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A review by sadie_slater
Brightfall by Jaime Lee Moyer
3.0
Jaime Lee Moyer's Brightfall is a fantasy novel inspired by Robin Hood. Rather than revisiting the familiar legends, it's set some twelve years later, when the Merry Men have settled back into normal life. Robin has retreated into a monastery, abandoning Marian to bring up their two children without him. Her peaceful life in the forest with her children is interrupted when she receives the news that several of her old friends have died in mysterious circumstances. Abbot Tuck suspects a curse, and asks Marian to use her magical powers and craft to track down the killer.
I liked this a lot; it's an enjoyable new take on a well-known story, with an engaging plot and interesting, likeable characters. (And of course, I'm always predisposed to like fantasy with older female protagonists.) Moyer mixes the Robin Hood legends with fairytale elements; magic, mythical beasts and a Fae Court that reminded me of 'Thomas the Rhymer' to tell a story about love and loss and moving on. I had some minor niggles, both historical (I don't think a 13th-century miller would actually be selling flour, rather than the services of the mill) and geographical (it being two full days' walk from Hucknall, north of Nottingham, to Mansfield, when Google Maps tells me they're only nine miles apart), but they certainly weren't enough to stop me enjoying the novel. I don't think it's necessarily a book that will stay with me for a long time, but I was in the mood for some fluffy, undemanding fantasy after reading The Handmaid's Tale, and this definitely fit the bill.
(I would note that Brightfall does include the death of a child, so may not seem as fluffy to those who are sensitive to that in books.)
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC for review.
I liked this a lot; it's an enjoyable new take on a well-known story, with an engaging plot and interesting, likeable characters. (And of course, I'm always predisposed to like fantasy with older female protagonists.) Moyer mixes the Robin Hood legends with fairytale elements; magic, mythical beasts and a Fae Court that reminded me of 'Thomas the Rhymer' to tell a story about love and loss and moving on. I had some minor niggles, both historical (I don't think a 13th-century miller would actually be selling flour, rather than the services of the mill) and geographical (it being two full days' walk from Hucknall, north of Nottingham, to Mansfield, when Google Maps tells me they're only nine miles apart), but they certainly weren't enough to stop me enjoying the novel. I don't think it's necessarily a book that will stay with me for a long time, but I was in the mood for some fluffy, undemanding fantasy after reading The Handmaid's Tale, and this definitely fit the bill.
(I would note that Brightfall does include the death of a child, so may not seem as fluffy to those who are sensitive to that in books.)
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC for review.