Tuck (Stephen Lawhead)

The third and final book in the King Raven series, Tuck concludes the story of Rhi Bran- a Welsh prince attempting to regain his kingdom from the Norman overlords.  For the record, I review the first book (Hood) here, and the second (Scarlet) here.

Setting the stage of Tuck: at the end of Scarlet, Rhi Bran has revealed an attempt on the king's life by ones currently ruling Bran's ancestral holding, and informed the sovereign.  The king was naturally thankful, and told Bran & co. to meet him in a few months' time at his castle.  They do so, where the king, rather than reward them by returning Bran's lands, turns the lands over to a new set of overlords- the Abbot Hugo and Guy of Gisburne.  Scarlet ends with Bran and his company back in the forest, fuming at the decision and wondering what to do next.

The following contains spoilers.

In Tuck, Bran attempts to gather an army to take back his cantref on his own.  He heads to relatives in north Wales, where he first frees their king (held by the baron in Chester), but finds no assistance from the newly liberated cousin.  Meanwhile, Merian heads to her relatives in south Wales, only to be similarly rebuffed.  Disheartened, Bran eventually hits on a way to take back his kingdom by a series of guerrilla-like raids.  He drives Hugo and Gisburne out of Elfael, and reclaims it as his own.  The two dejected overlords send a plea to the king, who decides to put down the Welsh once and for all by raising an army and storming the area.  The defenders receive help from unlikely quarters, and in the end, are allowed to keep their kingdom, if they swear fealty to the king.

This story arc all happens in the 1090s.  The final chapter, set in 1210, has a descendant of the conflict- Thomas a'Dale (descendant of Alan)- singing of Rhi Bran's exploits to King John and the Sheriff of Nottingham just outside Sherwood Forest.  As was typical of the time, Thomas changes the setting and affected parties to match his current location, heightening interest of the listeners.  Thus, Lawhead implies, the "Robin Hood" legend becomes (mistakenly) associated with that area instead of Wales.

This story was okay- better than Scarlet, but not as good as Hood.  The plot itself was fine, but it suffered from the same things that plagued the first two books- parts of the plot were extremely under-developed, racing through unexpected turns of events with insufficient build-up, and (on a similar note) characters would have sudden, somewhat inexplicable changes of heart.  I really liked the last chapter, though, which was completely plausible.

The overall trilogy was . . . okay.  My enthusiasm after the first dimmed after the next two.  It has a good enough story, but isn't nearly as well-executed as, say, Cornwell's Arthur trilogy.  Though I must admit, Lawhead's series might be considered young adult fiction (which I honestly didn't realize through the first two books), in which case some of my problems with it are more understandable.  I think kids would love it.

Rating: B