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Hawksmaid by Kathryn Lasky
May. 10th, 2012 08:57 pmThis MG novel is about the early lives of Robin Hood and Maid Marian when they were young, from Marian's POV. Or so the back cover copy led me to expect. In actuality, it reimagines it so that the bulk of the legend takes place from roughly the ages of 12-14 for Marian (originally named Mathilda here and usually called Matty) and Robin, with Matty being th actual ringleader and brains behind the operation.
Which sounds great in theory and is fun, but may be better in theory than in practice, particularly when grown men start following the adolescents. Unfortunately, I appear to have grown well past the age where I buy that a handful of 13-year-olds will gather a band of men of all ages who will follow them without question. Then again, I wouldn't have blinked at that when I was in the target age group, and I'm sure today's tweens won't either. It delivers on the promise of "smart medieval girl has adventures, boy tags along" and sidelines the traditional Robin Hood villains to have Matty facing off with the Sheriff's (inevitably) evil sister. There's also a heavy focus on falconry, despite the story predating widespread practice of falconry. This, however, takes a supernatural turn eventually that I think the book could have done without, but I suspect that's YMMV.
The medieval world is much nicer than it actually was in many ways, but not obnoxiously so. It's good fun if a bit twee at times, worth reading if you like YA/MG and historical fiction/Robin Hood retellings.
Which sounds great in theory and is fun, but may be better in theory than in practice, particularly when grown men start following the adolescents. Unfortunately, I appear to have grown well past the age where I buy that a handful of 13-year-olds will gather a band of men of all ages who will follow them without question. Then again, I wouldn't have blinked at that when I was in the target age group, and I'm sure today's tweens won't either. It delivers on the promise of "smart medieval girl has adventures, boy tags along" and sidelines the traditional Robin Hood villains to have Matty facing off with the Sheriff's (inevitably) evil sister. There's also a heavy focus on falconry, despite the story predating widespread practice of falconry. This, however, takes a supernatural turn eventually that I think the book could have done without, but I suspect that's YMMV.
The medieval world is much nicer than it actually was in many ways, but not obnoxiously so. It's good fun if a bit twee at times, worth reading if you like YA/MG and historical fiction/Robin Hood retellings.