The Blue Sword is a fantasy novel written by American author Robin McKinley. It follows Angharad "Harry" Crewe, a recently orphaned young woman, to a remote desert outpost in colonized Damar, where her brother is stationed in the Homeland military. When she meets Corlath, the mystical king of the Damarian Hillfolk, Harry discovers her own magical powers and a destiny that leads her to save Damar from invasion.The Blue Sword was first published in 1982 by Greenwillow Books. It received the Newbery Honor Award, the Horn Book Fanfare award, the ALA Best of the Best Books for Young Adults award, the ALA Notable Children's Book award and the ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults award.McKinley described her inspiration as "Kipling's story 'The Man Who Would Be King', as funnelled through John Huston's reading of it as a film, and crossbred with The Sheik", the latter of which she had hated and only read accidentally, thinking it would be something quite different.The Hero and the Crown, a prequel to The Blue Sword, was published in 1984. Source: Wikipedia (en)