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A review by lizshayne
The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Fascinating to have a new voice reading Bujold (not that Grover Gardner hasn't grown on me....)
I remembered this book as the "not as good as the others" book, although the more I spend time with it, the more I wonder how much that's because Ingrey—unlike Caz, Penric, and Ista—is not very much like Miles or Cordelia. He is, if anyone, Aral coming out of that disastrous first marriage, and that's not entirely a brain to want to be in. (Yes, yes, I know, Bujold's characters are distinct individuals and she draws them very well, but she also does rather have a type. And so do I—I keep coming back to them don't I?)
The Weald, the blood, the fierceness of the story makes for interesting bedfellows when it was just the two Chalion books, but with a decology of Pen and Des by it's side, Ingrey begins to make a lot more sense and the larger concerns that haunt Bujold's work come more to the fore.
- What does it mean to serve your god? What is service and what is asked of us by our gods?
- What does it mean to be a parent or king, to be responsible to others unto death and beyond?
- What do we owe, what can be demanded of us, how much can we give?
All the Five Gods books are circling around this question of what the characters can give to their gods and what they can become if they choose to do so?
They are all also DEEPLY in conversation with חסד של אמת, the true kindness, meaning the kindness we show the dead when kindness can no longer be repaid. All of these books are, in their own way, about what we owe those who are gone.
I have at least one essay in me on the Torah of the Five Gods, we'll see if I ever write it.
I'm really glad I came back to this book.
I remembered this book as the "not as good as the others" book, although the more I spend time with it, the more I wonder how much that's because Ingrey—unlike Caz, Penric, and Ista—is not very much like Miles or Cordelia. He is, if anyone, Aral coming out of that disastrous first marriage, and that's not entirely a brain to want to be in. (Yes, yes, I know, Bujold's characters are distinct individuals and she draws them very well, but she also does rather have a type. And so do I—I keep coming back to them don't I?)
The Weald, the blood, the fierceness of the story makes for interesting bedfellows when it was just the two Chalion books, but with a decology of Pen and Des by it's side, Ingrey begins to make a lot more sense and the larger concerns that haunt Bujold's work come more to the fore.
- What does it mean to serve your god? What is service and what is asked of us by our gods?
- What does it mean to be a parent or king, to be responsible to others unto death and beyond?
- What do we owe, what can be demanded of us, how much can we give?
All the Five Gods books are circling around this question of what the characters can give to their gods and what they can become if they choose to do so?
They are all also DEEPLY in conversation with חסד של אמת, the true kindness, meaning the kindness we show the dead when kindness can no longer be repaid. All of these books are, in their own way, about what we owe those who are gone.
I have at least one essay in me on the Torah of the Five Gods, we'll see if I ever write it.
I'm really glad I came back to this book.