Customer Reviews

The Wild Hunt (Point Signature)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jane Yolen taps into mythos and folklore for "Wild Hunt," a short and sweet kids' fantasy with exquisite writing and amazing illustrations. Yolen also experiments with a unique chapter format, as often chapters are split into "Chapter One; Chapter One - Almost; Chapter One - Sort of" which adds extra charm.

Jerrold and Gerund are young boys who live in parallel versions of a huge house, "surrounded by rowan trees that are proof against magic." With each one lives the beautiful, chilly white cat; with Gerund also lives the overenthusiastic Mully the dog (who tends to echo the last few words of each sentence).

Outside, the Wild Hunt has begun; the chaotic, frightening king of winter is on the search for the Lady, who is "She Who Is Ever, She Whose Word Is Law, The Once and Future Queen, Maiden Mother and Crone, Summer and Goodness and Light." (Those last are highly debateable) Gerund and Jerrold are swept into the snowy wilderness, full of frightening hounds and the Moss-man, and the result of the clash between Summer and Winter is something that they never could have dreamed of.

One interesting fact about this book is that since the forces in motion are so much greater than the boys, they are not really able to change much. (I enjoyed the mentions of Aragorn, Ged, and Will Stanton by one of the boys, as fictional heroes) The ending is intriguing -- I really didn't see that coming, but after the events of the climax, I can't imagine it any other way.

Jerrold and Gerund are both brave and interesting, yet freaked enough by what is happening for them to be realistic. Mully's antics may grate on readers, but certain plot developments make him poignant rather than irritating. The horned man is menacing and nasty, but intriguing in his showdown with his wife. She's a bit more of a dark horse, as she seems much sweeter and more refined, but at the same time she is very cold and perhaps as menacing as her husband.

The writing is lovely, lyrical and very evocative. The pictures are simple black and white, very lifelike while retaining a slight softness and candlelit appearance. As far as quality goes, like some Point books it is printed on thick white paper, with a tight binding. No cracks on the edges of the binding, like many mass market paperbacks!

Some parents may not want their younger kids to read this, given the death of a couple characters, the idea of a young boy being used as "bait," a river of blood, and a forest of fruit that is actually maggots, flies, and insects. Additionally, younger children won't be able to fully appreciate the richness and background of this tale, though they may like it. Short as it is, this strikes me as more a YA novel than a children's.

Overall, this is a beautiful tale worthy of many rereadings on a winter's night.

The Wild Hunt is a slow-moving, easily comprehendible book. The book has a unique and intriguing set-up that had me hooked by the second chapter. The book has three parts in a chapter, each tells a similar story from a different point of view. The story is full of action and suspence, which kept me hooked. When I started reading I could not put the book down. This book cannot be made better. If you love adventure this book is for you. I give it a great rating.

This book is one of the better books I have ever read. It is one of those books that makes you want to just keep reading and reading until its done. Its plot and suspenseful hunt is extrodinary. If you havn't read a book from Jane Yolen this book will suprise you.

Be careful before you read this- it contains some things that first-time readers wouldn't want to hear. I think that the most striking thing about this book is the message. The two boys, the main characters, are just pawns, or tools in a game that has been played for centuries between two god-like forces. These two characters, the Hunter and a cat who seems to be caring for the young boys, don't even truly care about them or the pain they are causing. The boys are forced between acting out and changing the game for themselves, or simply following along, and obeying the rules as they are expected to. It's the same story, of finding your own road to walk on and not just taking the beaten path, but it is set in a wonderful, haunting, world that you'll remember for a long time after you've read it. However, it's one of those fast and abrupt books you might not fully understand the first time through. You have to consider what's happening, and really think about the characters. And while the end might not please some of the readers who insist upon a perfect Cinderella closing, it somehow fits with the book, and becomes another thing you can't forget.

I thought it was a great book because of the way it was written and illistrated. I thought the author could have described Jerold and Gurund in a little more detail. I thought the way the author described the Horn King was very good.

This very exciting plot has extremely deep roots in Norse and Greek mythology. You must be familiar with these mythologies to fully appreciate the meaning of the book. The chapter setup is very different but fun.

I have just read two short novels by Jane Yolen. The first of these is THE WILD HUNT. In this book Jane Yolen weaves a tale of several worlds that all seem to border one another at an old mansion. Different aspects of this mansion are inhabited by different aspects of the same young lad. Soon magic begins to rise and the Wild Hunt is riding through the hills.

Led by a cat who is an aspect of the Summer Queen, the lad must rescue himself from Herne. In doing so he learns the secret behind the Wild Hunt and the folly it represents.

This was an interesting and fresh telling of a classic legend.

The Wild Hunt is a slow-moving, easily comprehendible book. The book has a unique and intriguing set-up that had me hooked by the second chapter. The book has three parts in a chapter, each tells a similar story from a different point of view. The story is full of action and suspence, which kept me hooked. When I started reading I could not put the book down. This book cannot be made better. If you love adventure this book is for you. I give it a great rating.

Two boys - in the same, isolated house, but in different (time) dimensions - with as their only companions a cat and a dog, and as their only protection a circle of rowan trees. Outside, the Wild Hunt is looking for a prey...

I'll say no more, for I might spoil a bit of your fun. Read it and you'll like it, I'm sure.

This is a beautifully written, haunting book. The kind that you can't stop reading it when you start, and at the end, you start reading it again because you want to notice all the details you might have missed the first time through. Very original, perhaps a little short. Full of quiet wisdom and harsh conflict. It keeps you in suspense from the first chapter to the very end. And the ending is one of those that keeps you wondering about what happens after that, and leaves lots of room for imagination.