I’ll be the first to admit I know almost nothing about the Robin Hood legend–I’ve never even seen the Disney movie! That said, I felt like I only needed about ten minutes of “catch up” in Nathan Makaryk’s Nottingham to feel like I was fully onboard for the ride.

This is a book that feels shorter than it is, in a good way. Sometimes I would thumb ahead to see who the perspective characters were in future chapters, to try and guess what would happen. The transitions between the multiple locales as the plots converge was smooth, and I had no problem keeping track of who and where everyone was (I mixed up Arthur and Alan a little, maybe just because their names start with the same letter). The book feels like it covers so much that, when a character mentions near the end that only a month has passed, it took me by surprise!

The only thing I found slightly jarring were the times when the POV switched to a side character for a single chapter. This is only used a few times, to introduce or give insight into a character, but I’d rather have stuck with the core group of characters, especially since there are so many.

The ending of the book was wild and unpredictable, and I imagine many readers would have strong feelings about it. I personally enjoyed it, and am looking forward to picking up the sequel. Nottingham will be enjoyed by anyone who likes complex casts of characters and complex plots that treat the reader as intelligent–the comparison to Game of Thrones on the cover of my version is fairly earned. I’m looking forward to reading the sequel!

(For what it’s worth, I had the chance to take an online course hosted by Mr. Makaryk, where he talked about the cover designs for Nottingham. I can’t recall which he said he liked better, but I sprung for the hardcover based on the design alone.)