Hood (Stephen Lawhead)

Having read several versions of the classic Robin Hood story, I looked for a historical fiction offering.  "Historical fiction" is a stretch for Robin, because we know so little about him.  He's thought to have lived anywhere between the late 1000s and early 1300s . . . a rather large swath of time for someone attempting to reconstruct what might have been.  So, what do you do?  You pick a time period and run with it.  That's exactly what Stephen Lawhead does in Hood, the first of a trilogy.

Lawhead sets Robin (or, Bran, as he's called here) in the 1090s, in the Welsh Marches (a strip of land straddling modern Wales and England).  The Normans invaded in 1066, and, while England is firmly in their grasp, much of Wales remains unconquered.  Bran is prince of Elfael, a small cantref in the Marches.  His father the king, along with Elfael's army, is slaughtered at the hands of the Normans, and Bran watches helplessly as many of the village inhabitants flee into the woods.  The Normans soon take up permanent residence in Elfael, effectively enslave any that remain, and conscript them to build large castles, to be used as bases for further subjugation and conquest of the land.  As Bran thinks on what to do, he's chased by these new overlords, hunted down, and left for dead in the expansive nearby forest.  He's healed by a strange old woman (Angharad), who encourages him to lead the refugees and take on the Norman threat.  With that, Robin Hood is born.

I have very mixed emotions about this book.  It's an excellent story, no question, and a believable take on who Robin Hood could have been.  It's the telling that leaves something to be desired. While some chapters were fast-paced, well-written, and gripping, others bogged down the story and made it hard to continue.  Some plot elements were developed very well; others were covered with insufficient build-up.  Lawhead does a great job weaving the traditional characters into the story in plausible ways, yet there were moments when characters had sudden, inexplicable changes of heart.  I didn't always like how it was told . . . but I did want to keep reading, and I look forward to the rest of the story.  That, in the end, overcomes the deficiencies.

This series is to Robin Hood was Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Trilogy is to King Arthur- effectively, historical fantasy.  While I can't help but think that this story would be better told by Cornwell or Ken Follett, I do think Lawhead's work is worth reading.

Rating: A-