Robin Hood and Little John running through the forest...

[crazyviolin.livejournal.com]

I'm back from Sherwood Forest and I was wondering about everyone's take on myths and legends and stuff. What do you think of the stories in The Thief, QoA and KoA because personally I'd love to know more about them and the culture in general. I pretty sure there's might have been a post like this before but that must have been a while ago now.

(And also, on a completely different note that's sort of linked, I love thieves in fiction especially honourable ones, but did Robin Hood exist? I've been converted.)

Comments

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

Hey, I think I went there when I was about 10! Me and Ro watched the new TV series. Okay, it was a bit rubbish but it gave your brain a rest!

As for your serious question, I need to think about this one.

[mycenaeth.livejournal.com]

mmm... I love the Robin Hood stories. And Eddie Izzards interpretation of them in his stand-up. =p

Anyone else here read "The Thief Lord"? That was a pretty good book.

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

I have read The Thief Lord ages ago. It might be somewhere around the house. I loved the way she ended it. Kinda like the conversation between Eddis and Gen at the end of The Thief

[cheezluva.livejournal.com]

OMG, I LOVE Eddie Izzard.

[rowana.livejournal.com]

*has never been to Sherwood Forest but has resolved to wander up there some day*

I loved the stories from all three books. I did notice that they were in much greater abundance in 'The Thief' - Megan seems quite fond of writing them, and they are lovely to read. I particularly liked the one in QoA, that Eddis tells to the Magus.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

I love the stories. As I've commented elsewhere, I think they're partly there to show us that Eugenides himself is destined to be a legend -- in The Thief was see how parts of his adventures parallel his namesake's. The one about Hesphestia, and the one about getting hit on the head with the amphora, though -- those are just fabulous stories, no matter how you look at them. But I am really a mythology nut, so I love all of them.
And I also love that the author can take the time, right in the middle of the action, to say, okay, I'm going to tell you another story now -- without losing us, or losing the pace.
For those who occasionally read grown-up books (Now and then I've been known to do this), another author who does this is Jeanette Winterson. She'll be in the middle of her plot, and then she'll say, out of the blue, "Let me tell you about the twelve dancing princesses."

[(Anonymous)]

I recommend "Outlaws of Sherwood" by Robin McKinley for fellow Robin Hood fans.

Can you imagine, 100+ years after KoA, someone telling stories of the legends about Eugenides (i.e. the King of Attolia not the god). That would make an interesting fanfic...

Did you know that they made a movie of "The Thief Lord"? My friend rented it and reported that it was quite good.

~Feir Dearig

[willow-41z.livejournal.com]

Outlaws of Sherwood is very good.

Is The Thief Lord the one in Italy with the children living in the theatre? I couldn't get through it for some reason.

Thief Lord

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

Yes. I wasn't terribly impressed with Thief Lord either.

*******

Mariah read The Book Thief and said it was good.

And of course, if looking for All Things Robin Hood ... don't forget the Mel Brooks movie, Men in Tights!

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

...and because I can't shut up about this... time for another Diane Wynne Jones comparison. I think DWJ does this sort of thing frequently -- seemingly ordinary characters discovering that they're really legndary heroes, or gods even. (See Dalemark books in particular). By extension it tells the reader, hey, maybe you're more important than you think you are.
Not that this is exactly what's going on with Eugenides -- he was never ordinary, for one thing. But he certainly had no inkling at the beginning that he would be a King, or an Annux. But having the gods so very involved in your life, this would seem to indicate that you're a Great Big Deal.

ausome

[dgfduck.livejournal.com]

I think Turner's gods are fascinating. They're not like the bozo actual greek gods who just go around having illegitimate children, they walk the earth doing all these cool and violent things to each other. And the names...Eugenides is a perfect god name, you know?

[crazyviolin.livejournal.com]

I've both read Thief Lord and seen the film and the latter was terrible. I liked the book but really hated the ending. I must have been about nine when I read it and it seemed so depressing to suddenly be an adult with no way back, missing out on childhood etc.