A review by debs4jc
Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead

we all know the familiar legend of robin hood who hangs out in sherwood forest and steals from the rich to give to the poor. but what if the legends of robin hood were really based on a welsh king who was deposed from his throne by the norman conquest in the early 1100's? that's the premise behind hood, and the author's ability to capture the time period and its myth and lore make this adaptation outstanding. [return]our hero doesn't start out as such--bran ap brychan is a son of royalty who hates his father and isn't interested in the responsiblities of being king. even the cruel death of his father at the hand of the normans doesn't convince him that he should stay and fight for his people. bran's gradual--almost too gradual at times-- transformation into what we know as robin hood is a pleasure to read. it's one of those stories where suddenly you recognize a familiar character and think, "ah, this must be friar tuck". yes, most all of the familiar robin hood characters are here, including maid marian, but in this different setting and time period they might not be quite the people we are used to, which is was all part of the enjoyment to me. lawhead creates vivid characters, for example through the musings of the "villians" we see how the doctrine of "divine right" is used to justify their brutal conquests--but not always without some misgivings. for me this was the almost perfect blend of heart racing suspense, intriguing characters, and thought provoking prose. it also ends somewhat abrubtly with a doozy of cliffhanger, and of course we now have to wait for the second book of the trilogy to come out. it can't get here soon enough.