From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up?Geoffrey, Sheriff of Nottingham, is informed by the king's steward that a local highwayman must be eliminated. This outlaw, Robin Hood, is only a minor nuisance to Geoffrey. The sheriff is much more concerned about his strained relationship with his wife; his affair with the Abbess; his anger at the mimicking Fool; his confusion over his feelings for his young squire, Hugh; and his desire to appear strong and courageous to the people he leads. First tricked, then captured, and later rescued by Robin Hood and his band, the man learns that courage is more than torturing a miscreant and that love is more than lust. At the end of the novel, he is able to accept the mocking of the mute Fool for the apt criticism that it is, and publicly declare that courage is not necessarily physically winning. The medieval setting is clearly and accurately realized. There is no softening of the explicitness of the sexual encounters and it takes a strong stomach to read the sections of the torture and subsequent hanging of a declared thief. The sections in which Hugh grapples with his feelings for Geoffrey, and in which Hugh fights Robin Hood to defend Geoffrey's honor make this book accessible to young adults. However, the frank portrayal of adult sexual desire make this a difficult book to offer to teens. Because it is Geoffrey's story, and not Hugh's, it is an adult novel that includes a sympathetic teenage character.?Wendy D. Caldiero, New York Public Library
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From Booklist
Gr. 7^-10. Can't the mighty sheriff of Nottingham outmuscle Robin Hood? Absolutely not, as the legends have told us for centuries. And once again, the kind and wily outlaw holds sway. Now we have the story told mainly from the point of view of the sheriff, Geoffrey, and his erstwhile young squire, Hugh, who wants nothing more than to honor his master by proving himself in the hunt for the crafty ruler of the forest. By the close, everyone ends up proving his honor and restraint by letting peace rule in the land. Cadnum's style evokes medieval days and ways richly--and graphically. Brutal hunts, a bear attack, torture scenes, and hanging descriptions fill the pages. The encounters between Robin Hood and the sheriff are particularly well done and suspenseful. Although the characterizations get a little wooden and the complicated descriptions become labored, this will please historical fiction fans and lovers of medieval lore.
Anne O'Malley
