Shadow of the Wolf by Tim Hall (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Shadow of the Wolf by Tim Hall Kate Quealy-Gainer, Assistant Editor Hall, Tim Shadow of the Wolf. Fickling/Scholastic, 2015 [480p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-4-545-81664-9 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-545-82313-5 $18.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 9-12 At seven, Robin Loxley is left alone in the woods by his father to fend for himself. When he returns to his village, he finds his family gone and himself an outcast. Living in the woods over the next several years, he meets young Lady Marian, a fellow lost soul who yearns to escape the gilded cage her father’s wealth affords her. As teenagers, their plan to finally run away together is thwarted by the sadistic sheriff; a series of increasingly violent encounters between the three eventually leaves Robin blind and Marian in the hands of the sheriff. Desperate to save his friend, Robin calls upon the spirits of the forest but nearly loses his humanity in the process. Hall’s darkly disturbing revision of Robin Hood includes not a single merry man but rather a host of mostly terrible, often sadistic ones, with Robin himself alternating between beastly rage and bloodthirsty fury. Elements from Celtic and English mythology are effectively and creepily deployed, but as terrifying as the supernatural creatures here are, the humans are much worse, with vivid detail given to various torture scenes and bloody fights. Marian and Robin’s story and their friendship, however, gets lost amidst much of the violence, and although the reader is given vague clues about a prophecy, the sheriff’s reason for pursuing them is frustratingly unclear and ultimately not all that intriguing. Still, if there’s a reader out there looking for the bloodiest version of Robin Hood they can find, they’ll hit the jackpot with this one. [End Page 493] Copyright © 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois