Lionhearts is the second book in Nathan Makaryk's Nottingham series about Robin Hood. King Richard has been captured and every noble of the country is raising taxes to pay Richard's ransom. While England is slowly going bankrupt and defending into lawlessness.
Into this situation comes Robin Hood who is seen protesting the taxes to ransom the king. Is this swashbuckling bandit the real Robin Hood or, is Robin Hood dead, as the sheriff tells the good people of Nottingham?
At the beginning of the book Mr Makaryk has added a synopsis of the plot of the first book. Because there are so many characters in these books, this synopsis is really needed. The plot can be quite complicated and confusing especially if the books are not read in sequence.

This is a lengthy and intricately plotted tale of life in England when Richard was being held captive and Robin Hood had already become a mythical figure. The tale brings into play all facets of life in that time - peasants, criminals, merchants, minor Lords and even Prince John. Explaining the economic and social details takes a fair amount of time and detail, and there were times when I was not intrigued.

But if you are willing to wade through the details, the characters take shape, the plots emerge (note the plural - like a Dickens novel, the many strands weave and separate and intersect and pop up again to surprise you - and there are several major plots twists right up to the very end in ways you will probably NOT anticipate) and the drama intensifies in a most dramatic fashion. I confess - despite early concerns, I eventually got "into" the story and I ended up enjoying it very much.

One of my realizations at one point was that there are few - if any - characters in this story who are really likeable. I had no emotional feelings for pretty much any of them. Interest along the way at time, but none of the emotional connection that for me at least makes a book compelling. This tale was more intellectual than emotional and so I became more spectator than emotional participant.

It's a long book, and complex. For me, it was worth the time and effort - but it is not necessarily a recommend read for everyone.

The story begins with the death of Robin Hood and the capture of Richard the Lionheart thus the title of the book.

There is virtually no world building in this repulsive story. A story that is searching for something but the author has to rely on blasphemy and cursing as well as playground humor in order to make the reader become more engaged in the story.

There is a total lack of the author showing the reader the time and place of this story. Unlike other authors who write in a similar vein this particular author seizes to come up with anything to even remotely close to a narrative.

By the end of the novel the reader has forgotten the characters as well as entire story. One after finishing this novel may be advised to take a bath to get rid of the filth.

Not my cup of tea. Slow paced and not what I expected from the cast of characters. Use of modern day speech and language was not enjoyable to me.

DNF at 37%.

This book is genuinely hilarious, but it's also disgusting. I don't have anything else to say, but to get to the required 100 characters, I will add that I laughed out loud at the part where Sir Robert was burgling his own vassal's castle and acting like Zorro or something.

This is the second book in the series, and while it's based on familiar characters, I would definitely recommend reading the first book (Nottingham) before this one as the characters are not at all what you expect or remember from Robin Hood. While you can start with this book if you like (I'm not here to tell you how to live your life), it may be slightly confusing and a little jarring if you go in expecting the traditional characters.

Like any good book, you'll love some of the characters, you'll hate others, you'll wish for successes and downfalls. You will most definitely come away with a favorite character or two that you got, maybe a little too, emotionally invested in. No spoilers, but I will now be waiting, rather impatiently, for book three.

The book is highly enjoyable but may not be for everyone based on the new take on the characters and language used. Let's just say these "merry men" may have been sailors in Nathan Makaryk's world! While I'm unbothered and probably say worse on a daily basis I know that's not everyone's cup of tea so, fair warning.

Ideally I would rate this 4.5 stars, as it was a good read, though slow at times and the author occasionally uses modern day speech in the character dialog which can be a bit jarring.

Set in 12th century England, Lionhearts pretends to be a "Game of Thrones-ish" story picking up where the legend of Robin Hood leaves off. You know. Marion. King Richard. Will Scarlet. John Little. Severed hands and ears. Red Lions. Street urchins. Characters who couldn't find their way into an intelligible plot with a road map.

It's really just one giant wallow in the pig trough. Oh, look. A potty-mouthed band of "merry men" wandering around Sherwood Forest and Nottingham doing their best impression of talking garbage.

Adding injury to insult is the fact that this vulgar, profane slog moves with the alacrity of a three-toed sloth. The author's habit of flinging modern day playground vernacular into 12th century mouths also strains credulity.

A stinker. Don't waste your time.

#Lionhearts
#NetGalley

"This is a tale of increasingly foolish acts."

Marion, who doesn't always have a handle on her own life, certainly has one on the story itself when she says this - but this isn't only a tale of increasingly foolish acts, but brave ones, bloody ones, violent ones . . . and sadness coupled with dark sarcasm throughout.

I thought the twist and cliffhanger at the end of book one was a shocker, but damn, honestly, when do we get book three? nothing like leading us into a nice little epilogue package and then - well, that would be telling.

(Goodreads review posted August 31, 2020)