Play Book Tag discussion

This is the second book in the King Raven Trilogy, a re-telling of the Robin Hood legend that moves the story a hundred years earlier and hundred of miles to Wales. "Robin" in this story is Rie Bran (aka King Raven in the native Briton language), the son and heir of a Briton king (whom the Normans killed and took his lands).

The second book is told mostly in first person by Will Scarlet, a Saxon. Will's people had suffered the same fate by the Normans - so he travelled south to find and join up with the now legendary King Raven. Will is almost as skilled as Bran with a Welsh longbow, so he becomes one of Bran's right-hand men.

Although I liked this book, I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book (Hood). It seemed to be slower paced. But it definitely had its moments. I loved how the author re-invented the legend of Robin Hood and the archery tournament into this story. It was very creative! I also appreciated that Will Scarlet is a Saxon character. It's another tie to the Robin Hood legend, in which Robin himself is a Saxon.

And I'm learning the history of England and Wales and the politics of this time (the early 1100s, when William II was king) - a time that isn't covered much in historical fiction. So I plan to continue onto the third book in the trilogy - Tuck. But maybe not right away :-)