The Devil in a Forest

James Wynn · 14 May 2009, 15:36 · from 2009-May.txt.gz

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From: crushtv at gmail.com (James Wynn)
Date: Thu, 14 May 2009 10:36:13 -0500
Subject: (urth) The Devil in a Forest
In-Reply-To: <738ED65D-6F87-4554-8492-72FDB2B0DA1C at io.com>
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	<738ED65D-6F87-4554-8492-72FDB2B0DA1C at io.com>
Message-ID: <1C551CD1CE5645E6ABB80379575C1261@eMachinePC>

Am I really the only person on this list who's read this book? Really?

Okay. Here's what it is (not obvious from the summary on the back of the 
book). It's a re-telling Robin Hood. It's not clear where it is supposed to 
occur.  The names are English (or Scandinavian in the case of Gloin), so 
combined with the Robin Hood connection it's a slam dunk. But the references 
to King Wenceslas in the summary (not the book) suggests it might have been 
intended to take place in the Czech Republic of the 11th century. The 
enormous mountain that plays such a dominant role in the story (requiring 
more than a day's march to reach the summit) tends to bring to mind the 
Pyrenees or the Alps.

This is not a sci-fi story or a fantasy story. The "magic" that takes place 
is of the "real", naturalistic sort. Miracles are not ruled out, however. 
There is a Father Brown-style detective priest.

**SPOILERS TO FOLLOW**

I think all the loose ends are  wrapped up at the end (but with Wolfe, can 
one be sure?) EXCEPT for one of the characters (Gloin) being shot by an 
arrow. He was fleeing an attack by soldiers in the woods. The soldier's deny 
having shot him (no reason they would lie about it). The arrow was not from 
a military cross-bow. So that suggests to me that the arrow was fired from 
Wat's bow. But Wat had left his bow at the Inn, and by the end of the story 
it is made clear that Wat could not have reclaimed it until after Gloin was 
shot.

So who shot him? Joselynn's father? Could he have left his duties at the Inn 
to go with the soldier's to hunt for the refugees? Maybe --if all the 
soldiers were involved in the search. He might have left with the bow and 
shot Gloin so the soldiers would catch him and let Joselynn escape. Or he 
might have done it so Joselynn would not be alone with him in the woods. But 
there's no reference in the book that suggests her father knew how to use a 
bow, and it was a risky shot considering how close Gloin and Joselynn 
probably were to each other. Anyway, he seems like the ONLY viable choice, 
but he's still an unacceptable one in my mind (something that happens a lot 
when I read Wolfe).

J.

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