The Shadow Twin
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| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Shadow Twin |
| Publisher: | |
| Editor: | |
| Author(s): | Linda Frankel |
| Cover Artist(s): | |
| Illustrator(s): | |
| Date(s): | between 1992 and 2001 |
| Medium: | |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | Robin of Sherwood |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Shadow Twin is a slash Robin of Sherwood 148-page novel by Linda Frankel. It is a sequel to the story, "The Successor" in No Holds Barred #1. "The Shadow Twin" is one of the few slash zines in the fandom.
From a distributor, Agent With Style, "Could Robin of Loxley and Robert of Huntingdon be twins? Or lovers?"
Author's Commentary
The author writes about this novel in the letterzine Cousins. [1]
- "Re: Guy turning good - Yes, it does require a great deal of work to make such major change in Guy convincing. That's why my Guy-turns-good story has become a novel (The Shadow Twin) still unfinished. I take Robert and Guy through a series of telepathically shared dreams (a gift of Herne to help them through reconciliation) that follow the Wheel of the Year with appropriate dreams for each festival. The novel is a sequel to 'The Successor' and is also slash. Robert and Guy eventually become lovers when their reconciliation is completed. I don't believe that incest is abusive when the partners weren't brought up together."
- "I torture my characters to test them to their limits and reveal their strength. I don't believe in villains, and I can't get interested in characters who don't have complex motivations. The worst torture scenes I've ever written are Guy's memories of what his mother's husband did to him in The Shadow Twin. I dredge up these memories from the depth of Guy's mind in order to help him recover from his abuse. There is always an important narrative purpose in what I do to my characters."
- "Where [did] the idea that all Christians are priests got lost? - I have my Tuck realize during his Grail initiation in The Shadow Twin that this idea got lost due to infant baptism. If baptism is Christian priestly initiation, then it shouldn't be administered to infants. Only adults could experience the transformation that was originally intended."
- "Re Fiction dealing with the Sacred King sacrifice - For a novel that takes place chronologically very close to RoS, see The Swords of December by Robert York. It's about Thomas a Becket dying as a substitute for Henry II. Becket's struggle over becoming a Pagan sacrifice in this novel is a strong influence on what I've written concerning Tuck's conflicts over becoming Robert's substitute in both The Successor and The Shadow Twin. Yet I don't believe a word of The Swords of December. If Becket died a willing sacrifice, then why was Henry II so guilty about it that he bound himself over to be publicly scourged before Becket's tomb? And in RoS terms, it's clear that to die. It is my belief that an unwilling sacrifice is poison to the Land, making a true and valid one all the more necessary."
- "In The Shadow Twin, I intend to be very strict about the resurrected Robin speaking Herne's words and not his own unless Herne allows Robin to express his personality for Herne's purposes. I think that fans who bring Robin back as Herne sometimes forget that he really is supposed to be representing Herne rather than himself. When I began my novel I hadn't planned to bring Robin back, but when it became clear to me that it would provide for some wonderful dramatic conflict, I couldn't resist. King Stag also told the God any more than Robin could."
- "The Dagda is large, laughs a great deal, likes good food and drink, and continually stuffs heroes nto His cauldron of death and rebirth. I decided to introduce Tuck to Him as the culmination of Tuck's Grail initiation in The Shadow Twin. I think they would get along famously."
- "Gisburne as the Moon? - I'd say that Guy in the series is clearly the Chariot. Guy accomplishes nothing because his horses are pulling in opposite directions. In The Shadow Twin I would call Guy the Sun in eclipse or reverse. When Guy is transformed, he becomes the Sun more truly than Robert could ever be. I think that the Hanged Man is actually more appropriate for Robert. His drive to prove himself through sacrifice is never far from the surface. Will should be the Knight of Swords both because he's a swordsman, and because he charges impetuously into danger."
- "Who sent Marion the vision of Robert dead that sent her to Halstead? - I decided in The Shadow Twin that Marion's own Goddess did it to teach Robert a lesson. You see, my Robert was still thinking in terms of fathering a son to present to David of Huntingdon as an heir."