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Shirewode: The Wode #2    by J Tullos Hennig Amazon.com order for
Shirewode
by J Tullos Hennig
Order:  USA  Can
DSP, 2015 (2015)
Softcover, e-Book
* *   Reviewed by Ricki Marking-Camuto

Shirewode, the second in J Tullos Hennig's trilogy, The Wode, delves into the meat of the Robin Hood story many know, but with Hennig's own special twist.

After the attack on the denizens of the Wode, Rob, Marion, and Gamelyn have all gone their separate ways, each believing the others dead. Gamelyn is now Guy de Gisbourne, a Knight Templar serving the Church as he was groomed to do. Marion, having suffered a concussion, is living in a convent with no memory of her past. And Rob has become the infamous outlaw, Robyn Hood. When Guy is sent back home to rout out the wolfshead, the trio learns that the others all survived that fateful night, but too many things have changed for any of them to hope for things to go back to the way they were in their youth.

Shirewode has all the classic plot points of the Robin Hood story, but with the necessary changes to fit into Hennig's re imagined world. Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham want Robyn Hood dead. Friar Tuck helps the outlaws as he can. And the climax of the story, the part where Robyn must win the archery tournament to save his love is included in full-force, except it is Guy not Marion who must be saved. Through it all, Hennig remains faithful to both this original and his retelling, but it does lack a little of the pacing of Greenwode.

Shirewode is a faithful follow-up to Greenwode. With the main crux of the Robin Hood legend out of the way, I am curious to see what J Tullos Hennig has in store in the conclusion, Winterwode.

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