The Hero and the Crown is the second of a series of books about Damar. The first, The Blue Sword, takes place after Aerin has become one of her country's dearest legends. McKinley, who feels herself to be a kind of historian for Damar, does not know how many Damar books there will be. When she had difficulty finding the end of The Hero and the Crown, however, she knew there would be another book about Aerin.