Monday, October 4, 2010

Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead

We all know the tale of Robin Hood. Most of us here probably have some idea of the minstrel origins of the story, and that the legend has been around for so long that it's impossible to pick out the truth of the tale.

And now there are more versions than can be counted. Retellings from major fantasy authors, movie versions from the entire history of Hollywood, short stories, poems, etc.

Stephen R. Lawhead has written one more. But Hood is a little different. Sherwood Forest is gone, Nottingham is nowhere to be found. Instead, Lawhead takes the story and spins it out with Celtic mythology and mysticism.



I really enjoyed this. It did get a bit slow in the middle, mostly because I could see that it was being drawn out to be more than one book, and the story would not tie up neatly in this one. It is incredibly fun, though, to watch for familiar characters and see what faces they would take in this new story. I definitely suggest you add this to your reading list, either if you love Robin Hood or if you love to see the permutations of ancient stories.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like an interesting twist on a classic story! :)

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  2. Yeah, it was a nice variation. Getting away from the whole King Richard/Prince John does give them some room to maneuver. And I do love Celtic mythology....

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