Warlord - By Angus Donald

Warlord

This is my first attempt at a book review and I hope to do the book justice. I'm a big fan of the author and of the series as a whole, the book too was eminently enjoyable. From this introduction however you may guess that there is a but, and its that I cant help feeling a little disappointed about the book both compared to other books from the series and with the historical fiction as a whole. That said I still enjoyed it and would recommend to everyone that they read the outlaw Chronicles from beginning to very end

Outlaw chronicles

Warlord is book 4 of the Outlaw Chronicles, a series by Angus Donald. The series tells the tale of Robin of Loxley, Alan Dale and their cohorts, so its a story of Robin Hood. But its unlike any other Robin hood story that i know, far more gritty and more well thought out characters throughout, and the story varies greatly from the traditional interpretation. Its an inventive tale and provides and alternative interpretation of the legends. The characters feel far more real and the stories far more interwoven, and the bonds between the outlaw group are explored and explained far more effectively. Being book 4 Warlord suffers from being in a tricky position in the saga. When I first came across Outlaw, a book that remains in my top 10, i had assumed that it would be part of a trilogy and there is a natural pattern to the story, that leaves book 4 as neither a continuation or the start of something new.

Warlord, does move on the story and develop it to an extent, in the first three books the focus is on Alan telling Robins story, but by this book it is Alan singing his own song, and Robin playing second fiddle (Or vielle as may be more appropriate). It also sets the scene for the next set of books well, creating new characters and plot lines which are clearly meant for later stories. But that in itself is part of the problem as It leaves Warlord as a the thread holding the other books together and whilst it does a good job as part of the series it doesn't do so well as a story in its own right.

Spoilers may occur from here on in

The Story

The last book (Holy Warrior) ends with Alan finding out some information about his father and warlord picks up that thread and puts Alan on a mission to find out more, and in the process seek revenge for his fathers death. This story carry's on with a background of King Richards campaigns in France. The story builds well and grows with some nice twists, there are some really well written battle scenes and background developments. It builds a nice background to Alan's family and provide a setting for more characters to be drafted in as required, all noble and gallant in support of Alan's future. The revenge story puts Alan in several tricky situations and he valiantly survives to create a rocking crescendo. When the arch villain is confronted, but not destroyed, one of Alan's closest allies is killed in a fitting and beautifully written way, one of the highlights of the book if not the series. At this point a lot of the story threads are brought together and it seems to reach a natural conclusion.

However the book continues, and rather oddly begins to tell an entirely different story, it goes back to pick up the love triangle (If you can call it that) of Alan, Goody and Nur. This story is a nice contrast to the first Outlaw book and a reverse role for Alan the knight hunting out a band of Outlaws in the forests, and facing th difficulties he would have previously exploited. But here too the story feels like short story interlude before greater things. Its a literal Amuse Bouche to the main course yet to be served.

The story does return to France and this segway is less jawing and a natural break which goes someway to showing the separation and loss of a night living away from his beloved. The final part of the story effectively does 2 things. It tells the story of the final days of King Richard and his forces as they hunt down the ineffective King Philip, and it sets the scene for Book 5 Grail knight. It does both these things well, through a final short story. But some of the plots are a little weak and unbelievable. For example the Arch criminal is set up to be a master criminal with the resources of the world at his fingertips and the ability to kill people anywhere in his domain at the drop of a hat. Yet after one encounter with Robin's Men he is reduced to a man in hiding, and on the run and even years later he is still holed up and in exile. Somehow it doesn't quite make sense to me that we are to believe that he wouldn't have a more fruitful back up plan, another persona to fall back on or hidden resources to set himself up quickly, yet he falls from grace pretty much instantly. As a representation he is a mirror of Robin yet he seems undermined by a lack of resourcefulness that jaws with his promise of "The man who must be obeyed"

Final Scenes

The final few chapters of the book provide some good color and again tell a story that is again slightly separate from the rest of the novel, but this time for me this worked a little better. The death of King Richard was well told and the contrast of his death against his heroic life played out well and the prospect of Prince John, Mercadier and the man who must be obeyed leave some tantalizing story-lines to be concluded.

Conclusion

Ultimately the book was thoroughly enjoyable and well written piece of Historical Fiction, but to get the most of it it needs to be judged as part of a series, rather than on its own merit. Its a book that tuns a trilogy into a saga and and a book that has a lot to do, against high expectations, It does the first but in comparison it is weaker than the other books and so lacks punch. If it were written as a set of short stories each would be good reads but together they pull the reader in different directions.

Maybe its more a sign of how much i enjoyed the first three books, than a mark against this one. It was still a thoroughly good page turner and kept me riveted. It has set up Gail Knight (book 5) with some high expectations of its own so hopefully the story will progress and then when judged as a saga the series will be every bit as enjoyable assist has been to date.

I would recommend that you go out and buy this book right away, but buy it along with Outlaw, Holy warrior, and kings man, read those first then get stuck straight into this one before diving in to grail knight, you won't be disappointed.

The author's site and links to the Outlaw books can be found at http://www.angus-donald.com/