately the land is still unsettled despite her joint efforts with the Master, especially since his strange behavior frightens his people.

In the course of her duty, Mirasol soon gets to know her new Master -- he's quiet, kind, worried about burning people, and confused by the world he had almost forgotten. But as he struggles to keep his land balanced, the Overlord begins to scheme to put a new Master in Willowlands -- one that will do whatever he wishes. With her role as Chalice and her power over bees, Mirasol must find a way to save her beloved Master...

You wouldn't think that such a slender novel could have such a richly imagined world, where metaphysical bonds link the Master and Chalice to the very land itself. Not only does Robin McKinley conjure such a world in "Chalice," but she also wrought an intricate web of politics and tradition around the ritual roles. Poor Mirasol, trying to navigate her new role.

And McKinley's prose is as sweet and thick as Mirasol's honey ("the great windows were still twilight grey..."), but filled with a slightly bittersweet feeling. And she crams the novel with rural splendour -- trees, little cottages, old dusty books -- as well as anything having to do with bees and beekeeping. When Mirasol is with her books in the woodright, McKinley's writing takes on an exquisitely mystical edge (albeit a quieter one than her Chalice duties).

But once the Overlord's little plan comes into play, McKinley also interweaves a sense of dread and foreboding, which gets worse as the story creeps toward the inevitable clash. If there's a flaw in the story, it's that the bees serve a slightly deus-ex-machinesque function for the Master.

However, the heart of this story is the growing love story between two young people who are unsure how to do their jobs, and fear that they are failing. Mirasol and the Master (whose name is only revealed late in the book) are wonderfully realistic characters, and Mirasol's stumbles and struggles make her seem like a totally realistic country girl suddenly given a great task.

"Chalice" is the sort of story that Robin McKinley has penned before, but the land-mysticism and lush prose make it entirely unique. Definitely a must-read..

Mirasol the beekeeper has unexpectedly become Chalice to a land in turmoil. Somehow she must hold her world together, and convince others to accept a Fire Priest as Master. McKinley creates for us an alternative medieval manor house, with Master and Circle tied to their demiese through magical earthlines.

This is a beautifully written almost poetical story, but if one is expecting the Robin McKinley of Spindle's End or The Blue Sword expect disappointment. The story moves gradually and repetitively. A skimmer will find this comforting, but the careful reader is left wondering if this book was sufficiently edited, or if the author was perhaps forced to expand from novella to novel length. There is little dialogue and a much of the McKinley wit we have all grown to expect and love is missing. Reading Chalice, it felt as though McKinley was getting in touch with her inner Patricia McKillip. Much is described, and most of it exquisitely and richly, but not very much actually happens. Please don't misconstrue, I adore McKillip, but it was a bit jarring to find her style coloring a McKinley novel.

However, one puts all expectations aside, Chalice provides a truly magical journey, leaving the reader satiated with imagery that lingers long after setting the book down. One's mind savors the flavor as one's mouth would the honey from Mirasol's chalice.

I have to preface my comments by saying Robin McKinley has been a favorite of mine since I was in the 4th grade which was more than 20 years ago (EEK) and her books continue to be my gold standard when I look for books for myself or plan a bookshelf for my own young daughters. I enjoyed her recent novels but I was thrilled to see her return to a mythic/fantasy past and a young female protagonist in this novel. I was hoping for the transportive experience I remember from my reading (and multiple re-readings) of "The Blue Sword" and "Beauty" and "The Hero and the Crown." While her writing is beautiful, it is much less immediate now, and almost seems too self-conscious at times. Her characters also feel less fleshed out. They aren't as funny or human as I remember Harry, or Aerin, or Luthe being. I wanted to get wrapped up in the central relationship in this book they way I got wrapped up in Corlath and Harry, or even Aerin and Tor, but I didn't. Also, the ending was a bit too neat and derivative for my taste, which I wouldn't have cared about if there was more of an emotional punch to it, but it kind of fizzled. Perhaps her earlier works were not as refined and introspective as her more recent novels have been, but they were GREAT stories. This is a lovely book and I very much enjoyed it, and I will certainly reserve a place for it on my daughters' bookshelves, but it won't be on the top shelf, with some of McKinley's other works.

While better than Dragonhaven, this is the second McKinley book in a row that I would probably not have troubled to finish if it had been by any other author. (And it kills me to say this, because she is one of my favorites and I've loved all of her previous work.) Dragonhaven felt like a first draft; Chalice feels like a short story unwillingly stretched into novel length. I didn't get to know any of the characters well enough to care deeply about them; we don't see any of the backstory unfold (imagine if Spindle's End had opened with Rosie discovering she was the princess and gone on from there); and McKinley falls into her usual trap of relying on a vague supernatural incident to end the novel. I wanted to love Chalice--but I didn't, and sadly I think this is the last McKinley book I will run out and buy in hardcover.

After seven years of misrule, the land of Willowlands is falling apart; the people and the land are suffering daily from the destabilizing of the magic that is supposed to hold their land together. When the Master and the Chalice, the two highest members of Willowlands ruling circle, die suddenly, it is left to a new Master and a new Chalice to fix the damage that has been done and to protect their land.

The new Chalice is Mirasol, and she has no experience with the magic or politics of the position. She struggles to perform her job and save the land she loves. With the help of her bees and the honey that serves as the vessel of her magic, she begins to make tiny steps forward in saving Willowlands, but time is running out, and she fears the little skill she has acquired won't be enough to shelter her land from the dangers ahead.

Mckinley creates a lush, intoxicating world that captivates from the very first pages of the book. I could hear the steady hum of the bees in the background, taste the sweetness of the honey, and see the characters who move through the land teeming with both life and magic. Mirasol is a wonderful protagonist, and the supporting characters are diverse and realistic. My only complaint with this novel is that the denouement seems more emotional than physical. I generally prefer a fast-paced, edge of your seat, action sequence at the climax of a fantasy novel, but while Mckinley could easily have written her final scene that way, she instead made it more introspective. It still works well, and there are other scenes in the book that will satisfy people looking for fantasy adventure/action sequences.

I definitely recommend this book. It's a beautiful story and highly enjoyable to read.

I have been a McKinley fan my entire life, but I'm sorry to say that this book was a major let-down. She spent much too much time describing the intricate details of ceremonies and I felt that the ending was flat and emotionless. Much more could have been done for the resolution of the romance.

This book is split into 4 parts. After reading the first 2 parts, my husband asked me what it was about. Even though I had read half of the book, I really couldn't tell him what it was about. I'm still having difficulty trying to summarize this book. It's almost like it's not really about anything. Here is what I do know....

Mirasol, a woods keeper and beekeeper, has suddenly been given the responsibility of "Chalice," which is to be the cup bearer, 2nd to the Master of the Land, and one who binds and holds her land together. Having never received and apprenticeship, she is fumbling through her new role. Mirasol and the new Master do what they can to heal the land that had been abused by the previous Master and Chalice. Now, the Overlord sees this as an opportunity to usurp control from the Master and put in his own appointed Master over this land. Mirasol and the Master must find a way to save their land.

McKinley has a few flaws that she regularly shows in her books, and were VERY noticable here.

1. She has the tendency to start a story in the middle and fill you in on the beginning in spurts when she feels like it. So, there are always "flashbacks" happening that sometimes make it difficult to remember if it's happening now or in the past. Sometimes this improves the story because it adds more drama and suspense. In this case, it's just simple things like when Mirasol was first told she would be the next Chalice or how the previous Master and Chalice died. It gets real annoying.
2. She tells this story smoothly and brilliantly and then abruptly saves the day with some random "magical act."
3. Throws you in a world with different language, titles, customs, but never really explains what they are. She just assumes you know. That can be fine, but when it takes you half the book to even understand what a Chalice is and does....that can be a problem.
4. Very little dialogue. Everything was mostly "she did this and that then this and went there and thought this." When there was dialogue, the story actually finally moved forward and got a glimpse of other characters.

I did enjoy the story, but I don't think I will reread it like my favorites.

In the past, I've read and re-read other Robin McKinley books so much that they have fallen apart, forcing me to buy new copies. When I heard she had a new book, I rushed and actually bought the paperback, despite the extra expense, and rushed through it in one night. However, at the end, I find myself with mixed feelings.

The beginning of the book was the most disappointing, as it definitely starts in media res and doesn't give the reader any context for what's happening. Mirasol is a cipher performing ceremonies without us knowing their significance. As the book goes on, we start getting details, but almost grudgingly, as if McKinley was reluctant to fill out the characters and setting from bare-bones archetypes. Possibly this is meant to mirror Mirasol's own confusion and lack of information, but it's rather frustrating to read. The bones of the story are interesting, but so under-developed that it's hard to read.

When compared to the rich, memorable characterisation in her other books, Chalice falls flat. Many of the characters are virtually indistinguishable from each other, and even the more fleshed-out Mirasol, Master, and Lord Seneschal would have benefitted greatly from some extra face-time. The love story is particularly dimished by this; it's not bad, but it's hard to really root for characters when a) they've only talked to each other a handful of times and b) you hardly know anything about them. Even minor characters in McKinley's other books are better served.

However, what little we do learn about the setting is fascinating. Demenses are held together by the efforts of the Circle, whose most important members are the Master and the Chalice; a demense not held together properly apparently tears itself apart through flood, earthquake, and fire. The main plot of the book involves political intrigue, which hints at a wider, more complex world outside our heroine's demense, even though we never get to know much about it. The details about beekeeping provided a nice, solid backdrop.

Overall, Chalice is a worthwhile read, but it definitely feels too sparse to stand up to McKinley's other work. It's a pity, too; with another hundred pages or so to fill out the characters, it could've been great.

I'm a fan of several of McKinley's other novels, including Beauty and The Hero and the Crown. I thought this book had an interesting concept that was poorly fleshed out, and that the telling of the story, especially of the first half of the book, was messy and disorganized. The main character, Mirasol, is interesting and well-developed, but the other main character, the Master, is pretty much a shell. This book would have benefited from better editing and maybe 50-100 more pages to fill in the gaps.

As a lifelong McKinley fan, I have been eagerly awaiting Chalice - and I was not disappointed. The world McKinley creates is rich, lush, detailed. It lives and breathes; you can almost hear the bees humming and taste Mirasol's honey.

This is a beautifully written fairy tale, although it's not a retelling of a specific tale. But it belongs on the same shelf as Beauty, Rose Daughter, and Spindle's End. If you enjoyed those books you most certainly will love Chalice. It is the kind of story you can read over and over again. An instant favorite. Highly recommended for any lover of fantasy.