Ebon

Pegasus #2

by Robin McKinley

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Young Adult Fantasy, Magic, Sci Fi Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

About the author

Born in her mother's hometown of Warren, Ohio, Robin McKinley grew up an only child with a father in the United States Navy. She moved around frequently as a child and read copiously; she credits this background with the inspiration for her stories.

Her passion for reading was one of the most constant things in her childhood, so she began to remember events, places, and time periods by what books she read where. For example, she read Andrew Lang's Blue Fairy Book for the first time in California; The Chronicles of Narnia for the first time in New York; The Lord of the Rings for the first time in Japan; The Once and Future King for the first time in Maine. She still uses books to keep track of her life.

McKinley attended Gould Academy, a preparatory school in Bethel, Maine, and Dickinson College in 1970-1972. In 1975, she was graduated summa cum laude from Bowdoin College. In 1978, her first novel, Beauty, was accepted by the first publisher she sent it to, and she began her writing career, at age 26. At the time she was living in Brunswick, Maine. Since then she has lived in Boston, on a horse farm in Eastern Massachusetts, in New York City, in Blue Hill, Maine, and now in Hampshire, England, with her husband Peter Dickinson (also a writer, and with whom she co-wrote Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits in 2001) and two lurchers (crossbred sighthounds).

Over the years she has worked as an editor and transcriber (1972-73), research assistant (1976-77), bookstore clerk (1978), teacher and counselor (1978-79), editorial assistant (1979-81), barn manager (1981-82), free-lance editor (1982-85), and full-time writer. Other than writing and reading books, she divides her time mainly between walking her "hellhounds," gardening, cooking, playing the piano, homeopathy, change ringing, and keeping her blog.

Reviews

[Katerina]

Robin Mckinley, I could kiss you. I almost thought you were going to leave Pegasus as it was. I'm dying for this book, and I hope you hurry to finish it!

8/25/13

It's been too long since I've checked this page... and there STILL isn't a picture of the cover released?! I'm beginning to get worried... Robin McKinley isn't exactly young... >.<

12/13/13

So. 2014 is next year, right? So theoretically, if this was actually happening there should be a cover by now? Right? #panicattack

4/19/15

Well, would you look at that? Not only has the date changed to 2015, THE PRECEDING WORD HAS CHANGED FROM "TO BE PUBLISHED" TO "PUBLISHED." PAST TENSE GUYS PAST TENSE.

Lemme go crawl away and cry.

9/28/2021
I'm 6 years older, much has changed, and I still have no answers to my many questions *cries*

[Colleen]

2012 2014 2015?!!!! OKAY, I HAVE BEEN WAITING SINCE EIGHTH GRADE TO READ THIS BOOK. I AM ABOUT TO ENTER SENIOR YEAR! THIS IS NOT OKAY!!!!!!!! I understand that writing takes a while. I'm a writer too. But you expect fans to still be around after this long? McKinley is lucky Pegasus was amazing. The author is clearly talented. But if you can't deliver the second one, why publish the first one? I hate cliff-hangers. I was warned one was coming. I read it anyways. I decided a good book could be worth the wait. I was ready to wait a year, then reach it, satisfied in the glory of whatever came next. I was not prepared to wait over three years. By this time the details of the book are lost to me, I only remember the plot vaguely and the emotions. At this point though, I doubt if the book is ever going to be published.

[Tracey]

For anyone angry/frustrated/p.o.'d/whathaveyou that this book *insert whiny voice here* hasn't come out yet - - before you go whinging to Robin about it, read her blog. Specifically, here: http://robinmckinleysblog.com/2014/10... , and her summation of how she's feeling on the matter:

In fact I am wildly, frantically frustrated and crazy over it. Just by the way.

And then go pester G.R.R. Martin about when his next book is coming out. Double dog dare you.

[Regina Tam]

what the heck it went from 2012 to 2014??? i cant wait that long for a book sequel and the first one was so oddly written, i think most ppl will forget about the book if it comes out so late! WHY R U DOING THIS TO MEEEE???
shucks..............

2014 UPDATE: omg its 2015 now??? WHATS GOING ON?? I dont even remember the plot anymore..*sob

2023 update: at this rate this is like a time capsule. I am almost 9 years older than when I first read book 1 and I see there is no release yet....hopefully this book will be put someday.

[Darcy (Daydreamingofbookdragons)]

THE WORLD IS BLESSED AND A BOOK I LONG THOUGHT WOULD NEVER GET IT'S SEQUEL WILL APPARENTLY GET IT'S SEQUEL!!!!!!!!!

I read Pegasus yonks ago (like, I think around a decade) and always assumed that there would be/was a book two. Then one fateful day I saw a post* about Pegasus on Instagram and the poster** seemed to think it was a single book. I'm sorry, what?? No! Pegasus ends on a cliffhanger. It can't be left like that. That isn't fair!

I went searching on Goodreads and yes! There was a book two!! (This book) But no. DEVASTATION! The release date was some past year or future year with people commenting from years ago asking when this would be coming out and no review of someone having actually read it.

I went searching outside of Goodreads (read:*** Google) and found Robin McKinley's blog. With the last post being from years ago. I searched and I searched, but I could find no mention of Robin from anything more recent than a few years ago. I went back to some reviews and found that Robin had been through some really tough times and her husband had sadly passed away. As upset as I was, I couldn't blame her for not continuing the series. After going through that, and still experiencing the devastation, I could completely understand that writing a whole new book might not be something she ever intended to do again.

I resigned myself to never finding out what happened next, and Ebon suffering the same fate as What Not To Do In the Dark by Diane Messidoro. Only this was more painful as How To Keep A Boy As A Pet is a complete story by itself, and however much I would love a sequel, it doesn't actually need one.

Cut to now. A year and a bit later - possible two (idk, the years blend together and pass too quickly) - and I do my regular check of books to be released over the next few years. I have a list on my computer and I like to go through it every now and again to see if dates have been announced or changed. And I can't seem to help myself, but I always check this book too.

Alas, no change. But I decide to try good ol' Google again and maybe?? Just possibly?? There will be news. The results: A Wikipedia page about her, her blog, her Goodreads page, another blog- wait, what was that second one? Is... is that a date from 2018?? Is this really telling me that this blog was last updated in 2018?!?

GLORY HULLELUJAH!!!

Immediately I pounced on it and furiously started reading posts. The last one was from August! So recent!! So I search for the very first post, posted back on March the 15th 2018. Robin McKinley has a new blog and she's back. She's back!

You must understand my relief and hope. Anyone who has read and enjoyed a book, only to find out that the sequel is not coming out for whatever reason, knows of the devastation I felt when I first realised that Ebon wasn't happening. For so long I thought I would never get a conclusion to a story that painted vivid pictures in my mind and left me desperate to find out what happened next. And then one day, I decide to randomly search again, even though I have done it countless times before with no result (a sign of madness anyone?) and there it was. Hope.

Now, just because Robin is back to posting on her blog doesn't mean she plans to continue on with the Pegasus series. I hope she does, but even if she doesn't, I'm still glad to know that she is back to blogging and I can hopefully get some closure at least.

The search begins. I start scrolling through articles hoping to catch a glimpse of the words 'pegasus' or 'ebon' or anything related whatsoever. And then... gold.

The brilliant news I never thought was coming.

I don't even care if Ebon turns out to be a pile of shit. And I do care, and hope it does, but even if the worst happens and Ebon is never released, I am still so glad that I have at least heard something. This truly feels like a miraculous event for me, and I know that some series and fans out there will never be so lucky.

So for any fans out there who didn't already know, I hope this news brings you happiness, and we can all join with Robin McKinley and wish her a better, happier future. Hopefully with writing and many books to come.



*It was possibly my own post, thinking back on it... ^

^Ha! Doing a Robin herself with the footnotes. Can you tell I just came from her website?

**Maybe commenter on my post??

***Heh heh heh... get it? Read? Books and reading and Goodreads?? Yeah... yeah you go it.

I'll see myself out...

[Creative A]

2014? Ohh...fudge :(

[Aqua]

**Update March 2018: McKinley's blog has mysteriously gone down and hasn't come back for a month. I have no idea what happened or why she went completely silent online, but I hope the author is ok.
Update end of March 2018: Mckinley's blog has been revamped and is back. Her old blog posts (and thus all my links to her blog) are completely gone, so I've deleted all the links. Glad to know she's alright and back online. Hopefully she'll write Ebon someday...
Update May 2018: McKinley has at last mentioned Pegagus II on her blog, for the first time in many years! The good news is she is still planning to finish the story. The bad news is it doesn't seem to be on the near horizon, and she definitely hasn't started yet, so all in all not much has changed.**

Well I found Pegasus to be an initially frustrating, but ultimately interesting story to read and would love to know what happens in the sequel (yes, sequel. I'm extremely confused by the arguments in other reviews about whether this is one book or a trilogy. I assume it stems from the author saying "PEG II isn’t a sequel, it’s the rest of the story." on her blog (link deleted). But I don't care. It does not matter if a book ends on a cliffhanger, the next book is always a "sequel" by definition: "a published, broadcast, or recorded work that continues the story or develops the theme of an earlier one."). However, it has been 8 years now(!!!) since Pegasus was published, and I have very little hope that Ebon will ever come out. As far as I can tell she hasn't even mentioned anything about Pegasus II/Ebon to her fans since 2014.

Also, yes, I have read her blog. I know her husband died a few years ago. I am truly sorry she had to suffer such a loss. It must have been extremely hard for her, but as far as I know, she has not come out and announced her retirement due to that tragedy. So years have passed and also writing is her job, and there is still no news. I have heard that she is notorious for not finishing stories. In her blog, it is clear she suffers from crazy writer's block and needs some kind of magic spurt of inspiration to write. But really, it's hard to believe inspiration hasn't hit her for 8 years if she's really trying to write this. I'm hesitant to read any of her other works because of this. I don't want to become invested in another story that will never be finished.

I know this is a somewhat controversial opinion, in light of the similarly frustrating and neverending wait for A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones book 6 (and book 7, which I don't think will ever see the light of day), but I feel that authors have an obligation to their fans (ie. customers) to either do their utmost to complete their stories, or if they can't, then just tell us a sequel will never come out. You have pulled us in and invested us in your story and we want to go through to the finish with you, but instead we are left hanging forever. Like a friend telling us they'll meet us at 6pm and never showing up. In the author's blog (link deleted) she often comments on people badgering her about when Pegasus II/Ebon will come out and there are undertones of anger, like she can't believe people are bothering her about it and she just wants to be left alone. But at the same time, you published this unfinished story and it's been years and you are giving your fans no updates, so what do you expect? Surely it can't be a bad thing that people really want to read more of your stories?

[MB (What she read)]

Frankly, I doubt we're ever going to get this book.

I wish she'd go back to writing again, or just announce her retirement. That'd be better than this state of limbo. But. That doesn't seem to be happening.

(Yes, I know about the writer's block and the loss of her husband. My sympathies.)

Thanks, but no thanks:
The blog is not at all interesting to me, (too rambling and way too self-indulgent), but to each his own I guess. YMMV.

On a positive note:
Thanks for all the enjoyment you've given me in the past, Robin McKinley! Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast, The Blue Sword, The Hero and the Crown, and Sunshine are life-time favorites. All of the others have been read, and--in most cases--re-read. Many, many, many hours of pleasure and joy-in-the-pursuit-of-reading came from your imagination. My deepest gratitude!

[Ruhegeist]

Oh, such a long wait until 2014. I'm sure it will be worth it.

[Annie]

4/16/15
It's 2015, and Ebon is supposed to be out this year. Finally out this year after being pushed back and with Robin writing it and rewriting it and whatever.
There is no recent mention of it on her blog or website though and I just
I NEED IT.
GIVE IT TO ME.
please please please
5/5/15
Please?

[Charis]

I just finished Pegasus, and I need this book! I need to know what happens! Oh, I can't wait two years! This impossible! No!!

[Emma Jean]

2015?!? What?! No! I can't wait this long, and I haven't even finished Pegasus!

[Mora]

hi this needs to exist please Robin McKinley hear the cries of your patient readers who have waited year and years and years for a continuation of Pegasus

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pegasus was published in 2010, its been FIVE YEARS! I read the first book in middle school and now in a month I will be starting college, please Ms. McKinley release the second book before I have children!!!!!!

[Lucianna Mee · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's amazing. Captured me from the start and I couldn't put it down.

[Emily]

cannot wait!!!

[KrisC]

Ugh. Loved, loved, loved Pegasus. I'm tiring of waiting and checking.