Robin McKinley Books In Order

Publication Order of Damar Books

Publication Order of Folktales Books

Publication Order of Pegasus Books

Publication Order of Tales Of Elemental Spirits Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Robin McKinley is one of the most popular American authors who has written several highly acclaimed novels based on the children’s books, fantasy, and young adult genres. Some of her books have won prestigious awards such as The Hero and the Crown, which was awarded with the Newbery Medal in the category of the best American children’s book of the year. Till now, author McKinley has contributed a total of 20 books in her writing career. The most recent novel written by her is titled as Ebon. Author Mckinley was born on November 16, 1952, in Warren, Ohio, The United States. Her birth name is Jennifer Carolyn Robin McKinley. The parents of McKinley were William McKinley and Jeanne Turrel McKinley, who used to work as a Naval Officer and teacher respectively. Due to the frequent changes in naval postings of her father, she had to live in a number of places such as New York, Maine, California, and Japan. As a result, author McKinley grew up in a number of places and among a variety of people. McKinley obtained her schooling education from the Gould Academy, which was a preparatory school located in Bethel, Maine. Later, she joined the college, first at the Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, and then at the Bowdin College in Maine. Eventually, author McKinley graduated with a summa cum laude in the year 1975.

After completing her graduation, she stayed in Maine for a few years working first as a research assistant and then as a bookstore staff. In the meantime, McKinley completed her first novel titled ‘Beauty: A Story of Beauty and the Beast’. It was accepted by the first publisher to which author McKinley took it for publication and as the book became successful, author McKinley went on to achieve prominence in the field of writing. As of today, she lives in Hampshire, England. McKinley was married to author Peter Dickinson, who died recently in the year 2015. The two had no children of their own, though Dickinson had a few children from his previous marriage. The family of author McKinley comprises of a couple of pet dogs nicknamed as Darkness and Chaos. Whenever she is not busy with her writing works, she likes to spend her time learning the playing techniques of Piano, as well as gardening, bell ringing, horse riding, and cooking.

Throughout her writing career, author McKinley has written a wide range of novels, most of which are based on the fantasy genre. She has even tried to depict several classic fairy tales in the form of her own personal renditions, deliberately giving them a feminist twist. Many of such retellings feature a dedicated female protagonist who does not look for other’s help in solving the problems of her life. Besides these, author McKinley has written a couple of books based on the Damar land. Due to her success in the anthology of the Imaginary lands, author McKinley describes herself as a ‘Damar’s historian’ and ‘scribe’. She believes that the stories happened to her and that she is solely responsible for their development and publication. McKinley has said that the stories of the Damar land have come to her mind since before she began working on her initial novels. Most of the heroines that author McKinley has described in her books reflect some special qualities that she used to see in herself during her days of her youth. McKinley says that she often likes to write about the strong heroines because she believes that girls have a strong potential for doing things on their own. She also feels that the literature featuring the female protagonists is quite less and unsatisfactory.

The Damar Land series written by author Robin McKinley consists of a total of 6 books released between the years 1984 and 2009. The first book in the series is titled as ‘The Hero and The Crown’. It was published by the Ace publishers in the year 1984. The main plot of this book features the central character in the form of Aerin, and takes place in the imaginary Damar lands. At the start of the story, it is shown that Aerin has always lived and grown up with a special story that is very close to her heart. The involves her mother and the witchwoman who used her magic and forced her mother into marrying the king. The witchwoman brainwashed the king about having an heir to rule Damar by marrying Aerin’s mother. But, when she found that she had given birth to a daughter, she turned her face towards the wall and died in despair for not giving birth to a son. This was what told to Aerin about her mother. However, there was something more in the actual story that was kept hidden from Aerin. When she got a hint of something missing in the story, Aerin decided to set upon the path to find the hidden truth related to her mother’s death. She was determined to believe that her destiny was much greater than what she was made to believe. In fact, Aerin had never imagined that her life would take such a twisting turn and she would go on to become the true hero. Due to this, she would achieve the power contained in the Blue Sword.

The second book in the Damar Land series was published under the title ‘The Blue Sword’. It was released by the Ace publishers in the year 1982. The story of this novel depicts Harry Crewe as the main character, who is introduced by the author as an orphan girl. When she comes to stay in Damar, she learns that the desert country land of Damar is filled with Homelanders along with the magical and secretive Hillfolk. Harry Crewe begins to live an ordinary and quiet life. After a short while, she gets abducted by the Hillfolk King named Corlath. She is sent deep into the desert by him. The main problem faced by Harry Crewe other than her kidnapping is that she does not know the Hillfolk language. Therefore, she could not understand the reason behind her kidnapping. But Corlath seems to have a hidden agenda behind the kidnapping of Harry Crewe. He wishes to train her in the arts of war and develop her into a deadly weapon. Corlath also intends to make her a match for one of his men and make her fight along with them for him. In the end, Harry Crewe appears to be thinking whether she has the courage to accept her new fate or not.