The Hood is the second book in Lavie Tidhar's ambitious Anti-Matter of Britain Quartet – a viscerally entertaining, ominously subversive and poetically profane remixing of the myths and legends that shaped our nation.
God bless you, England, on this glorious Year of Our Lord, 1145.
Don't cross the Templars. Everybody knows that. But Will Scarlet, back from the crusades, hopped up on khat and cider, did. Stabbed thrice in the belly but somehow still alive, he's heading home to Nottingham.
And things are not right in Nottingham.
It's the wood, you see. Sherwood. Ice-age ancient, impenetrable, hiding a dark and secret heart. As the ancient sages say, If you go into the woods today, you may not come out tomorrow, and the person who comes out may not be you...
The Hood is Lavie Tidhar's narcotic remix of an ancient English myth, a tale knotted from legends lost to time, shredded and restitched for each passing century. A tale for today.
'A wild, inventive tapestry of myth and magic, with a wry sense of humor. Tidhar's writing is wonderfully vibrant' Silvia Moreno-Garcia, bestselling author of Mexican Gothic
'A bloody, bravura performance, which Tidhar pulls off with graphic imagery and modern vernacular' Guardian.
'As eclectic as the Sword in the Stone and as ruthless as A Game of Thrones, this retelling of the whole Arthurian legend stands alongside the very best' Daily Mail.
'The narrative voice is deadly serious but there's a strong undercurrent of gleefulness to the profanity, violence and otherworldly magic that makes By Force Alone a whole lot of fun to dive into' Spectator.
'Lavie Tidhar has crafted a punk epic on the mouldering bones of legend and jolted it to life with ten thousand volts of knowing wit and fury. By Force Alone eviscerates the complacent posturing of the Arthurian myth, explodes the well-worn conventions of the tale and from the shiny jagged pieces assembles a wholly fresh rollercoaster ride of cheap violence, vicious magic and messy human truth' Richard Morgan.
'A twisted Arthur retelling mixing the historical and the magical with a very modern eye. Brutal and vicious, funny, Peaky Blinders of the Round Table' Adrian Tchaikovsky
