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A review by songwind
Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead
3.0
This book is better written and conceived than the 3 star rating suggests. However, its pacing is a problem. The whole book reads like the first act of a book, and by the end of it it feels like the real action is only beginning.
That wouldn't be too bad (it is a trilogy after all) but the amount of story that takes place in the length of this book is far too low.
That said, the book is very finely crafted. The characters are well drawn for the most part, with only one character of any significance feeling flat. The setting is vibrant, and the Robin Hood story fits quite well in the days of Norman expansion into Wales. Absent king, grasping nobles, impoverished peasants (Welsh farmers and herdsmen in this case) and a dispossessed noble.
The various stock characters from Robin Hood make interesting appearances:
* Robin Hood becomes Bran ap Brychan, heir of the cantref of Elfael
* Little John becomes Iwan, the old king's champion and last survivor of Elfael's warband (so nicknamed by Friar Tuck)
* Friar Tuck is Aethelfrith, a mendicant friar, nicknamed in turn by Iwan.
* Marian is the daughter of the king of the neighboring cantref, and the object of Bran's affections before everything collapses
There are one or two other familiar faces, and a host of new ones. It's recognizably Robin Hood, but different enough to keep you guessing.
That wouldn't be too bad (it is a trilogy after all) but the amount of story that takes place in the length of this book is far too low.
That said, the book is very finely crafted. The characters are well drawn for the most part, with only one character of any significance feeling flat. The setting is vibrant, and the Robin Hood story fits quite well in the days of Norman expansion into Wales. Absent king, grasping nobles, impoverished peasants (Welsh farmers and herdsmen in this case) and a dispossessed noble.
The various stock characters from Robin Hood make interesting appearances:
* Robin Hood becomes Bran ap Brychan, heir of the cantref of Elfael
* Little John becomes Iwan, the old king's champion and last survivor of Elfael's warband (so nicknamed by Friar Tuck)
* Friar Tuck is Aethelfrith, a mendicant friar, nicknamed in turn by Iwan.
* Marian is the daughter of the king of the neighboring cantref, and the object of Bran's affections before everything collapses
There are one or two other familiar faces, and a host of new ones. It's recognizably Robin Hood, but different enough to keep you guessing.