The Huntsman's Amulet

Society of the Sword #2

by Duncan M. Hamilton

Alone in a foreign land, Soren must come to terms with loss and a gift that has been as much a burden as a benefit.


A long abandoned city may hold the answers he seeks about the Gift of Grace, but a lethal assassin proves that old enemies have not forgotten him.


As misfortune pulls him ever farther from an unsettled score, he finds hope in an unexpected place…


The Huntsman's Amulet follows The Tattered Banner and is the second part of the Society of the Sword trilogy.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Fiction, Magic, Adventure, Epic Fantasy, Action

ebook

First published November 20, 2013

About the author

Hi, thanks for visiting my page. I’m Duncan, a fantasy and science fiction author from Ireland. I love to blend my passion for Medieval and Renaissance history with the freedom of fantasy environments to create fast paced heroic fantasy adventures with compelling characters and high stakes—exactly the types of stories that I love to read, so I hope you’ll like them too.

You can find more of my online hangouts and my work at the links below. Don’t forget to sign up for my news letter if you want to keep up to date on all my news and new releases!



I’m delighted to announce my most recent trilogy with Tor, Dragonslayer - a heroic fantasy tale about redemption, revenge, and megalomania. Oh, and dragons. Plenty of dragons! The entire trilogy - Dragonslayer, Knight of the Silver Circle, and Servant of the Crown - is now out in the wild, and available to purchase. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.



My next trilogy is already well under way, and I've a couple of new projects that occur in different worlds (and genres!) that I'm very excited about, and hope to start releasing this coming Spring 2021.If that’s too long to wait, then please check out my other books, all of which are currently available!

Society of the Sword



The Tattered Banner was one of Buzzfeed's 12 Greatest Fantasy Books of 2013!

In a world where magic is outlawed, ability with a sword is prized above all else. For Soren this means the chance to live out his dreams.

Plucked from a life of poverty, he is given a coveted place at Ostenheim's Academy of Swordsmanship, an opportunity beyond belief.

Opportunity is not always what it seems however, and gifts rarely come without conditions. Soren becomes an unwitting pawn in a game of intrigue and treachery that could cost him not just his dreams, but also his life.

Wolf of the North



It has been generations since the Northlands have seen a hero worthy of the title. Many have made the claim, but few have lived to defend it. Timid, weak, and bullied, Wulfric is as unlikely a candidate as there could be.

A chance encounter with an ancient and mysterious object awakens a latent gift, and Wulfric’s life changes course. Against a backdrop of war, tragedy, and an enemy whose hatred for him knows no bounds, Wulfric will be forged from a young boy, into the Wolf of the North. This is his tale.

If that’s not enough, I’ve a standalone novel, and some shorter work to give you a taste of what I write. You can get a free digital copy of the Marcher Lord if you sign up for my news letter!

Reviews

[Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was far worse than the first. It's a long a boring tale of the MC looking all over creation for a literal whore he is infatuated with. Nothing. Happens. ugh

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man these are a great fun read. Tons of action throughout and a fast paced story. Very enjoyable & Very recommended

[Pauline Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

That difficult middle book of the trilogy? Nope, no problem. Just send the hero off in a different direction altogether, with a bit of seafaring and... pirates! What could be better than chasing around the oceans, with a sea battle and a storm and... and... You can probably fill in some of the blanks here. Very little of this took me by surprise, but that doesn’t make it any less of an enjoyable romp.

The plot is, in many ways, a choppier affair than in ‘The Tattered Banner’. Main character Soren starts off looking for missing girlfriend Alessandra, then gets distracted by a search to find out more about his Gift (the mysterious power that overtakes him during a fight and makes him super-fast). That thread ends abruptly, and then a storm at sea leaves his ship vulnerable to pirate slave-traders, when that is resolved he falls in with an old acquaintance and sets off after the pirate... and so on. This kind of episodic story has some advantages, and there’s never a dull moment, but it does feel sometimes as if Soren is passively being pushed around by events. He ends up bouncing around all over the place, like a glorified travelogue of his world, and while the places he visits are interesting in themselves, the speed with which he hops from one to another, and the ease with which problems are solved, dulls the impact.

The most interesting place, to my mind, was the mysterious island in the centre of the ocean where there are the remains of a great city. The place is tainted with magic, so it’s dangerous to visit, and the peculiar and foreboding atmosphere of it is conveyed very well. But then, it becomes unexpectedly easy and frankly an excuse for a big info-dump, so in the end it’s a bit of a let-down.

The rest of the book is a giant boys-own adventure, with regular outings for Soren’s talent with a sword. In the first book, the fights, and the outbreaks of magic that accompanied them, were a highlight. Here much of the awesomeness is lost and the fights become rather mundane, as Soren tries to gain full control of his power so that it doesn’t overwhelm him. And it has to be said that the sheer number of times the swords come out makes this aspect of the book repetitious.

If this makes it sounds as if I was disappointed, well, perhaps I was, just a little. I would have liked more of the magic, more of the mind-blowing Gift-infused moments like the Belek battle in the first book (which remains an unforgettable image, still vivid in my mind), more times when things went wrong and I was taken by surprise. Everything was just a tad too easy and predictable. On the other hand, this was a cracking action-adventure, elegantly written and enjoyable from first to last, with no problems picking up the threads of the story from book 1, and no sign of middle-book doldrums. Four stars.

[Christopher Qualls · Rating 1 out of 5]

Garbage.

Deviates greatly from the real story.

The character rarely encounters anything of a challenge--he just floats through the story.

Poor writing.

Poor story.

Self indulgent.

Boring.

Still a better love story than twilight.

[Soo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars for Story, 4 Stars for Narration by Derek Perkins = 3.5 Stars

Mini-Review:

The swashbuckling story goes to sea! There were a few unexpected twists that made me smile in delight for the story development. This is definitely a fun story to share with kids.

I had hoped for more background on the magic angle and got it. Just enough to flesh out some details but not enough to answer all questions. A good mix.

This book did have the trilogy feel by not having a solid ending but it wasn't in a manner that detracts from the overall tale. Last book on the horizon! Let's see if all the knots end up getting tied up nice and neat.

[Nicua · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first book in the volume and I also enjoyed this book immensely. Soren is a very likeable character; strong, very relateable and has the strengths and weaknesses that make us human. I enjoy accompanying him on his journey and adventures, seeing where Duncan has taken this story as the tale continues. Soren finds himself alone in a new, unfamiliar land, he has experienced loss, fear, betrayal and now he must continue.
He holds a gift that has great power, but who knows what the rest of his story will be as he has to face new challenges, new fears and many more experiences that will test all he has learned from his beginning as a street rat to his education and ability.
Duncan is a brilliant writer who really knows how to capture the reader's attention and hold it. His explanations are spot-on and the feel of the story has a unique feel to it, you are not quite sure what is on the other side of the page. I was left wondering and a bit confused that some questions were not answered, but I am relying on the next book to clear some things up!
I am looking forward to the next book in the series as well as continuing Soren's journey with him.

[Steve Naylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3.5 stars.

The rating for this book is a little lower than the last book. This book felt more like just another chapter in a much larger book. Which in essence it really is, since I got the entire trilogy on audible.com for the price of one book. Soren is off to look for the woman he loves. He just barely escaped execution in the first book, so while he searches for his lost love, he has to worry that assassins are on his trail. While doing this he is also trying to learn more about his special ability - the gift of grace. There was not as much action in this book. He went many places and a lot of things happened to him, everything in this story revolved around him finding answers about his gift and his woman.

[LJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book two does not skip a beat in this well written, smartly paced series. Duncan Hamilton manages to thread the needle, ever so skillfully, by developing characters in his gifted writing, complete with unexpected, tragic, yet, inspirational events that are very specific and integral to this epic series. The discoveries are emotional, tragic and yet continue to be inspiring. Onto book three as this series continues to thrill, engage and inspire, again work exceedingly well done, Thank you, Duncan Hamilton, work well done.

[Miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.49☆

[Blaise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not at all where I thought the story would go. Not a huge fan of the story but enjoyable to an extent. Need to see how the story ends

[Lucia · Rating 4 out of 5]

audiobook 4*

[James Tomasino · Rating 2 out of 5]

See my review of The Tattered Banner

[Levi Dykstra · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is a book, nothing stands out, things happened. parts were interesting, other parts not. 2.5 stars. just kind of meh😐

[Muhammad Gibran · Rating 3 out of 5]

finally some mage show up. this book feel kinda short and long at the same time. 

[Joshua Tamayo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I keep struggling with this because the world intrigues me, but the writing really is that bad. Another 1 star, and I won't be returning to this author again.

[Himanshu Modi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Series Review: The series started with a lot of promise. It does not quite hook you the way the best "series" do, where you know you are in for a long-winded adventure and even look forward to it. Still, the poor, wretched, underdog who is invariably going to master his domain and vanquish baddies is a theme that can have enough twists to be fun.

Unfortunately, the series plays out like a video game story, in which the hero is plodding on from one stage to the next till he reaches a boss fight with a lackluster story in between stages. The world-building is all right. I will grant Hamilton that. It's no Wheel of Time, but then neither is this series a 14000 page tome. For the scope and volume of the story, the world building is not bad, even if it's all feels a little dumbed down.

It's the story itself however - both the plot and the structure - that makes it a really, really boring read. First of all, Soren - the protagonist, the swashbuckling swordsman, is what he is because of a "Fount" which makes him as special as he is. That irritated me the same as it irritated me when Bourne legacy suggested Jason Bourne was what he was because of a pill. The "gift" that Soren had, would at least have been a useful device if there were more people who had it. In the whole of the series, there's only one random assassin dude who has it. So basically Soren was overpowered for every single fight that happens in the book. In some instances, he is so overpowered, that he kills people accidentally. Except for that one assassin, who gets killed with lesser difficulty than a subsequent assassin who doesn't have the gift. That second assassin was more difficult to kill because apparently Soren was out of practice.

The other problem of course is the video game narrative. Where no one else in the whole world matters except Soren. In the whole story, there is Soren, his girlfriend, his one best friend who shows up a few times after college, and the sequential villains that get thrown at Soren. Soren does meet different people in different episodes, but that's only for the duration of that episode. It's a story that has absolutely no depth whatsoever. Most of those episodes are pretty mundane too. For e.g. Soren visits some mysterious island to understand his "gift" better, but I don't really think he learnt anything that could practically be useful. Felt like some of those gas-filled training sessions people are made to sit through at their workplace.

The other big problem is that the fantasy element is pretty superficial. The magic truly shows up only in the last book. We are told too little of it for it to have any significance. And as a major worldly element against swordsmanship, it ends up being far too inconsequential. When magic does get pitted against sword, it is like someone getting into a knife fight, or a sword fight, with a balloon.

For that matter, there is zero thrill to any action through the whole series. One on one fights can anyways be very limiting. (and there are no battles, except one with a pirate, but that's a fairly short skirmish too.) But even the ones that are there lack any intensity whatsoever, simply because all fights involve Soren, and he is overpowered af. The assassinations are like a walk in the park for Soren. He kills some 5 or 6 high powered people and he all but just walks into their palaces and dens and kills them off and walks away.

The villain then, you'd think there's some redemption there for the book. Nope. None at all. The villain for most part doesn't give two hoots about Soren. He literally seems to have forgotten about Soren when the final confrontation happens. He's merrily going about his plans of world domination. Heck, even the whole rant Soren has against Duke Amero seems to be because of an accidental slight on the part of Amero. Not a battle for the ages at all.

The hero is even worse. He doesn't have that many qualities that make him a shining example for heroes-to-be. But hey, we live in the age of anti-heroes. Unfortunately, Soren isn't that either. He is just a confused bloke, lacking any initiative whatsoever, who wouldn't really do much in his waking time if the author hadn't forced him all over the map.

Only good thing about the series is that it's a short read. The writing is flamboyant and world building is all right, so at least that keeps you going. But beyond that, there's nothing that is worth talking up. In the end, I'd rather not have read this series.

[JM · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit shorter and much faster-paced than it's predecessor, this one starts with Soren looking for Alessandra in the city of Auracia after they both were forced to flee Ostenheim due to having being made pawns in Amero's bid to become Duke and go to war with their neighboring states, especialy Ruripathia, so that both their lives came crashing down as a result.

However, Soren is unable to find her and, after foiling an attempt on his life by Amero's assassins, decides to spend his time researching the Gift of Grace ability ancient bannerets were said to have, to the point where he opts to travel to the cursed island where the seat of the old Empire resided with hopes of being able to research it in the library at the local College of Mages, if it still exists. Turns out it does exist still and he learns more about his unique abilities but, on his way back, he gets taken by pirates.

Conveniently, it turns out those same pirates had taken the boat where Alessandra had been traveling to Auracia weeks earlier, which ends up sending him further south in search of her as wells as of a kidnapped southern princess, both of whom he manages to rescue while killing the assassin Ferrata, whom Amero hired to kill him and Alessandra and also has The Gift of Grace. In the end, he cashes the insane reward for the princess's rescue and he flees once again with Alessandra.

For a long time it felt like nothing was really happening in this book, or at least nothing that really moved the overall plot forward, and it felt like just a long detour before going back to the actual story, except it never happened. I mean, Soren did eventually reunite with Alessandra, but except a few rumors here and there, the story never circles back to what's happening back in Ostia, and I fully expect the final volume to have Soren and Alessandra go back home and, hopefully, for him to kill Amero and get his revenge.

[Richard Radgoski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel picks up pretty much where the first novel ends. Soren has followed Allesandra hoping to get past old differences and rekindle their flame (while also getting out of their home country to avoid Amero, the new Duke who had orchestrated the death of the last one.

But Allesandra isn't there. Hesearches for months and ultimately decides she didn't or couldn't follow through with his suggestion. He instead turns to hunting down more information about his gift.

What follows is a different book altogether from the first. Where the first was downtrodden lad is picked up and sponsored at an academy where he excelled.... this one is a nautical yarn replete with Pirates, Ship Combat, Duels, Bad Storms, Sea Sickness and Reefs. I found this novel focused more on understanding Soren's gift than the last, but unlike other reviewers, I didn't feel there was too much decided by his sword. Sure, we still get swordplay, but I felt the challenges of this book were often overcome by means other than Soren's gift with his sword.

The story slows somewhat when Soren finds a Librarian in a town that shouldn't still be standing. He learns a lot through discussions but this part of the book lags (in my opinion). It doesn't keep on for too long, however, and didn't change my overall score.

Overall, I felt the novel was a good solid Nautical adventure with our Hero Soren well within the middle of it. As someone who likes Naval fiction, I enjoyed it very much.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second book was much more fleshed out and brought in a lot more elements of the masterclass world building from the first book.

PIRATES. yes Soren is out to sea for a large portion of this book, after being saved from the headsmans block in the first book he sets out to try and reconnect with his love interest Alessandra but it turns out she never made it to her destination, so Soren sets out looking for clues on where to find her but with some detours here and there.

Soren finds himself on the Shrouded Isles which is known and a cursed and horrible place that was once ruled by mages Soren has set off to find information about his special power since all records of it has been stripped from imperial records, he eventually makes his way to the mages city’s and finds everything he needs but is challenged by a mage and barely escapes.

From there on Soren is searching for a pirate that stole his sword and dagger for a large portion of the story he eludes capture until Soren finds him fights him and beheads him securing a large bounty but also a hint for where he could find Alessandra.

This book ends with him finding her and securing a large sum of money and running off to go into hiding from people trying to kill him.

All around decent read, fun moments and great sword play looking forward to the last book!

[Joseph Berman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Authorial Malfeasance!

I'm furious that this lazy author tricked me into reading his unfinished book.

Sorren has never met anyone with the gift before and is suddenly faced with another person with it, and NOTHING COMES OF IT? Nothing?

That's it, the guy dies and nothing else? Well, I assume he died since the book literally just cuts off without showing us the death.

The author didn't think, "Wow, this is neat. Sorren and this guy could actually come to some accord and learn about their shares gift from each other"? Maybe they hatch a plot to kill the Count themselves? No? Nothing? Just an off screen death?

LAME AF.

We don't get to see Sorren return the princess to the capital? Really? He never woke up there, and they just threw him on a ship sailing off to...well, I don't know because the author doesn't tell us.

I'm supposed to believe that this King threw the man who saved his bride onto a ship and tossed him out of the city while the man was unconscious?

GIVE ME A BREAK. The king would have brought Sorren into the palace and had the best doctors in the country tending to him until he was fully recovered.

This is not poorly written. It's unfinished and the author knows it. He should be ashamed of himself for this. We all deserve our money and time back.

[Yablon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was right in thinking that all of the main problems with the 1st book in this series had been left behind by the ending. Everything I truly dislike about it isn't present here.

This book is rather unique for the second book in a trilogy in that it almost entirely moves away from the plot of the first entry in the series. The events of The Tattered Banner have consequences here and the political situation created continues to develop but the actual story here concerns characters locations and conflicts that are almost all entirely new to the reader.
This stops the story from feeling like it is dragging and whilst some readers might not be enamoured with how the plot deliberately meanders from scene to scene I found it to be an interesting way to deal with the dreaded middle book of a trilogy problems.

[Aaron Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of promise but a few things that let it down. The pacing is off, for me. It seems as if the plot is something to continually push through, and this is at the expense of any serious character development, barring the main protagonist. In fantasy there can definitely be a tendency to bloat books unnecessarily, but in this case, I think some attention to character development - particularly ancillary characters - would have made the impact of some of those plot points stronger. As it was, interesting side characters come and go too quickly to care enough about them.

Apart from that, the action scenes are great, and the sense of adventure does carry you through to still be entertaining.

Review is for the whole series.

[Madeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but definitely missing a big chunk of story

Not sure if it’s an error on the part of the publisher or the author, but there’s a massive chunk of story resolution that just. Doesn’t happen. Absolutely noticeable and totally confusing. Basically the entire end of the book doesn’t happen - partially explained by Our Hero being mostly unconscious at the end (as per usual), but there is clearly a significant number of days where he was at least partially conscious. No record of that though…..so the ending is pretty much just a “huh???” (Not the first time this has happened to me with a kindle unlimited book, so possibly a glitch?)

[Mr Chuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

And it gets worse.

Soren is searching for his “true love,” who for some reason became a whore. A plot point that never really makes sense. Why is she his great love? No idea. He thought she was pretty, and apparently that’s enough to qualify as destiny.

Something happens with a pirate, then he gets his sword back. If this book were a spice, it would be flour.

It’s frustrating because in a world full of outlawed magic and constant sword fighting, and with Soren starting out as a street rat, you’d expect him to end up in the pits or at least get his hands dirty. Instead, he just becomes pompous.

On to book three, I guess

[Rick Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book wondering if this was going to be a classic middle book in a trilogy. It was. It wandered here and there, anywhere but nowhere. But, I found the wandering pleasant enough. Though, tbh, there were parts where I expected Yoda to pop up - probably because I was hearing distant echoes of Skywalker heading off to finish his training with ‘the force’, um, no, ‘the gift’. I enjoyed it enough to move on to read the last of the three, I just hope there’s no “I am your father Soren” moments.

[Adam Faderewski · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather meandering and scattered novel. The big bad is hardly mentioned or present and his proxy isn’t given time to develop into a character we should care about. The main villain in the novel comes off as your typical pirate trope and again doesn’t get much development. It seems the book was padded out a lot and only was written so the saga would be a trilogy. There’s a lot in this book that could have been condensed into the first book or transitioned into the third.

[Megan Woodland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one dropped slightly for me. The lack of details has started to make me enjoy the series less. I think I was more accepting of it when I was figuring out the world and the characters. Both of those have been established and I just find the fight scenes and other action... lacking.
I do still like Soren as a character and want to see him succeed and be happy.

[Aubrey Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories are just a solid okay. There’s little character development and not much of a story. We are basically following this guy around as he lives life. Even the battles are lackluster. There’s really no thrill or riveting plot that keeps me motivated. It’s just a story. If I didn’t buy the trilogy as a 3 for 1 then I would have stopped after the first book.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting second volume to the Society of the Sword trilogy. Much heavier on adventure and lighter on intrigue than Book I, with a somewhat unorthodox structure and flow, but enjoyable nevertheless. Not high literature, but highly entertaining.

[Alexander Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our Hero’s Journey Continues

If you’re a fan of the series, then you definitely have to read this book. The story of our hero becomes more complex as he dedicates more time to discovering the extent of his abilities.