|
Sherwood
by Parke Godwin
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Pub Group West (1991-09)
ISBN: 0945353634
EAN: 9780945353638
Audio Cassette: 3 pages
SKU: MWB209437
Condition: New
Comments: 0945353634 This audio book on two cassettes is brand new, still factory sealed. Your book will be carefully protected for transit in sturdy, weather-resistant packaging. We are prompt, efficient, communicative.
|
Editorial Reviews
|
Product Description
Forced from his home by Norman invaders, young Edward Aelredson, Thane of Denby, takes refuge in the forest Sherwood, where, with sword and bow, he bedevils the usurping king and comes to be called ""Robin Hood."" Reprint.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Terrible
Rating  (1)
Date: 2008-11-03
I am something of a Robin Hood buff, so upon seeing "Sherwood" by Parke Godwin in the local used book shop, I paid out my $2.50 for it, and toted it home to read. I couldn't even finish it. It is terrible, trite, and poorly written. Let me give you an example: "Will spoke an odd-sounding English. There was something sad about his lightest remark, a tinge of humor about the most serious, yet from the first Robin responded to that voice as animals to the sound of trusted masters."
Overall, though others appear to have enjoyed reading it, I personally find it to be absolutely awful.
|
|
A balanced view of Robin Hood? Yes, and it works.
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-08-01
Parke Godwin's Sherwood is among the stack of books that I've owned seemingly forever, and I re-read every few years just for the joy of it. I'd argue that it's one of the best re-tellings of the Robin Hood tale (the other being The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley).
First, Godwin sets Robin Hood not during the usual "King Richard the Lionhearted" era but in a more interesting time: the Norman conquest and the years immediately following. Certainly, there's more inherent cultural friction between Saxons (including Robin, who's a thane of a small village), Normans (including the sheriff of Nottingham, Ralf), Danes and the occasional Welsh slave.
Second, Parke Godwin's books all have wonderful characterization, and he chooses to tell stories from non-obvious viewpoints (such as that of Guinevierre, after Arthur's death). In this one, the viewpoint characters shift around a bit, but the main stories are told by Robin (who discovers the concepts of justice and law), and sheriff Ralf (who has his own path to follow, from war to peacetime). Darnit, it *works.* Everyone makes reasonable and sensible decisions, even when they are (literally) at each other's throats. The love story is sweet but not cloying. Marian is no shrinking vine whose main role is to be prize on a pedestal; she's a strong woman (and marries Robin). (Maybe that's one of the reasons I like both this book and McKinley's.) And there's even an appealing cat.
It's told with humor, warmth, and the underlying assumption that everyone is doing the best he can with the information he has available at the time. Even the villains.
This is simply a great novel. Pick up a copy.
|
|
God Wins!
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-05-15
I will make this short and succinct. It has been awhile since I read this but I distinctly remember thinking that it was the best Robin Hood tale that I had either seen or read. I would highly recommend that anyone even remotely interested in the Robin Hood legend should read this book. Errol Flynn's portrayal pales by comparison!
Happy Reading!
|
|
My Favorite Book
Rating (5)
Date: 2003-03-11
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
I'm a self admitted Robin Hood fan. For some reason I love everything to do with this legend and Delve into every aspect of it when I find a new story.
This is my favorite fictional version of the legend so far. The characters have very distinct personalities, taking the well known characters in new directions, and the background is very believable. You really feel you are there. Despite bad reviews saying it wasn't "accurate" enough, I say: "It's a STORY!", and a good story at that. Accuracy is not a focus point in fiction, and even with the changes Park Godwin has made to the timeline, the world itself is very accurate.
Overall my favorite character in the story has to be Marion though. Far from the sterotype of damsel in distress that she so often gets shoved into, in this version, she's very self reliant and strong. In the sequel, she even gets to chase off some Normans on her own. Have to love that.
|
|
Sherwood
Rating  (3)
Date: 2002-05-11
3 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is a decent try at a gritty, morally complex work of historical fiction. Godwin has done his research; that he invents Saxon resistance in a specific place seems inconsequential to me, given that we don't know *everything* that went on during the period. He makes at least an attempt to portray mentality, which puts him ahead of most medieval historical fiction writers.There are some issues, though. Godwin's writing, especially in the early part of the book, is often grammatically vague. His fight and action scenes are insufficiently structured, thus confusing. His constant identification of the Saxons with the land conveniently ignores the fact that the Saxons themselves came as invaders. The text sometimes tries too hard to be meaningful. Characterization overall is competent. I found Robin, in his more ignorant, loudmouthed, horse-eating moments, annoying, and tended to prefer Ralf. This is a reasonable book, I'd say, but no masterpiece.
|
|
|