Something I may have mentioned before is that I’m very, very bad at e-reading. I can do it for short works, and I edit on a computer, but Kindles, Kobos, ebooks – they’re not something that I use often. However, from a practical standpoint, physical books are more expensive, they’re often unwieldy, and they take up space. So more than once, I’ve tried to train myself to read ebooks – and failed, horribly. I’m attempting once more, and realized that I have quite a few books forgotten on my Kindle account. Robins in the Night by Dajo Jago is one of these, and I am so glad I remembered it!
Robins in the Night begins with a poem (A Snail’s Point of View) and then a foreword, which sets up the premise of the book with a tantalizing few pages about how the legends of Robin Hood are fundamentally wrong. The three women in the foreword are unnamed, and nothing much happens, but the setup for Robin Hood pays off almost immediately. In Chapter One, we are introduced to Marian Stoke, who we’re expected to instantly recognize as a variant of Maid Marian… while she is midway through robbing a grave.
I’m invested.
I particularly enjoy that when Marian gets caught (you knew she would) the priestess is the most upset about how the dead are being disrespected – and tells her to go do something useful. It’s such an obvious hook that it makes me smile.
This will be a fun read – and according to the blurbs/marketing, it’s a WLW romance featuring a trans girl! So I am Thoroughly Ready.
Elliott Dunstan 