John O' the Green

UK Publisher: Sampson Low, Marston and Co. Ltd. (London). First published 1935

Review from Newport Vintage Books

"A Ruritanian fantasy laid in the fictional kingdom of Gerance in a feudal age, with a Robin Hood type hero who undertakes a dangerous mission for his king. Farnol was good friends with Anthony Hope, whose Prisoner of Zenda is set in the original Ruritania." Jessica Amanda Salmonson

"King Tristan's plan was to unite the neighboring kingdoms and duchies -- with himself as ruler. The local kings and rulers, however, proved unwilling to be deposed in favor of Tristan and the plan seemed likely to fail until John o' the Green, a noble and an outlaw, was captured by King Tristan's men. Not to save his own life but for the sake of his nine captured comrades John agreed to his captor's proposal. With chain mail under his innocent minstrel's costume he set out for a neighboring duchy in the hope of winning it by cunning or by courage. He did not suspect that within its high-walled, many-towered chief city he would find a girl as its ruler, who by her courage would command his respect and by her youth and loveliness would win his love. He could not foresee that her troubles would become more important to him than his own and that her happiness and safety would be his chief care. A bold and dauntless hero and a brave and beautiful heroine hold the center of the stage in this noble of nobles and outlaws, of friars and fools, told with all the accustomed color of a Farnol romantic novel." Newport Vintage Books