Holy Warrior (Angus Donald)

In January, I read (and mostly enjoyed) Outlaw, the first book in an ongoing series on Robin Hood (review here) by Angus Donald.  As I stated then, I'd probably give the second book a try to determine if the rest of the series was worth pursuing.  I got my chance sooner than anticipated, and I started Holy Warrior last week.

Outlaw ended with Robin being pardoned by Richard the Lionhearted and given a modest landholding in central England.  As part of the deal, though, Robin swore to 'take the Cross'- to accompany Richard on the Third Crusade.   In Holy Warrior, we start with Robin making preparations for his departure, a necessary part of which is raising money to pay for goods required on the journey.  With few options, he decides to pursue borrowing from the Jews of York- and unfortunately walks in on the 1190 Jewish massacre in [what is now] Clifford's Tower.  That's as far as I got.  You may have picked up on my unusual wording from the first paragraph.  I started Holy Warrior last week.  I didn't finish it, and I won't.  I gave it a fair shot, reading 33%, but I decided to put it down.

To be fair to Donald, I want to explain my reasons for stopping.  The book isn't bad- I rate the portion I read below.  But my big problem was with the history.  As I commented in book one, I'm not entirely sure Donald is portraying the history correctly.  Recounting the events, yes.  Conveying the correct atmosphere and attributing realistic motives to the participants, I'm not so sure.  If you read it as fiction with some history mixed in, I think the book is enjoyable.  If you just want a Robin Hood story and care little for other elements, go for it.  But if you read it as historical fiction, the book might give you a wrong impression on how and why covered events happened.  Personally, I'd rather have no idea than a wrong idea about a given situation . . . so I stopped reading.  It may be for you, but it wasn't for me.  I'm not saying that Donald is certainly off-base in his perspective . . . I just felt something was lacking in both books one and two, and it was significant enough in my mind to stop.

I believe Donald is up to book five or six in the series, and it looks like subsequent offerings cover the Third Crusade, Richard's return and capture on the way, and other interesting events.  So if this time period is for you, and this history aspect isn't overly important, you may enjoy this series.

Rating: B-