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From Sherwood Forest to the LBF

24.04.08

David Shelley at Sphere has bought world English rights in a historical adventure thriller about Robin Hood by début writer Angus Donald, a British journalist.

Shelley bought Outlaw in a two-book deal from Ian Drury at Sheil Land at the London Book Fair, on a synopsis and a few chapters; amid plenty of interest from other publishers, he offered Drury "a good sum" to take it off the table. Shelley said the book was planned as the first in a series, in the vein of Robyn Young and Conn Iggulden, and praised Donald’s "action-packed storytelling".

He added that Donald’s portrait of a young man who leaves his home to join a band of thieves in Sherwood Forest shows Robin Hood as a "renegade outlaw" rather than a visionary. Outlaw will be published in mid-2009.

Rights deal London Book Fair David Shelley Sphere Angus Donald

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