Tuck by Stephen R. Lawhead

Tuck (King Raven Trilogy #3) by Stephen R. Lawhead — 9781401685393 – ****

Genre: Fantasy
Time to Read: 11 Days

Short Summary:
In this conclusion to Stephen Lawhead’s King Raven Trilogy,  Bran ap Brychan (aka Rhi Bran y Hud) and his comrades travel to meet with his kinsmen in hopes that they might help him and his Grellon reclaim his kingdom while Lady Merian–going against Bran’s wishes–does the same and Abbot Hugo seeks to purge the forest of the King Raven once and for all. Tuck–named for the fat friar who is one of Bran’s closest advisors–is full of adventure and peril as the King Raven and his men struggle for their lives and their homes, tricking their enemies in true Robin Hood style along the way.

I must confess that this third novel in the King Raven Trilogy was a slower starter for me than the others. It once again shifted point of view and–after my initial uncertainty upon starting Scarlet–I found that I missed Will Scarlet’s narrative voice (It was not, however, in the Friar’s point of view, instead returning to the third person that Hood was written in). I also have to note that it began to feel a little long toward the end, which may be in part because I haven’t committed to a series in some time, and I was ready for a change of pace.

That being said, however, Tuck was an extraordinary conclusion to Lawhead’s re-imagined Robin Hood series. Too many series that I’ve read have had unsatisfactory endings or ones that were too neat, like a glued jigsaw puzzle. Tuck did not let me down, and it left me wanting to visit more of Stephen R. Lawhead’s books in the future.

(Please forgive the delay in my posting of this review. My new eReader makes it too easy to move on to the next book, and I quickly get lost in it and forget to blog! I promise to get better. There will be two more coming very soon!)

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Scarlet by Stephen R. Lawhead

Scarlet (King Raven Trilogy #2) by Stephen R. Lawhead – 9781401685393 — *****

Genre: Fantasy
Time to Read: 7 Days

Short Summary:
The story of one man’s life as it is told by the condemned to his jailor. In Lawhead’s Scarlet, William Scatlocke–better known as Will Scarlet–tells of how the Norman invaders forced him out of his old life and into the wilderness. Inspired by tales of the King Raven, Will sets off to find the outlaw and join him if he can. Upon meeting Bran ap Brychan and his flock of followers, Will finds himself among friends risking his life to help the rightful king of Elfael save his people and drive out the invaders at the risk of his own life and freedom.

Another amazing book by Lawhead. Scarlet threw me off in the beginning due to the fact that the style of it is very different from that of Hood. In most series I’ve read, it is easy to put down the first book and pick up the second and continue on with the tale. In Scarlet, however, Lawhead changes gears. The point of view alters, and it actually changes between present and past tense (this is done very well between chapters and chapter breaks). Instead of picking up right where Hood left off, Scarlet begins well after its predecessor ends, which is maddening at first, because I really wanted to continue the story from Hood‘s conclusion, not pick up some time later. Still, after I became accustomed to the style of this novel, Scarlet was impossible to put down and I even found it in some ways better than Hood.

Because it is a lot of first person narration, the reader gets an intimate insight into the character of Will Scarlet. If you’ve read my other reviews, you already know that I love good characterization, and this is some of the best I’ve seen. Will is proud, loyal, clever and brave. He speaks of himself in the third person, and he enjoys poking fun at the scribe who is writing down his tale despite the noose he knows is waiting for him when he finishes. It is, perhaps, the characterization of Will Scarlet that made me enjoy this novel even more than the first in the series.

The story, itself, is also very enjoyable. Will gives us a more intimate insight into Bran’s camp, and his observances are more human than those of the omniscient narrative voice of the first book, which makes all of the characters seem a little more real. The adventure and excitement is spectacular, and there is more old world magic and less preachiness in it than what was in Hood.

In short, Scarlet is an amazing book that has deepened my appreciation for the King Raven Trilogy even more (Which I am enjoying so much that I haven’t wanted to put down Tuck long enough to write this review, even though I finished Scarlet three days ago). I highly recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy, historical fiction and Robin Hood tales.

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Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead

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.

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