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Robyn Hode
"Robyn Hode in Barnsdale stood..."
England, 1224 AD. The north of the country is wild and lawless, plagued by bands of outlaws and robbers and broken men. There is little justice and less order, and the King's officers struggle to impose their royal master's law.
Book One of Robyn Hode tells the story of Robert Hode, a yeoman farmer and petty thief, forced to flee into the forests of Yorkshire after defending his home and family against the malice of Sir Gui de Gisburne. Hunted like an animal through the woods, he falls into the company of Hobbe of Wetherby, a notorious murderer and the most wanted felon in the north. Robert must rely on his all his courage and skill to survive and avoid ending as crowbait on the gallows.
Mingling fact with fiction, and drawing heavily on surviving contemporary records, "Robyn Hode" is a tough and unsqueamish tale and like no other version of the ancient legend.
England, 1224 AD. The north of the country is wild and lawless, plagued by bands of outlaws and robbers and broken men. There is little justice and less order, and the King's officers struggle to impose their royal master's law.
Book One of Robyn Hode tells the story of Robert Hode, a yeoman farmer and petty thief, forced to flee into the forests of Yorkshire after defending his home and family against the malice of Sir Gui de Gisburne. Hunted like an animal through the woods, he falls into the company of Hobbe of Wetherby, a notorious murderer and the most wanted felon in the north. Robert must rely on his all his courage and skill to survive and avoid ending as crowbait on the gallows.
Mingling fact with fiction, and drawing heavily on surviving contemporary records, "Robyn Hode" is a tough and unsqueamish tale and like no other version of the ancient legend.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
133 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 21, 2013
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73 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 8, 2015
Many takes on the legend of Robin Hood exist, but I challenge you to find another quite like this one. Staying away from the infamous Prince John and heroic Lionheart, Pilling places his Robert Hode during the reign of John's slightly more capable (or at least longer ruling) son, Henry III.
As with all of this author's novels, the story is very gritty with no romanticizing of the time period with its hardships and violence. Robert is a character that is an clever blending of fact and fiction with a surrounding cast developed to mirror the well-known legend.
Rather than being motivated by a strong desire to help the worse off, Robert is driven into the arms of an outlaw band by his own impetuous actions. He finds that he enjoys the life and especially likes preying upon the clergy that he feels take unfair advantage of those who are supposed to be in their care. The story is just saved from becoming overtly negative to the Church by the character of Matthew Tuck and Robert's faith that is at odds with his feelings for priests.
Though it is a story of myth, Pilling's story is loaded with historical facts and figures who are expertly woven into the plot. The reader even gets a few glimpses of King Henry and his fiery Angevin temper.
This installment ends with a cliffhanger that leaves you grabbing for the second book, so be sure to have it on hand.
(Available through Kindle Owners' Lending Library.)
As with all of this author's novels, the story is very gritty with no romanticizing of the time period with its hardships and violence. Robert is a character that is an clever blending of fact and fiction with a surrounding cast developed to mirror the well-known legend.
Rather than being motivated by a strong desire to help the worse off, Robert is driven into the arms of an outlaw band by his own impetuous actions. He finds that he enjoys the life and especially likes preying upon the clergy that he feels take unfair advantage of those who are supposed to be in their care. The story is just saved from becoming overtly negative to the Church by the character of Matthew Tuck and Robert's faith that is at odds with his feelings for priests.
Though it is a story of myth, Pilling's story is loaded with historical facts and figures who are expertly woven into the plot. The reader even gets a few glimpses of King Henry and his fiery Angevin temper.
This installment ends with a cliffhanger that leaves you grabbing for the second book, so be sure to have it on hand.
(Available through Kindle Owners' Lending Library.)
July 13, 2014
David Pilling has crafted a Robin Hood story out of the scant historical details surrounding one of the most plausible candidates who might have been the "real", "original" Robin Hood. Having made the decision to ground his Robin in a historical "reality", Pilling feels free to take his story in a more realistic direction which parallels aspects of the original but also has the benefit of providing a new story for the reader which is not enslaved to the over-familiar aspects of the oft-retold legend. Without getting into spoilers, Pilling's Robin is an early 13th century yeoman--not a nobleman--whose descent into outlawry reveals just how frightening it would have been to lose everything and become a hunted man in medieval England. For this entry in the series, Pilling has dispensed with some of the familiar characters, situations and settings to create a Robin Hood much as the original may have been in an authentically recreated historical world.
Quite frankly, I quite enjoyed this short novel. Though the novel achieves its goal of showing who Robin Hood/Robyn Hode is and how he became an outlaw admirably, I would have preferred a bit more precision to the resolution of the book. There were also a few minor sentence-structure errors in the edition I read (which may have been corrected in later editions for all I know) which a careful edit might have resolved. These are minor reservations and I wholeheartedly recommend this novel to fans of historical fiction and Robin Hood in general.
Quite frankly, I quite enjoyed this short novel. Though the novel achieves its goal of showing who Robin Hood/Robyn Hode is and how he became an outlaw admirably, I would have preferred a bit more precision to the resolution of the book. There were also a few minor sentence-structure errors in the edition I read (which may have been corrected in later editions for all I know) which a careful edit might have resolved. These are minor reservations and I wholeheartedly recommend this novel to fans of historical fiction and Robin Hood in general.
September 15, 2019
Great Read
I have read lot of Hood story's. I like your retell of Robin Hood Sir David Pilling. I was very surprised that Guy was killed if at the beginning. Nicely wrote easy to read. Thank you Sir for the goodread an now on to the next. If you know of any other authors that had goodread on Robin Hood please drop me a line in good reads. This is where I leave my review's. Thanks.
I have read lot of Hood story's. I like your retell of Robin Hood Sir David Pilling. I was very surprised that Guy was killed if at the beginning. Nicely wrote easy to read. Thank you Sir for the goodread an now on to the next. If you know of any other authors that had goodread on Robin Hood please drop me a line in good reads. This is where I leave my review's. Thanks.
August 3, 2016
Certainly one of the better takes on the Robin Hood legend that I have read, Pilling makes thorough use of the historical evidence and bases his story on the real-life Robert of Wetherby and the mysterious Hobbehod (two figures considered to be one and the same by many scholars) cleverly seperating them. The tale melds other figures of the 13th century like Fulk Fitzwarin and Eustace of Lowdham; the Sheriff of Yorkshire with bits from the ballads such as the tale of the poor knight from 'A Little Gest of Robyn Hode'.
Robert and his band are dirty, violent anti-heroes but the writing never gets gratuitous. The story moves along at a snappy pace and this short volume reads like a breezy novella. I believe that the whole series is availalble as a single paperback volume but these short ebooks (for good value) feel like a good old fashioned serialized adventure.
Robert and his band are dirty, violent anti-heroes but the writing never gets gratuitous. The story moves along at a snappy pace and this short volume reads like a breezy novella. I believe that the whole series is availalble as a single paperback volume but these short ebooks (for good value) feel like a good old fashioned serialized adventure.
September 5, 2014
Wonderful
I love it. it is a fresh outlook on Robin. I have always loved the story of Robin Hood. I honestly couldn't stop reading, can't wait to continue the onto the next book. Every detail was so vivid like you were actually there.
I love it. it is a fresh outlook on Robin. I have always loved the story of Robin Hood. I honestly couldn't stop reading, can't wait to continue the onto the next book. Every detail was so vivid like you were actually there.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews