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Lately I've adapted TALES/BEASTS as a screenplay entitled BEASTS OF SHERWOOD. Click and scroll down to read the blurb and the first six pages. I'm billing it as "A Lord of the Rings for Robin Hood". Picture it unfolding on the big screen. I'll let you know it if sells! |
This book is available through any on-line bookseller. Search for "Beasts of Sherwood". Can't help the price of $18.95. What's next in the series? ROBIN HOOD AND THE BELLS OF LONDON. Little John is a captive somewhere in the mean streets of London, and the Merry Men and Women take on the city to get him back. Tournaments, intrigue, midnight raids, pogroms, plagues, and a surprising number of good times. Yet Robin Hood is wroth, and vows to get his friend back if he has to burn the city to the ground. This story will become available once there are substantial sales of BEASTS OF SHERWOOD -- so I know people actually want to read the stories. Read the full Chronology of Tales of Robin Hood to see the full span of Clayton Emery's Tales of Robin Hood. Or read two stories right now. .. Robin Hood
and the Pirates
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Praise for Magic & Realism in Sherwood Forest Robin Hood and the Beasts of Sherwood is an exciting revisioning of the legend of the greenwood outlaw and his band. Clayton Emery displays a sound knowledge of the original medieval ballads and the subsequent alterations that the legend has undergone over the past 6 centuries, yet this novel is no simple retelling of the old stories. Emery deftly weaves together core elements of the tradition with novel characters and plotlines. The story is steeped in the earthy and sometimes brutal realities of medieval life. Sherwood, moreover, teems with wildlife, which Emery describes with a naturalist's attention to detail. Counterpoised to this realism are magical elements that reflect the sort of mythic approach to the legend that first became popular among 19th century folklorists, and later characterized the British cult TV series Robin of Sherwood in the 1980s. Most notable among the new characters in the novel are the women of Sherwood, who include a former prioress, an elderly midwife, a witch, a bold fighting "yeoman", and several mothers with young children. These women are not passive maidens in distress, waiting to be rescued; they use their own physical strength, courage, and intelligence to protect themselves, their forest home, and their community from danger. The villains of the piece are also noteworthy. Robin and his valiant band must contend not only with their traditional enemies, the Sheriff's men and Guy of Gisborne, but with eerie forces beyond their understanding, which threaten the outlaws' very existence in Sherwood. As the story unfolds, Robin himself must face his own spiritual doubts about his way of life, while assessing the political and personal consequences of his equivocal relationship with King Richard. How far dare Robin go, without endangering those he leads? With its compelling blend of realism, mysticism, and adventure, The Beasts of Sherwood is a welcome addition to the contemporary canon of Robin Hood fiction. Emery's Sherwood Come to Sherwood. But beware! Not only may your purse be lightened by outlaws, but the animals too may threaten your life. This is an absolutely wonderful tale of Robin Hood, a book for the general reader as well as the serious Robin Hood scholar. In Emery's novel we are privy to the thoughts of the animals of Sherwood as well as the Merry Men (and Women). The battle scenes are particularly violent (after all, it is set in the Middle Ages) and there is a dose of fairy magic for the fantastically inclined reader. But most of all, this Robin Hood has all the swashbuckling zest of an Errol Flynn movie. The "swinging from the trees" episode is particularly funny. This is the best new Robin Hood tale to be published in quite some time. |
