Hood (King Raven Trilogy #1) by Stephen R. Lawhead — 9781401685393 — ****
Genre: Fantasy
Time to Read: 8 Days
Short Summary:
Norman invaders have killed the king of Elfael, leaving his reluctant heir Bran ap Brychan to reclaim the throne and save his people from tyranny. When the usurper to his crown sends men to hunt him down, Bran is badly wounded, but finds help from a strange woman of the forest who helps him see that he can be a better man and king than his father, if only he can reclaim his birthright.
When I picked up this book, I was expecting a Robin Hood story, but Hood is not your typical re-telling of this age-old legend. Stephen R. Lawhead puts a twist on it, taking Robin out of Sherwood Forest and transforming him into a prince-turned-rogue. The characters we all know and love are there, though their names are slightly different, and Bran’s quest goes above and beyond robbing the rich and giving to the poor as he tries to find a way to save the conquered people of Elfael from the cruel Norman invaders.
This book is better than I’d expected, and I’d expected a lot from it. It has been on my “To Read” list for a long time, and I am very glad I finally decided to actually read it. Now, forgive me if this review is short. I’m off to read the second book in the King Raven Trilogy: Scarlet.
Check out Stephen R. Lawhead’s website!
Read it? Rate it!
Jun 04, 2011 @ 16:20:16
Glad to hear you liked it! I recently bought this book, after reading and liking Lawhead’s Taliesin (which I reviewed at my blog, if you’re interested). I may try to get through his Arthur series first, but I love Robin Hood and am interested to see what he does with the legend. It’s a little disappointing to me that it’s not in Sherwood and all, but it sounds like the change of setting and backstory might give the story a fresh energy.
One question: Does Lawhead stick with historical fiction in Hood, or is there a fantasy element?
Jun 05, 2011 @ 02:46:41
It’s an excellent book, even with the change of setting. It is pretty much historical fiction, but it lives in the fantasy section of the bookstore, so that’s what I’ve categorized it as. There’s a little old pagan “magic” (aka: Unrealized science) in it–slightly less heavy-handed than that in The Mists of Avalon, if I remember that book correctly–that works really well with the story. Not sure if there’s more as the series progresses. Could be that it’s in fantasy because Lawhead’s other books are in fantasy (just like The Dark Tower Series is in fiction because King’s other books are fiction, even though Dark Tower is essentially fantasy).
I shall have to look at your review of Talieisin. I’m enjoying this enough to read more by Lawhead in the future.