My review of "Hood" by Stephen Lawhead.

During the dark times of Norman conquest a young man, Bran ap Brychan, is forced to make the journey to London to seek justice for the murder of his father and the seizing of his lands in Elfael in modern day Wales. When all of his claims are dismissed he returns home to discover his people have been forced into submission by a brutal Norman Baron, and he is an outlaw.

Step by step Bran begins to put together an unlikely band of resistance fighters and to create a secret community deep within the forest. With the help of the Banfaith Angharad Bran learns to use the ancient wisdom and mysticism of the land against the invaders as he reinvents himself as King Raven, a creature born of myth and magic. "Hood" is the first in the King Raven trilogy which charts Bran's journey to free his people and regain Elfael.

Taking such a well known myth as Robin Hood and reinterpreting it in such a radical way was a risk to say the least. A welsh Robin dressed as a Raven? Can the legend survive without his signature green tights?

Fortunately Stephen Lawhead is a master of gritty historical fantasy. Never before has the Robin Hood legend been interpreted in such an original and elemental way. The protagonist is marvellously complex, at first lazy, selfish and equally prone to despair and anger but slowly changed and chastened by the suffering of his people and his own. He tries to work within the confines of the law and outside it in an effort to accomplish his goals and learns to receive help and advice from unlikely sources. The novel is deliciously dark and brooding yet shot through with hope as it slowly winds its way towards possible redemption.

The third book in the trilogy "Tuck" has already been released in the US and is due to be out here in the UK in April. I can't wait to see how this series will end and yet I will definitely be sad to see an end to the journey. Will Bran get his lands back? We'll have to see.