Hood

[Child of Immanuel]

Good book! There's a simplicity of style that appeals.

Themes... hmm. I notice SRL's heroes frequently make unpopular "unheroic" decisions, such as Arthur's taking the grain from the people, Bran's use of Merian as a hostage and his taking the wages from his own people.

Can't wait for book two!

[cree8ivone]

I ended up with the ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) and I read the book twice. I really like the developement of the main character. He is raw and real. But my favorite parts of the book are the scenes in the woods. I feel like I'm there. It's like the exhilaration of playing 'hide and seek' as a child.

"Hood" is very creative and descriptive. I think it is one of SRL's best.

[Tegid]

amazon.co.uk is now shipping ('dispatching') the paperback edition of Hood.

(However, they are currently charging retail for the paperback, so that it costs more than the hardback.)

[Jenna]

GRRRRRR I haven't gotten my copy yet, it's on back order~

[silversparrow]

Just read HOOD.

This book rocks.

[Tegid]

And now the unabridged audio recording has been released by Oasis Audio and is shipping.

To order from Amazon, use the picture above as your link. If you search for it, you could be taken instead to a page where they are selling a library edition of the recording for $99.

[Danath]

I finally got my hands on Hood on monday and just finished. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this one from start to finish and cannot wait for volume 2.

[dgan]

danath said:

I finally got my hands on Hood on monday and just finished. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this one from start to finish and cannot wait for volume 2.

You know, maybe I'm pointing out the obvious, but I think you hit on something there. HOOD is absolutely gripping from start to finish. There are no long introductions or extended periods where you find yourself waiting for the next chapter.

I think lost in our dissection of the story itself is the fact this is a really wonderful piece of literature.

[Danath]

I was in fact pleasantly surprised by the fact that there was no long slow introduction. With most of his previous books it would take 150-200 pages for me to really get involved in the story and want to keep reading. Not so with Hood.

[Bren]

"Hood" is an excellent new take on the story of Robin Hood. It's refreshing in it's difference. Not that I didn't love the old stories when I was younger, but so many seem rather shallow and have lost their bouquet. While the story moves along apace, there are levels to the plot and the characters, the blending being so smooth as to not drag the narrative down. What a wonderful tapestry of action and motives and feelings and scenery that SRL has woven into a seamless piece of fiction that is a complete delight to read. A cliffhanging ending that makes one most impatient for the next book, the sign of a good author...make them want to come back for more. Most excellent.

[whtfalcon]

This is my first post! I have read a few of Lawheads other books, but I was never as Hooked as I was after reading Hood. I did not even know it was coming out until at one day at Barns and Noble (I work there) I was putting it out on display and just happen to take a closer look at it. After seeing who it was by and reading what the book was about, I had to take it home that day. And once I started reading it, I was not going to stop. WOW what a good book, I read it in two days, when is the next one coming out..... Way too long, wish is was sooner!!

[DanTheMan]

Good going, whtfalcon! While you wait, I suggest you try Patrick as it is his next recent.

[Jenna]

I finally got my copy and when I do get a chance to read it I haven't been able to put it down. I anxiously await the next time I get to read it, as I usually only get to when I get my son down for a nap. Stephen Lawhead did a fabulous job as usual.

[CynanMachae]

Allllllllrighty-ho, I'll just but in here and throw down my opinion (though due to a very busy life I have not quite finished Hood)

I suppose that my opinion is a bit skewed, since I'm coming off of Patrick, my absolute favorite SRL book, but I must say that though Hood is quite a wonderful read, it just doesn't live up to SRL expectations for me. Some of you may have already discussed this, but I'll just go ahead and throw in my two cents now.

I found that Mr. Lawhead was making mistakes that he hasn't, and shouldn't be making. I think that the descriptivness was forced, like he wrote the book and then tried to go back and add some detail here and there to increase page count. The detail and wording didn't seem to flow from the pen, as it were, and I'll explain why I think that is in a moment.

Also, there was an air of repetitiveness that I noticed, as if he painted (or wrote) himself into corners and then couldn't find a way out, except to explain things again, or even three times. And why is Aethelfrith called so sometimes and "Tuck" others, even on the same page or even paragraph? Did anyone else notice this? Has this been discussed already?

I think the answer for the lack in this book is simple, and I believe it has already been talked about somewhat. But I'm on the soapbox now.

The answer is this: Mr. Lawhead is ten, twenty, nay, one-hundred times better when he is writing in the first person that when not. When he is writing thus, as in Patrick, the detail and words flow so beautifully. And it is a diferent type of writing, switching over to third-person. Mr. Lawhead has found his groove in first-person, and he tried in Hood, I think, to describe things in the same way he would in Patrick or any first person story he has written, but in third-person you must describe things in a very different way. Not that I'm telling him how to write, by any means.

All in all, Hood is an excellent and exciting read, but, as I said, just didn't live quite up to expectations.

[dgan]

I don't agree or disagree with what you say - I am contemplating - however, while I do so, let me throw this in dispute of your argument: Dragon King, Dream Thief, Taliesin, Merlin, and several other of SRL's older works were in third person. I daresay he made his name that way, and became a master of first person later.

So while I will consider what you say, I doubt any lack of cohesion is caused because of Lawhead's unfamiliarity of writing in the third person...