This book was really enjoyable. It was my first Lawhead book and I think I will look for the sequels and possible other series of his as well. Every once in a while there was a monologue of a character's thoughts on their past and I hated it and love it at the same time. Part of me would just want to get past it so I could get back to the action and events in the story, while at the same time it was interesting and fairly important to understanding the character, the events, and to find empathy. This is a more realistic version of the fantasy Robin Hood than most others you find and I love it. I really enjoyed how it was not dumbed down to perfection and happily ever after. There is strife, and religion, and ignorance, and love, and family, and happiness goals. I was taken aback at the setting at first because it does not have many of the places and names that I'm familiar with, but in the end of the book, after the novel, it has his explanation of why, and it is fabulous. I'm a history buff and to get this short history lesson on the true tales of Robin Hood was fascinating to me. I really enjoyed this book. ( )

This book was really enjoyable. It was my first Lawhead book and I think I will look for the sequels and possible other series of his as well. Every once in a while there was a monologue of a character's thoughts on their past and I hated it and love it at the same time. Part of me would just want to get past it so I could get back to the action and events in the story, while at the same time it was interesting and fairly important to understanding the character, the events, and to find empathy. This is a more realistic version of the fantasy Robin Hood than most others you find and I love it. I really enjoyed how it was not dumbed down to perfection and happily ever after. There is strife, and religion, and ignorance, and love, and family, and happiness goals. I was taken aback at the setting at first because it does not have many of the places and names that I'm familiar with, but in the end of the book, after the novel, it has his explanation of why, and it is fabulous. I'm a history buff and to get this short history lesson on the true tales of Robin Hood was fascinating to me. I really enjoyed this book. ( )

A re-imagined tale of the famous thief and 'rob from the rich, give to the poor' Robin Hood set in Wales instead of the more common England.

If you're looking for a more realistic point of view of the classic Robin Hood story versus the Disney portrayal this book definitely delivers. I really do believe the author put some time and effort into getting at least a general idea of the time period he portrays the story in, even adding a pronunciation guide to the back of the book for us non-Welsh speakers. A down side to this book is that it is definitely a build up to events to come later on in the series as well as an introduction to the many characters involved in the various plots within the book, not a quick page turner full of action and cliff hangers after every chapter. I also wasn't very happy with the sudden change in Bran's, aka Robin Hood, attitude towards his ultimate destiny of leading the people of Elfael, where he is the residing prince, first shunning all responsibility, then doubting his lack of empathy, then doing a complete 180 vowing to save his people and take back his land... only to go through the entire cycle yet again. Could this series turn out to be a great series? Sure. Does it need to pick up the pace a little and add in some more action to keep the reader going? Definitely. I'll be picking up the next in the series, though certainly without as much anticipation as I did picking up the first. ( )

This was the first in Lawhead's new trilogy about Robin Hood, but it was far from being the 'traditional' tale as we know it today. Lawhead did an extensive amount of research concerning the beginnings of the 'Robin Hood' folklore (the first appearance of the legendary thief was in the 1200s!), and wove this tale from what he believes was the beginning of the Robin Hood myth. Thus, we have a hero whose story is set in Wales, away from Sherwood Forest, and a little more gritty and realistic than simply a tale of 'merry men'. It's set in the historical past, with real and fictional characters interwoven - similar to what Lawhead did with his Pendragon Cycle - so that you can truly begin to believe that this was something that literally occurred in history, but perhaps wasn't retained as part of the period's 'official' historical record.

I thought it was exceedingly well done, and I'm very much looking forward to the next book, Scarlet, where Will Scarlet - who else? - makes his first appearance. ( )

An interesting take on the classic Robin Hood tale. This was hard to get used to, the time frame seems more appropriate to an Arthurian tale than Robin Hood, so, it was easy to forget which legend I was reading. However, the explanation Lawhead gives is very convincing and lends a certain credibility. Personally, I felt the book was a bit dry and slow, just not my style preference; still a good read and story, however. ( )