The Hallowed Hunt

This is another excellent book from the reliable Bujold, and again it is extremely well-read. For the record, this is the third of three books (The first being Curse of Chalion), all set in the same feudal-style fantasy world, but they are almost entirely unrelated in terms of plot and character. This book is set in a different area of the continent than the previous two novels, and could stand alone, thought the earlier books do spend more time developing the unique cosmology and theology of the universe.

That underlying theology - a world with five active, benevolent gods where the worst fate is to die without being taken into any of the five "heavens" - informs much of the plotline, which twists and turns in logical, yet unexpected, ways as the story progresses. It combines elements of high fantasy, political intrigue, and theological musings with dark, almost Wuthering Heights, romantic elements. (But don't let that scare you off if you don't like romantic novels, there is plenty of magic and action as well).

Unlike so many fantasy novels, there is no Dark Lord and no impending cataclysm driving the plot - though there are ancient wrongs that must be discovered and undone, they are at a much more human level, and it is at the level of character interaction that Bujold writes best. Her characters are unique, often quite humorous, and her dialogue is natural and tight. The reader, with only a few exceptions, handles the range of characters with great grace. The result is an impressive, well-written change from the usual multi-book epics of Robert Jordan or George Martin, that should appeal to fantasy fans of all kinds.

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.

This story was great, although not nearly as gripping as Paladin of Souls and Curse of Chalion. 1) The narrator was female but the main character was male, and although annoying, I could deal with that. 2) The narrator's speech pattern was terrible. She paused in the middle of sentences instead of reading them smoothly, as if she thought our little brains needed time to catch up with what she was saying. It was like she couldn't get out more than 4 or 5 words without drawing breath. Thankfully her breathing wasn't apparent. Listening to her was pure torture sometimes. I won't be jumping to listen to more of her.

Yes for Lois McMaster Bujold, but not because of this one. I would not try another by the same narrator, Marguerite Gavin.

No, but it would have if I had read it first

See my comments.

Not up to McMaster Bujold's usual standards.

First, I very much enjoy Lois McMaster Bujold’s novels. Except for this one.

My wife and I listened to "The Curse of Chalion" on a road trip some time ago. Since then we also listened to "Paladin of Souls", and lately "The Hallowed Hunt". Each of these three novels will stand on its own. The lead character in "Paladin of Souls" is introduced to us in "The Curse of Chalion", but, except for that one, "Paladin of Souls" has only passing references to some of the characters in "The Curse of Chalion".

The only link between "The Hallowed Hunt" and the earlier books is the religion. None of the earlier books’ characters are even mentioned in "The Hallowed Hunt". As nearly as a listener can tell, the events don’t even happen in Chalion, although they do refer to one or two other nations that are mentioned in the earlier books.

I didn’t find the story particularly interesting. It had little action and consisted mostly of dialog between the characters as they discussed the predicaments they were in, all from the view of the peculiar religion in the series. I don’t dislike the fantasy religion; it was great and easily grasped in "The Curse of Chalion". Listening to this novel though, it seemed all I heard about were the oddities of the belief system.

About 90% of the dialog was among men, so the woman narrator was at a disadvantage. It showed. She had a difficult time separating her masculine voices so the listener could tell them apart. Also, with McMaster Bujold’s style of writing, there are often written thoughts of the characters followed by actual spoken words. The narrator was unable to make it clear when the character was thinking or speaking.

Editing of the recording is something that you should never notice, and you don’t, unless it’s bad. We noticed the editing with this recording. Mostly it was the announcement of the next chapter number immediately following the last syllable of the preceding chapter, but there was at least one occasion where an entire sentence was repeated, back to back.

All in all, I will never listen to this book again, although I most certainly will listen to the other two in the Chalion series. There was nothing here that grasped me.

I liked The Hallowed Hunt less then the Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls. I don't think it was the fault of the author or the narrator. I had trouble keeping my place in the story from time to time, particularly when there were changes in setting or time lapses. I think it would have helped to have the narrator say, for example, “Chapter 5.” I enjoyed the story very much, I really like the setting and mythology, and the characters were very interesting. Besides getting lost from time to time and having to go back to find where I was, it was a good listening experience.

The Hallowed Hunt lacks something fundamental when compared to the other 2 books in this series. While the plot provided a neat frame for the story, it was plodding and lacked fire. What worked in the other Chalion books was the sense of a driving inner passion that made the outcomes unpredictable. There is plenty of danger in Hallowed Hunt, and yet this book did not keep me on the edge of my seat -- but played out rather pedantically.

Part of the problem for me may have been the reader. I enjoy Marguerite Gavin's work in the Hollows series, but her voice is so very distinctive that I found it a distraction. I think she did an admirable job here, but I didn't enjoy myself. The story moved too slowly to be exciting. Was that the reader's interpretation, or the book, I can't say. All I do know is that I wasn't really invested in the outcome as I should have been.

When I finished Paladin of Souls, I MISSED Ista! I wanted her story to go on! When I finished Curse of Chalion, the same was true of Cazaril. But with this effort, I really wouldn't mind if I never read about any of these characters again. The politics were boring, but how is is possible that a story about shape changers could be boring? I just wonder how I would feel if Lloyd James or Kate Reading had been the narrators of this book as well. I guess I'll never know.

McMaster-Bujold wrote a good novel, interesting characters one can care about and in the realm of the best book; The Curse of Chalion. This narrator's style is so annoying that it is hard to concentrate on the story. She ends each sentence as if it were a proclamation, or as if it were a question. When speaking as a character she was much better using normal acting skills to portray the character. This is the only narrator I have heard in about 100 Audible books that actively detracts from the book experience.

Unlike several readers, I found it very easy to identify with the leading character in this book. Bujold brings into her best characters the confusing ambiguity of intention and conviction which is an inescapable part of what we find when we look deeply into our own inner workings. And she manages to do it without neglecting the human capacity for sacrifice and nobility which can lead us to transcend our weaknesses at times.

The action in LMB's writing is always as much interior as overt, but she gives it a momentum which keeps me, who cannot abide plots which plod, entirely engaged and fascinated. I think it is because all of the strengths in her characters seem to rise out of apparent weaknesses. As a result she can weave them more and more deeply into what seem to be inextricable situations and still have rescue or redemption appear inevitable and truthful when it arrives.

I had no problem with this narrator. As a matter of fact, I actually delighted in the unusual resonance of her voice and her excellent phrasing and subtle, but almost always clear, character delineation.

Was this as good as the two books in this world setting which preceded it? Perhaps not quite, but that is holding Ms. Bujold to a very high standard indeed.

in fact, its probably the least best (can't bring myself to say worst) of her books that I have listened o. The Vorkosigan books are amazing ( go get Wariors apprentice) or her Chalcedon books (Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls) are wonderful. this book...almost great but I got bored and quit 30 minutes from the end, in the middle of what was meant to be the great finale. Feel free to tell me that it was worth another half hour of listening. Don't get me wrong, I did like it, but I'd just had enough - I looked up the ending, summarized in two lines, and went off happy to my next book

Unlike every other Bujold book I have listened to, including Curse of Chalcion and Paladin of Souls, this one was not enjoyable. The main characters are not very likeable, the plot is impossibly complicated, and Bujold takes the longest possible route to describe the simplest things. This book could easily have been half as long, and almost nothing would have been lost.

I'm going back to Miles.