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The Afterblight Chronicles #8
Broken Arrow
A year has passed since the Hooded Man took back Nottingham Castle from the crazed Sheriff, De Falaise. The citizens of Nottingham have settled back into an uneasy peace, but a new threat is emerging. From Russia a covetous and psychotic general eyes the treasures of Britain. In Yorkshire a dangerous Satanic cult emerges and from Europe comes an old, familiar foe. The Hooded Man must fight for his people once more!
- GenresScience Fiction
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 16, 2010
3 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Paul Kane
228 books141 followersPaul 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 13, 2019
Second in the Robert Stokes cull series. Robin Hood transposed to the 21st century, Nottingham and Sherwood forest thrown in, albeit in a much reduced population. Having seen off the sheriff in the first instalment, the bad guys have travelled much further, amongst them the return of one of the rogues who has had dealing with Robert before.
Ray Smillie
Ray Smillie
February 16, 2019
Mediocre. Earlier books were better.
October 18, 2014
For those that don't know, The Afterblight Chronicles, are a series of mostly unrelated books by different authors which are all set in a world where everyone who isn't of the blood group 'O' has died.
This book is number eight in the series, and only the second one to continue from a previous book. Thankfully the two authors - the other is Scott K. Andrews and his School's Out series - that got a sequel are also the best, and interestingly they are now starting to interact with each other, albeit in a small way currently, but there are third books in both arcs to come.
Anyway, what we have here is the follow up to Arrowhead which was what Hollywood would call a 're-imagining' of the Robin Hood myth, that was done so much better than that description makes it sound especially as it takes place in Nottingham Castle and Sherwood Forest.
For this book, we move away from those myths into more original territory, but of course, featuring the same characters, and with the same level of violence that is prolific in all the Chronicles but with some new enemies in the shape of a religious cult - something most of the books in the chronicles have in common - plus a military threat from overseas lead by a familiar face.
As with Arrowhead the characters aren't just versions of their historic selves, but nicely laid out, with issues of their own, most noticeably with the Hooded Man not wanting to be a leader at all, all mixed in with a somewhat troubled teenage romance (not as sloppy as it sounds), the rebuilding of the world, and even a spy in the camp.
Great action scenes, are abundant, and whilst they can be a touch overdone in places, in that Hollywood way where everything has to blow up and heroes recover much too fast, the swiftness of the writing, and the rounded characters, make sure you don't dwell too much on the negative.
It's not all doom and gloom though. The above mentioned teenage angst, give rise to some levity as does, in book comparisons to the legend where Robert is teased about being Robin, even though those doing the teasing don't seem to realize they are also based on the Merry Men, making the book surprisingly self-aware.
Arrowhead will conclude this story arc, but not before, The Hooded Man and the Sherwood rangers apparently make a guest appearance in the final book of Scott K. Andrews series Children's Crusade which should be interesting.
This book is number eight in the series, and only the second one to continue from a previous book. Thankfully the two authors - the other is Scott K. Andrews and his School's Out series - that got a sequel are also the best, and interestingly they are now starting to interact with each other, albeit in a small way currently, but there are third books in both arcs to come.
Anyway, what we have here is the follow up to Arrowhead which was what Hollywood would call a 're-imagining' of the Robin Hood myth, that was done so much better than that description makes it sound especially as it takes place in Nottingham Castle and Sherwood Forest.
For this book, we move away from those myths into more original territory, but of course, featuring the same characters, and with the same level of violence that is prolific in all the Chronicles but with some new enemies in the shape of a religious cult - something most of the books in the chronicles have in common - plus a military threat from overseas lead by a familiar face.
As with Arrowhead the characters aren't just versions of their historic selves, but nicely laid out, with issues of their own, most noticeably with the Hooded Man not wanting to be a leader at all, all mixed in with a somewhat troubled teenage romance (not as sloppy as it sounds), the rebuilding of the world, and even a spy in the camp.
Great action scenes, are abundant, and whilst they can be a touch overdone in places, in that Hollywood way where everything has to blow up and heroes recover much too fast, the swiftness of the writing, and the rounded characters, make sure you don't dwell too much on the negative.
It's not all doom and gloom though. The above mentioned teenage angst, give rise to some levity as does, in book comparisons to the legend where Robert is teased about being Robin, even though those doing the teasing don't seem to realize they are also based on the Merry Men, making the book surprisingly self-aware.
Arrowhead will conclude this story arc, but not before, The Hooded Man and the Sherwood rangers apparently make a guest appearance in the final book of Scott K. Andrews series Children's Crusade which should be interesting.
February 6, 2016
With elements of the occult, this book has elements of Prince of Theives with a darker twist. Robert and his men must face a new threat, new enemies, the backlash of old enemies and betrayal. Will The Hooded Man be able to save Nottingham Castle, Sherwood, and the people of England from a new foe? Time will tell.
July 7, 2013
Enjoyed but wish the author had used more of the legends in the retelling. Enjoyed the first book much more.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews