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The Robin Hood Read: Scarlet

Scarlet: The King Raven Trilogy - Book 2 - Stephen Lawhead

This is book 2 of Lawhead's Robin Hood trilogy. Thoughts:

 

  • Each of these books focuses on a different character. The first book - Hood - not surprisingly gives narrative voice to Robin Hood. This one concentrates on Will Scarlet.
  • Most of the book occurs in a story-telling fashion, because Will Scarlet has been captured by Richard de Glanville, the Sheriff, on behalf of Baron de Braose, and is awaiting a hanging.
  • I liked Will Scarlet, but I wasn't crazy about the weird folkisms that seemed to come and go from his narration. Seeing "fella" in a book set in eleventh century Wales struck me as odd.
  • The conspiracy that forms the heart of the narrative is slowly discovered/revealed in this book because there is a movement afoot to rise up against William Rufus. There is some interesting medieval drama that plays out.
  • Like Tolkien, Lawhead doesn't seem to know what to do with his female characters. They are much less dimensional, and seem to be there merely as foils for the men.

 

Overall thoughts: decent middle book. By this time in the trilogy, though, I'm getting sort of bored. As is often the case. Still, it is slightly better than average.