B-log: Outlaws of Sherwood

So, this morning (to use the term lightly), I finished reading The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley. It is a retelling of the famous story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men, done with the fairly unusual premise of making the story plausible.

Now, leaving aside my opinion of her temperament, she is a great YA author. Her prose flows beautifully and has a stark, unembellished quality to it that I have always admired; perfect for that age when one can appreciate good writing, but cannot yet get through some of the more, erhem, prosaic authors. Her characterization is very nice and her portrayal of Robin Hood as the reluctant hero is as well done as it is different.

McKinley's main strengths, in all her books, are her characters. She's a very people-oriented author (as opposed to...Tolkien, for example) and all of her books tend to sacrifice world-building for characterization. There are worse faults, however, and The Outlaws of Sherwood is certainly one of her most realized worlds, presumably because it is set in Richard the Lionheart's England.

My personal favorite character is Little John, who tends to get short shrift in the other stories. He gets much more "screentime" in this version and, while I don't want to spoil anything, his happy ending is my favorite part of the book (I'm hopeless that way).

The book was a little slow at some point, generally while McKinley is trying to make it clear that outlawing is not all fun and games--there is rain and mud and tree roots stabbing one in the back, but I could not help but wish she would get on with it. After all, we were waiting for Robin to start robbing the rich to feed the poor.

In some ways, however, that is also the books strength. The hero is a perfectly normal person who chooses to do something extraordinary with his circumstances. We love Robin, not because he's a superhero, but because he is an ordinary man trying to fill a hero's shoes. We sympathize with his indifferent archery skills (which are a lovely touch by McKinley) and we're as torn as he is when trying to balance the safety of his men and the need to protect the people outside Sherwood. McKinley's characters pull at you and, before you know it, you're just as interested in their fates as they are. That is her gift as a writer, to bring legends to life and make the heroes of tales into real people.

My one complaint is the ending, which feels like McKinley has written herself into a corner. She has been trying to create a realistic Robin Hood, but is then caught between what the obvious punishment would be for such a man and what the tales say is his reward. Her compromise is, perhaps, the best that could be done, but it still feels...contrived. Which is true about the fate of all folk heroes. But it is incongruous, when she has done such a fabulous job in bringing the rest of the legend to life.

At any rate, it is well worth the read and yet another example of my personal pet peeve - all the good literature now being written is Young Adult