Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Bran's father is killed and his land of Elfael taken by Ffreinc invaders, he escapes barely with his life, while recovering a minstrel/healer tells/sings him the story of the King Raven, the story instills life into his broken body and over time it becomes a part of him, once healed he vows to help his people and gain back what was stolen from the lands of Elfael.

I like the research Lawhead does into the history and lore of the characters he chooses, like Merlin, Hood, King Arthur and so on. I had no idea of the time period the Robin Hood stories originated or that he probably originated in Wales, the shift to this time period and location in the King Raven trilogy was exciting to read. The Welsh names such as Rhi Bran (Robin Hood) were very interesting and how they got their nicknames, Aethilfrith being a "fat little bag of vittles that he is, I will call him Tuck," and Iwan's Welsh name translating to English makes him John, "So, overgrown infant that he is, I will call him Little John."

I won't lie, the first 50 pages were rough, the story a bit dry, it took me some time to start seriously reading it, but once I broke the 100 page mark it started taking of and I kept wanting to see what happens. The end was great, with the introduction of Guy of Gisbourne. I look forward to seeing who some of the politicians/religious figures in the book turn out to be and how some of the warring/rival Lords get on in the next book "Scarlet."