Outlaw by Angus Donald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A good friend recommended this book to me, since I am also a huge fan of Sharon Kay Penman’s and Bernard Cornwell’s books. I won’t admit this to my friend, but he was spot on with his recommendation. 🙂 “Outlaw” is the story of Robin Hood told from the viewpoint of Alan a Dale. The story is told very much in the Cornwell style–gritty, violent, and occasionally very gory. But Angus Donald’s writing is more well-rounded than Cornwell’s. The characters are better fleshed out, and the pacing is even stronger. Robin is a flawed but heroic character, with strengths and weaknesses that are well developed. The historical setting is full of accurate period details and are effortlessly incorporated into the story. You never feel like you’re in the middle of a history lecture. The violence is realistic but never gratuitous or sensationally gory.
The biggest weakness of the book is the character development of the secondary figures–a skill that I think male writers of historical fiction often lack. But the story is so compelling and the details so vivid that I happily forgive the author for this one fault and eagerly look forward to the next volume of Robin Hood’s adventures!