‘Robin of Sherwood’ – Richard Carpenter (Puffin Books)

 

Page Count:158 Pages

Before we go any further, I just want to ask a quick question… When you saw the cover art posted here, how many of you immediately had the theme tune start up in your head? No judgment here, I didn’t even need to Youtube it, that music has been going through my head for years (with breaks of course, don’t worry).

While ‘Robin of Sherwood’ was on (back in the early/mid eighties), it was regular ‘tea-time telly watching’ in my house and I was lucky enough to have a copy of the tie-in book as well. That original copy disappeared, on its own journey, years ago but I’ve been after a little nostalgia just recently so tracked down another copy and settled down for a read last night.

Everyone knows the story of Robin Hood so I was half inclined not to include the blurb here, until I read it again. I couldn’t help but chuckle at a situation where no-one knew what to write but also, no-one wanted to leave a big blank space on the back cover of the book…

Traditional adventure spiced with medieval mysticism and sorcery: the life and times of England’s greatest folk hero.

England in the twelfth century is a land that has been firmly subjugated by the Normans. But scattered throughout the country there are still small areas of resistance, where bands of outlaws keep the flame of freedom alive…

See what I mean? Looks like it says everything but pretty much says nothing that we didn’t know already. But if you have to have a blurb… ;o)

But anyway…

Did I get my nostalgia buzz on? Of course I did, I chose this book especially for that purpose so that was never in doubt ;o) I’m still not a huge fan of the eighties but ‘Robin of Sherwood’ was a good bit and I got to relive it so, job done.

That was only half the battle though, was the book still any good? If you’re revisiting a book from your childhood, nostalgia will power you through it but does it still hold up (in this case, after a good forty years)? This time round, the answer was yes but I’ll be honest, probably because I still love the show.

You know me and tie-in novelizations, especially the old Doctor Who ones. I’m after something that’s a little bit more than just a step by step recounting, of what happened on the screen, and that’s what we get here. Things are kept a little short, and to the point, but we do get a little insight into the characters, at the same time, so I was happy with that. The folk-lore stuff was part of the show anyway, so it had to be included here, but I did appreciate the subtle horror running through the early chapters. The combination of these elements gave me a solid retelling of the plot, fleshed out with decent characters set against an appropriately dark medieval England.

Not a bad read then but lets be honest, probably a book that’s only for nostalgia hunters like me. Where you sit, on that scale, will have a big impact on what you get out of this book.