The Hallowed Hunt

By: Lois McMaster Bujold

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Lois McMaster Bujold returns to the vivid, perilous world of her previous masterworks, the Hugo Award-winning Paladin of Souls and Hugo and World Fantasy Award-nominated The Curse of Chalion, with this tale of devotion and strange destiny.

The half-mad Prince Boleso has been slain by a noblewoman he had intended to defile. It falls to Lord Ingrey kin Wilfcliff to transport the prince to his burial place and to bring the accused killer, Lady Ijada, to judgment. His mission is an ugly and delicate one, for the imminent death of the old Hallow King has placed the crown in play, and the road he travels with his burden and his prisoner is fraught with danger. But in the midst of political chaos, magic has the fiercer hold on Ingrey's destiny, and Ijada herself may turn out to be the only one he dares trust.

Don't miss Lois McMaster Bujold's other books about Chalion, The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls.

©2005 Lois McMaster Bujold (P)2007 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Inventive, with engaging characters and lively storytelling." (Denver Post)

"Bujold's reworking of a classic romantic situation is distinguished by its setting in a well-crafted world and masterly creation of characters whose fates will keep readers turning the pages." (Booklist)

"Absorbing....Bujold's ability to sustain a breathless pace of action while preserving a heady sense of verisimilitude in a world of malignant wonders makes this big novel occasionally brilliant and not a word too long." (Publishers Weekly)

Another one to love

I am a big fan of Lois McMaster Bujold's books, and this one has all the elements one has come to expect: a damaged and dangerous hero, an admirable heroine, a corrupt and unscrupulous antagonist, understated romance, and a complex and satisfying plot.
The theology in these three books (The Curse of Chalion) is wise, fascinating and consistent.

The Reader has a beautiful voice, but with a rather odd cadence that took a bit of getting used to, however it all seemed to smooth out in the final chapters.

Recommended.

Complex Theology in the Five Gods World

My least favorite of the Five Gods world, but it grows on me with each listen. I am not as happy with the reader's voice selections/style as I would like to be. OTOH, it IS Bujold--which makes it a perfect listen on any day.

Performance is a disaster

I love Audible as well as LMB, however, Kate's performance unfortunatly renders this work unlistenable.

Reader is too Sing-Song

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, the reader distracts from the story. The subtle humor of this author is lost when the reader so carefully rounds out every sound. A succession of things are read in a sing-song voice. The meaning is lost. The reader also mispronounces a few words and hasn't bothered to find out what they mean. Leaded windows do not have "leeds" - those should be pronounced "leds."

What other book might you compare The Hallowed Hunt to and why?

This is the third in a trilogy in a world with 5 gods, and all of them examine theology in some way while telling an exciting tale.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Too many sentences sounded just alike. More acting was needed.

Was The Hallowed Hunt worth the listening time?

Maybe. But I think I will get this title in another format to read again so I find out what I missed.

Don't miss this one

I think this is one of my favorite stories by Lois. it's dark and yet optimistic and beautiful.

The story was great, the reader was okay

I love Lois McMaster Bujold as an author. Her stories are fabulous and so is this one. The reader did not do the story justice. She has a very beautiful voice, but she doesn’t have the knack of a great reader: the range of her characters are limited so it can get confusing on who is speaking and the reading often times comes off stiff. The reading wasn’t so bad that I didn’t want to abandon the story, but it definitely wasn’t in the same league as Grover Gardner where I could just get lost in the story.

Convoluted, complex, yet intriguing new world

I think this is going to require another listen in the year ahead. I was already familiar with LMB's World of the Five Gods, but the tightly intertwined world of politics, history, religion, family connections, and avenues to power were more complex than in her other books in this universe. The narrator skillfully handled the various male and female voices with creativity.

Bujold at her best

Bujold is one of the only fantasy/sci-fi authors I've read who actually takes the premises of her worlds seriously. The characters are interesting and 3D and plot has many surprising and satisfying twists. The performance is pleasing, clear, and well paced.

Magic and Kingship in the Land of the Five Gods

Ingrey Kin Wolfcliff is one of Bujold's wounded heroes. He begins in this story as a man who carries within himself the bound spirit of a great wolf. This makes him unholy but tolerated within the bounds of the religion of the Five Gods.

His earthly uses include being set to tasks that other men shun. Thus he was sent by the Royal Sealbearer to straighten out the mess that the young Prince had made of his death. It appears that the Prince had been engaging in forbidden sorcery. The situation though becomes more complicated when Lord Ingrey realizes that the young female prisoner he was to return to the capital for judicial disposition also bears an animal spirit as a result of the prince's malfeasance. Further when the complicated theology of the Five Gods and the tangled history of their land becomes involved the situation seems to spiral out of even Lord Ingrey's ability to control.

While the narrator at times seems a bit rushed and every so often it is not perfectly clear which character is making which comment, this is mostly very well done technically and a most enjoyable book.

Great intro to series, and a grand ride!

What I love about this book is the way it opens up this world. We get a primer on the mythos of the series' religion, which is woven through all of the books -- and we also learn a bit about how the government is run, laying a foundation for the stories to come.

The Hallowed Hunt begins with a gruesome murder and a funeral procession to bring the body of a murdered prince to the capital city. But just when we settle in thinking it's a murder mystery, albeit with an unlikely murderess, it turns into something else!

Finding out *who done it* gets dangerously complicated by betrayal, demon possession, wolf lords, horse lords, ghosts, and a *tame* ice bear on a rampage -- and ends with a haunted battlefield full of grandeur and pathos that's as close to Shakespearean as you can get in a fantasy novel.

Oh, and our hero and heroine are both God Touched, and in love, so there's that, too.

The romance is satisfying, and the ending is, too. I don't know why some people find it slow -- it's a mystery, and the good ones always have a slow burn, so naturally Bujold takes her time and allows her characters time to unravel the clues and find the culprit.

It's a grand ride, especially with wonderful secondary characters who bring sparkle to the proceedings, and the MCs grapple with their new, god-like abilities.

The reader, Marguerite Gavin does a great job, and in fact I think this is one of her best performances. Yes, she hesitates here and there, and loses her way in some sentences, but the instances were minor and didn't impact my enjoyment in the least.


HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, to everyone!