Review of Stephen Lawhead’s "Hood"

Imagine the old story of Robin Hood told as a Welsh freedom fighter in AD 1093. Stephen Lawhead believes there is good reason to believe that the Robin Hood legend had its origins not in an English Sherwood Forest but in the vast forest that separated England from Wales in the 11th Century. He has set his “King Raven Trilogy” in this time and place. There’s Little John and Friar Tuck and Maid Merian, but all are more complex characters in Lawhead’s hands.

I was first introduced to Lawhead’s imagination in his book, Byzantium, which I strongly recommend. That, along with his novel Patrick, Son of Ireland, will introduce you to a world of primitive white tribes from what is now northern and western Europe—my ancestors (and probably yours).

Brutal and pagan primitive tribes until costly missionary outreach brought them to Christ. I can’t help but compare my ancestor’s history to Africa of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The King Raven Trilogy doesn’t appear to cover the same ground as Byzantium and Patrick (i.e., missionary impact on ancient pagan European cultures). As I’ve already mentioned, it’s a retelling of the Robin Hood story in a way that makes it ruggedly more realistic than the Erroll Flynn or Disney or even Kevin Costner versions of recent years.

I’ve just completed the first book of the trilogy, Hood, and I’ve started on the second, Scarlet. Lawhead is an especially good writer for men (considering his characters always seem to be men, and men dealing with hard choices and heavy consequences). And, since Lawhead’s books are distributed by Thomas Nelson Publishers, you can be sure that the books don’t descend into, um, imaginative territory Christian readers shouldn’t go.

I’m enjoying the King Raven series, and will update you with further reviews. But go ahead and get a copy of Byzantium and/or Patrick at a used book store somewhere and tell me what you think about it. Fascinating stuff.