What do you think?
Rate this book
Hilda the Wicked Witch #3
Hilda - The Challenge
Hilda the Witch worries about a challenge, set forth to her by a powerful sorcerer. Help comes from a very unexpected side...
- GenresFantasyNovelsParanormal
433 pages, Nook
First published December 11, 2010
About the author
Paul Kater
109 books45 followersPaul Kater was born in the Netherlands in 1960. He quickly developed a feel for languages but did not pursue a career in those as his native language, Dutch, did not offer many options in that time.
After learning far too much about computers he started to make a living with them. During all that time he always wrote short stories, little things to entertain family and friends and also himself with.
Since 2003 he's been writing more seriously, first posting his scribblings on an amateur writer's mailing list, and then publishing shorter and longer stories on the internet. Due to the international character of the Internet, all Paul's stories so far are written in English. The best known books he wrote are the Hilda the Wicked Witch series.
Paul currently lives in Cuijk, in the Netherlands, with his books and the many characters he's developed in the past years, who claim he is a figment of their imagination.
After learning far too much about computers he started to make a living with them. During all that time he always wrote short stories, little things to entertain family and friends and also himself with.
Since 2003 he's been writing more seriously, first posting his scribblings on an amateur writer's mailing list, and then publishing shorter and longer stories on the internet. Due to the international character of the Internet, all Paul's stories so far are written in English. The best known books he wrote are the Hilda the Wicked Witch series.
Paul currently lives in Cuijk, in the Netherlands, with his books and the many characters he's developed in the past years, who claim he is a figment of their imagination.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 1, 2011
The third in the series, this book is a full-length novel with all the works. It's a rather big step from the two short books preceding it but just like them, this is also a light read.
It talks about the adventures of Hilda the wicked witch and her lover William, an ordinary man who turned into a wizard.
With seven Harry Potter books stacked somewhere at the back of my mind, I couldn't help but recall them while I got fascinated with Hilda. They have totally different story lines though. Being free, I'd say it was very entertaining and definitely worth every hour I spent reading.
It talks about the adventures of Hilda the wicked witch and her lover William, an ordinary man who turned into a wizard.
With seven Harry Potter books stacked somewhere at the back of my mind, I couldn't help but recall them while I got fascinated with Hilda. They have totally different story lines though. Being free, I'd say it was very entertaining and definitely worth every hour I spent reading.
September 14, 2011
Book 3 really was a great story. I had trouble with #1 and #2 became quite interesting. This one had a better storyline and kept it interesting. Can't wait to read book 4.
August 17, 2024
All of this series gets the same review, because they are equally very fun reads, like cotton candy or a fluff blanket. A few niggles concern the translation: one issue is the use of "snip" for the snapping of fingers. However, even this quirk is endearing. Hilda is an absolutely marvelous character. I would love to be part of her circle!! Both William and the house are excellent supporting characters. Gotta love a sentient house. Loved this series so completely; I own 13 of them. The stories pull from fairy tales in completely innovative and unique ways. I highly recommend.
May 6, 2021
What is the true challenge?
Author freebie. Suitable for teens and adults. I made an oopsie. I bought this years ago and forgot to read it.it's quite a good entry in the series and quite entertaining. Grimhilda the witch deals with William the witch and lamadar the sorcerer. Victory is hers.
Author freebie. Suitable for teens and adults. I made an oopsie. I bought this years ago and forgot to read it.it's quite a good entry in the series and quite entertaining. Grimhilda the witch deals with William the witch and lamadar the sorcerer. Victory is hers.
July 7, 2019
Despite the amount of romance that I usually shy away from, I loved the book. <3
January 17, 2015
Paul Kater: Hilda: The Challenge
As I have enjoyed the first two books in this series, I was looking forward to and set on enjoying this book as well. Alas, I did not enjoy it at all. It went on far too long and I found myself wanting to jump ahead at several points in the process. While I enjoy what the author was trying to do, (build up the story with William,) at least a good one third to two thirds of it could have been chopped. Those parts added nothing to the story at all. It felt like it was the same story, second verse. The author could have cut all those repeating stories out and focused on the “challenge,” but because of all this extra filler, the plot got bogged down and I lost the thread several times. Also, the book I read had a lot of typos and grammatical errors. These don’t normally bother me, but by the way the book was written, the dialog used, it was frustrating and confusing at times.
Once the real plot of the story started to shine through it became much more enjoyable. I read this book, because I don’t like to read books out of order, and I have three or more books in this series that I have that I want to read. Thankfully, those books are about less than a half the length of this one. I think if I didn’t have those books waiting for me, I would not have finished this book, and that’s a real shame, because Hilda is an awesome wicked witch, and William is a good character to explore.
As I have enjoyed the first two books in this series, I was looking forward to and set on enjoying this book as well. Alas, I did not enjoy it at all. It went on far too long and I found myself wanting to jump ahead at several points in the process. While I enjoy what the author was trying to do, (build up the story with William,) at least a good one third to two thirds of it could have been chopped. Those parts added nothing to the story at all. It felt like it was the same story, second verse. The author could have cut all those repeating stories out and focused on the “challenge,” but because of all this extra filler, the plot got bogged down and I lost the thread several times. Also, the book I read had a lot of typos and grammatical errors. These don’t normally bother me, but by the way the book was written, the dialog used, it was frustrating and confusing at times.
Once the real plot of the story started to shine through it became much more enjoyable. I read this book, because I don’t like to read books out of order, and I have three or more books in this series that I have that I want to read. Thankfully, those books are about less than a half the length of this one. I think if I didn’t have those books waiting for me, I would not have finished this book, and that’s a real shame, because Hilda is an awesome wicked witch, and William is a good character to explore.
October 1, 2012
Hilda has received a challange - to the death - from a powerful wizard - the Great Lamador. She knows she is in big trouble. Frustrated, she yells out to the mountains that she needs help. William, who helped Hilda get home once, finds himself pulled from the road he's driving. Then - crash. He and Hilda recognize each other from 5 years ago. She cannot just leave him there but the last thing she needs right now is an ordinary in her care. Hilda takes him to her house. She is somewhat surprised when her best friend, Baba Yaga, states William must be here to help Hilda with the challenge. Then strange things start to happen. William starts performing magic!
This third book in the Hilda series is great. And easier reading (in the first two books in the series the English seems a little awkward, phrasing etc). If you are a person whose mind cannot correct a few glitches now and then, you may find the series a little tricky. If you're ready to be entertained and amused, get reading!
This third book in the Hilda series is great. And easier reading (in the first two books in the series the English seems a little awkward, phrasing etc). If you are a person whose mind cannot correct a few glitches now and then, you may find the series a little tricky. If you're ready to be entertained and amused, get reading!
December 16, 2011
And there it is - full sized Hilda novel. And William's back. This time it's he who gets transported to Hilda's world. At first he really wants to go back. Who wouldn't? I bet most of us thinks how fun it would be to get into one of those books we're reading. But then there's usually the part of a book that doesn't sound too pleasant.
But let's get back to this story. Hilda, leading her normal wicked life, gets a challenge from one nasty and annoying wizard. She doesn't like it. From some reason she's actually scared of him. Luckily she won't be alone. William - in his world a simple book seller - somehow starts to do magic. What's more interesting - it's not a magic Hilda or anyone in her world can sense. With some Hilda-like training and Will's unconventional thinking they will find a way to face Lamador.
This book was great! Again full of humor and funny situations. Hilda, William and Babs are all great characters.
But let's get back to this story. Hilda, leading her normal wicked life, gets a challenge from one nasty and annoying wizard. She doesn't like it. From some reason she's actually scared of him. Luckily she won't be alone. William - in his world a simple book seller - somehow starts to do magic. What's more interesting - it's not a magic Hilda or anyone in her world can sense. With some Hilda-like training and Will's unconventional thinking they will find a way to face Lamador.
This book was great! Again full of humor and funny situations. Hilda, William and Babs are all great characters.
January 7, 2012
This is book 3 in the series and was much longer than the first two. At first I was worried about this, because I have read series books before where the author tries to go back and "enhance" the character in a later book and it ends up being too much filler and like a re-invention.
I am happy to report that Paul Kater wrote book 3 without having that problem. I was pleased with how much I learned to adore Hilda in this book. Also, I was so happy to see William return from book 1. Hilda comes to life and gains human character in book 3. Plenty of humor bounces around and kept me smiling and sometimes even laughing out loud. The irony of fairytale land and earth world phrases and concepts being thrown together is just ingenious at every turn.
The truth is that this book is much less about the Challenge but more about Hilda's "becoming." The author flawlessly executes this without re-creating her character.
I am happy to report that Paul Kater wrote book 3 without having that problem. I was pleased with how much I learned to adore Hilda in this book. Also, I was so happy to see William return from book 1. Hilda comes to life and gains human character in book 3. Plenty of humor bounces around and kept me smiling and sometimes even laughing out loud. The irony of fairytale land and earth world phrases and concepts being thrown together is just ingenious at every turn.
The truth is that this book is much less about the Challenge but more about Hilda's "becoming." The author flawlessly executes this without re-creating her character.
November 19, 2011
I really enjoyed this book. The series leading up to this was enjoyable as well, but if pressed to pick a favorite at this stage I would definitely pick this one. I never would have thought I would so thoroughly support the wicked witch in any story, however Paul Kater has easily made her quite a loveable character. The only reason I can't see my way to giving this five stars is the few language mistakes throughout that do somewhat distract while reading it. The author is by no means bad at english, and this is very readable. There are a few mistakes in phrasing that are confusing at first until you stop and think about what was really meant at that point. The story and characters more than make up for this and I would recommend this entire series to anyone.
May 13, 2012
I have been reading all of the "Hilda" books by Mr. Kater this summer! I started with "The Challenge" and moved on from there. These books just make me smile! They're unique and while sometimes the typo's and grammarical errors sort of bugged me, sometimes I think they may have been intentional to convey a different native style of speech. But since it didn't seem to be consistent it was probably just errors. But, even so, all of the books were fun little reads.
Keep Hilda coming!
Keep Hilda coming!
February 8, 2013
Soooo much better than book one! I have two issues with it. The first is that it is wayyyyyy to long. Over 400 pages is a lot. A lot happens but I think alot could have been cut to make it a shorter, sleeker book. The second thing is that some on the phrases and expressions the author uses don't make sense. I'm assuming this is because of translating or editing. It just gets to be some what distracting while reading the story.
October 26, 2011
The best romance I have read this year. By that, I mean that it is sweet, bitchy and not vulgar. I hope Kindle makes more of the Hilda series available.
It is also silly. I like silly.
The Hilda series is my Halloween choice for 2011.
It is also silly. I like silly.
The Hilda series is my Halloween choice for 2011.
November 25, 2011
I think I prefer the short stories. Parts of the story dragged and it felt too long to get to the challenge.
February 14, 2012
I enjoyed the full-length novel expanding Hilda's world. It was great to see William back from the first book.
Read
September 6, 2012I love this series!!!!
January 16, 2013
Not the quick read of the first two, but still cute
May 12, 2013
Fun, humorous read. Had to read this, given I married a Dutch woman, Hilda!
October 17, 2016
Another hilarious instalment in this wonderful series. Anyone who enjoys Pratchett's Discworld series is bound to love it.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews