(urth) The Devil in a Forest
James Wynn
crushtv at gmail.com
Thu May 14 08:36:13 PDT 2009
Am I really the only person on this list who's read this book? Really?
Okay. Here's what it is (not obvious from the summary on the back of the
book). It's a re-telling Robin Hood. It's not clear where it is supposed to
occur. The names are English (or Scandinavian in the case of Gloin), so
combined with the Robin Hood connection it's a slam dunk. But the references
to King Wenceslas in the summary (not the book) suggests it might have been
intended to take place in the Czech Republic of the 11th century. The
enormous mountain that plays such a dominant role in the story (requiring
more than a day's march to reach the summit) tends to bring to mind the
Pyrenees or the Alps.
This is not a sci-fi story or a fantasy story. The "magic" that takes place
is of the "real", naturalistic sort. Miracles are not ruled out, however.
There is a Father Brown-style detective priest.
**SPOILERS TO FOLLOW**
I think all the loose ends are wrapped up at the end (but with Wolfe, can
one be sure?) EXCEPT for one of the characters (Gloin) being shot by an
arrow. He was fleeing an attack by soldiers in the woods. The soldier's deny
having shot him (no reason they would lie about it). The arrow was not from
a military cross-bow. So that suggests to me that the arrow was fired from
Wat's bow. But Wat had left his bow at the Inn, and by the end of the story
it is made clear that Wat could not have reclaimed it until after Gloin was
shot.
So who shot him? Joselynn's father? Could he have left his duties at the Inn
to go with the soldier's to hunt for the refugees? Maybe --if all the
soldiers were involved in the search. He might have left with the bow and
shot Gloin so the soldiers would catch him and let Joselynn escape. Or he
might have done it so Joselynn would not be alone with him in the woods. But
there's no reference in the book that suggests her father knew how to use a
bow, and it was a risky shot considering how close Gloin and Joselynn
probably were to each other. Anyway, he seems like the ONLY viable choice,
but he's still an unacceptable one in my mind (something that happens a lot
when I read Wolfe).
J.
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