Customer Reviews
Honey sweet - By: E. A Solinas, 01 Oct 2008 
Robin McKinley debuted with a fleshed-out retelling of "Beauty & the Beast," & later followed it up with ANOTHER retelling.
And after a few books about dragons & vampires, McKinley returns to her old territory -- she spins up a vaguely medieval tale of a woodland beauty & a charred "beast" entirely out of her own imagination. McKinley's sumptuous prose & 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 & his Chalice were killed in a fire. The new Chalice is Mirasol, whose duty is to fill ceremonial cups & help bind the land.
But then the late Master's little brother arrives from the priests of Fire -- charred black & 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, especiallly 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, & 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 & 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 & 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 & tradition around the ritual roles. Poor Mirasol, trying to navigate her new role.
And McKinley's prose is as sweet & 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 & 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 & 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, & fear that they are failing. Mirasol & the Master (whose name is only revealed late in the book) are wonderfully realistic characters, & Mirasol's stumbles & struggles make her seem like a totallly realistic country girl suddenly given a great task.
"Chalice" is the sort of story that Robin McKinley has penned before, but the land-mysticism & lush prose make it entirely unique. Definitely a must-read..
