The Black Arrow - Robert Louis Stevenson

Published by Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd: Edinburgh, London, Paris, Melbourne, Toronto and New York, Date unknown.
First published 1888.

This is the second Robert Louis Stevenson book I have read, after Treasure Island, and, like its more famous brother, The Black Arrow shows Stevenson to be a good writer with an ability to keep the reader interested. However, The Black Arrow feels a little more like a product of its time in structure, with a plot that is far more episodic than Treasure Island. It may actually be that in creating a plot that required a journey to an island full of treasure, Stevenson forced himself out of that style for Treasure Island, and that The Black Arrow is more of a 'normal' Stevenson novel! Only time (or another book) will make it clear.

As for this novel... 

Black Arrow tells the story of Dick Shelton, a young orphan and heir to an estate, being raised by Sir Daniel Brackley, during the time of the war of the roses. The action picks up relatively quickly with a black arrow striking down an veteran soldier, followed soon afterwards by a note threatening the lives of Sir Daniel and some of his accomplices, as well as accusing them of the death of Dick's father, Harry. The note is signed by "John Amend-All of the Green Wood, And his jolly fellaweship" (page 23, sic), who is a Robin Hood equivalent that appears now and then when the plot demands it. However, this is not very often. 

Dick's journey has many twists and turns, with many of them revolving around his growing friendship/romance with Joanna Sedley, first met (mild spoilers for an obscure hundred-plus year old book) in disguise as a boy, Jack Matcham. At times Joanna shows a lot of spunk for a heroine of her era. At other times, when the plot demands it, she can fall into a 'womanly' faint, in order to foil Dick's attempts to rescue her.

Dick also gets involved in war, fighting on the side of Richard of York, rising in honour quickly before just as quickly earning his lord's disapproval. This isn't a huge part of the novel, but it is still fairly significant for Dick himself.

Lots of twists and turns, lots of violence and casual death, very much a product of its time.

Fairly enjoyable.

Completed 15 June 2021.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Various Picture Books

Image
As I said in my review of Peter Rabbit's Storytime Collection , I am wanting to find a way to acknowledge the books I read to Ezekiel without adding individual picture books to my reading list - I feel that would dilute it a bit much. So in this post, I've decided to look at a group of picture books all together. I've picked five picture books that I like (with a notable and noteworthy exception), and also asked Elise for five picture books she is  enjoying reading to Ezekiel. It's interesting (and helpful for this list) that our lists haven't overlapped at all this time around. So, here are ten picture books (plus one bonus 'book') that Ezekiel has been exposed to in the first 7ish months of his life: Karl's List Bunnies on the Bus - Philip Ardagh and (illustrator) Ben Mantle. Published by Walker Books Ltd: London, 2020 (2019). This is one of my favourites among our current picture books. A group of bunnies hijack a bus and hurtle through the town on th
Read more

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Image
Published by Allen & Unwin: Crows Nest, NSW, Australia, 2008. Book snobs, block your ears. *whispers* I think the movie was better. Okay, book snobs, you can unblock your ears now. *waves to get the attention of book snobs* To be honest, a huge reason why I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society at this moment in time was that I thought it would be funny to have two books with ridiculously long titles appear back-to-back in my list. For anyone who thought that there were super-deep reasons why I picked the books that I did, I hope this helps you see the error of your ways. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (which I am refusing to shorten for the rest of this review) still tells the same story as that in the movie adaptation (also called  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ), but does so in a less gripping (though still interesting) manner. This is for a few reasons: firstly,  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book is e
Read more

Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson

Image
Published by Tom Doherty Associates Books/TOR Fantasy: New York, 2014. Book 2 in 'The Stormlight Archives' series. Preceded by ' The Way of Kings .' Followed by (spin-off) ' Edgedancer ' and (main series) ' Oathbringer. ' Well, I finally read the second Stormlight book, this one even longer than the last  at a whopping 1080 pages, and once again found myself enjoying Sanderson's world immensely. The plot does take longer than strictly necessary in places - particularly in the storyline following Shallan Davar as she journeys towards the Shattered Plains - but overall is still a page-turner. By the middle of Words of Radiance our three main characters (Kaladin, Shallan and Adolin) are finally in the same location, something that was never achieved in the first book. In keeping them apart for so long, Sanderson is able to give his readers a real understanding of what makes each character tick, and this becomes quite interesting as when these character
Read more