Cadnum returns to Sherwood Forest for his second exploration of the Robin Hood myth, told this time from the alternating perspectives of Little John and Margaret Lea. John, fleeing from the law after he accidentally kills a man, at first takes up with the aristocratic robber-baron Red Roger, before falling in with Robin Hood. Margaret, falsely accused of murdering her new husband on their wedding night, flees also to the forest, where after many plot convolutions, the two fall in love, and Margaret joins the outlaws.

I found this somewhat of a disappointment after Cadnum's excellent In a Dark Wood, which retells the Robin Hood legend from the perspective of Geoffrey, Sheriff of Nottingham. Somehow, Forbidden Forest had none of the emotional power of the earlier title. If I were not so deeply in love with the entire Robin Hood mythos, I would probably have rated this lower than I did. ( )

Enjoyable -- refreshing view of Little John as a strong, even "elegant" man with a great capacity to love -- wonderful addtion to the Robin Hood saga ( )