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Choose Your Own Adventure #47
Outlaws of Sherwood Forest
Outlaws of Sherwood Forest (Choose your own adventure no.47) Kushner Ellen
116 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1985
About the author
Ellen Kushner
141 books610 followersEllen Kushner weaves together multiple careers as a writer, radio host, teacher, performer and public speaker.
A graduate of Barnard College, she also attended Bryn Mawr College, and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. She began her career in publishing as a fiction editor in New York City, but left to write her first novel Swordspoint, which has become a cult classic, hailed as the progenitor of the “mannerpunk” (or “Fantasy of Manners”) school of urban fantasy. Swordspoint was followed by Thomas the Rhymer (World Fantasy Award and the Mythopoeic Award), and two more novels in her “Riverside” series. In 2015, Thomas the Rhymer was published in the UK as part of the Gollancz “Fantasy Masterworks” line.
In addition, her short fiction appears regularly in numerous anthologies. Her stories have been translated into a wide variety of languages, including Japanese, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Latvian and Finnish.
Upon moving to Boston, she became a radio host for WGBH-FM. In 1996, she created Sound & Spirit, PRI’s award-winning national public radio series. With Ellen as host and writer, the program aired nationally until 2010; many of the original shows can now be heard archived online.
As a live stage performer, her solo spoken word works include Esther: the Feast of Masks, and The Golden Dreydl: a Klezmer ‘Nutcracker’ for Chanukah (with Shirim Klezmer Orchestra). In 2008, Vital Theatre commissioned her to script a full-scale theatrical version. The Klezmer Nutcracker played to sold-out audiences in New York City, with Kushner in the role of the magical Tante Miriam.
In 2012, Kushner entered the world of audiobooks, narrating and co-producing “illuminated” versions of all three of the “Riverside” novels with SueMedia Productions for Neil Gaiman Presents at Audible.com—and winning a 2013 Audie Award for Swordspoint.
Other recent projects include the urban fantasy anthology Welcome to Bordertown (co-edited with Holly Black), and The Witches of Lublin, a musical audio drama written with Elizabeth Schwartz and Yale Strom (which one Gabriel, Gracie and Wilbur Awards in 2012). In 2015 she contributed to and oversaw the creation of the online Riverside series prequel Tremontaine for Serial Box with collaborators Joel Derfner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Malinda Lo, Racheline Maltese and Patty Bryant.
A dauntless traveler, Ellen Kushner has been a guest of honor at conventions all over the world. She regularly teaches writing at the prestigious Clarion Workshop and the Hollins University Graduate Program in Children’s Literature.
Ellen Kushner is a co-founder and past president of the Interstitial Arts Foundation, an organization supporting work that falls between genre categories. She lives in New York City with author and educator Delia Sherman, a lot of books, airplane and theater ticket stubs, and no cats whatsoever.
A graduate of Barnard College, she also attended Bryn Mawr College, and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. She began her career in publishing as a fiction editor in New York City, but left to write her first novel Swordspoint, which has become a cult classic, hailed as the progenitor of the “mannerpunk” (or “Fantasy of Manners”) school of urban fantasy. Swordspoint was followed by Thomas the Rhymer (World Fantasy Award and the Mythopoeic Award), and two more novels in her “Riverside” series. In 2015, Thomas the Rhymer was published in the UK as part of the Gollancz “Fantasy Masterworks” line.
In addition, her short fiction appears regularly in numerous anthologies. Her stories have been translated into a wide variety of languages, including Japanese, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Latvian and Finnish.
Upon moving to Boston, she became a radio host for WGBH-FM. In 1996, she created Sound & Spirit, PRI’s award-winning national public radio series. With Ellen as host and writer, the program aired nationally until 2010; many of the original shows can now be heard archived online.
As a live stage performer, her solo spoken word works include Esther: the Feast of Masks, and The Golden Dreydl: a Klezmer ‘Nutcracker’ for Chanukah (with Shirim Klezmer Orchestra). In 2008, Vital Theatre commissioned her to script a full-scale theatrical version. The Klezmer Nutcracker played to sold-out audiences in New York City, with Kushner in the role of the magical Tante Miriam.
In 2012, Kushner entered the world of audiobooks, narrating and co-producing “illuminated” versions of all three of the “Riverside” novels with SueMedia Productions for Neil Gaiman Presents at Audible.com—and winning a 2013 Audie Award for Swordspoint.
Other recent projects include the urban fantasy anthology Welcome to Bordertown (co-edited with Holly Black), and The Witches of Lublin, a musical audio drama written with Elizabeth Schwartz and Yale Strom (which one Gabriel, Gracie and Wilbur Awards in 2012). In 2015 she contributed to and oversaw the creation of the online Riverside series prequel Tremontaine for Serial Box with collaborators Joel Derfner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Malinda Lo, Racheline Maltese and Patty Bryant.
A dauntless traveler, Ellen Kushner has been a guest of honor at conventions all over the world. She regularly teaches writing at the prestigious Clarion Workshop and the Hollins University Graduate Program in Children’s Literature.
Ellen Kushner is a co-founder and past president of the Interstitial Arts Foundation, an organization supporting work that falls between genre categories. She lives in New York City with author and educator Delia Sherman, a lot of books, airplane and theater ticket stubs, and no cats whatsoever.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 5, 2020
La serie de Elige tu propia aventura es, literalmente, un clásico de nuestra infancia. He releído algunos, años después, y me parecen un poco cortos de miras, limitados en las posibilidades, pero cuando tenía 10 años cada uno de ellos era una maravilla lista para ser explorada hasta que hubiera dado todo lo que tenía dentro.
Al final siempre sabías que ibas a recorrer todos y cada uno de los caminos posibles. La emoción estaba, por tanto, en ganar y pasarte la historia al primer intento. Si no podías, pues nada, seguro que en el intento 18 acababas encontrando el camino. A veces los autores iban "a pillar", poniéndote los resultados buenos detrás de decisiones que eran claramente anómalas.
Recuerdo haber aprendido tanto palabras como hechos y datos en estos libros. No nadar contra la corriente cuando quieres llegar a tierra, dónde colocarse cuando un avión va a despegar, un montón de cosas interesantes y un montón de historias vividas, decenas por cada libro, que convirtieron a las serie en una colección fractal, donde cada vez podías elegir un libro nuevo entre los que ya tenías.
Llegué hasta el tomo 54 y dejé de tener interés por la serie, pero la serie siguió hasta superar los 180 títulos. Tal vez mis hijos quieran seguir el camino que yo empecé. Si quieres que lo sigan, pasa a la página 7.
Al final siempre sabías que ibas a recorrer todos y cada uno de los caminos posibles. La emoción estaba, por tanto, en ganar y pasarte la historia al primer intento. Si no podías, pues nada, seguro que en el intento 18 acababas encontrando el camino. A veces los autores iban "a pillar", poniéndote los resultados buenos detrás de decisiones que eran claramente anómalas.
Recuerdo haber aprendido tanto palabras como hechos y datos en estos libros. No nadar contra la corriente cuando quieres llegar a tierra, dónde colocarse cuando un avión va a despegar, un montón de cosas interesantes y un montón de historias vividas, decenas por cada libro, que convirtieron a las serie en una colección fractal, donde cada vez podías elegir un libro nuevo entre los que ya tenías.
Llegué hasta el tomo 54 y dejé de tener interés por la serie, pero la serie siguió hasta superar los 180 títulos. Tal vez mis hijos quieran seguir el camino que yo empecé. Si quieres que lo sigan, pasa a la página 7.
October 29, 2025
There's at least a hint of magic in every Ellen Kushner Choose Your Own Adventure, and Outlaws of Sherwood Forest revels in its identity as a fantasy/time-travel story with a few genuine surprises. You are attending Camp Yoochee-Koowee, where you have no friends and almost no appealing activities to choose from. You'd be going crazy had you not discovered archery and learned you're a natural with a bow and arrow. One day while practicing, your arrow goes astray in the woods. You have to find it, but you end up lost. Stranded alone, you fall asleep in a circle of flowers...and wake up staring at a huge man clad in green. He asks why you're in Sherwood Forest and if you're in league with the Sheriff of Nottingham. Does he actually believe he's one of the legendary Robin Hood's Merry Men? Should you indulge his delusion for the moment or take off running?
Once you identify the man as Little John, he relaxes. You were sleeping in a fairy ring controlled by the Fair Folk, he says, and leads you to meet the Merry Men. All is not well in Nottingham; Maid Marian has been captured and will be forced to wed Sir Guy of Gisborne. Robin Hood won't let this injustice proceed, but is a direct assault on the castle best, or a covert operation? If you opt for direct attack, a stranger known as the Black Knight arrives with Robin. None of the Merry Men can best the Black Knight in combat; is he the right man to lead the charge for Maid Marian? A clandestine rescue might be more fruitful, with you as the infiltrator tasked with locating Maid Marian. Go disguised as her elderly nurse, and you'll slip past dangerous foes everywhere in the castle. Talk your way into Maid Marian's bedchamber and the two of you can cook up a scheme to win the day. Disguising yourself instead as a lowly page provides an in-depth look at the castle, including one mysterious encounter. You must evacuate Maid Marian before the Merry Men give up on you, or you may get caught in the crosshairs when they lay siege to the castle. If all goes well you'll have a chance to help depose Prince John so his heroic brother, King Richard, can reclaim the throne of England.
If you ran from Little John before being properly introduced, the first of the Merry Men you officially meet is Robin Hood himself. You all gather around the campfire that night, but one aged man stands out to you. Can "old Nilrem" get you back to the modern world? Robin and Little John outline two different missions for the next day: you can accompany Robin to Brampton to distribute gold to the poor, or go with Little John to rob the dishonest taxman. If you play your role precisely in Little John's plot, all goes smoothly, but improvise and you'll be captured. Getting taken away by the guards places you in jeopardy of execution or lifetime imprisonment. Go with Robin rather than Little John, and you get to see him in action as a supposed beggar secretly distributing gold to citizens squeezed by Prince John's taxation. When a spy tips off the authorities, can you get Robin out of Brampton? You could lead an impromptu revolt, but what will you do after the Sheriff of Nottingham brands your townsfolk allies as traitors to the crown? Perhaps instead you and Robin can claim sanctuary within the church, but you'll be trapped there. Robbing the rich to pay the poor seems exciting, but a lot can go wrong.
For most of this book I planned to rate it one and a half stars and round downward. Internal continuity is spotty at best, Maid Marian's anachronistic behavior renders her cliché, and too many endings stop before the story is anywhere near completion. All of this is frustrating, but a short narrative path near the beginning somewhat changed my mind about the book. If you wait to search for your lost arrow under the moonlight instead of right away, and then get transported to Sherwood Forest and fall in with a minstrel named Raven, you have the chance to meet the Fair Folk queen. Her riddle to you is a shard of innovative storycraft that prompted me to round my one-and-a-half star rating to two. Outlaws of Sherwood Forest has so many flaws I would never call it a great Choose Your Own Adventure, but Ellen Kushner's propensity to surprise is just enough to make this a book I'll seek out again.
Once you identify the man as Little John, he relaxes. You were sleeping in a fairy ring controlled by the Fair Folk, he says, and leads you to meet the Merry Men. All is not well in Nottingham; Maid Marian has been captured and will be forced to wed Sir Guy of Gisborne. Robin Hood won't let this injustice proceed, but is a direct assault on the castle best, or a covert operation? If you opt for direct attack, a stranger known as the Black Knight arrives with Robin. None of the Merry Men can best the Black Knight in combat; is he the right man to lead the charge for Maid Marian? A clandestine rescue might be more fruitful, with you as the infiltrator tasked with locating Maid Marian. Go disguised as her elderly nurse, and you'll slip past dangerous foes everywhere in the castle. Talk your way into Maid Marian's bedchamber and the two of you can cook up a scheme to win the day. Disguising yourself instead as a lowly page provides an in-depth look at the castle, including one mysterious encounter. You must evacuate Maid Marian before the Merry Men give up on you, or you may get caught in the crosshairs when they lay siege to the castle. If all goes well you'll have a chance to help depose Prince John so his heroic brother, King Richard, can reclaim the throne of England.
If you ran from Little John before being properly introduced, the first of the Merry Men you officially meet is Robin Hood himself. You all gather around the campfire that night, but one aged man stands out to you. Can "old Nilrem" get you back to the modern world? Robin and Little John outline two different missions for the next day: you can accompany Robin to Brampton to distribute gold to the poor, or go with Little John to rob the dishonest taxman. If you play your role precisely in Little John's plot, all goes smoothly, but improvise and you'll be captured. Getting taken away by the guards places you in jeopardy of execution or lifetime imprisonment. Go with Robin rather than Little John, and you get to see him in action as a supposed beggar secretly distributing gold to citizens squeezed by Prince John's taxation. When a spy tips off the authorities, can you get Robin out of Brampton? You could lead an impromptu revolt, but what will you do after the Sheriff of Nottingham brands your townsfolk allies as traitors to the crown? Perhaps instead you and Robin can claim sanctuary within the church, but you'll be trapped there. Robbing the rich to pay the poor seems exciting, but a lot can go wrong.
For most of this book I planned to rate it one and a half stars and round downward. Internal continuity is spotty at best, Maid Marian's anachronistic behavior renders her cliché, and too many endings stop before the story is anywhere near completion. All of this is frustrating, but a short narrative path near the beginning somewhat changed my mind about the book. If you wait to search for your lost arrow under the moonlight instead of right away, and then get transported to Sherwood Forest and fall in with a minstrel named Raven, you have the chance to meet the Fair Folk queen. Her riddle to you is a shard of innovative storycraft that prompted me to round my one-and-a-half star rating to two. Outlaws of Sherwood Forest has so many flaws I would never call it a great Choose Your Own Adventure, but Ellen Kushner's propensity to surprise is just enough to make this a book I'll seek out again.
October 8, 2013
Another entry in the interminable game-book series. This one starts off somewhat incongruously with the reader playing a bratty American kid at a summer camp who finds himself transported to medieval Sherwood Forest one night. What follows is a mixed bag of cliches set in the Robin Hood universe. There are villains a-plenty, along with Merry Men and arrow action in the wood.
I found that the various narratives are all quite short here, with the emphasis once again being on having multiple endings rather than quality storylines. Some of the endings are quite abrupt and random and it's tough to play by working through the situations logically; it's all about luck here.
I found that the various narratives are all quite short here, with the emphasis once again being on having multiple endings rather than quality storylines. Some of the endings are quite abrupt and random and it's tough to play by working through the situations logically; it's all about luck here.
August 2, 2024
Oh my goodness!
I used to LOVE Choose your own adventures when I was a kid! They crossed my mind a couple months ago and this is the first one I've read since.
It was so nostalgic!
I read it exactly the way I used to-- using my fingers as place holders along choices, the first story I read was the choices I would actually make.
Then I worked my way back through the forks, seeing how the other stories went.
Bwahahaha!
I forgot how frequently death is a viable ending in these stories 🤣😅
I kinda wish these were more readily available to modern kids-- it's an EXCELLENT exercise in choices, consequences, and make believe.
I used to LOVE Choose your own adventures when I was a kid! They crossed my mind a couple months ago and this is the first one I've read since.
It was so nostalgic!
I read it exactly the way I used to-- using my fingers as place holders along choices, the first story I read was the choices I would actually make.
Then I worked my way back through the forks, seeing how the other stories went.
Bwahahaha!
I forgot how frequently death is a viable ending in these stories 🤣😅
I kinda wish these were more readily available to modern kids-- it's an EXCELLENT exercise in choices, consequences, and make believe.
September 24, 2019
A trip down memory lane - I used to love these when I was a kid. Turns out they're very plot driven and not very well written, but I can see how the perception of choice was appealing. There wasn't as much crossover from one story-line to another as I'd remembered/imagined, just a line of options branching out like a tree.
November 2, 2021
Definitely need to read more books like this, loved the interactivity! My first ever choose your own adventure book - I really liked the theme. It sort of feels bad though when you choose a decision you wouldn't normally just to see the results!
June 8, 2018
Another standout Choose Your Own Adventure books we had as a kid. Loved Robin Hood so this ticked a lot of boxes too.
September 6, 2013
Outlaws of Sherwood Forest (CYOA #47) starts off with the narrator, a boy at summer camp, searching for a missing arrow he fired and then being transported back to the time of Robin Hood via a fairy ring of flowers. I'm not sure why you couldn't just be a kid in the times of Robin hood to begin with because these aren't long books obviously so getting right to the action is preferable to me. Though then I wouldn't have learned about the power of fairy rings of flowers.
Before reading the book I thought the idea could be either a lot of fun or a little too limited in scope. Unfortunately I found it to be the latter. The situations were all very similar and the writing wasn't very engaging. There were a lot of scenes where you're executed (or almost executed), trapped/imprisoned, and wearing other peoples clothes to look like them (including Maid Marian pretending to be the Sheriff of Nottingham!). Also, Maid Marian's a literal gymnast, which is mentioned and then not used again and in one ending you are teleported to the future: 1999! I don't know if those are good or bad, they just stood out to me. The art in the book is cartoonish but matches the story well I thought. But unless you have a young child who loves all things Robin Hood or are just a completionist of these books, I'd pass on this one.
Before reading the book I thought the idea could be either a lot of fun or a little too limited in scope. Unfortunately I found it to be the latter. The situations were all very similar and the writing wasn't very engaging. There were a lot of scenes where you're executed (or almost executed), trapped/imprisoned, and wearing other peoples clothes to look like them (including Maid Marian pretending to be the Sheriff of Nottingham!). Also, Maid Marian's a literal gymnast, which is mentioned and then not used again and in one ending you are teleported to the future: 1999! I don't know if those are good or bad, they just stood out to me. The art in the book is cartoonish but matches the story well I thought. But unless you have a young child who loves all things Robin Hood or are just a completionist of these books, I'd pass on this one.
May 21, 2018
Ah, Choose Your Own Adventure, that paper bridge between that 5th grade fantasy map (see my Hobbit review) and my life-changing discovery of Dungeons & Dragons in the 7th grade.
Some of them were great, some punishing, some arbitrary, but they revealed to me for the first time that I could make choices and that they had immediate effect the course on my (fictional) reality. For a kid whose home life felt largely hopeless and inescapable, the empowerment of making my own way by the power of my own choices and facing consequences traceable directly to my decisions - wow!
While day-to-day reality seemed to deal out arbitrary, unpredictable punishments regardless of my actions, here was a place where I could experiment and learn and grow in safety and if I was punished there was always a why.
Some of them were great, some punishing, some arbitrary, but they revealed to me for the first time that I could make choices and that they had immediate effect the course on my (fictional) reality. For a kid whose home life felt largely hopeless and inescapable, the empowerment of making my own way by the power of my own choices and facing consequences traceable directly to my decisions - wow!
While day-to-day reality seemed to deal out arbitrary, unpredictable punishments regardless of my actions, here was a place where I could experiment and learn and grow in safety and if I was punished there was always a why.
April 21, 2017
I have never seen more middle schoolers so engaged in a read aloud. I started reading Choose Your Own Adventure with my kids that hated to read. I thought it would be a quick silly read to show them books can be fun.
They were hooked, each decision was painstakingly thought out. I did not expect so many mini lessons to fit, they predicted what would happen with possible choices. They used all the characterization tools to decide who was the villian. They talked about the authors voice and my kiddos who saw no value in books debated on if an author really had a voice in a book with so many choices.
I highly recommed trying these out with your own kids or with students, especially if they need some help finding fun in books.
They were hooked, each decision was painstakingly thought out. I did not expect so many mini lessons to fit, they predicted what would happen with possible choices. They used all the characterization tools to decide who was the villian. They talked about the authors voice and my kiddos who saw no value in books debated on if an author really had a voice in a book with so many choices.
I highly recommed trying these out with your own kids or with students, especially if they need some help finding fun in books.
May 14, 2007
As far as I'm concerened you can't really go wrong with Choose Your Own adventure stories, even the bad ones have their good points and provide hours of escapist entertainment, but the combination of Choose Your Own AND Robin Hood??? Whoever thought up this genius combination should be awarded a knighthood immediately - I think i got this book out of the library more than any other over a period of about 8 years!
November 13, 2015
I enjoyed this one a lot. The plot is mostly random events, but they actually tie together pretty well. Tight writing and a lot of good scenes. Your character gets transported back to the time of Robin Hood and you join his band. The author manages to weave in a lot of references to stuff like the Black Knight and the Canterbury Tales. Interesting stuff, if that's what you're interested in.
June 19, 2010
These books were such a wonderful and engaging idea for a kid- I loved reading them!
April 17, 2011
The 'Choose your own adventure' series, Outlaws of Sherwood Forest... in these books the reader gets to be the central character by choosing what path the tale follows through a variety of endings...
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews