FictionZeal

At least in the modern day portion, this novel centers around the University of Connecticut campus.  But, the story does not come about in one place … or time.  With a fairytale-like quality, the author weaves a warm, fun, and heart-felt tale of romance and time travel.  Only, in the fairytales we have come to know, the hero is strong, brave, and debonair.  Petir is not your normal hero.  In fact, many people may say he couldn’t fight his way out of a paper sack.  He’s a computer geek, a student of the U of C.

His friends bailed out at the last minute, leaving Petir to go Geodashing by himself.  What is that?  The glossary explains it is “a race that interfaces the internet with real life.  A computer randomly generates dashpoints from all over the world, and competitors try to physically reach as many as they can within the time limit.”  When Petir climbed in a tree to search for a road, he fell out.  When he came to, nothing seemed familiar.  In fact, the people and his surroundings appeared very much like he imagined medieval England may look.  And then, he meets Maid Rianne.  While he’s not a typical Robin Hood, she’s not your typical Maid Marion.

I’m fairly certain I liked Fairly Certain – sorry; couldn’t help the obvious pun.  It is written for YA and teens.  While they will no doubt enjoy it, I actually think ages 9 – 99 would also enjoy this whimsical Robin Hood offbeat revision.  When he first sees Maid Rianne, he thinks, “Wow!  What movie did she just walk out of?  As far as he knew, girls from Connecticut didn’t walk around armed to the teeth.”  The character’s dialogues and the terms they used really stood out as credible.  I even managed to acquire a new favorite animal character – a three-legged dog named Trio.  Rating: 4 out of 5.