5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Robin Hood Tale Ever!, Jun 4 2005
By Tinlizzy "A reader lives large illiterates ... - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Under the Wild Moon (Paperback)
As a proven sci-fi author, Carey shows us she can write beautifully. Some of the best Star Trek episodes were written by her. But, before she wrote sci-fi, she wrote some beautiful romances and this was one of them.
Carey is a kick ass writer and lyrical to boot. She moves you along through this
story like a good conductor moves you through his version of
Beethoven 9th in D Minor. Yes the music is Beethoven's and Robin Hood is a
fable but a good conductor takes you through a symphony by helping you to sense
the romance and the special nuances that quiet and increase the drama of the
music while it floats consistently. It's not an easy thing to do in either case
I am sure to take a well known story/musical piece and give it what it needs to
appeal to a large audience. I decided to give you an early paragraph that uses
Robin to get an insight into the lead character Will to get a feeling for her
writing style.
"Thoughtfully, Robin studied him in the firelight. He was used to Will's
excursions into philosophy and his way of sifting through everyone elses habits,
searching for reasons behind them. Since they were boys together at Gamewell,
Will had always wanted to know what made the sky blue. the wind blow, the a
dove warble, a woman weep. He spared no one this scrutiny, Robin had long ago
found out - least of all himself. If any man knew himself well, Will Scarlet
did. So it was no surprise to Robin when the clouds he now saw on his cousin's
eyes began to gather; that meant Will had stumbled upon some untrodden corner
in his mind or soul which would plague him until he had mapped it out. Robin had
seen it happen before, this thourough picking away of feelings; he had seen it
occur both outwardly when Will applied it to others and inwardly, as he applied
it to himself. It was a merciless process that had often made him enemies."
UTWM is a wonderfuly different version of the Robin Hood Fable. She doesn't use
the oft tried and true version of Robin and Marion, although they play secondary
characters. Nope, she takes Will Scarlet and gives him the leading role and
moves a delightful widow into the role of the heroine. And that is where she
begins to catch the reader. She really nabs us with her fine writing and her
ability to meld romance and adventure and happily to my surprise, the romance
got the biggest chunk.