Tuck

While going from really enjoying [b:Hood 73931 Hood (King Raven, #1) Stephen R. Lawhead https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1440942240l/73931.SY75.jpg 1458314] and then to absolutely loving [b:Scarlet 611787 Scarlet (King Raven, #2) Stephen R. Lawhead https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434839163l/611787.SX50.jpg 1008418] it was no surprise that I was thoroughly impressed with [b:Tuck 4286737 Tuck (King Raven, #3) Stephen R. Lawhead https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442887357l/4286737.SY75.jpg 3308534]. The first book in the series, Hood was told from a narrative standpoint outside the eyes of the main characters. The second, Scarlet was directly dictated by Scarlet himself. And lastly, the third, Tuck was narrated partially by Tuck and partially by an outside vision. The change in perspective through out the series was very unique to me and I felt that it made the series come more alive than it would have in a monotone narration. Though, I suppose one could read this book alone without having read the first two in the series. I would not suggest it because you will miss so much, however the bard's poetry through out in the beginning of each section does a wonderful job of recreating the tale. Having read the first two books over two years ago, I really loved having the reminder of the plot that I might have forgotten. Friar Tuck's final installation to the trilogy completes the story in a favorable manor that I could never have imagined. There is much action and battle, but also underlying romance from characters you would not have thought it possible. Easily, I would tell you that this story is about hope and perseverance. Journeys to other areas of the continent filled with excitement and disappointment as well build through out the story and give you encouragement to continuously turn the pages until there are no more. My one regret with this story is that it has ended. It was so good and so much fun to read that I cannot wait for future books filled with the imagination of Stephen Lawhead to become available. I highly recommend this book, but also the entire series as well. Go read the excerpts available on Lawhead's website and decide for yourself if it might be of interest. I doubt you will be disappointed.

Like the previous in the series, it's beautifully evocative of the forests of 11th century Wales. Lawhead places the Robin Hood legend in this place and period because apparently the Welsh were the experts with the longbow. They basically used the longbow to engage in guerilla warfare against the French army.

The characters aren't super strongly drawn, by far the strongest is still Will Scatlocke/Scarlet from book 2. Book 2 was the only book narrated in the first person by its main character, and Scarlet had a strong voice.

I was suprised to read that this whole series was Christian fiction! Especially in this book, about a friar, there is a lot of prayer and reference to Christian teachings, but I would never thought anything of it if I hadn't read that it was published by a Christian imprint of HarperCollins. It seemed appropriate for a medieval setting to have explicit references to Christianity.

Overall I enjoyed the series but I think you have to be pretty interested in either Robin Hood or medieval British history to be motivated to read all 3.