Ghosts of Sherwood by T.S. Maynard and W.J. McNally
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by AstilbeEven grownups want a happily ever after.
As a young boy, Alex Van Owen had an active imagination filled with adventure, magic, and wonder. Like so many things, that gift was lost to adulthood, where responsibility and the realities of life took precedent. Faced with a failing marriage, a stressful job, and a struggle of being a good father to his own son, Alex has no time for fun or make-believe, but that all changes when he receives a call from his estranged father.
When Alex returns to his childhood home, he and his son are transported to an imaginary world filled with characters from classic fairy tales and legends, but something is different. Something is wrong. The people inhabiting these lands are nothing like the characters from the original stories. Things become dire when Alex’s son is kidnapped by the evil Robin of the Dark Hood.
Can Alex rescue his son and get back to the real world in time to save his marriage? Will he live happily ever after, or are happy endings only found in fairy tales?
No one is ever too old to enjoy fairy tales.
I was impressed by how many references to classic fairy tales and legends were included here. Anyone who has read widely in these genres will find plenty of gems scattered throughout the scenes. Some of these references were easy to figure out, while others required a little more thought. I liked the fact that the author included these different levels of difficulty. It gave everything a lovely inclusive feeling, and it also expanded the list of people I’d feel comfortable recommending this book to whether they were well-versed in fairy tales or only knew of the most popular ones.
The character development in this novella was incomplete. I wouldn’t expect to see as much time spent on it as I would for a full length book, but it could have used more attention. As interested as I was in the other aspects of the storyline, it was tricky to grow attached to characters who showed few to no signs of personal growth for the majority of the storyline. It would have been helpful to see more examples of why they wanted to change and how they were planning to do it.
There were many scenes that were filled with action and adventure due to the multiple plot twists that were included. No sooner was one conflict solved than another one popped up. All of these exciting twists fit the tone of this book nicely and made it hard to put down. As much as I want to share some of the juiciest ones, this really is something that should be discovered by each reader for themselves.
Ghosts of Sherwood was a wild ride from the first scene to the last one.
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