Scarlet: Opening Remarks

The first few chapters of Scarlet are proving that the book is sure to live up to high expectations. There are a couple of things I've noticed that I can comment on now. First, it's written in both first and third person. It is the tale of Will Scarlet who's in prison awaiting the hangman's noose because of his association with Rhi Bran y Hud, otherwise known as King Raven the Enchanter. Will is reciting his story to a scribe who's been assigned to take his confession. The first person narration is a combination of standard narrative and 'meta narrative'; the first is the story the scribe is writing down and the other is Will and the scribe talking about writing down the story. Then after a couple of chapters Lawhead switches to third person and follows some other characters for a while. It is an interesting POV choice and I think it works quite well.

The second thing is that I was completely wrong when I thought Will Scarlet was actually King William the Red. The King is still in the story but he is not the title character. Will Scarlet has the given name of William Scatlocke and he is of Norman and Saxon lineage. His tale begins when he leaves his landless lord in search of this mysterious phantom that menaces the greenwood on the marches...