View source for Robin McKinley

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[[File:Robin McKinley photo.jpg|frame|Robin McKinley in 2009]]
'''Robin McKinley''' is an American fantasy author living in the United Kingdom, whose works often have active female heroes.

She has written two novels and a number of short stories in the world of Damar. ''[[The Blue Sword]]'' was a Newbery Honor book and ''[[The Hero and The Crown]]'' won a [[Newbery Medal]].

She has written several novels retelling folk tales, including ''[[Robin Hood]]'' (''[[The Outlaws of Sherwood]]''), ''[[Sleeping Beauty]]'' (''Spindle's End''), ''Donkeyskin'' (''[[Deerskin]]''), and two different retellings of ''[[Beauty and The Beast]]'' written 20 years apart (''[[Beauty a Retelling of Beauty And The Beast|Beauty]]'' and ''[[Rose Daughter]]'').

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* ''[[Beauty a Retelling of Beauty And The Beast|Beauty]]''
* ''[[The Blue Sword]]'' (including prequels ''The Hero and the Crown'' and ''A Pool in the Desert'')
* ''[[Deerskin]]''
* ''[[The Outlaws of Sherwood]]''
* ''[[Rose Daughter]]''
* ''[[Sunshine (novel)|Sunshine]]''

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* [[All Girls Like Ponies|All Girls Like Ponies (and/or dogs or dragons)]] - almost all of her protagonists (even the one boy) have a horse, dog, or exotic animal as a best friend. 
* [[Author Appeal]]: [[May-December Romance]].
* [[Bee-Bee Gun]]: ''Chalice''.
* [[Bond Creatures]]: ''Pegasus'' - For the human Royal family and the pegasus Royal family, each pegasus and each human have ''each other'' as a bond creature.
* [[Contrived Clumsiness]]: In ''Chalice'', one of the primary antagonists uses a very malicious form of fake clumsiness to set the demesne's Master up for a [[Morton's Fork]]: he "trips" within the Master's reach, forcing the Master - a former priest of elemental fire - to choose between catching and involuntarily burning him (an insult) or letting him fall (also an insult).
* [[Cool Horse]] - ALL of them, but pegasi especially.
* [[Death by Childbirth]]: Several instances, including ''[[Beauty a Retelling of Beauty And The Beast|Beauty]]'' and "[[The Twelve Dancing Princesses]]" in ''The Door in the Hedge''.
* [[Discreet Drink Disposal]]: "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" .
* [[Easing Into the Adventure]]: Common in her works. ''[[The Blue Sword]],'' for example, begins with Harry's efforts at adjusting to life on the desert frontier of the Homelander Empire.
* [[Elemental Powers]]: In ''Chalice'', the new Master is a priest of Elemental Fire and can not only [[Playing with Fire|control that element]], he's partly composed of it.
* [[Evil-Detecting Dog]]: In short story, "Hellhound". 
* [[Fisher King]]: ''Chalice'', in which each demesne has not only a [[Fisher King]] Master, but an entire Fisher ''Court''. <ref> If you're curious, the Fisher Court has twelve members: Master, Chalice, Grand Seneschal, Prelate, and the "minor circle" composed of the Clearseer, Keepfast, Landsman, Oakstaff, Sunbrightener, Talisman, Weatheraugur, and (presumably) an eighth member whose title isn't mentioned anywhere in the book.</ref>
* [[Goo-Goo Godlike]]: "Baby Magic" in ''Spindle's End''.
* [[Hormone-Addled Teenager]]: Tends to avert this. Many of her female characters are teenagers/young adults, but the idea of romance is usually an afterthought.
* [[May-December Romance]]: A common element; see [[Author Appeal]].
* [[Mayfly-December Romance]]: ''Sunshine'', sort of. See also ''[[The Hero and The Crown]]''.
* [[Morton's Fork]]: ''Chalice''.
* [[Never Was This Universe]]: ''Sunshine'' and ''Dragonhaven''.
* [[Our Dragons Are Different]]: ''Dragonhaven''.
* [[Pegasus]]: ''Pegasus''
* [[Playing with Fire]]: ''Chalice''.
* [[Slipping a Mickey]]: "The Twelve Dancing Princesses".
* [[Something About a Rose]]: ''[[Beauty a Retelling of Beauty And The Beast|Beauty]]'' and ''[[Rose Daughter]]'', inevitably.
* [[Speaks Fluent Animal]]: ''Spindle's End''.
* [[Sweet Polly Oliver]]: Beauty's sister Lionheart in ''[[Rose Daughter]]''; someone ends up [[Sweet on Polly Oliver]].
* [[Tell Me About My Father|Tell Me About My Mother]]: Beauty in ''[[Rose Daughter]]'', Aerin in ''[[The Hero and The Crown]]''.
* [[Twice-Told Tale]]: ''[[Beauty a Retelling of Beauty And The Beast|Beauty]]'' (and ''[[Rose Daughter]]''), ''[[Deerskin]]'', ''[[The Outlaws of Sherwood]]'', ''Spindle's End''. ''The Door in the Hedge'' is likewise a collection of retold fairy tales, including "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," "The Golden Hind," and "The Frog Prince".
* [[What a Piece of Junk!]]: The ponies in ''Chalice'' are pretty [[The Alleged Steed|alleged]] by [[The Blue Sword|Damarian]] standards (the Master's older brother certainly seemed to think so), until you realize that while they may be slow and fat, Ponty is very calm around dangerous things (read: bees and fire), and Gallant and Ironfoot have impressive amounts of endurance, and that this is ''exactly'' what the protagonists need them to be.
* [[When She Smiles]]: Appears in one of the short stories in ''Water: Tales of the Elemental Spirits''.
* [[Wife Husbandry]]: "Touk's House" in ''A Knot in the Grain''. A couple of the other [[May-December Romance|May December Romances]] scattered around her works may also count.
* [[Wizards Live Longer]]: Various works, including ''Sunshine'' and Luthe in ''[[The Hero and The Crown]]'' et al.
* [[Wound That Will Not Heal]]: ''Sunshine'', ''Chalice''.

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