Welcome to Sherwood!Scroll down for avirtual tour Robin Hood and The Bells of London paperback and ebook Robin Hood and The Beasts of Sherwood ebook Murder and Mandrake: The Robin & Marian Mysteries paperback and ebook Royal Hunt: A Robin & Marian Mystery paperback and ebook Why Robin Hood? Art Pencils by Frank Emery Inks / Colors by Ken Penders Click for full size |  |
Robin Hood |
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Mandrake and Murder |
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Robin
Hood -
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Swords, spirits, and sorcery
assail the Merry Men,
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Swords, spirits, and sorcery
assail the Merry Men,
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Robin
Hood
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Running file of Robin Hood's life as presented in Clayton Emery's Tales of Robin Hood. |
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Royal Hunt
The unflagging foresters brave the Wild Huntsman and a witch cult bent on the ultimate sacrifice. |
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The Man with the Aching BackRobin Hood and the Bells of London |
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Meet the Merry Men
Legendary companions such as Little John,
Friar Tuck, Maid Marian, and Will Scarlett... and my own additions such
as Bold Jane Downey, Red Tom, Tam, Katie Snub-Nose, and others. |
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The Fantastic Adventures of Robin HoodSee the book cover. Includes my story, Robin Hood's Treasure |
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And more... Wonder - Why Robin Hood?Short answer: because he's a terrific hero and no one was writing any new stories. I've always
loved Robin Hood, was inspired by the old Richard Greene TV show,
and loved to play RH in the woods as a kid. Robin lived in the
forest, followed his own rules, helped people, punished the wicked,
and did it all with a laugh and style.
One great
memory? Stuck with a bunch of Norman soldiers as prisoners, Robin
Hood needs to alert his Merry Men out of the trail. Does he yell,
"Hey, guys, we're over here!"? Of course not. He orders
the soldiers to sing. "Sing, Summer is A'Coming In."
Pricked, they sing, confusing them and the Merry Men, while Robin
just laughs. I've since learned that story is "The Traitor". It and many of The Adventures of Robin Hood are available from www.oldies.com. |
| And look at Erroll Flynn. Who else but Robin Hood would
waltz into the Sheriff's banquet with a dead deer over his shoulders,
calmly drop the carcass on the table, rip off a chicken leg,
and proceed to lecture the sheriff on his evil ways - while
soldiers bolt the doors and draw their steel? No other hero has
the gall, balls, or brass. No one.
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And Robin
is an egalitarian. Whether he was born of peasant or noble stock
makes no difference. Robin treats everyone the same, high and
low, as an equal. He's a thorn in the king's side because he
not only steals the king's deer and robs his officials, but because
he SPEAKS to the king as an equal. Robin even has a woman in
his band. Maid Marian is one of the first strong female characters
in English literature, riding and shooting and fighting alongside
the best of English warriors. Using her as an example, I added
two or three more "fighting women" to the band.
Robin Hood has it all. He lives in a cool place, the deep dark forest, even in TREES. He has loyal friends that will go anywhere and fight anyone. He has a nifty weapon, the wicked longbow, that makes for great visuals and tricks. He can move well: galloping on horses, swinging in trees, swinging from chandeliers, jumping down onto carriages, plunging into rivers, diving into moats. Robin is so versatile he can fit virtually any adventure, as I've demonstrated by having Robin solve medieval mysteries, fight in real historical situations, and encounter "real" magical elements and monsters. |
| Everyone loves
Robin Hood and the IDEA of Robin Hood. He's easily the most recognizable
figure on the planet. Even a silhouette of a man in a feathered
cap shooting a bow is enough to identify him. There are only
a few other such universally-recognized characters: Superman,
Mickey Mouse. Robin Hood is popular in many forms. There have
been dozens of movies made since like 1910. And there are scores
of imitators. Every comic book company has a longbow character,
Green Arrow being the most famous and unkillable. DC had to bring
him back because fans demanded him. Part of the appeal is the
Man Who Stands Up for the Underdog, which everyone loves.
In fact, the whole backwards appeal of Robin Hood shows up continually in many forms. The basic premise is "a good man in a corrupt world must break odious laws for a greater good." Think how many Westerns and crime movies are based on that idea. How many movies star heroes who BREAK local laws for a larger good. Answer: Like half of them. People long for basic fairness in life. The smallest child can tell you what's fair and what isn't. If, like me, you were a kid who burned for justice and fairness, some days it seemed only Robin Hood could provide it. Even now I get shivers - and a urge to write stories of this greatest of heroes. For years I collected RH stories, but found them all the same rehashings of the legend. One day, asking the question "Why doesn't someone write new stories?" got me started scribbling. So far I've written many Robin Hood stories, both historical fantasies (magic really works) and medieval mysteries (always a logical explanation). Some stories are written, some only planned, and some are posted here. Keep checking back for new tales of our old hero. |