Customer Reviews

The Hallowed Hunt

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

First off, I got addicted to LMB way back with "Shards of Honor", so I'm a fairly die-hard fan. She never writes the same book twice, but still produces fresh, thoughtful, great reads. She's a rare author I measure only against herself. Okay, that said...

It took me a bit to adjust to her fantasies but they're well worth it; different from her Vor series, but just as good in their own way. The worldbuilding has LMB's trademark vividness, and she spins great stories from it. Chalion/Ibra and the world of the the Five Gods lost some of its internal cohesiveness in this one, though. I couldn't place it in time or location, and some basic underpinnings became confusing with the introduction of an ancient form of magic. Many themes in this series explore how individuals respond to supernatural/divine challenges. Even after rereading Hallowed Hunt, I'm still a bit foggy about how the ancient forest magic fits in with the rest.

The main characters are also weirdly flat for LMB; 'weirdly' because her characterizations usually are so vivid they jump off the page. Several supporting characters--a roistering sailor/prince, a divine who vents chaos as an adaptation to pregnancy--spring to life immediately. The hero's history and travails are well limned but he still remained muted for me. The heroine, who comes late to spirit-invasion--and during a near rape at that--remains almost an outline of a character. Why and how she came by her extraodinary acceptance of threatening, bizarre things that happen to her are never really explained.

These caveats really are fairly minor. A less-than-great Bujold is still excellent reading. Her gorgeous use of language is still intact, as is her sly, wry, sideways humor. I bought the book and don't regret the purchase. I'm sure I'll reread it again, just with less enjoyment than "Chalion" and "Paladin". I hope LMB revisists this world, because it still holds some heady potential.

It's good tale, and most readers would enjoy it on its own merits. Devoted Bujold fans may be left a bit flat, but even her rare stumbles are still miles beyond much of what's out there.

The Hallowed Hunt is not at all a sequel to The Curse Of Chalion or Paladin Of Souls ... and yet the new reader would almost certainly be missing quite a bit without having read those two books. The world of these books is something similar to but not quite like medieval Europe. But the religion is based upon a theology of five gods. And so is the series of books (the first one for the Daughter, the second for the Bastard, and this one for the Son).

There are no common characters or even settings, as Chalion is a far-off land, barely known by the people of this novel. (So calling this the third "Chalion Book" is something of a misnomer.) But in a sense The Hallowed Hunt is a direct descendent of the other books. The first one introduced the five gods and the concept that they can only work in this world when people give up their free will and let the gods use them. The second introduced something called "demon sorcery," in which a demon (an entity of concentrated chaos) is controlled by (or controls) a human being. And this book uses those two ideas and adds another kind of theology (magic is not quite the right word to use in these novels).

What really sets Hallowed Hunt apart from the other two is the scope of the tale. The others involved a story of human politics interwoven with the divine, while the current book focuses nearly the entire plot on the supernatural -- the political machinations of the court and the temple are somewhat of a minor complication if not a complete red herring.

Instead, the book is partially a ghost story and partially an examination of medieval philosophy. What really was the "divine right of kings"? If you take it seriously that a king is annointed by the gods, then what does that mean about their responsibilities to the gods and to their subjects? When something goes wrong and the gods need a helping hand, what must the king be willing to sacrifice?

Unfortunately, while the theological mystery and wonder is much more complex than before, the book lacks the wonderful secondary characters that made Chalion (and to a lesser extent Paladin) really come alive. This is mainly because the three key characters interact mostly among themselves (partially due to a need for secrecy, partially because the plot demands it, but mostly because the real story takes place in the divine realm where these three interact but ordinary mortals cannot usually comprehend).

As with the other books in this series, the world is convincingly medieval, the characters are convincingly human, and the romantic plot (which all of them have) is convincingly mature. Because of the shift in focus to center almost exclusively on the supernatural, The Hallowed Hunt has a very different feel to it. I would rate it approximately equal to (but very different from) Paladin Of Souls, and not quite as good as Curse Of Chalion. But then, Curse Of Chalion is one of the very best novels I have ever read. This one is, perhaps, only "quite good".

There is one author whose books I buy immediately, in whatever format is available, and her name is Lois McMaster Bujold. If I could afford it, I would have a person stationed outside her house with instructions to ship me the galleys as soon as corrected. Right after I had finished my third or fourth re-reading of the superb Paladin of Souls, the second book in this series, The Hallowed Hunt arrived, and I think it the equal of any Bujold book, but differently shaped. Bujold's great theme, in both the Vorkosigan and Chalion series, is the exploration of what exactly it takes to do great deeds: what personal qualities are required, what beliefs the hero or heroine may hold, how society may strengthen or impede the protagonist in accomplishing the near-miraculous. The Hallowed Hunt is typical of Bujold's immensely fruitful exploration of how prudent people get pressed into the service of things much larger than they, and how they survive.

The plots are always fiendishly entangled, the characters always worthy and entertainingly flawed, the dialogue always crisp or eloquent, the descriptive passages vivid and painterly. There is usually a long slow buildup to an impossibly stressful and dangerous climax late in the book. The Hallowed Hunt differs from other Bujold novels in that the stress starts early, attains a convincingly glass-shattering pitch of tension, and holds it until the pitch actually lessens slightly at the end. There is no writer I know of who can equal Bujold in involving the reader in her heroes' frantic thoughts as they try to figure out what's happening to them in time to prevent any of the various disasters they can all imagine.

Bujold's great generosity always gives us plots as full of moral struggle as of physical adventure. She shows us that changing your assumptions about yourself or the universe is just as dangerous as swordplay or politics. All of this and a great sense of ironic humor. Start with this book, or start with any Bujold book, just start. And enjoy.

For a fan of Bujold's other works, The Hallowed Hunt is bound to be disappointing, but it's still much better than the majority of other novels in the genre. The main problem with this book is the lack of characterization. Both of the main characters, Ingrey and Ijada, are very flat and two dimensional. Bujold seems to be trying to make up for this by giving them a lot of weird powers (which accumulate over the course of the book), but it has the same effect as frosting a loaf of bread. The major villain also lacks character depth (and has even weirder powers). He does, however, manage to be suitably sinister with being cliched, which is a point in Bujold's favor.

Other than that, the Hallowed Hunt is very good. The plot is entertaining, and the ending is downright gripping. The are some interesting minor characters, including Lewko, a petty saint, and Hallana, a pregnant sorceress who sheds small amounts of disorder wherever she goes. I especially enjoyed the forest magic and the ancient tribal shamanism that Bujold has added to the traditional Quintarian theology of her other Chalion books. Once again she has delivered a refeshingly original setting as well as a fast paced plot, and these were enough to hold my interest despite the novel's other weaknesses.

I should mention that despite it's faults, The Hallowed Hunt is MUCH better than Bujold's latest book, Beguilement, which has good characters but absolutely no plot at all. Hopefully next time she'll be able to capture the best of both worlds.

Generally known as the author of the acclaimed Miles Vorkosigan series of SF novels, Bujold's last couple of books have been set in her fantasy universe of Chalion. These have been outstanding novels, but the latest (The Hallowed Hunt) doesn't quite measure up. It's still extraordinarily well-written and carried Bujold's trademark prose, but the interest level just wasn't there. The characters weren't as intriguing as previous volumes go.

Lord Ingrey kin Wolfcliff has been sent to a manor house where one of the king's sons has been brutally murdered. The accused killer is a young noblewoman who had been in the service of lord Boleso's sister. However, he had planned to use her in one of his unnatural rites, and she bludgeoned him, supposedly in self-defense. Ingrey has been sent to bring her back to Easthome for trial. However, he finds himself caught up in a web of politics and deceit, as the king is fading fast. Ingrey must not only deal with his growing feelings for this young woman, but also the dark secrets of his own past, and how they link him with the current plot to wrest the Hallow Kingship from its rightful heir. Ingrey will find that getting involved with the gods is not always a pleasant thing.

First, I can tell you that this is a completely standalone novel. No knowledge of the previous two books (The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls) is required at all, as they have only established the world these characters live in. In fact, this story takes place in a completely different country and it's unclear if it's even in the same time period. That being said, I kind of missed the fact that there was no connection between these books. That might have made some of the characters a little more interesting. Instead, Bujold has to create everything from whole cloth, and she's not entirely successful.

I find the whole concept of the five gods to be fascinating, and Bujold makes good use of it here. We've seen the gods before, but we've never seen them in conflict with what's going on in the story. Instead, usually they're either the catalyst for what's happening or they're working behind the scenes. This time, the conflict is going against them, and it makes it even more interesting. The story is also tragic when we find out what is truly going on with the Weald magic and a massacre committed a long time ago. When Ingrey finds out the truth about his past and the role that he must now play in it, the story comes together very nicely.

Unfortunately, it takes a while in getting there, and Bujold failed to make characters that gripped me in the meantime. They aren't bad characters, and I did find them somewhat intriguing, but long passages of the book dragged where the characters involved didn't grab my attention at all. It's hard to really say what was wrong with them, as overall, Ingrey and Ijada were good, I found them a bit overwritten at times. I just wanted Bujold to get on with the story, which is unusual for me. Bujold is usually a master of characterization, and her quiet scenes are usually some of the best, but not these. Another time where the story dragged was Ingrey's first meeting and subsequent carousing with Jokol. The entire scene on the ship, while amusing at times, just made me wish Bujold would get back to the story. Yes, Jokol turns out to be important and so this scene was needed, but I didn't find him that interesting and wished the scene had been shorter. Finally, Wencel just irritated me. Again, his situation (and his family's) gripped me, but the character himself just wasn't fun to read about. This made the final journey to the Wounded Woods boring to me, making that sequence drag as well.

That's not to say the book was bad, though. I don't think Bujold is capable of writing a "bad" book, and The Hallowed Hunt certainly isn't one. Most of the time, the characterization is wonderful, and even Ingrey and Ijada come into their own. Oswin is hilarious. His wife, the sorceress Hallana, is even more so, and adds a light comic touch to her scenes with Ingrey and Ijada, yet she's also fairly deep for a minor character. Even the complaints above (save Wencel) are mainly about the characters at certain times. Overall, they were quite nice. Bujold's prose is as gorgeous as ever, with only a few internal monologues feeling a bit clunky. She does manage to mix a little bit of tragedy with some comedy relief without making it jarring.

The Hallowed Hunt is well worth the read. Just because it doesn't quite measure up to her previous Chalion outings does not change that. Bujold has written another page-turner that I'm really glad to have read.

David Roy

James Nicoll has posted a non-spoiler review of "The Hallowed Hunt" on his live-journal, and since there are currently no reviews or summaries of the book here, I thought I should post it here as well:

So I finally read this. It's sitting in the work related TBR pile for ages, because I keep what I think will be the best manuscripts for last, to help me get through the latest "Recent Plot Chunk of On-Going Fantasy Story #62" and "Loud Explosion Clumsy Info Dump Space Adventure #23", which I wouldn't have to read if you people would just stop buying them.

Bias: I am not a fantasy fan. It's not like I hate it but it just doesn't punch the right buttons for me. It's like coffee, which I like, vs tea, which I am indifferent to.

Omission: I have not read the second book in this series.

Good News: It doesn't matter. Each book set in this universe is a complete book and each comes with enough information of the world that you do not need to have read the other books.

The book begins shortly after the brutal (but justly earned) killing of Prince Boleso. Boleso was done in by Ijada, a well-born lady whose immediate family is dead. The Prince thought her isolation made her an easy target for a rite he wanted to attempt and right up to the moment when she smashed his head in, his plan was working exactly as it was supposed to. Lord Ingrey is given the distasteful task of investigating the death and of dealing with Ijada, who has a very good chance of being put to death, both of regicide (or whatever killing the Spare is called) and for having been the target of the particular rite the Prince performed. Ingrey has very good reason to be sympathetic to Ijada, since as we learn early in the book, he was the subject of a similar rite and only escaped destruction through a special dispensation.

This would normally be enough to drive a book but in fact the killing of the Prince and the use of poorly considered magic are fairly far down the list of serious challenges the pair will face. There are worse things to fear than bungled spells, incompetent would-be sorcerers and court politics; Lord Ingrey and Lady Ijada are going to get to deal with some of those things.

I think that's vague enough.

I enjoyed it. Her little kingdom has history, which is a plus, and demographic succession is not presented as a thorough process, also a plus. You can also enjoy the book without caring about either of those or anything beyond an adventure story, if that is what you want, but it's nice to see something other than a painted backdrop.

I liked it. I expect her readers will, too.

This past weekend I reread this book and saw a high school performance of Pippin. As a consequence, I'm in Charlemagne overload. The backstory to The Hallowed Hunt has many obvious parallels to the Bloody Verdict of Verden and yet those events are merely a jumping off point for one of Ms. Bujold's intricate morality plays. The plot is a little slow (with several wonderful wordscapes as compensation, say "pirate poet" three times fast) until the last 1/3rd, whereupon it takes off like a runaway horse. The characters are satisfyingly complicated and self-consistent.

I am a little frustrated that the whole story is told from the POV of the protagonist, Lord Ingrey kin Wolfcliff. I think the character insights from the he-thought-she-thought narrative of The Spirit Ring (another Bujold novel) was one of its best features and I really wanted to know more about the heroine's, Ijada's, motivations. Hmmpf.

So: excellent prose (as usual), interesting character motivations, complicated historical allusions, slow & talky start, slam-bang finish. Not one of Ms. Bujold's best, but definitely worth reading and rereading (a 10%er in Sturgeon's Law-speak).

I eagerly awaited "The Hallowed Hunt," and bought it on the first day it was available. While it opens strongly, the main characters engage with no moral dilemmas and do not grow over the course of the novel, in contrast with "Paladin of Souls" or "The Curse of Chalion." The most interesting characters, disappointingly, are the supporting characters, of whom I look forward to seeing more.

For me, this is probably the least rewarding of all of Bujold's novels, including "Spirit Ring." Still, she does know how to write a page turner, and that skill serves the novel well. 3 (disappointed) stars.

Lois McMaster Bujold's latest novel is her third fantasy set in her "Chalionese" milieu. The Hallowed Hun_ is set somewhat later than the first two such novels, and in another country, a more "German" sort of place (Chalion being "Spanish"). It's an enjoyable novel, if not quite as good as either The Curse of Chalion or Paladin of Souls.

The hero is Lord Ingrey, who works for the aging King of the Weald. The King's dissolute son has just been murdered, apparently by one Lady Ijada. Ingrey happens to bear a wolf-spirit as a result of a botched experiment of his father, who was trying to recreate an old magic of the Weald that had been made illegal long since. Ingrey finds that Ijada also bears an animal spirit, a leopard. And that she had killed the Prince is self-defense -- he was trying to rape her -- or something worse. Ingrey escorts Ijada to the capitol, and quickly falls for her, while worrying that she is twice condemned -- for the murder of the prince, and for illegally bearing an animal spirit. But it soon turns out that some much more elaborate issues are involved, concerning the succession to the Kingdom, and especially the claims of the long displaced former rulers of the Weald.

It's pretty solid work, but never quite caught fire for me the way many of her novels do. She adds some complications to the magic system set up in the first two novels, but it remains an intriguing system. If you like Bujold, you'll want to read this -- if you don't, this won't change your mind.

This book is DEFINITELY worth reading if you love Bujold and her Chalion series, but be forewarned that it's slower paced and more dark and "repressed" than the first two.

However, the mood accurately reflects the plot: the principal character drags his heels and attempts to slow down the physical progression to his prisoner's confrontation with "justice", even as he denies, represses, and refuses to peek at the dark and dangerous mysteries hidden inside himself.

In contrast, his lovely prisoner confronts her similar affliction with honesty, courage, and openness ... which is humbling to the otherwise honest and courageous main character.

Like all Bujold's books, the main characters learn, change and progress throughout the book--which makes the reading worthwhile. I think the determining factor as to whether a particular book strikes a chord with readers is the individual reader's own life experiences and situation. I.e. "Hallowed Hunt" may cause epiphanies for those with deep, dark secrets they haven't fully faced or addressed; those of us with more common hidden sorrows might also be moved, but not as profoundly.

My personal "epiphany book" of this series so far is "Palladin", the second one ... it has so many "GONG" sections (parts that resonate in my soul), that I'd badly deface the book if I followed my urge to highlight them all. And as I was recently rereading, "Curse", the first book, I again found myself reaching for a pencil about 200 pages in. But I haven't felt that urge for this third book ... it simply doesn't resonate with me as much, despite the fact that I enjoyed it.

Am I glad I bought it? Definitely! Will I reread it? Yes, this is my 2nd time ... but I probably won't have the urge to read it again in the next 6 months (while I WILL reread the first two within that time.)

Will I buy/read the next in the series? Are you kidding??? I'll be one of the first on the pre-order list!

Now no one disturb Ms. Bujold as she writes for us ... shhh, be very quiet.