Hood: King Raven Trilogy, Book 1

"Hood" has only a passing similarity with the story we might think of as "Robin Hood". The very basic premise, some of the characters, era and political landscape were much the same, though different enough I did not feel I could predict where the story might lead.
I had trouble "putting the book down". It flows very well; the narrator does an excellent job maintaining the characters and mood of each scene. I often found myself closing my eyes, transported to a different time and place, able to visualize the story as it was read. Very nicely done!
On the negative side, it felt as though the novel’s theme was closer to some of Lawhead's other books than it was to Robin Hood. The only choppy scene transitions in "Hood" were where the author chose to include references to “Albion”, or to try and weave in the story of the princely warrior who could save the world - beautiful maiden/old hag and all. These allusions weren't needed - "Hood" stands very well on its own. I caught myself wondering, albeit rarely, if Lawhead was “plagiarizing” some of his previous works in order to fill out the book, which detracted from its overall quality. It occasionally felt/read as if "Hood" was written simply as a sequel to one of Lawhead's other series.
All in all, still an excellent book that I highly recommend. I can’t wait to see what the next one holds!

Very well written and the narrarator is excellent. He's very good at distinguishing characters and makes the story that much more enjoyable. I enjoyed the plot and am anxious for the next book. It is different from your typical Robin Hood story in many ways but the story does well in any case. I especially enjoyed the end of the book where the author explains some of his reasonings for his changes in the story. All over, a good listen for anyone with a rich imagination :)

This book is a fun and lively reinterpretation of the Robin Hood legend. It takes the familiar characters and scenarios into a richly crafted narrative in the style of a contemporary Historical Fiction novel. Although this reinvention of much beloved characters has become quite common, Lawhead has done a first rate job. It is, however, a terrible disappointment to find this story in the hands of the most inept narrator I have encountered in all the years I have been a subscriber to Audible. I urge anyone who wants to read this entertaining novel to pay special attention to the sample audio. If you find the narrator to be acceptable, by all means buy the book, but it would probably be best to simply buy the paperback and spend your listening time with a better read audio book.

The story is ok, similar in minor details to the well-known version of Robin Hood, but I had an extremely difficult time concentrating on the story due to the reader's awful attempt at a British accent. I was also frequently distracted by his mispronounciation of not only some of the Celtic words but even commonly used words like "sinew". I found myself rolling my eyes in the middle of the story, missing parts of it due to being pulled out of the story by mistakes by the terrible reader. Thus, the story may be on ok read but the reader ruined it for me and I wouldn't recommend this version to others.

Well I find this a great listen. I rather enjoyed the reader. He does a wonder job of using voices and honestly kept my attention and made the book a joy to listen to.

This is great listen and would encourage all to get it.

This book was an excellent read. The beginning started out somewhat slowly, but it really ramped up after the first 30-45 minutes. The author integrated a well loved story with rich history, excellent descriptions, a troubled but essentially lovable "Hood", and a thread of magic that was both believable and a perfect addition to this great story. I am early and impatiently anticipating the next book!!

I wasn't sure what to expect from Stephen Lawhead's "Hood". It's my first book of his, and at first, I was put off by his wordy, ornate writing style, his tendency to get fixated on describing certain scenes or states of mind in great depth. As the story has progressed, the rhythm and pace has began to feel like home, amidst the primitive, rural Welsh people the story is set. As a retelling of Robin Hood, I was expecting (and often finding) a Eurocentric world view, complete with crippling gender roles, colonizing mindsets, and the romanticizing of violence. As the story is unfolding, however, I'm finding it's earthy, primal spirituality a surprising catalyst to some of the other themes, and find myself wondering if Lawhead will be able to rise above glorifying violence and power by turning the story in a subversive way. He's already introduced a powerful women who provides deep counterbalance to gender roles in the story. We'll see where this story goes.

The Robin Hood you thought you knew meshes tightly with this new version in a well researched tale of ancient Wales.

What? You thought Robin was English? Try again!

This book was a delight to listen to and the prologue was fascinating. The narrator did a great job fleshing out the characters with a variety of voices but did not resort to cartoonish sound effects, letting the text create the scenery for the listener instead.

An entirely enjoyable novel!

True to Lawhead, the story is well developed and enjoyable. Would have given it 5 stars across the board except for the narration. I am torn about the other two books. I really want to continue the story, but am turned off by the narrator. I will have to consider that.

A good story read by an awful narrator. I am confused, is he reading the names of towns in an attempt to reproduce a medieval sound or is it that he doesn't now the correct pronunciation. I have been an avid user of Audible and as I am English I felt the author was let down badly in this effort.