In a Dark Wood

Rating:
Summary: An Intriguing Adaptation of Robin Hood
Review: A Review by Steffi

In a Dark Wood is a version of the story of Robin Hood. Only this interpretation has a twist; it¹s in the Sheriff of Nottingham¹s perspective. In this book you get to know more about the sheriff's (known as Geoffrey) story and what conflicts he faces. He is portrayed as a cold man not wanting to feel emotion, but the reader learns that he has a hidden heart, rarely exposed. A particular example of this is he can¹t express how he looks upon his squire, Hugh, as a son. Also in this book you see the impossible attempts Geoffrey makes to catch Robin Hood, who never fails to outwit the sheriff. It is the classic chase of Robin Hood, only through the sheriff's eyes.

One thing I liked about this book is its interesting approach to the tale of Robin Hood. Who would have thought to take a look in the ³bad guy¹s² point of view. It makes you realize that just because someone is cold doesn¹t mean they don¹t have feelings. In Geoffrey¹s case, his job forces him to do cruel things, such as punishing people who can¹t pay their taxes. Another thing I liked about this book is the poetic words and phrasing Cadnum used. Similes such as ³like a petal floating on dark water² were used throughout the whole book, which made it a really beautiful thing to read. One thing I didn¹t like, however, was the lack of Robin Hood. He obviously played a big part in the plot, but it wasn¹t enough for me, being a Robin Hood fan. Maybe if Cadnum would have done both perspectives of Geoffrey and Robin I would have enjoyed it more. I would have also loved to know more about Robin and Maid Marian¹s romance because that is an aspect of the Robin Hood story that really appeals to me. There was no mentioning this love in this book.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the tale of Robin Hood. It really is an interesting story to read, like a hidden background to the original story. This interesting and poetic adaptation is surely worthwhile for anyone to read.

Rating:
Summary: The sheriff's viewpoint
Review: A somewhat philosophical novel giving the sheriff's viewpoint of Robin Hood. It gives a realistic picture of the era, when torture was routine and common people could be abused with little recourse (the Magna Carta dealt with nobels' rights).

King John orders the sheriff to deal with Robin Hood, whom the sheriff had been ignoring as a petty nuisance. The sheriff has other problems closer to home than the king's highway, including his personal love life, wandering pigs, local thieves, and tax collections. The sheriff's encounter with Robin Hood causes him to get religion. There is no Maid Marian in this novel - in fact Robin Hood's band tends to be unattractive, grubby social outcasts.

The novel digresses into detailed descriptions of torture. That type of sidelight gives the novel, at best, a PG-13 rating.

Rating:
Summary: The sheriff's viewpoint
Review: A somewhat philosophical novel giving the sheriff's viewpoint of Robin Hood. It gives a realistic picture of the era, when torture was routine and common people could be abused with little recourse (the Magna Carta dealt with nobels' rights).

King John orders the sheriff to deal with Robin Hood, whom the sheriff had been ignoring as a petty nuisance. The sheriff has other problems closer to home than the king's highway, including his personal love life, wandering pigs, local thieves, and tax collections. The sheriff's encounter with Robin Hood causes him to get religion. There is no Maid Marian in this novel - in fact Robin Hood's band tends to be unattractive, grubby social outcasts.

The novel digresses into detailed descriptions of torture. That type of sidelight gives the novel, at best, a PG-13 rating.

Rating:
Summary: Shadows of the heart
Review: The YA imprint and miniscule dimensions of this book give it the appearance of being lightweight, but that would be a mistaken impression. It is adult, if not graphically so, and although it is short, it is packed with complexity of texture and character development.

I was afraid, upon approaching this book, that it would be no more complicated than a simple reversal of the Robin Hood legend; that the entire thrust of the book would be to prove that the sheriff was not so bad after all, a sort of politically correct effort to prove that "I'm OK, You're OK". In actual fact, while the sheriff is a sympathetic character by virtue of being the main character, he is a complex man, and the Robin Hood legend is merely a vehicle in order to explore that complexity. He is degenerate, yet in his degeneracy he is struggling to find meaning and purpose in his life. Although he is physically courageous, Geoffrey is uncomfortable in the wild wood, and is most at home within the walls of his keep.

Robin Hood and his outlaws are made of darker stuff than in other versions of the legends: they are mutilated, wretched, desperate. Yet for this very reason, Robin Hood's spirit shines even brighter through the grime. Rather than being a character of equal complexity to the sheriff, he is symbolic of all that the sheriff fears: everything that is wild, unpredictable, beyond his control. The dark wood is the darkness within Geoffrey himself, and by braving its depths he makes unexpected discoveries that change his life.

The prose is rich in metaphor and the medieval setting beautifully rendered. Cadnum most conspicuously draws on Chaucer to bring the setting to life, but at the same time makes it his own. The characters are each in their own way vivid and realistic, in particular Hugh and the Geoffrey's wife. This book is probably not as popular as other Robin Hood retellings because it does not glitter with heroism and pageantry, but it is by far more complex and adult than most retellings, which more than compensates for its superifical lack of lustre.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This is not your typical Robin Hood tale. There are no merry, carefree outlaws, triumphantly fooling a remarkably stupid and greedy Sheriff of Nottingham; nor is there a clear division between good and evil.

No. What In a Dark Wood has are subtleties, textures, shades. It explores in depth the characters of the traditional legend, reducing both hero and villain from their overblown stereotypes to what they would have been: men. Through an untraditional perspective on the tale-- Geoffrey's, the Sheriff of Nottingham-- Cadnum makes real a story that has often seemed bombastic and hopelessly romanticized.

In a Dark Wood is chiefly an exploration of the Sheriff's relationships with those around him: his unloving wife, his impudent fool, his squire, the woods around him, the highwayman Robin Hood, and most importantly, himself. These are crafted with great care and delicacy, and though some of the traditional adventures of the myth are present, they are not there for heroism, but rather as a means of slowly improving the Sheriff's understanding and tolerance. Robin Hood appears infrequently, but his importance in changing the Sheriff is shown throughout the novel. He is mostly important in relation to the Sheriff, rather than as an archer or a noble thief. This is truly Geoffrey's story.

The language is marvelous. The metaphors and similes are done so well that they allow the reader to visualize every vibrant image, and yet are never superfluous or flowery. While Cadnum does not skirt around the brutality of medieval life, the complete picture he creates of it gives it an undeniable vitality and resonance, which has its own peculiar type of beauty. The details of daily life in a medieval society are plentiful, but manage to fully recreate its conditions without weighing down the book in unnecessary and awkward historical insertions.

In a Dark Wood is similar to other novels in some ways-- in its sympathetic treatment of a traditional villain, it is a little like Donna Jo Napoli's fairy tale retellings; in its well-crafted medieval setting, a little like John Morressy's The Juggler; in its willingness to look at both beauty and ugliness in a world, a little like Cynthia Voigt's Kingdom series. Though those who liked these books will probably also enjoy In a Dark Wood, it remains unique altogether, both as a Robin Hood retelling and as a novel. It is unforgettable, and I only regret that it is so little known.

Rating:
Summary: I highly recommend this book to readers old and young alike!
Review: This rich and complex story tells the story of Robin Hood, from the viewpoint of Geoffrey, the Sheriff of Nottingham. Geoffrey himself is a complex man. He is a product of his time, taught to reverence God and yet use horrifying violence when necessary. But he feels himself torn; he cannot measure up to the level of purity that his religion demands, and too softhearted to mete out the cruelty that his duty requires. And when that laughing rogue, Robin Hood, wanders into his jurisdiction, Geoffrey finds the thick and comfortable shell that he has built around himself begin to crack.

This story is entertaining in a very sophisticated way. The world that the author builds is believable and quite fascinating. I enjoyed that the author made believable characters that seem to have hoped right out of history, rather than modern Americans walking around in medieval England. I also enjoyed watching the characters evolve and change (often painfully) as their world changed around them. Though marked as a teen book, I highly recommend it to readers old and young alike!