First Person POV? A Bit Hard, Even for A Good Book

When I started reading Robin McKinley’s “Dragonhaven,” it made me angry.

First of all, first person. Not my favorite point of view for a book. I’m hard-wired a bit to avoid that.

Second of all, the voice. Very scattered. Very slow to come to the point.

But I suppose, after finishing the book, that was the point.

The protagonist is, of course, young. And while versed in many things related to dragons, not really versed in writing.

So the longer I read, the more the point of view and the voice fit. Yes, at times, it was like trying to read one of my younger students’ essays, typical stream of consciousness garble that they usually are. They wear me out. Sometimes you have to read a paragraph, or a series of paragraphs, over and over again to get the gist, and even then you’re not really sure.

That’s what this book felt like, start to finish. Not necessarily how I would have done it, but clearly McKinley made a choice and she stuck with it. It certainly lent her character a unique voice.

I worried at times, however, that the voice got in the way of the story. I can be a demanding reader, and this story demanded a bit more than I actually got.

Remembering the main character’s name? Really hard to do. I got it in the last 40 or so pages.

Being able to tell but a few characters apart? Not really. That was hard, but as the POV is written from kind of an egocentric point of view, maybe that’s mission accomplished.

I’ve read a few other McKinley books and will stick with those. This one tells a good story, but the approach to it was a bit too grating for me to get into it.

Don't get me wrong: This is a good story, telling an interesting tale. McKinley is a strong writer, rich in dragon lore that's historic and contemporary and a bit of her own invention. I just had a hard time with the approach, that's all.