Arrowland

The Afterblight Chronicles #10

by Paul Kane

-Enemies on All Sides!- Robert, the Hooded Man, leads the Rangers, who keep the peace in the ravaged wasteland of Britain, foiling the ambitions of the warlords and petty tyrants who would take the country for themselves. Even the spirits of his beloved Sherwood Forest aid him, sending him dreams to guide his path. But now Robert's dreams are threatening and strange - a dragon rising over Wales, a spider crouching over Edinburgh - and new foes are rising against him in his own homeland. Overseas, the Russian Tsar is readying himself for a second confrontation with Britain's protector, even as an army is converging at the Reichstag in Berlin. A confrontation is coming that may decide the future of the nation...

Genres: Science Fiction

237 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2010

About the author

Paul Kane has been writing professionally for almost fifteen years. His genre journalism has appeared in such magazines as Fangoria, SFX and Rue Morgue, and his non-fiction books are the critically acclaimed The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy and Voices in the Dark. His award-winning short fiction has appeared in magazines and anthologies on both sides of the Atlantic (as well as being broadcast on BBC Radio 2), and has been collected in Alone (In the Dark), Touching the Flame, FunnyBones, Peripheral Visions, Shadow Writer, The Butterfly Man and Other Stories, The Spaces Between and GHOSTS. His novella Signs of Life reached the shortlist of the British Fantasy Awards 2006, The Lazarus Condition was introduced by Mick Garris - creator of Masters of Horror - RED featured artwork from Dave (The Graveyard Book) McKean and Pain Cages was introduced by Stephen Volk (The Awakening).

As Special Publications Editor of the British Fantasy Society he worked with authors like Brian Aldiss, Ramsey Campbell, Muriel Gray and Robert Silverberg, he is the co-editor of Hellbound Hearts for Pocket Books (Simon and Schuster), an anthology of original stories inspired by Clive Barker's mythos - featuring contributions from the likes of Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola, Kelley Armstrong and Richard Christian Matheson - The Mammoth Book of Body Horror (Constable & Robinson) - featuring Stephen King, James Herbert and Robert Bloch - and the Poe-inspired Beyond Rue Morgue (for Titan).

In 2008 his zombie story 'Dead Time' was turned into an episode of the Lionsgate/NBC TV series Fear Itself, adapted by Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (SAW II-IV). He also scripted The Opportunity which premiered at Cannes in 2009, The Weeping Woman - starring Fright Night's Stephen Jeffreys - and Wind Chimes (directed by Brad '7th Dimension' Watson. He is the author of the novels Of Darkness and Light, The Gemini Factor and the bestselling Arrowhead trilogy (Arrowhead, Broken Arrow and Arrowland), a post-apocalyptic reworking of the Robin Hood mythology gathered together as the sell-out Hooded Man omnibus. His latest novels are Lunar (which is set to be turned into a feature film) and the short Y.A. book The Rainbow Man (as P.B. Kane). He currently lives in Derbyshire, UK, with his wife - the author Marie O'Regan - his family, and a black cat called Mina. You can find out more at his website www.shadow-writer.co.uk which has featured Guest Writers such as Neil Gaiman, Charlaine Harris, Dean Koontz, John Connolly and Guillermo del Toro.

Reviews

[Mr Greig Ritchie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ach, it was ok. Felt like spiderman 3, too many baddies stretching the narrative. All the deus ex machina stuff and the ridiculous helicopter freefall at the end. Thought the first two in the series were better.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please note that this review contains some minor spoilers if you haven’t read Arrowhead and Broken Arrow, the first two novels in this sequence.

Robert, The Hooded Man, leads the Rangers, who keep the peace in the ravaged wastelands of Britain, foiling the ambitions of warlords and petty tyrants who would take the country for themselves. Even the spirits of his beloved Sherwood Forest aid him, sending him dreams to guide his path.

Arrowland by Paul Kane is the author’s third book, set in the Afterblight Chronicles universe. The world has been stricken by a pandemic that is fatal to all but those who have the blood type O negative. In the United Kingdom, from the ruins of Nottingham, ex-policeman Robert Stokes has started to create the beginnings of a new society. Adopting the mantle of the well known legend of Robin Hood he has successfully defended his community on a number of occasions.

In the previous books I was pleased that Nottingham was used so effectively as the story’s backdrop. In the first two novels my adopted hometown has been central to the story. Anyone who has attended the British Fantasy Society convention, FantasyCon, will appreciate the in-joke about the Britannia Hotel being used as prison. This time out, however, the action moves further afield. Robert and his men are forced split up to deal with two new potential threats, a psychotic witch called ‘The Widow’ who is using Edinburgh Castle as her base and a mysterious character calling himself ‘The Dragon’ based in the heart of Wales. Robert also has to deal with the resurgence of old enemies from his past.

There is quite a strong mystical element throughout the novel. As The Hooded Man Robert is becoming almost a creature of legend himself. His opponents all speak about his feats in hushed tones. His connection with Sherwood and the land he protects is also explored. Robert is visited by visions will he sleeps and these help prepare him for the challenges he has to face. This reminded me in many ways of the excellent nineteen eighties television series Robin of Sherwood.

As the story has developed over the three books the reader gets more and more insight into the characters of Robert and his men. It’s nice to see that some of the characters bear a passing resemblance to the original Robin Hood myth. Robert/Robin has his own Marion in the form of Mary. There is a giant ex-professional wrestler called Jack rather than John. A reverend called Tate and even an ex-musician called Dale. Paul Kane has given all the characters their own story arcs and I enjoyed them all.

Abaddon Books are one of my favourite publishers at the moment. They produce some excellent on-going series that I rate very highly. The two that have really captured my imagination are Pax Britannia, which I have discussed before, and The Afterblight Chronicles.

There was part of me that didn’t want the novel to end. At a trim two hundred and sixty nine pages the action and adventure never flags. This trilogy is the first of the Afterblight Chronicles I have read, but I will definitely be purchasing more. Post apocalyptic fiction is a personal favourite of mine and based on what I have read so far The Afterblight Chronicles are an excellent example of this genre. Do yourself a favour and pick up this series of books.

[Grw · Rating 5 out of 5]

The afterblight Chronicles are a series of often un-related books by various authors which are all set in a world where everyone not of the blood group 'O' has died in the Cull.

Now while a lot of the books are one offs there are two that not only had sequel but which turned into trilogies and then, if that wasn't enough, they made references to each other.

So here we have the final installment of what started out as a re-imagining (as Hollywood would put it) of the Robin Hood legend, but which, in the previous book Broken Arrow became so much more than that.

Of course the book includes all the things the majority of the books in the series do, with tyrants trying to take over the world, in this case two, plus in fighting, and well, a lot of other fighting to be honest. Mixed in with some great story telling, fully rounded characters, and a plot that is going somewhere at a dramatic pace.

It is also a very fitting end, to what has been a tremendous trilogy that could easily have continued on, as I would have loved to see a greater combining between this series and that of School's Out only hinted at in the final books of both series.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tanek appears again, but is a minor villain. We find Robert and his Rangers dealing with The Widow on one side, the Dragon on another, and they are all being bankrolled by another set of villains. Can Robert and his Rangers muddle through and protect Sherwood? Read and find out.

[Brad Theado · Rating 3 out of 5]

It felt like two books crammed into one.