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David McK (3233 KP) rated The King's Assassin (The Outlaw Chronicles, #7) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
If I'm honest, I also have to say that I read the title as meaning 'an assassin belonging to a King' rather than what proves to be the actual meaning: a (failed) attempt to assassinate the King (who, at this stage, is John).
As before, this is presented as the elderly Alan a Dale (now in a monastery as he has been since the opening of [b: Outlaw|17333533|Outlaw|Ted Dekker|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1364009572s/17333533.jpg|24064806], and by this stage dictating rather than writing himself) recalling his earlier life in the company of Robin and his men.
The main 'hook' of this particular entry in the series is the events leading up to the signing of Magna Carta, with King John proving to be an unpopular and failing ruler, especially compared to his older brother Richard ('the Lionheart'), and with Robin instrumental in bringing about the famous document.
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Debbiereadsbook (1110 KP) rated Cabbages & Kings in Books
Feb 3, 2022
As a Nottingham girl, I grew with tales of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. So, finding this tale having tipped those tales on their heads was a delight!
The story tells of Alana Dale, and her new husband, Will Scathlock and how they came to suffer at the hands of Robin and Guy, and just how, after all that, THEY came to be the bad guys!
This is a delightful tale, set in places in and around Nottinghamshire, so I know these places, and I love reading books about places I really know.
It's wonderfully written, with detailed descriptions of the things needed to get by, with Alana having ideas wise beyond her years, especially when it comes to health matters.
Alana is a strong-minded young lady (only 16 here!) and she will stand up for herself in a time when it wasn't the done thing. I loved Alana, and her teasing of Will, but to be fair, he gave as good as he got. Alana's deepest fears come to life here, and how she manages to hold it together to keep Will safe BEFORE she loses it, I have no idea.
There is some violence, Alana and Will's village is destroyed in the beginning of the book and the attack's aftermath is described in some detail. Because of this, I would class it as upper young adult, maybe 14+.
Tipping the Robin Hood legend on its head, Ms Sheppard made new heroes, and new bad guys. She tells of everyday life in Medieval England, and just how the common folk survived.
4 very good stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
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David McK (3233 KP) rated Celtic Warrior: The Legend of Cú Chulainn in Books
Jan 30, 2019
Based primarily around the Cattle Raid of Cooley at the end of Cu Chulainn's life, this graphic novel is a mythic retelling of that story, split into 6 distinct chapters. Interestingly, nearly every chapter includes a flash-back (shown in gray-scale) to an earlier part of Cu Chulainn's life, taking in how he got that name (from his birth name Setanta) and his training to become a warrior, for example.
Short? Yes.
Did I enjoy this? Also yes.
Zorro Rides Again
Bill Homewood and Johnston McCulley
Book
Zorro Rides Again is the third novella featuring Zorro, the Robin Hood of Old California. Reina de...
![The Hunter's Moon (The Secret Warrior #1)](/uploads/profile_image/eef/4e9bcb1d-d96d-4787-a519-899db64eceef.jpg?m=1684570604)
The Hunter's Moon (The Secret Warrior #1)
Book
Seventeen-year-old Morgan Daniel has been in the witness protection program most of her life. But...
Young Adult Paranormal Romance
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Mike Carlson (115 KP) rated Batman And Robin Vol. 3: Death Of the Family in Books
Mar 27, 2018
It is a darker storyline, and I love the New 52 Joker's psychosis. He thinks he's Batman's best friend. That he keeps the Dark Knight sharp while all the sidekicks make the Bat weak. It's intriguing, even more so when he interacts with Damian. This story basically boils down to two interesting characters butting heads.
Preceding it is a prologue issue in which Damian lures Bruce out of country with a familial scavenger hunt in order to take over as Batman for a few days. The epilogue is an issue in which all three residents of Wayne Manor have nightmares.
Start to finish, it was a solid piece of entertainment.
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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Robin Hood (2018) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
After the one we don't talk about I had fairly low expectations for this. Did we really need to reboot this icon?
The answer is evidently a resounding yes. No one is more surprised about this than I am. He's still not the best Robin (sorry... Rob) but he's an excellent modern adaptation for those who don't want to go old school with their viewing.
Taron Egerton doesn't quite have the on-screen presence of a lord, he's something or a whipper-snapper in Robin terms. He'd be much more at home in an episode of Arrow. Watch out, Roy. In fact that would be my guess of what happened in the pitching of this one. "Arrow is basically Robin Hood, shall we just do that?"
Ben Mendelsohn proved himself to be an excellent villain in Ready Player One, and he's brought himself back to that high with the Sheriff of Nottingham. Cruel and egotistical he makes an easy focus for everyone's revolutionary efforts.
Friar Tuck... hmm. Tim Minchin was an interesting choice. My main issue is that he basically seems to have played it as Bill Bailey. That was something that stuck out from the very first time we saw him and from that point on all I could think was that they might as well have got Bill Bailey to do it.
I had hoped that like the trailer the film would feature some modern music as well as what turned out to be some very atmospheric background ensemble. Sadly not though. Maybe it's just me pining back to A Knight's Tale.
Round of applause for the cinematography. Everything flowed really well and that opening scene of war (which you can see some of in the trailer above) really drew you in. In fact, the whole scene felt very much more modern than bows and arrows and was a striking moment in the film.
If cinematography is at the top, the writing is somewhere near the bottom. Generally it was passable and I didn't really notice it. That sounds odd, but you know what I mean, sometimes it is just there and doesn't really leave a mark. Every now and then you'd get a curve ball of a line that made me recoil and stopped my enjoyment of the film. Speeches that should have had power in the words didn't, there was no feeling of being roused to action like so many great films are able to do.
As a final comment... why must you mess with the naturally accepted order of characters?
What you should do
Go for the action, not the script. It's quite impressive on the big screen and Jamie Foxx's John holds some quiet moments of humour that are worth seeing.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
I would quite like John's ability to heal and not die. That seems like a massively impressive part of his character.
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David McK (3233 KP) rated Blood's Game in Books
Jan 30, 2019
This, however, would be the first time I had read one of Donald's novels that concerned a different central character, and that had a different setting: would it, I wondered, be more of the same, or would it have it's own 'feel'?
The answer, I can now say, is the latter.
Replacing Alan-a-Dale with Holcroft Blood, and told in the more traditional her-and-know third-person narrative (instead of the conceit of an elderly Alan recalling his youthful adventures with Robin Hood), this particular novel deals with the (attempted) theft of the Crown Jewels from the Tower of England during the reign of King Charles II, not long after the restoration.
While that (attempted) theft is carried out by Thomas Blood - who was caught red-handed but later, incredibly, was granted a pardon by Charles II - this novel does not have Thomas as the central character: rather, instead, we follow the fortunes of his youngest son Holcroft: a son who, throughout the course of this novel, becomes friends with Sir John Churchill, the future Duke of Marlborough (and Winston Churchill's direct descendant).
Whether true or not, young Holcroft is portrayed in this as suffering from a mild form of Asperger's Syndrome, able to easily code and decode correspondence sent to his master The Duke of Buckingham from his various spies and informants: a skill that comes in handy in this tale! I have to say, too, that the court of King Charles II comes across as incredibly decadent, full of scheming and back-stabbing rivals out wholly for themselves ...
I'd be interested in seeing where this series goes, especially as the next entry ([b:Blood's Revolution|36146468|Blood's Revolution|Angus Donald|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1504033386s/36146468.jpg|57749834]) concerns itself - at least, according to the blurb at the back of this - with what is (in this country - Northern Ireland - at least) a very divisive and pivotal moment in English history.
![A Dictionary of English Folklore](/uploads/profile_image/0d0/77e26a03-e4ce-4288-85fa-1504ec5050d0.jpg?m=1522361773)
A Dictionary of English Folklore
Steve Roud and Jacqueline Simpson
Book
This Dictionary is part of the Oxford Reference Collection: using sustainable print-on-demand...
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Brutal London: Construct Your Own Concrete Capital
Peter Chadwick, Zupagrafika, Norman Foster and John Grindrod
Book
In this fun and intellectually stimulating book, readers can recreate a number of London's most...