HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin Mckinley
Loading...

The Outlaws of Sherwood (original 1988; edition 2002)

by Robin Mckinley

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2,829395,019 (3.79)118
Fantasy. Folklore. Historical Fiction. Young Adult Fiction. HTML:

The Robin Hood legend comes thrillingly alive in Robin McKinley's reimagining of the classic adventure
Young Robin Longbow, subapprentice forester in the King's Forest of Nottingham, must contend with the dislike of the Chief Forester, who bullies Robin in memory of his popular father. But Robin does not want to leave Nottingham or lose the title to his father's small tenancy, because he is in love with a young lady named Marianā??and keeps remembering that his mother too was gentry and married a common forester.
Robin has been granted a rare holiday to go to the Nottingham Fair, where he will spend the day with his friends Much and Marian. But he is ambushed by a group of the Chief Forester's cronies, who challenge him to an archery contest . . . and he accidentally kills one of them in self-defense.
He knows his own life is forfeit. But Much and Marian convince him that perhaps his personal catastrophe is also an opportunity: an opportunity for a few stubborn Saxons to gather together in the secret heart of Sherwood Forest and strike back against the arrogance and injustice of the Norman overlords.
… (more)

Member:KarenIrelandPhillips
Title:The Outlaws of Sherwood
Authors:Robin Mckinley
Info:Firebird (2002), Edition: Reissue, Paperback, 352 pages
Collections:2015 Books, ebooks
Rating:****
Tags:YA, Fairy tale retold

Work Information

The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley (1988)

Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 118 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 38 (next | show all)
I've always enjoyed tales or movies about Robin Hood. This is a great re-telling with very human characters. Great book! ( )
  LuLibro | Jan 22, 2024 |
I've read many versions of the "Robin Hood" legend, but this is one ties for my favorite of them all.

McKinley's imagination with trying to make these characters real is just astonishing. They're still fitting into the mythos of Robin Hood - but not everything is what you expect. They're not laughable figures who shrug off swords and arrows. They're real people, with emotions and flaws and moments of genius and nobility.

I found this to be very enjoyable, and I love that McKinley continues to not disappoint when it comes to writing fairy tale adaptations. ( )
  AnonR | Aug 5, 2023 |
The Outlaws of Sherwood is a sturdy, conservative version of the Robin Hood myths, and while the book isn't particularly exciting -- aside from one really terrific description of arousal and one great riot scene -- it's a sensible collation of diffuse myths and contemporary concerns.

The book features the traditional gang: Robin Hood (who is terrible at archery and compensates through relentless anxiety), Maid Marian, Much, Will Scarlet, Friar Tuck, Little John, Alan-a-dale, etc. McKinley is great at characters, and she does a particularly fine job with Robin (the rare male McKinley protagonist), but she hews very closely to the accepted parameters of the original stories. The end result is a plot that feels rote and obligatory. The book adds a few weird quirks to the standard story -- the women in Robin's camp; Cecily; Richard Lionheart's disturbing conditions for forgiving the outlaws -- but for the most part, The Outlaws of Sherwood sticks to the beaten path. ( )
  proustbot | Jun 19, 2023 |
I have been wanting to re-read this book for years as I really liked it when I read it as a child. And I still like it, but I think it had less of an impact than it had before. I thought there was more about the life in the forest, and I had forgotton how far into line of generally accepted ways of living the ending pulls the merry band. ( )
  mari_reads | Oct 13, 2021 |
I've tried to read this book five times and I just can't get past the first twenty pages; I give up.
  jen.e.moore | Oct 30, 2018 |
Showing 1-5 of 38 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review

» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Robin McKinleyprimary authorall editionscalculated
Hunt, RobertCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lee, AlanCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Sweet, DarrellCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
To Merrilee,
who saved it;
and to R.W.,
who saved me
First words
A small vagrant breeze came from nowhere and barely flicked the feather tip as the arrow sped on its way.
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Fantasy. Folklore. Historical Fiction. Young Adult Fiction. HTML:

The Robin Hood legend comes thrillingly alive in Robin McKinley's reimagining of the classic adventure
Young Robin Longbow, subapprentice forester in the King's Forest of Nottingham, must contend with the dislike of the Chief Forester, who bullies Robin in memory of his popular father. But Robin does not want to leave Nottingham or lose the title to his father's small tenancy, because he is in love with a young lady named Marianā??and keeps remembering that his mother too was gentry and married a common forester.
Robin has been granted a rare holiday to go to the Nottingham Fair, where he will spend the day with his friends Much and Marian. But he is ambushed by a group of the Chief Forester's cronies, who challenge him to an archery contest . . . and he accidentally kills one of them in self-defense.
He knows his own life is forfeit. But Much and Marian convince him that perhaps his personal catastrophe is also an opportunity: an opportunity for a few stubborn Saxons to gather together in the secret heart of Sherwood Forest and strike back against the arrogance and injustice of the Norman overlords.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
    WANTED FOR TREASON:
    ROBIN OF SHERWOOD

Robin McKinley brings to life the classic tale of Robin Hood and reveals the legendary characters as they must have been:
flesh-and-blood outlaws who risked the gallows and the sword for the sake of justice ....
... let the rich and wicked beware!
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.79)
0.5 1
1 7
1.5 1
2 20
2.5 3
3 134
3.5 38
4 192
4.5 25
5 104

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 204,456,176 books! | Top bar: Always visible