Ronan Coghlan

The books starts out with a reporter, Hector Wace, being hand-picked by Holmes to conduct an interview of the famous detective. Wace soon finds out that Holmes actually wants the reporter's help on a case. Moriarty (who survived from Reichenbach by falling on a goat) is the client. Moriarty has obtained a full pardon by promising to care for an infant. The professor wishes for Holmes to discover the origins of the child and take him back to his parents as soon as possible. Together, Holmes, Wace, and Gyratt (Holmes' friend. Watson is away on vacation) must unravel the mystery of this mysterious baby.
This book is so-so and, while it is not a complete waste of time, I would try checking it out of the library rather than spend money on it (if I could go back in time). I cannot find any mention of whether the author intended this to be comical or serious. If he did intend for this to be comical then he succeeded, but added enough seriousness in it to make the reader wonder what his intentions in writing it were. For examples:the Giant Rat of Sumatra is revealed to be a human/rat hybrid that talks and dresses as a human (Gyratt= Giant Rat). Moriarty is a petulant old man, who seems to lack the wits to be the "Napoleon of Crime". Watson's first wife died by falling into the bear pit at the zoo and one spectator remarked that one bear wasn't getting as much of Mary as the other bears.
As well as the book's plot line being slightly ridiculous, the book also has several typos and more than a few sentences that are awkwardly phrased. One example of the latter is, "Had it not been for your father's quick thinking by emptying the rock that was supposed to produce water when struck all over me, I might not be in this chair today"(Coghlan 155- Holmes to Wace). This could be more accurately worded as, "Had it not been for your father emptying upon me the rock that was supposed to produce water when struck, I might not be in this chair today." or "If your father hadn't put out the fire with water from the rock(that was supposed to produce water when struck), I'd be dead.".
If one is looking for something to laugh at, while this will not leave one gasping for air, it will give one more than a few chuckles. However, be prepared for numerous grammatical/spelling/structural errors. If one is looking for something Doyleish or is unable to look past said errors, look further… (mer)

Along with King Arthur there was a flurry of interest about a decade ago in Robin Hood, another quintessential hero of insular tradition that has, as far as popular culture goes, transplanted abroad rather well. But though it may superficially appear that Robin, Marian, Little john and Friar Tuck complement the figures of Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot and Merlin, there really is no fit.

However, this thoroughly researched volume — which includes a delightfully idiosyncratic A-Z dictionary reflecting the legend’s broad chronological spectrum, a useful bibliography and a modern rendition of A Little Gest of Robin Hood — provides plenty of excuses for the amateur cultural historian to dip into its pages. Modern novelised, filmed and televised versions of Robin’s legends even draw in Arthur, Merlin and the Round Table, for a start. The origins of the outlaw, like the once and future king, are shrouded by uncertainty, a state of affairs which has not stopped but indeed encouraged numerous imaginative hypotheses, some of which are detailed here. (One of my favourites, though not noted by Coghlan, is that our hero’s name derives from Ra-Benu, the phoenix form of the Egyptian god Ra.) And the mystery surrounding Robin’s death and burial place is not a little reminiscent of Arthur.

This vademecum is a delight to peruse, taking the reader into the byways of the embellished legend. Popular culture is especially explored — TV, comics, fiction, folklore as well as ‘fakelore’ — showing that the stories continue to evolve. Ronan Coghlan’s Encyclopaedia of Arthurian Legends itself successfully metamorphosed into a popular illustrated edition; sadly the same hasn’t happened for this self-published title. As an broad introduction to Robin Hood this is very good, but for more detailed scholarly analysis of the origins of the legends I prefer the classic The Outlaws of Medieval Legend by Maurice Keen or J C Holt’s Robin Hood.

http://wp.me/s2oNj1-robin… (mer)