"Hood" by Stephen Lawford

The hook on "Hood" is that of a new tale of Robin, the outlaw who "robbed from the rich to give to the poor".  Normally such attempts to reinvision such a classic tale falter - and do so badly.  However, this effort by Stephen Lawhead, while certainly not to everyone's taste (there is an immensity to it - like something of epic grandeur) it does hold the promises of a story with more substance to it than the standard three-act play.

'Robin', rather than being Robin of Loxly who left England to fight with King Richard in the Crusades, is Bran ap Brychan, the profligate son to an oppressive king of a small fiefdom in the country of Wales.

Let me mention real quickly here.  Being that the names of the people and places are Welch - or, as the Welch prefer to call themselves by 'Britons' - there can be a certain meandering through the story, where the imagery of the Fantasy realm can interfere and blur the lines of historical fact with the liberty of an author's fantastical imagination.  If this causes difficulty, I would suggest trying an audiobook rendering of the book, where all names are pronounced, giving a reader a reference point.  As to the tale itself...

Bran's father and his kingdom's entire fighting force are attacked by a company of Frank Marcogi.  All are slaughtered aside from the king's champion who rides to tell the people, the first being Bran, riding along the same road to catch up.

They discover that the king has given the land to the Frank, who move in and immediately begin to oppress the people.  Bran, their prince and new sovereign, seeks to escape up north, but is nearly killed in an attack by the Frank.  In fact, they presume him indeed dead, which opens up a new chapter where the parallels with the traditional Robin Hood legend begin to grow more evident.

As I said earlier, this is not a book for everyone, as the reading, nor the story itself, is not simple.  It is epic in scope, which demands more of the reader than a basic cursory passing over of the pages.  From my estimation, Lawhead incorporates a history of Wales into the story; and being that it is a fictionalized tale, of a legendary figure, emerging from another country can create a true challenge in separating the lines between truth and fiction.  But something that task is the joy of reading the story.  If one enjoys the Robin Hood tale, one should enjoy this one as well.