The Grumpy Old Bookman reports, “The new BBC TV series Robin Hood is turning out to be a disappointment, I fear, but if you’re up for a Robin Hood novel then Andrew Fish has a brand-new one for you: Erasmus Hobart and the Golden Arrow.” According to the book’s site, Erasmus Hobart and the Golden Arrow “explores what happens when a Nottinghamshire schoolteacher travels back in time to seek out the truth behind the Robin Hood legend,” and learns that Robin Hood was a crook.
I don’t know what to think of the book, but I do feel good about the author’s sensibilities from his rundown of Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: “The Kevin Costner version of the story was wrong on so many levels, from the use of a fifteenth century castle at Old Wardour, through to Costner’s complete failure at a British accent. Somehow, however, the film is still enjoyable, and Bryan Adams’ anthem sounds much better when you haven’t been subjected to it on the radio for weeks on end.”
It seems to me that as time goes on, the Robin Hood franchise gets worse and worse. It offers so much scope for the worst political and social instincts of the creative set.
Stephen Lawhead just came out with a Robin Hood book. I’m hoping that’ll be an improvement.
I didn’t know what he was working on. That book looks interesting. The Amazon reviews are positive.
I liked the Costner Robin Hood in a B movie way…
I prefer Parke Godwin’s treatment of Robin as an Angle freedom fighter right after the Norman invasion.
I prefer Parke Godwin’s treatment of Robin as an Angle freedom fighter right after the Norman invasion.