Saturday, June 16, 2012

111 Girls Who Kick Ass, Number 11: Sunshine

(No pic for this one - not once, in almost four hundred pages, does she ever actually physically describe herself.)

For those of you who haven't met her yet, Sunshine is the main character of an absolutely brilliant book by Robin McKinley (although, um, most of her books tend to be absolutely brilliant, but this one takes it to a whole other level) called, well, Sunshine.

As much as I love love love her, I have mixed feelings about including her on this list.

On the one hand, yes, she definitely deserves to be on this list. On the other hand, um, I'm not going to tell you exactly why she definitely deserves to be on this list.

I'll explain . . .

I've been an avid read of Robin McKinley since sometime around the beginning of 2002. Sunshine came out in October of 2003, but the first twelve pages were released on her website a few months in advance. The first twelve pages were all I needed to let me know that I was going to LOVE this book.

The thing is, there are so many horrible wonderful surprises in this story that, even though it's been out for nearly nine years now, while I do heartily encourage just about everybody to read it, I am extremely reluctant to actually tell you anything about it other than this one sentence:

"It's about a baker who gets kidnapped by vampires."

Because really, what else do you need?

Other than that, there are a few things I suppose I can share without giving too much away:

1. Robin McKinley is one of my favorite authors in the history of ever because (along with Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman - and, recently, along with Diana Wynne Jones* as well) she knows how to tell a story and write about magic better than just about anyone. This book is no exception. I'm . . . well, when I say this, please understand that there's A LOT I'm not telling you.

2. Yes, this is a book about vampires. I'm obviously biased in her favor, but I honestly think Robin McKinley has one of the best "takes" on vampires. Ever. Keep in mind that I personally think vampires are usually pretty disgusting.

3. You know how I'm always saying "You are not consumed by the darkness because you are full of light"? That quote is from a (crucial) scene in this book.

Sorry, that's really all I feel comfortable telling you.

Just shut up and find it and read it.

Thank me later.




*Obviously, Diana Wynne Jones isn't "recent," but I personally have only recently started to read her. Thanks, Jeremy!

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