Chalice – Robin McKinley
Penguin Firebird, 2010 (reprint)
264 pages
RRP: US$8.99
ISBN: 978-0-14-241720-1

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

As an avid reader of Robin McKinley since I was a young ‘un, I couldn’t wait to devour Chalice. My favourite McKinley tale has to be the original and the best, Beauty. Chalice has a lot of the magical fairytale atmosphere that I adored in that first reading, so it couldn’t possibly disappoint.

Chalice tells the story of Mirasol, newly appointed Chalice, second in the Circle of Willowlands demesne. A year ago she was a simple and forthright bee keeper; now she must deal with the intricacies of politics and binding her new Master, newly returned from the Fire Priests, to the land. The previous Chalice and Master died in a terrible fire and there is noone to teach Mirasol the way through the pitfalls ahead of her. The new Chalice and Master must help each other face Willowlands’ biggest threat.

The characters will seem familiar to those who have read a lot of McKinley’s work: the heroine is honourable above all else, working as hard as she can to do her duty, no matter how difficult she finds it. The Master is a typical stranger in a strange land. Being recalled from the Priests of Fire after three years of study, he is now much more than human, having trouble controlling his power over fire enough to interact with the rest of humanity. Together they fight to keep their land whole, learning to work with each others’ strengths and weaknesses.

This is a young-adult story which many older readers will love, but McKinley has also written more adult tales and short story collections as well. Those who like fantasy will adore Robin McKinley’s writing. If you haven’t read any of her work, I urge you to get to a bookshop!