A Cold Summer Night | ||||||||
Trystam Kith | ||||||||
Five Star, 209 pages | ||||||||
|
A review by Cindy Lynn Speer
Not the familiar story at all, isn't it? But from the beginning, nothing is familiar. Having read, and
treasured, the story of Robin Hood almost as I treasure King Arthur, I could see the bones beneath the surface of this
story. The familiar things are there. You will find yourself with a person, and realize, suddenly, just who they
are. Situations, such as the famous quarterstaff fight at the river crossing are brought in, and changed to fit a
terrifying and page-turning story that warps your perception of what you thought you knew.
You know it's going to be this way, even before you hit page one, as Kith relates a quick list of historical facts: that
the Lion Heart bankrupted England twice, that Prince John was a well-read man who, unlike those before him, could speak
the language of his people, that he had no choice but to raise the taxes. Already, we begin to see Prince John
differently, which prepares us for the infamous Sheriff. I confess, my view of the Sheriff has been permanently
altered by Alan Rickman's movie portrayal, (just as my view of Robin Hood will always be Errol Flynn) but the
Sheriff we meet is a calm, introspective man, one who is extremely generous at every turn, trying to take care of
his men, paying peasants and crofters more money than needed. He has had a past shame. Something, though we don't
know what, happened on the Crusade, dishonoring him. He is subservient to deGisbourne, a ridiculous popinjay who
has no care for anything but hunting and pretty clothes, a position that rankles only because he can never get Gui
to concentrate on the things that matter and give him help. You can not help but truly like deSteny.
The setting is extremely frightening. Sherwood Forest is filled with fortified crofts and monasteries, places you
would think that the people we follow on their journey though this eerie place would be safe. Not so. Robin Hood has
made arrangements with many places, a body of a traveler in exchange for no one who actually merits getting hurt,
and so you don't know who will wake up with one of their members missing. Each familiar name is brought in very cleverly.
This gloriously scary, historically sound (well, except for the vampires, of course) fantasy is only half of a two part series.
Cindy Lynn Speer loves books so much that she's designed most of her life around them, both as a librarian and a writer. Her books aren't due out anywhere soon, but she's trying. You can find her site at www.apenandfire.com. |
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