<p>Review copy provided by the author, who is a long-time
friend.</p>
<p>I was obsessed with Arthurian legends in my early
adolescence, as I think a lot of kids that age are and especially a lot of kids
that age in that period were. I also read Robin McKinley's <em>Outlaws of Sherwood</em>, and somewhere along the line it occurred to me
to wonder why there weren't more Robin Hood novels. On the surface there was a
strong similarity with Arthurian stories: both British, both featuring nearly
infinitely expandable bands of buddies and sidekicks and character actors, both
romantic and action-packed. But the shelves were packed with the one, nearly
empty of the other. Why?</p>
<p>One of the theories I formulated was that the Arthur story
has a narrative arc, whereas the Robin Hood story's arc, when it has one, is a
deus ex machina: King Richard returns and all is well through no particular
action on the characters' part. It's not even ripe to be a picaresque because
nobody really goes anywhere. It's full of episode without direction. In order
to have an actual novel, I speculated, you'd have to add a lot to the basic
Robin Hood story.</p>
<p>Brightfall is basically exhibit A for this theory. This is a
Robin Hood novel, no mistake, but Jaime brought <em>so much</em> to the table. Witchcraft! The Fair Folk! A dragon! Entirely
new characters completely separate from the extensive original cast! Plot that
extends in time--that, in fact, starts--far after the glory days of the Merry
Men, that gives Maid Marian her own home and priorities and life--a life that
can be disrupted by nefarious plots from another realm.</p>
<p>Also Robin Hood is a <em>complete
butt</em> in this book.</p>
<p>Seriously, though. A. Complete. Butt. But it's not one of
those books where the author doesn't recognize it; a good third of the dialog
is approximately: Someone: Why are you
such a butt, Robin Hood? RH: ...I dunwanna talk about it. Is he not a butt in
the end? Well, that's for you to find out for yourself. Marian gets an earned
happy ending, I'll promise you that, but with whom and how and when is for you
to find out.</p>
<br /><center><hr/><em>Posted from my blog with <a href='https://wordpress.org/plugins/steempress/'>SteemPress</a> : http://www.marissalingen.com/blog/?p=2585 </em><hr/></center>