Pegasus

by Robin McKinley

Because she was a princess, she had a Pegasus…

Princess Sylviianel has always known that on her twelfth birthday she too would be bound to her own Pegasus. All members of the royal family have been thus bound since the Alliance was made almost a thousand years ago; the binding system was created to strengthen the Alliance, because humans and pegasi can only communicate formally, through specially trained Speaker magicians. Sylvi is accustomed to seeing pegasi every day at the palace, but she still finds the idea of her binding very daunting. The official phrase is that your pegasus is your “Excellent Friend.” But how can you be friends with someone you can’t talk to?

But everything is different for Sylvi and Ebon from the moment they meet at her binding—when they discover they can talk to each other. They form so close a bond that it becomes a threat to the status quo—and possibly to the future safety of their two nations. For some of the magicians believe there is a reason humans and pegasi should not fully understand each other…

• ISBN10: 0399246770
• ISBN13: 9780399246777
• Publish Date: 2 November 2010
• Publish Status: Inactive
• Out of Print: 14 February 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: G.P.Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers'
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 416
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780399246777

Reviews

[laughingrachel]

I really liked this book. I enjoyed the world building and the characters, especially Ebon and the pegasi. However what really ruined this book for me is that it ends on a total and complete cliffhanger.

I have heard that this is supposed to be the first of a trilogy of books that is really supposed to be considered one book split into three parts, but why would you ever release the first part if the rest isn't finished (or at least close to being finished). Even more so when it's common knowledge that Robin McKinley is a very muse-driven writer who can only write when she's moved to so never sticks to publication dates.

I have read many McKinley books and loved them. I have occasionally been left wanting more in her books, but that is usually due to her fantastic worldbuilding - she always wraps up the main protagonists' stories at least. This, however, is just unacceptable to me. The entire book was a build to climax that never happens and who knows if we'll ever see the next books in this trilogy. If we do get those books then I would be extremely happy with this book. I have no problems with the story or the plot, just this totally unresolved cliffhanger ruined the whole book for me.

tl;dr
I would only recommend this book if the 2nd one has been published. Look for Ebon (Pegasus #2) before you ever buy this.

[inlibrisveritas]

Despite the slow beginning and the subtle-ness of the plot this turned out to be a wonderful read. At first I didn't think I was going to be able to finish this 1) because the beginning was very slow and didn't truly draw me in despite the interesting aspects and 2) a lot of the reviews were on the "this is horrible" side. But as I slowly moved forward I realized that I was actually gripped by the story. I love the idea of Pegasus and humans bonding and really enjoyed the bond that Sylvi and Ebon shared. I also enjoyed the differences in how they live and think, and how they perceive the opposite race. You can tell that a lot of thought went into this book, it's evident in the language and the cultures. The book is beautiful. Now to get to the things I didn't like. Toward the beginning the sentence structure really really bothered me, there seemed to be a lot of sentence fragments. I suppose I got use to it overtime or they were no longer there but it certainly didn't help me trying to get into the book. I also really do not like how it end, when I say there is a cliff-hanger I mean it like a tv-show going to commercial during a pivotal point and never coming back on. It wasn't typical in the sense where it concludes in someway but leads you to the next, this one simply abandons you. If a sequel never comes I'll end up really bitter towards this book. I don't know how I feel about how the plot unfolded, you get a sense of what may unfold but you aren't quite sure which way the plot is truly going before you finally resign yourself to believing it's just about a girl and her friendship with a Pegasus...and then boom actual plot.
Overall I enjoyed it, it's not as terrible as others make it but it is a tough one to endure in the beginning. I don't think I'd tell anyone to buy it but I'd say borrow it and give it a shot.