Book Review – Hood

The King Raven Trilogy - Book 1
Another Robin Hood tale? DAMN Straight!The British King Brychan ap Tewdwr is pissed. His son Bran is nowhere to be found and the warband is riding out. As the King contemplates what punishments to deliver to his wayward son, they run into a group of Norman’s who let Brychan know that they have been given Elfael, his kingdom, by King William and he is now to swear fealty to them. It turns out that it is a trap and the warband is killed, except for the King’s champion Iwan who is sent to warn the others.

Bran is with the lovely Merian. He is, to quote another feisty lady, a scoundrel. He works only for his own pleasure. He is doing all he can do to get into her bed. Merian however is not just a pretty face. She knows what he is trying to do and she has no plans on making it easy for him. I think we like her. As he makes his way home he realizes he is late and that his father will be less than pleased. Once home he grabs a horse and rides out to catch up with the warband thinking of excuses on the way. He finds Iwan first.

It is nice to have a hero who doesn’t want to be one. So many times the hero is surrounded by blinding white light and becomes the perfect ass kicker that is needed. Bran wants to party and be left alone. After the battle he just wants to run away to his mother’s people. He doesn’t want to be king; he doesn’t want to be like his dad. I can totally relate to this. I know if I was caught up in the same situation my first thought would be, “go find someone else”. We watch as Bran slowly begins to develop into the man and King he will hopefully become. But he does it kicking and screaming. He makes mistakes. He’s a bit of a dink at times; you can see yourself in him.

So begins the story of Robin Hood. This is a great retelling. There are betrayals, new friendships, and rat fink bastards. And….say it with me people…a sequel…YAaaaay series!!!!