Robin Hood is your pretty average twelve year old - he's smart, computer savvy, and pretty handy with a bow and arrow. He lives in Locksley, a town that once had a booming automotive industry, but over the years the manufacturers have closed and people have moved away. Locksley is just holding on, and it has allowed Guy Gisborne and his men to take over the town and get away with murder. If you want to o business in Locksley you pay protection money or suffer the consequences. You can't even turn to the law for help, because Gisborne has corrupted most of the Police force and even if he hadn't the Sheriff of Nottingham is a good friend of his.
Robin and his big brother John live with their father in an old house that is slowly falling into disrepair. They live a relatively simple live, getting by on the small amount of money that comes in from his dad teaching community classes and freelance work. They don't have a lot, but Robin has been able to indulge in his hobby of archery - learning speed shooting and trick shooting. It may not seem like a particularly useful skill, but when his father is falsely accused of a crime he didn't commit and John and Robin are threatened with going into the care of social services, Robin and John are forced to go on the run to Sherwood Forest.
Sherwood Forest is home to people who have nowhere else to go - people who have no jobs, no hop, and no future. They take what they need to survive, some calling them bandits and thieves, but they prefer to just survive. When Robin is injured he is taken in by them, despite the danger he represents to them. Separated from John, Robin is determined to help their father while staying out of the vengeful hands of Guy Gisborne and his men. With his new friends and allies by his side Robin is ready to fight for his family - but the odds are stacked against him.
Tackling a well known story and updating it is always risky as if you don't get the right balance of familiar and new it can go very (very) badly. Robin Hood: Hacking, heists and flaming arrows has the perfect balance between familiar and new, with familiar names molded into new characters that work in a modern setting. Some of the traditionally male characters have fresh new female aspects, but the expected favourites are there. Robin is the key characters in this refresh, but the characters that are built around him in this first book in the series are just as real, and help to bring the whole story to life.
There are some very "Muchamore" aspects to this retelling - he doesn't talk down to his readers, he keeps the writing fast paced and action packed, and he creates characters you can understand and care about. It will be interesting to see how many books he plans for the series and if he can keep up the momentum across the entire series. This was a real treat to read, and another great series for teens of all ages and reading abilities from one of the best teen authors of the past couple of decades.
If you like this book then try:
- A court of thorns and roses by Sarah J. Maas
- Cinder by Marissa Meyer
- Long may she reign by Rhiannon Thomas
- Throne of glass by Sarah J. Maas
- Graceling by Kristin Cashore
- Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst
- The treachery of beautiful things by Ruth Frances Long
- Ella enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
- Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
- Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix
- Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell
- Throne of glass by Sarah J. Maas
- Crown duel by Sherwood Smith
- Dealing with dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
- Princess of the midnight ball by Jessica Day George
- The recruit by Robert Muchamore
- Class A by Robert Muchamore
- Maximum security by Robert Muchamore
- The killing by Robert Muchamore
- Divine madness by Robert Muchamore
- Man vs. beast by Robert Muchamore
- The fall by Robert Muchamore
- Mad dogs by Robert Muchamore
- The sleepwalker by Robert Muchamore
- The general by Robert Muchamore
- Brigands M.C by Robert Muchamore
- Shadow wave by Robert Muchamore
Reviewed by Brilla
No comments:
Post a Comment