Jennifer Roberson

This was unexpectedly lovely, and unexpectedly complex. Not only does it focus on Marian and play the Marian/Robin romance beautifully and hit all the other major episodes from the Robin Hood legend, but also:

the political situation (Richard imprisoned, John making a power grab, etc.) factors strongly into the plot rather than sitting as background to Robin’s adventures
Robin is a former Crusader with PTSD
it tackles sexism head-on without breaking with the medieval setting
the Sheriff is show more despicable for more than his increased taxation
you get the POVs of pretty much everyone, including the Sheriff, every Merry Man, side characters new to this version, and Robin’s dad.

It’s good medieval fiction in its own right, though I think some of the “known facts” when Roberson was writing have now been debunked, and it uses the cultural awareness of the Robin Hood legend to its advantage—you know X is coming, but not exactly how, and oh gods, that twist made things so much worse, of course it happened that way. I think new headcanons might have been formed.

I would like to thank a friend for recommending this one. She was pretty spot-on with “If you like Outlander, you might also like…”.

8/10 show less

The war-torn province of Sancorra has just fallen to the brutal Hecari, and Sancorrans are fleeing to neighbouring provinces.

Audrun and her family have lost their farm to the Hecari, and diviners have told them they must reach Atalanda province before their fifth child is born. They have reached the tent camp that is the jumping-off point for karavans, but as it is so late in the season only Jorda's karavan hasn't yet left - and they may not be allowed to join it.

Alisanos, the deepwood, lies show more near the border; it is haunted by demons and an alien magic, and parents use it's name to frighten children into good behaviour. No-one goes near Alisanos if they can help it, because it could reach out and take them without warning.

More wretched than the ones taken are the ones that Alisanos returns. One such unfortunate stumbles into the camp, irrevocably altered by the whim of Alisanos.

Ilona the hand reader, one of Jorda's diviners, wakes from a visionary dream - but she never has visions. Though she can't interpret the dream, she does get a presentiment of danger ...

Rhuan, the exotic Shoia guide who works for Jorda, has his own magic and a connection to the land, but he holds close other secrets that Sancorrans couldn't comprehend.

Brodhi, a courier and his kin, would, though; he has similar powers, but the cousins tend to keep clear of each other.

They both know, though, that Alisanos is getting ready to move - and when the deepwood moves, it is best not to be in its way...

I've been a fan of Jennifer Roberson since I read her Cheysuli Chronicles which have been among my all-time favourites for several decades. I was a bit hesitant to pick up Karavans, fearing it would not live up to my expectations; but I found it more than met them. It is superbly written, and the last few chapters build the tension to a height and maintain it there, bombarding us with images from different points of view. I was almost on the edge of my seat at times.

The story is told throughout from the points of view of several key characters. I did find the beginning of the story a little bit disorienting, as we were introduced to these characters; but once we were acquainted, everything flowed smoothly.

There was a touch of Cheysuli familiarity for me, with a race that is a little more than human, but otherwise, the worlds are very different.

I've noticed that fantasy novels of the late twentieth century (including the Cheysuli Chronicles) were limited to 200+ pages, which somewhat curtailed their scope. More recent works can be rather longer, and the additional pages here allow Roberson to enrich Karavans with atmospheric detail.

An engrossing story. Recommended. show less

A new Jennifer Roberson novel is always a treat, but a new Jennifer Roberson series is a cause for celebration. It should be obvious from my opening sentence that I am a huge fan. I’ve been an avid reader since her debut, Shapechangers (1984, the first “Cheysuli” novel). The way she combines action, ideas, internal struggle, and romance hit just the right notes for me. More importantly, I love how her work has matured and deepened over time. It seems to me that every time she takes a show more break or begins something new, I see a quantum leap in skill and insight.
Life and Limb, the first volume in her new “Blood and Bone” series, is no exception. She’s begun with a nifty concept: an ex-con biker (Gabriel Harlan) teams up with a clean-cut cowboy (Remi McCue) to fight supernatural nasties and stop the looming apocalypse. And oh yes, they both grew up with a mysterious grandfather, Grandaddy Jubal Horatio Tanner who isn’t human, and neither are they, or not entirely.
In many ways, Life and Limb is the set-up for that conflict, the origin story. Certainly, there’s plenty of action, both internal and external, and a host of adversaries and allies. Grandaddy Jubal has other teams to enlist, so he leaves our heroes in the care of Lily Morrigan (as in “The” Morrigan, the Celtic goddess of war, fate and death). Hell’s vents have opened, pouring forth an army of mythological nasties (ghosts, vampires, black dogs, and the like) which now can get infected by demons. Their skills are complementary: Gabe is a crack shooter with guns, but Remi is expert with throwing knives. Gabe has an unerring sense for the rightness (or wrongness) of a place, while Remi’s gift is reading people. And while they’re sniffing out and doing away with demonic presences, the Morrigan tells them, “hell knows you’re here.”
The narrative voice, from Gabe’s first-person perspective, is richly evocative, and the handling of detail, setting and nuance is top-notch, flavored with my favorite cultural references. Therein lies both the book’s strength and its challenge. The heart of the book’s energy, its center, is the emotional and spiritual journey of these two characters. Neither just accepts at face value their angelic nature or their destiny. Much of the story revolves around challenging what they have been told, grappling with how their lives will never the same, figuring out what each means to the other, and along the way making near-fatal mistakes, either from inflated self-confidence or ignorance. They learn by slow steps, often circling around to the same questions before moving on. This is how we humans deal with events and information that changes our entire understanding of the cosmos and our role in it. We question, we negotiate, we accept, then we question some more. Sometimes we have to ask the same questions over and over in different ways until the answers make sense. All the while, these characters get to know one another, overcoming skepticism and distrust. The pacing sometimes feels slow because so much is happening inside and between Gabe and Remi. This isn’t a problem for me since much of the pleasure of reading a character-rich novel is in falling in love with those characters (in other words, it’s a feature, not a bug). However, not all readers are willing to slow down and enjoy the (gorgeous, sexy) scenery, so I suspect readers will either be impatient and bored or, like me, adore this awesome urban fantasy. show less

Robin of Locksley comes home after being away on the Crusades with King Richard and attempts to go back to normal life. His childhood friend, Marian of Ravenskeep, attends his coming home party in hopes of news on how her father died. Marian only has to look into his eyes to know that Robin is deeply troubled from his time as a prisoner of war. Robin must battle his personal demons before he can but he knows that he has his own demons to fight before he can fight for her.

Lady of the Forest show more is based on how the Robin Hood and Maid Marian legend began. Roberson fleshes out all the characters from the traditional telling of Robin and his Merry Men and gives each one a storyline of their own. Robin starts out a broken man but with the help of Marian he finds he doesn’t have to follow in his father’s footsteps and takes his future into his own hands. Marian starts out as weak but grows into a woman who can stand on her own. The Sheriff is depicted even more villainous and twisted which added a skin crawling creepiness to this dark tale of honor, greed and betrayal.

I had very mixed feelings while reading this. I was cringing at times at the crudeness. This is not a fairy tale by any means. I liked the meat of the story but there seemed to be a lot of padding put in making this a lengthy novel (589 pages). In the beginning I was not a fan of Marian because of how pathetic she was acting but I grew to love her. Other characters I just loved to hate. If you are looking for a story about Robin’s adventures, this is not for you. This is how he became that man.

(Book was provided by publisher for an honest review) show less