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altheaann

altheaann

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Maid Marian - Elsa Watson Picked up this book because of the beautiful cover and ROBIN HOOD!
I have to say, the book design is lovely. It's credited to Lauren Dong, and I think she deserves a credit here too. Not just the cover, but the lovely flowers inside, even the typesetting is nice.

However, the story... well, I really, really WANTED to like it. Very soon into the book, I realized that the characters' attitudes and behaviors were not consistent with 15th-century England. That's actually OK with me, I adjusted my attitude to regard this as a British-influenced fantasy book. However, it's really more of a romance than a fantasy. Unfortunately, it doesn't really work as a romance. The relationship between Robin and Marian is oddly lacking in heat. It's rather abstract and chaste; I just wasn't feeling their connection.
Other than the romance, the plot has to do with the disenfranchised noblewoman Marian enlisting Robin's help to get her lands back, as she's been cheated out of them by the conniving Lady Pernelle. This plot device creates an awkwardness that isn't ever resolved: Robin is for the poor folks, but he ends up marrying into the gentry and settling down happily in a great manor. No change is made in the status quo, except that Marian has her consciousness raised about how serfs live, and vows to "do her best" for them. Now, I don't demand revolution in every book. If you don't want to criticize the feudal system, by all means don't. But this book pays PC lip service to criticizing it, which is unsatisfying, to say the least.
Also, I didn't think the scenario where the young master of the manor agrees to be instructed in the art of fighting with a cudgel by his young servant girl was consistent with the internal 'culture' of the book, let alone a realistic depiction of the historical era.
I have to admit that I also found this Marian to be an annoying person.
Not only was she both naive and jealous, but she pulled the crap that any person deserves to be unceremoniously dumped for: "Oh, I am So Attracted to you because you are a Bad-ass, dangerous outlaw! But wait! Now that we've hooked up, you should change completely, and be safe and reliable and never take any risks! And if you don't do what I want, I will act like a psycho and run away! But that just means I must Love You!" Argh, Ugh.

For novels about Maid Marian and Robin Hood, I'd highly recommend Jennifer Roberson's 'Lady of the Forest,' or Robin McKinley's 'Outlaws of Sherwood' over this book.