(Okay, I know it is now Friday but I did start writing this yesterday before sleep over took me and dragged me to bed... please enjoy all the same!)
Here it is the first review... I'm all tingly with excitement and nervousness. I'm excited because it is the first one and I'm nervous because I just realized that I might enjoy a book that someone hates or I might not enjoy a book that someone loves. However, the more I think of it the more I come to realize that I can't like everything or hate everything that someone else likes or I would never be myself. So here goes nothing...
WARNING: Anything beyond this point may spoil this book if you ever intend to read it. So read this blog at your own peril.
I just finished The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold as stated in the title of this blog. My mind is fresh with the characters and plot. It is a fantasy novel full of animal spirits, gods, murders, politics (who is the rightful king?), and the dead. Intrigued?
There are two things I really liked about this book. The first one being that I always appreciate when an author can create their own myths. There is something wonderful about elves, and mermaids and other such creatures but making you think about an animal spirit within someone so that it gives them uncanny abilities is great. The main character, Ingrey, has a century old wolf spirit in him that he first tries to control but in time it comes loose and he finds our that not only does he have a wolf spirit inside him but that he can see visions of the gods and is a shaman for the dead - he can cleanse them so that they can be accepted into the afterlife by one of the Five gods. This is an idea that I've never some across before and I found it refreshing.
The second thing that I really liked are the secondary characters. I've come to realize that a book (or show or movie... any story in general) is only as good as its secondary characters. Sure the main character is strong and dangerous and wild but that needs to be balanced with a character like Hallana, who is a divine as well as a healer, an intense woman who pushes the envelope in some very funny ways.
The only negative thing that I can say (because this is a review, even though I'm nervous about saying something negative!) about this book is that it didn't really pull me all in. I did like the story but I don't think I connected with the main character as well as I was supposed to and although it was a good read, I could put it down no problem.
But overall, the plot was solid (introduce characters and ideas, find the problem, solve the problem), the characters grew and changed (stagnant characters are icky), and the fantasy is fantastical. Definitely a read I would suggest to someone looking for something in the fantasy department.
The Wakeful Dreamer
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