Rowan Hood: Outlaw Girl of Sherwood Forest [Paperback]

Thirteen-year-old Rosemary lives with her woodwife mother Celandine (who is also part aelfe) in the forest -- until one day when the lord's horsemen ride in and burn the cottage -- and Celandine with it. Rosemary is left alone and with two options: Live in the woods and be killed eventually by the lord's men, or go to the village and be parceled off to a husband. She chooses the third option: Go off into the woods to find her father, the famed Robin Hood.

Rosemary disguises herself as a boy and heads off. Before long she encounters the mystical aelfe, a gentle giant with a gift for beautiful music, a princess running from an arrange marriage, and a wolf-dog who becomes her steadfast friend. And soon she finds that Robin Hood himself is in danger -- can she help?

Nancy Springer's use of atmosphere and mystical surroundings is as good as ever; she becomes a little less descriptive in ordinary surroundings. The actual plot is a strained idea in itself; and the product feels very bland and bloodless. It focuses less on characterization and more on the heroes dashing from one place to the next.

One of the problems is that I didn't find Rosemary particularly compelling as a heroine. Heroes like her are a dime a dozen in fantasy, and there are really no thoughts or responses from her that make her in any way interesting. The idea of a gentle giant is hardly new, but given a good twist by making him a master minstrel. The only problem arises when Springer overemphasizes his immaturity, such as whacking a knight on the head and saying "Meanie." Ettarde is the worst character in the book, who seems to think constantly about how her father tried to marry her off and who doesn't have enough pizzazz. Robin and his band are pretty cool and believable, making me wish that Springer had written a book about a woman in THEIR camp instead.

A pleasant little tale, but don't go into it with expectations that are too high.

I had high expectations for Nancy Springer's book Rowan and many of them were met, though not all. As always Nancy Springer weaves together a great fantasy tale, but somehow Rowan just doesn't pass to me as a heroine. This book is still good and I do recommend people who enjoy fantasy to read it.

What I enjoyed about this book was its characters. Rowan herself was more adult than child in terms of the way that she thought but was an excellent heroine due to her selflessness and desire to help others. The character of Etty will definitely will some fans as she sheds her princess role and becomes an outlaw girl, one that is one of Rowan's best friends. The only character I was a little surprised at was Robin Hood himself as he seemed to be a little too ignorant and gutsy to have really survived half a day in Nottingham. Regadless, it was an excellent and fun character.

I would say that readers of this book would also like the books by Tamora Pierce and Robin McKinley when they are older due to the definite presence of strong female heroines.