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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Being able to return to characters from the first book in the series, and delve into the folklore of the world was really interesting. I think this book does also need to work as a standalone, as there are questions about how the time travel would impact the plot of book one that are completely ignored.
The characters here are allowed to sit in their complexity more than in the first book, which makes it overall a more engaging and enjoyable read.
The characters here are allowed to sit in their complexity more than in the first book, which makes it overall a more engaging and enjoyable read.
I really, really enjoyed this book. Somehow it felt a faster read than [b: The Princess and the Hound (The Hound Saga #1)|639197|The Princess and the Hound (The Hound Saga, #1)|Mette Ivie Harrison|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362878264s/639197.jpg|625411], and I am not sure if that is because Richon went through what felt like slightly less introspection – likely due to the structure of the story, which had the point of view switching each chapter between Richon and the hound – or more because there was more physical movement/action in the story. It read like a fast-paced yet full story, and I blew through it in only about 4 days. Though I have to say, I think a better title might be, “The King and the Hound”, as this was more of Richon’s story than the hound’s story, despite the hound’s pivotal and important role in it.
This story picks up right where [b: The Princess and the Hound|639197|The Princess and the Hound (The Hound Saga, #1)|Mette Ivie Harrison|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362878264s/639197.jpg|625411] left off, with the bear and the hound hesitant yet constant companions in the woods. While they cannot speak to each other in either the language of the hounds (for the bear does not understand) nor in the language of the bears (for the bear does not speak it), nor even in the human language (for neither can form the words), they are able to read each other’s moods and body language quite well. I did wonder why they did not utilize writing more than they did, as it seems that the hound did learn some written language in her time as Princess Beatrice. They live together in peace, until a cat man comes and begins spreading unmagic in their forest. Unmagic drains and ultimately kills all it touches, and it is spreading in the land. Both the bear and the hound feel it, and when Prince George and Princess Marit are unable to do anything about it, the bear and the hound undertake a journey to find the wild man – the same wild man who turned King Richon into the bear two hundred years prior.
Despite the bear’s best efforts, the hound is with him when he finally reaches the wild man. Through the wild man’s great magic, they are sent back in time to just after King Richon was originally turned into a bear, with the understanding that now King Richon will have to prove himself the king, regain his kingdom, and find and destroy the source of the unmagic in that time.
Ultimately, the story roped me in and did not let me go. This despite how I found it to have a short-term predictability that was also oddly enough fulfilling. From one event to another I could get a general idea of what was going to happen based on the clues the author gives us, usually because of the nature of fairy tale style. Often when this happens in a book, it can be annoying as it pulls me out of the story. However, the fact that things did come to be as more-or-less expected instead gave me a sense of fulfillment, not annoyance; for the way that the foreshadowing was done and then fulfilled was true to the style of a fairy tale, while also incorporating more modern themes at the same time. I would say that the content of the fairy tale story did not merely make nods to, but rather gave full-handshakes to modernity. There were elements both of your typical medieval-fantasy setting, but the ideas that went through it – the thoughts of King Richon and Chala and the themes about the nature of magic and man – had a decidedly modern bent to them. This twisting of old and new worked really well I found, as it provided me with a sense of reading a straight-up fairy tale while still fulfilling my desire to see modern ideals of humanity and acceptance represented in a story.
As for the rest of my opinionated comments, well, I’ll leave those scattered throughout the quotes section below, as very specific scenes contributed to specific thoughts and deductions.
Quotes:
For a time [the wild cat] stopped longing for the forest and the life that had been his. He simply enjoyed each moment, for that is the way that a cat is, and every animal. Men might think of the future or the past, but for animals there is only this moment, and then the next one. – page 4
Far easier to be a hound, [the hound thought]. Unless one is not a hound. -- page 44
“[…] And more than that – I worry for their futures.” [The mother said of her three children.]
The bear ached at this thought. He had not known how much he wanted a child until he realized he would never have one. A bear cub would never be a substitute, for it would only remind him of all that it was not. – page 76 – This part threw me briefly out of the story, as it seemed very forced – not much at all like what we know of the bear/King Richon from his tale, from [b: The Princess and the Hound|639197|The Princess and the Hound (The Hound Saga, #1)|Mette Ivie Harrison|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362878264s/639197.jpg|625411], and what we have read of him so far.
[Sharla said gently,] “Only that there is animal magic in all of us, and the more we have of it, the more magic we have. We should seek it out, for it is that which makes us truly alive.” – page 80 – (emphasis added)
The hound did not know how to answer [the man Frant’s question]. Hounds expected death. Humans found it a surprise, as if life could exist without death alongside it, as if all death were the death of unmagic. – page 83
[The wild man continued, “] But I still fight [the unmagic].
“Because while I cannot stop it entirely, I can delay it. With each victory I hold back the power of the unmagic to allow magic for another year, or another century, or two centuries to allow more children to find the happiness that only comes from the play of magic in the forest, more animals to see humans not as enemy but as kin.
“Yet I find myself growing weak.”
[…]
“It is not time for the magic to end,” the wild man continued. “So while I no longer have the strength to leave this place and go to do the work of magic out there”—the wild man waved behind them, down the mountain—“I can still bring those who are necessary to me and use them to help me gain back another decade – or more.” – page 102-103
The bear felt as though he were drowning. She offered him so much of herself, more than he had to give back to her. – page 112 – Kind of a… classic “trope” in romance, if you will, where the woman is willing to give up a lot for a man who feels he is wholly undeserving of her sacrifice and love.
Richon flushed. “I care about [my kingdom]. I care about nothing else.”
Not entirely the truth, but perhaps as much as he was willing to say aloud. That was the way it was with humans. They did not speak the full truth. They held it back always, so they could appear different than they were. – page 124
“You are angry with me?” asked Richon. “Because I was too eager to feed myself first?”
“No, of course not. Why should I be angry with that?” […Richon the boy] had every right to eat what he had caught himself. And no reason to think of her while eating. Another hound certainly would not.
“It was not…chivalrous,” said Richon.
“You need not use those rules with me. I am not a human woman,” said Chala coolly.
“But you are a human woman.” Richon nodded to her body. “Or at least the others will think you are. If I do not treat you well, they will take it as license to treat you badly. And they will not think well of me, either.” – page 139-140 – “Enlightened” Richon! Before his transformation into a bear, I doubt he would have thought of this; but now, it is foremost on his mind as he actively tries to change who and what he is. It is also an echo of how Chala was treated when she was “Princess Beatrice” in King Helm’s castle – the king treated her poorly, and then so too did the nobility.
Also, Chala mentions somewhere how she is about seven seasons old as a hound, and no longer on the young side of life exactly –which means she is roughly 49 years old in human years, while Richon is only about 17 (gained the thrown at 14 and was king for 3 years before being turned into a bear). Since her human body is the equivalent of her hound body – it is her own -- then it would stand to reason that her human body is most likely in her 40s; Richon has 200 years of life in his 17-year-old body. What I found somewhat difficult to reconcile about her age by the end of the book is
“I will come,” said Halee [the girl whose family had animal magic but she did not. …]
“Now!” said the brother impatiently. Then he added, “You’ll never get your magic unless you learn to obey.”
It seemed a cruel thing to Richon to promise the girl something that would never come to her. – page 151 – So it is with anyone who perceives that because they have a certain ability or material object, that they are “better” than someone who does not have it. Also, I wonder if indeed this is a case where the girl will never have magic? I am starting to wonder, if Richon’s parents did both have magic as he seems to be starting to suspect, if he has latent magical abilities too, which he had just suppressed and ignored even if they did already try to make an appearance.
I am a murderer, Richon thought. What must Chala think of him now?
But telling the people of his identity and allowing himself to be punished would not bring back this man’s son. All he could do now was to ensure more men’s sons did not die, either because of their magic or because of the war at the border. And he could work to become a king this town deserved. – page 183 – (emphasis added) Good evidence of how Richon has matured over his two centuries as a bear, and also reminiscent of Prince George’s deductions about how best to serve his people. Sometimes the only way to right wrongs is not in receiving punishment, but in taking action to change the way things are and will be in the future.
Even with the bear [Chala] had been able to see what he felt in his stance, and smell it in his breath. But with this man she was at a loss. – page 190-191 – I found it interesting how for both Chala and Richon, at the beginning they found it much easier to read each other as they were – Richon thought Chala the hound was much more expressive and had every emotion and thought written across her face, but Chala the human woman was less expressive and much more of an enigma. Goes to show how we get accustomed to reading people’s expressions as we first know their form, but change the form and suddenly their facial map also changes?
This was the last thing [Richon] had expected [from a villager]. Anger or jealousy, yes. But pity?
“[The king] did not see how little he ruled the kingdom, I think. He believed he made the laws and the people listened to him. Perhaps those who lived in more far-reaching places believed that, too. But those of us who were near enough the palace—we saw the truth. He was a boy being pulled by a nose ring, like a pig to the slaughter. And he had not the least idea of it.”
“He should have known it. He should have been stronger,” said Richon darkly. “That was his duty, as king.”
The blacksmith sighed. “Yes. We all have our duties and we all fail in them at one time or another. Some fail more than others, I suppose.” He held up his one hand. “And some are given more obstacles to overcome. But I do not blame him. He was used as much as any of us were.” – page 200-201
“Some say it’s those who have the strongest magic who hold it back the most,” said the patch-eyed man. – page 217 – Hmm, I’m thinking Richon will fall into this category, for sure.
“So, the magic is there in us,” said Richon wonderingly, “whether we know of it or not. It is part of us.”
“Or are we part of it?” asked Chala.
“Yes,” said Richon, half smiling. “The closer you are to magic, the more difficult it is to draw the line between what is magic and what is not.” – page 239 – (emphasis added)
Richon nodded. “Because a woman would not be allowed in any army.”
“Why not?” asked Chala. “If she is good enough, would they not welcome another warrior on their side? It would be foolish not to.”
Richon thought of all the reasons that he might give for this. The rules he had learned from boyhood. That a woman, no matter how strong, is not as strong as a man. That the male warriors would be distracted at the sight of a woman. That a woman in an army would cause the men to compete among themselves for her attention. That a woman simply did not belong on the battlefield—that her place was inside the walls of a palace, wearing fine clothes and drinking good wine while the men outside decided what flag she would swear allegiance to.
“Think of the last time you left me behind,” said Chala. “And if you would do that again.”
Richon burned at the memory. Chala had let him wound her very badly, and then had done what she wished to do anyway.
If he tried to do the same here, he did not doubt it would have the same outcome. – page 254-255 – (emphasis added) Once again, a blunt example of modern-day ideals and logic are applicable in a fairy tale/historical setting, whereas the characters (especially the men involved) take an “enlightened” view of the people and situations presented, much as Prince George acted through [b: The Princess and the Hound (The Hound Saga #1)|639197|The Princess and the Hound (The Hound Saga, #1)|Mette Ivie Harrison|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362878264s/639197.jpg|625411]. Also an echo of more classic romance tropes in selected books, where the man intentionally hurts the woman, whether physically or not, and still she continues to follow him.
Still, there had been one man King Seltar had found worthy of a truly terrible punishment. He had been a nobleman who had defiled two young servant girls. – page 287 – This entire passage/story of what the nobleman did, and his immediate punishment as received directly from King Seltar. It brooks no argument, stays no hand, and justice such as it is is swift and irrevocable. In one way, it is the perfect reference for Richon to make in regards to his judgment and punishment of the lord chamberlain, but what’s more is the underlying message from the author to the readers: that this sort of behavior should never be tolerated, and that punishments should be swift and fit the crime with finality. But probably not necessarily that death is the only punishment ever fitting for such a crime, as immediate death for sins committed fits in more with the rules of fairy tale punishments than modern day punishments.
[…] more than one man came to offer his service to Richon, for whatever was needed. Richon directed this man and others back to the palace. He needed people who were loyal to him there, and he did not much care if they had been wellborn or not. He cared that they were good and that they respected animal magic, as he did now. – page 291
Even this pain [pouring her magic into the cat man’s unmagic] was life. She savored it, and pressed that feeling against the cat man. […]
[…] Chala did not regret her choice.
The wonderful new power she had shared with Richon, to change freely from animal to human, had not lasted long, after all. And now she had given it up, not for him or his kingdom but for the future world that would have been threatened by the cat man’s continued existence.
To no longer be a hound, that was a loss she would have to come to accept. But to never be human again, to lose Richon, to return to what she had been – she could never have come to accept that. – page 296-298
[Richon] reached for her hands and looked into her eyes. “I am not a child who is crying for a sweet fallen in the dirt. I have weathered other changes, and I will weather this one. We will weather it together, you and I. And no doubt it will make us stronger and better, whether we wish to be or not.” – page 302 (emphasis added)
This story picks up right where [b: The Princess and the Hound|639197|The Princess and the Hound (The Hound Saga, #1)|Mette Ivie Harrison|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362878264s/639197.jpg|625411] left off, with the bear and the hound hesitant yet constant companions in the woods. While they cannot speak to each other in either the language of the hounds (for the bear does not understand) nor in the language of the bears (for the bear does not speak it), nor even in the human language (for neither can form the words), they are able to read each other’s moods and body language quite well. I did wonder why they did not utilize writing more than they did, as it seems that the hound did learn some written language in her time as Princess Beatrice. They live together in peace, until a cat man comes and begins spreading unmagic in their forest. Unmagic drains and ultimately kills all it touches, and it is spreading in the land. Both the bear and the hound feel it, and when Prince George and Princess Marit are unable to do anything about it, the bear and the hound undertake a journey to find the wild man – the same wild man who turned King Richon into the bear two hundred years prior.
Despite the bear’s best efforts, the hound is with him when he finally reaches the wild man. Through the wild man’s great magic, they are sent back in time to just after King Richon was originally turned into a bear, with the understanding that now King Richon will have to prove himself the king, regain his kingdom, and find and destroy the source of the unmagic in that time.
Ultimately, the story roped me in and did not let me go. This despite how I found it to have a short-term predictability that was also oddly enough fulfilling. From one event to another I could get a general idea of what was going to happen based on the clues the author gives us, usually because of the nature of fairy tale style. Often when this happens in a book, it can be annoying as it pulls me out of the story. However, the fact that things did come to be as more-or-less expected instead gave me a sense of fulfillment, not annoyance; for the way that the foreshadowing was done and then fulfilled was true to the style of a fairy tale, while also incorporating more modern themes at the same time. I would say that the content of the fairy tale story did not merely make nods to, but rather gave full-handshakes to modernity. There were elements both of your typical medieval-fantasy setting, but the ideas that went through it – the thoughts of King Richon and Chala and the themes about the nature of magic and man – had a decidedly modern bent to them. This twisting of old and new worked really well I found, as it provided me with a sense of reading a straight-up fairy tale while still fulfilling my desire to see modern ideals of humanity and acceptance represented in a story.
As for the rest of my opinionated comments, well, I’ll leave those scattered throughout the quotes section below, as very specific scenes contributed to specific thoughts and deductions.
Quotes:
For a time [the wild cat] stopped longing for the forest and the life that had been his. He simply enjoyed each moment, for that is the way that a cat is, and every animal. Men might think of the future or the past, but for animals there is only this moment, and then the next one. – page 4
Far easier to be a hound, [the hound thought]. Unless one is not a hound. -- page 44
“[…] And more than that – I worry for their futures.” [The mother said of her three children.]
The bear ached at this thought. He had not known how much he wanted a child until he realized he would never have one. A bear cub would never be a substitute, for it would only remind him of all that it was not. – page 76 – This part threw me briefly out of the story, as it seemed very forced – not much at all like what we know of the bear/King Richon from his tale, from [b: The Princess and the Hound|639197|The Princess and the Hound (The Hound Saga, #1)|Mette Ivie Harrison|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362878264s/639197.jpg|625411], and what we have read of him so far.
[Sharla said gently,] “Only that there is animal magic in all of us, and the more we have of it, the more magic we have. We should seek it out, for it is that which makes us truly alive.” – page 80 – (emphasis added)
The hound did not know how to answer [the man Frant’s question]. Hounds expected death. Humans found it a surprise, as if life could exist without death alongside it, as if all death were the death of unmagic. – page 83
[The wild man continued, “] But I still fight [the unmagic].
“Because while I cannot stop it entirely, I can delay it. With each victory I hold back the power of the unmagic to allow magic for another year, or another century, or two centuries to allow more children to find the happiness that only comes from the play of magic in the forest, more animals to see humans not as enemy but as kin.
“Yet I find myself growing weak.”
[…]
“It is not time for the magic to end,” the wild man continued. “So while I no longer have the strength to leave this place and go to do the work of magic out there”—the wild man waved behind them, down the mountain—“I can still bring those who are necessary to me and use them to help me gain back another decade – or more.” – page 102-103
Spoiler
But [the hound] was already speaking. “Send me as a woman, for then we will be able to share far more than we do now. And in understanding him, I will be able to help him more.”The bear felt as though he were drowning. She offered him so much of herself, more than he had to give back to her. – page 112 – Kind of a… classic “trope” in romance, if you will, where the woman is willing to give up a lot for a man who feels he is wholly undeserving of her sacrifice and love.
Richon flushed. “I care about [my kingdom]. I care about nothing else.”
Not entirely the truth, but perhaps as much as he was willing to say aloud. That was the way it was with humans. They did not speak the full truth. They held it back always, so they could appear different than they were. – page 124
“You are angry with me?” asked Richon. “Because I was too eager to feed myself first?”
“No, of course not. Why should I be angry with that?” […Richon the boy] had every right to eat what he had caught himself. And no reason to think of her while eating. Another hound certainly would not.
“It was not…chivalrous,” said Richon.
“You need not use those rules with me. I am not a human woman,” said Chala coolly.
“But you are a human woman.” Richon nodded to her body. “Or at least the others will think you are. If I do not treat you well, they will take it as license to treat you badly. And they will not think well of me, either.” – page 139-140 – “Enlightened” Richon! Before his transformation into a bear, I doubt he would have thought of this; but now, it is foremost on his mind as he actively tries to change who and what he is. It is also an echo of how Chala was treated when she was “Princess Beatrice” in King Helm’s castle – the king treated her poorly, and then so too did the nobility.
Also, Chala mentions somewhere how she is about seven seasons old as a hound, and no longer on the young side of life exactly –which means she is roughly 49 years old in human years, while Richon is only about 17 (gained the thrown at 14 and was king for 3 years before being turned into a bear). Since her human body is the equivalent of her hound body – it is her own -- then it would stand to reason that her human body is most likely in her 40s; Richon has 200 years of life in his 17-year-old body. What I found somewhat difficult to reconcile about her age by the end of the book is
Spoiler
that in the epilogue, it says that Richon and Chala ruled “happily for many years,” and they found a “young woman” named Halee to take over for them. Given those descriptions and being generous, I would guess that they ruled for around 25 years, putting Halee somewhere in her 30s, Richon about 42, and therefore Chala about 65 or so. I don’t so much have any problems with their ages themselves, but in how things worked out time-wise for them. We are not given any visible indications that they have aged, and they sound much like the people they were at the “end” of the story; plus, there is the wild man (who seems curiously aged given that Richon and Chala went back in time – maybe on his mountain, time flows differently, and on this final visit they stepped into the wild man’s future?) not only giving Chala his magic, but also saying that she will be able to have a child when the time is right. This sounds rather like the story of Abram and Sarah in the Bible, where Sarah was well-past child bearing age, but God granted her a child in her old age – I draw this correlation for the similarity, but also that Ms. Harrison also has a series, “Linda Wallheim Mystery” which follows a devout Mormon woman/mother/and wife of a bishop – which seems like it has a heavy religious influence. Back to topic, given all of that, the ages and ageing of Richon and Chala just seemed strange, and a bit too fluid, even considering that they had gone back in time by grace of magic.“I will come,” said Halee [the girl whose family had animal magic but she did not. …]
“Now!” said the brother impatiently. Then he added, “You’ll never get your magic unless you learn to obey.”
It seemed a cruel thing to Richon to promise the girl something that would never come to her. – page 151 – So it is with anyone who perceives that because they have a certain ability or material object, that they are “better” than someone who does not have it. Also, I wonder if indeed this is a case where the girl will never have magic? I am starting to wonder, if Richon’s parents did both have magic as he seems to be starting to suspect, if he has latent magical abilities too, which he had just suppressed and ignored even if they did already try to make an appearance.
I am a murderer, Richon thought. What must Chala think of him now?
But telling the people of his identity and allowing himself to be punished would not bring back this man’s son. All he could do now was to ensure more men’s sons did not die, either because of their magic or because of the war at the border. And he could work to become a king this town deserved. – page 183 – (emphasis added) Good evidence of how Richon has matured over his two centuries as a bear, and also reminiscent of Prince George’s deductions about how best to serve his people. Sometimes the only way to right wrongs is not in receiving punishment, but in taking action to change the way things are and will be in the future.
Even with the bear [Chala] had been able to see what he felt in his stance, and smell it in his breath. But with this man she was at a loss. – page 190-191 – I found it interesting how for both Chala and Richon, at the beginning they found it much easier to read each other as they were – Richon thought Chala the hound was much more expressive and had every emotion and thought written across her face, but Chala the human woman was less expressive and much more of an enigma. Goes to show how we get accustomed to reading people’s expressions as we first know their form, but change the form and suddenly their facial map also changes?
This was the last thing [Richon] had expected [from a villager]. Anger or jealousy, yes. But pity?
“[The king] did not see how little he ruled the kingdom, I think. He believed he made the laws and the people listened to him. Perhaps those who lived in more far-reaching places believed that, too. But those of us who were near enough the palace—we saw the truth. He was a boy being pulled by a nose ring, like a pig to the slaughter. And he had not the least idea of it.”
“He should have known it. He should have been stronger,” said Richon darkly. “That was his duty, as king.”
The blacksmith sighed. “Yes. We all have our duties and we all fail in them at one time or another. Some fail more than others, I suppose.” He held up his one hand. “And some are given more obstacles to overcome. But I do not blame him. He was used as much as any of us were.” – page 200-201
“Some say it’s those who have the strongest magic who hold it back the most,” said the patch-eyed man. – page 217 – Hmm, I’m thinking Richon will fall into this category, for sure.
“So, the magic is there in us,” said Richon wonderingly, “whether we know of it or not. It is part of us.”
“Or are we part of it?” asked Chala.
“Yes,” said Richon, half smiling. “The closer you are to magic, the more difficult it is to draw the line between what is magic and what is not.” – page 239 – (emphasis added)
Richon nodded. “Because a woman would not be allowed in any army.”
“Why not?” asked Chala. “If she is good enough, would they not welcome another warrior on their side? It would be foolish not to.”
Richon thought of all the reasons that he might give for this. The rules he had learned from boyhood. That a woman, no matter how strong, is not as strong as a man. That the male warriors would be distracted at the sight of a woman. That a woman in an army would cause the men to compete among themselves for her attention. That a woman simply did not belong on the battlefield—that her place was inside the walls of a palace, wearing fine clothes and drinking good wine while the men outside decided what flag she would swear allegiance to.
“Think of the last time you left me behind,” said Chala. “And if you would do that again.”
Richon burned at the memory. Chala had let him wound her very badly, and then had done what she wished to do anyway.
If he tried to do the same here, he did not doubt it would have the same outcome. – page 254-255 – (emphasis added) Once again, a blunt example of modern-day ideals and logic are applicable in a fairy tale/historical setting, whereas the characters (especially the men involved) take an “enlightened” view of the people and situations presented, much as Prince George acted through [b: The Princess and the Hound (The Hound Saga #1)|639197|The Princess and the Hound (The Hound Saga, #1)|Mette Ivie Harrison|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362878264s/639197.jpg|625411]. Also an echo of more classic romance tropes in selected books, where the man intentionally hurts the woman, whether physically or not, and still she continues to follow him.
Still, there had been one man King Seltar had found worthy of a truly terrible punishment. He had been a nobleman who had defiled two young servant girls. – page 287 – This entire passage/story of what the nobleman did, and his immediate punishment as received directly from King Seltar. It brooks no argument, stays no hand, and justice such as it is is swift and irrevocable. In one way, it is the perfect reference for Richon to make in regards to his judgment and punishment of the lord chamberlain, but what’s more is the underlying message from the author to the readers: that this sort of behavior should never be tolerated, and that punishments should be swift and fit the crime with finality. But probably not necessarily that death is the only punishment ever fitting for such a crime, as immediate death for sins committed fits in more with the rules of fairy tale punishments than modern day punishments.
[…] more than one man came to offer his service to Richon, for whatever was needed. Richon directed this man and others back to the palace. He needed people who were loyal to him there, and he did not much care if they had been wellborn or not. He cared that they were good and that they respected animal magic, as he did now. – page 291
Even this pain [pouring her magic into the cat man’s unmagic] was life. She savored it, and pressed that feeling against the cat man. […]
[…] Chala did not regret her choice.
The wonderful new power she had shared with Richon, to change freely from animal to human, had not lasted long, after all. And now she had given it up, not for him or his kingdom but for the future world that would have been threatened by the cat man’s continued existence.
To no longer be a hound, that was a loss she would have to come to accept. But to never be human again, to lose Richon, to return to what she had been – she could never have come to accept that. – page 296-298
[Richon] reached for her hands and looked into her eyes. “I am not a child who is crying for a sweet fallen in the dirt. I have weathered other changes, and I will weather this one. We will weather it together, you and I. And no doubt it will make us stronger and better, whether we wish to be or not.” – page 302 (emphasis added)
Sequel to Princess and the Hound, this tells the story of the bear (aka King Richon) and the hound. They travel back in time to battle the unmagic.
This was an interesting book. I did enjoy it, but not nearly as much as the first one. I struggled a bit with the storyline - they traveled backward in time, but in the process they kind of eliminated some of the key issues in the first book, so how does that work?
I will read the third one when it comes out, though: The Princess and the Snowbird.
This was an interesting book. I did enjoy it, but not nearly as much as the first one. I struggled a bit with the storyline - they traveled backward in time, but in the process they kind of eliminated some of the key issues in the first book, so how does that work?
I will read the third one when it comes out, though: The Princess and the Snowbird.
I didn’t really like this book. The introduction was just too long and it took forever for anything to happen. I also had a lot of trouble with the way the characters were referred to in the story. Just wasn’t really a book for me. I think I read the first one forever ago when my book preferences were different.
My reviews of the first three books in this series are all kind of related, so check out the others as well!
(2/3)
The Princess and the Bear had a much more serious tone and that turned it into a darker fairytale than the first book. I enjoyed it just as much, however, and enjoyed the journey and the mysteries perhaps even more. The love story in this book is my favorite. I love the relationship between the two, the trust (and the fixing of the mistrusts) and their never-ending wish to keep the other safe and out of harm's way. This book, I think more so than the others, whisks the reader into the story more than the other two.
(2/3)
The Princess and the Bear had a much more serious tone and that turned it into a darker fairytale than the first book. I enjoyed it just as much, however, and enjoyed the journey and the mysteries perhaps even more. The love story in this book is my favorite. I love the relationship between the two, the trust (and the fixing of the mistrusts) and their never-ending wish to keep the other safe and out of harm's way. This book, I think more so than the others, whisks the reader into the story more than the other two.
I really did enjoy this book, but I felt that it somehow just shy of how great the first book was. I am looking forward to the third book in the trilogy. I do have to say that I enjoyed the love story between Richon and Chala more so than Marit and George.
I'm giving this book a Clear 3.5 stars because while it did have some very interesting concepts and happenings, and I did really enjoy coming back to the Hound and her new Bear companion, I found myself feeling bored, and untethered to the world. I found myself questioning why things tied up so suddenly at the end, with no hinting or foreshadowing in any clever way before the end!
The things I did find very interesting were not always given their full breadth to explore, and we were quickly moved along to the next scene / interaction, which was probably my problem with this book.
And infact, I would have LOVED to know more about some things. I appreciate the character development and growth, but DAMN!!!
(Vague Spoilers for a Relationship within the book)
I won't say not to read this book however. I do recommend if you liked the first book, read this one too, atleast for the sake of getting bigger concepts in mind, but maybe that's just me.
I do not know if I will continue the series only because it is so hard to find any further books in physical forms, but this was still an enjoyable read, and I will say that Mette Ivie Harrison did a good job at showing how people can change and acknowledge their wrong doings and genuinely can want to become better versions of themselves.
The things I did find very interesting were not always given their full breadth to explore, and we were quickly moved along to the next scene / interaction, which was probably my problem with this book.
And infact, I would have LOVED to know more about some things. I appreciate the character development and growth, but DAMN!!!
(Vague Spoilers for a Relationship within the book)
Spoiler
I feel the Hound was done dirty for like. The majority of this book. And while I could obviously see the little bit of chemistry the Hound and Bear had between one another, it felt like I was being TOLD what to see or think or feel. It felt like I was suddenly being told 'They cannot part with one another, they love eachother so much', and I felt there wasn't much actually happening between them to warrant these intensive feelings besides that they both have experience being something they are not, and only in that otherness could they bond together.I won't say not to read this book however. I do recommend if you liked the first book, read this one too, atleast for the sake of getting bigger concepts in mind, but maybe that's just me.
I do not know if I will continue the series only because it is so hard to find any further books in physical forms, but this was still an enjoyable read, and I will say that Mette Ivie Harrison did a good job at showing how people can change and acknowledge their wrong doings and genuinely can want to become better versions of themselves.
This is the sequel to The Princess and the Hound, but it is more like a companion story. I loved this one even more than the original book. The visualization and character development is full of color. The plot is dark like a true Grimm's Fairytail. I can't wait to read The Princess and the Snowbird.