January 2000
The
Ivanhoe Gambit
by Simon Hawke
I've
asked for requests as to what versions of the Robin Hood legend I should
spotlight in this section. A few months ago someone e-mailed me and asked
if I had read The Ivanhoe Gambit by Simon Hawke. I hadn't. So, I
visited a few used bookstores and found a copy.
Sherwood
Forest is a popular destination for time travellers, and so it's a natural
choice that Robin Hood should play a part in the first of Hawke's Time
Wars series.
In
the Times Wars future, war is a thing of the past -- quite literally. Instead
of messy and destructive battles in the present, armies use time machines
to drop soldiers into the great battles of history and evaluate their performance.
It's on this basis that disputes are settled. The time travellling army
has a great recruiting campaign too. You only have to sign up for a week's
service.
The
problem is that soldiers can spend 6 months in the past and return to the
present only 5 minutes after they left. That means although they are six
months older, only five minutes are counted towards their service record.
It takes a long time to get out of the army. Four soldiers -- Lucas Priest,
Bobby Johnson, Finn Delaney and Corporal Hooker -- are offered a chance
for early discharges with substantial pensions. All they have to do is
save history.
One
of their bosses has gone rogue. Referee Irving Goldblum has travelled back
to 1194 and captured King Richard the Lionhearted. Goldblum has undergone
cosmetic surgery and take Richard's place in history -- with one major
exception. Goldblum has no intention of dying at Chaluz in 1199. Such a
major change would seriously damage the timeline. So, Priest and the others
are to stop the fake King and keep history on course. They replace four
people from the past.
Priest
and Hooker take the place of Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe and his squire. Finn
Delaney with his martial arts skills (including the quarterstaff) and great
height takes the place of Little John. And Bobby Johnson becomes Robin
Hood.
Johnson
discovers that the real Robin Hood was a drunkard and a poor shot. Robin
was also completely dominated by Marian, the sheriff's wife -- the real
leader of the Merry Men. When the fake Robin Hood and Little John join
the Merry Men, some changes are in order. The outlaws are taught Asian
martial arts and US Army discipline. The Merry Men are also given army-style
crewcuts.
Unlike
the man he replaces, Johnson as Robin Hood is a very good archer. But not
good enough for a well-known story. He uses a high-tech guided arrow to
cheat and split the arrow in the classic archery contest.
This
is a fun romp.
It's
set more in the 1189 of Sir Walter Scott than the 1189 of real history.
And it has some fun with Scott's novel. For example Priest/Ivanhoe tries
hard to avoid Rowena.
And
it plays with the Robin Hood tradition. It's not the first nor last story
to portray the real Robin Hood as a foolish ne'er-do-well, and most of
the other little comic realism tweaks on the legend have been done elsewhere.
Novelty is a rare commodity in a legend that's over 600 years old. While
his ideas aren't entirely new, Hawke has a lot of fun with the Robin Hood
characters.
It
doesn't fall into my list of favourite Robin Hood novels. But it is a pleasant
-- and short -- read.
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