Hound

Hound

by George F. Green

This is the tale of one man's journey from the heart of the Roman Empire to a distant, rough-hewn land where warriors delight equally in the sound of the sword and the song of the poet - a world where honour is more important than life itself. This is Ireland, two thousand years ago. This is a time for Heroes, a time of battle, boasting, drinking and telling stories, a golden age when myth and history meet and mingle. The court of King Conor throngs with Heroes, but it is the boy Cuchullain, an outsider whose birth is shrouded in mystery, who will grow to be Ireland's greatest warrior. As he becomes a man, under the guidance of the long-suffering, somewhat curmudgeonly Leary, his friend, confidant, charioteer and narrator of this tale, Cuchullain's exploits become the stuff of legend. But, as the armies of the vengeful Queen Maeve gather at the gates of Emain Macha, Cuchullain must face both his greatest challenge and his dark Destiny...Retold as never before, this is a thrilling, timeless tale of heroism and friendship, of love and betrayal, of war and poetry. This is the story of Cuchullain, the Hound of Ulster.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Ireland, Mythology, Fiction, Historical, Novels

411 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

George Green was born in Dublin in 1956 and brought up in Tipperary, where he lived in a house built on an ancient burial mound. After university he embarked on a career in sport and leisure in the hope that it would not be too difficult and help him meet girls. Ten years later he realized his mistake, took an MA in Creative Writing, began teaching and now works for the Department of English and Creative Writing at Lancaster University.

Reviews

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Cuchullain, the Hound of Ulster, done without the fantasy. Giving a truth to the elaboration of the myth that has lived and breathed for nearly 2000 years via the stories of the Ulster Cycle.

In this under appreciated book by George Green, Cuchullain is a background figure for much of the story, with the narrator (Leary) and his offsiders being the prominent characters throughout.

There were times when I wondered if the dialogue was written in too modern a manner and the presence of frequent contracted words may have been the problem there. eg aren't, won't, can't.
I got a tad bored in the middle of the book and due to that reason I nearly gave the book 3 stars. If Goodreads had half stars, I would say that Hound, for me, is definitely a 3.5 star book. Better than 3, not quite as good as many books I give 4 stars to.

[Bobby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Done and done...and so glad I stuck with it. A solid four. If I hadn't been disappointed at the beginning this could have been a possible rare 5 star. The last 200 pages made the tale unputdownable!! The relationship that developed between Cuchullain and Leary was priceless. Maeve was wonderfully evil and the most pitiful charcter of all had to be Ailell. He had to be married to Maeve and he was the only person that seemed to at least make attempts at keeping the peace, albeit in futility. Writings and stories like this, created over the centuries the legends that we still retell with awe and marvel. George Green would have made the perfect bard in ages past...and apparently serves that purpose in the busy world of today!!

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author's retelling of the Irish legend of Cuchullain. narrated by his faithful charioteer, Leary. It begins with Leary's shipwreck on the Irish shore, rescue by Ulstermen, and his lifelong association with the Champion of Champions, Cuchullain. It was pretty slow until about page 350 or so, then it really picked up with the battles with Queen Maeve of Connaught, ending with Cuchullain's death and dissolution of the kingdom of Ulster. Fantasy elements are pretty much left out.

Now I'm tempted to read The Táin: From the Irish epic Táin Bó Cúailnge. The novel had all the elements of a good epic, but the tone--Leary's inner thoughts, opinions, and musings--just put me off and spoiled the book for me. It seemed as though the author was trying hard to be TOO clever and TOO humorous. Leary came across to me as a smart aleck. I wonder why no one caught these: Julius Caesar fighting Boudicca although Britain hadn't been conquered yet; Julius tried [and failed]. I don't know the supposed time period of the story, Leary, a born German who has lived in Rome for awhile mentions the Colosseum several times, but the latest emperor he mentions is Nero. The Colosseum wasn't even built until later. Recommended, with reservations.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sigmund, an escaped German slave, washes up on the shores of Ulster. He earns a new name, Leary, and finds himself sworn to drive for the boy warrior Cuchulainn, whose defence of the kingdom at a time of peril will make him a legend.

A strange, but engaging account of the Tain, with Leary as a reluctant narrator. The examination of Irish heroism is fascinating and there are some events within the tale which are as rich a description of the myth as ever presented. Green writes without glamour, which makes his heroes all the richer.

[James Targett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this. Certainly learnt much about Cuchullain, but felt that ultimately something was lacking.

[Cheruv · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rating for the book varied at certain points. Some placed I thought, 2* and a later, 3*.
The last half of the book picked up the pace and there were some scenes that I thought were 4*'s
Overall the book probably ends up being around 3.5*.
The book had a reasonable episodic feel to it, until well into the book. Each chapter felt like a snapshot of an event in the life of Leary, and most also had to do with Cuchullain. It was only when Leary returned to Ulster and the war with Queen Maeve was about to get underway that the book started to flow more.

This book was supposed to be a retelling of the legend of the Hound of Ulster. It aimed at being a historic but with mythical elements interwoven. That is where the story had a bit of trouble for me. Leary made a great thing of telling the truth and was cross with the celtic bards when they 'massaged' the events. I couldn't help feeling that that was exactly what Leary ended up doing too. The book was written for the most part, from Leary's POV, yet some of the things that happened sounds much more like a bard's work than a realistic, gritty germanic charioteer.
Also, one thing that bothered me throughout but were never exactly explained was the position of Leary before he was shipwrecked at Ireland. There were places where it sounded that he knew the roman emperors themselves, were part of many battles first against Rome then with Rome. That left me wondering who he was.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cuchullain, the Hound of Ulster.

Despite growing up in Belfast, ULSTER, Northern Ireland, this is not someone we were taught a lot about at school (in the 1980s).

Perhaps because he was viewed as belonging to 'the other' rather than my own political background.

Which is a shame.

I think I may have been in the early years of my secondary school before I became aware of him ...

Anyway, this is a retelling of the story of Cuchullain (born Setanta), narrated in the first person by his charioteer who, as the novel begins, is the sole survivor of a shipwreck of the coast of Ireland, and taking in various elements of Irish mythology: how Cuchallain got his name, Deirdre of the Sorrows, the Red Branch of Ulster and (of course) the famous Cattle Raid of Cooley are all covered in this work.

He should be better known outside of Ireland than (I feel) he is.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cuchuillain, his story told so well told five stars plus,

[Jeromine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good epic tale. A very likeable narrator.
I had a really wonderful time reading this book and am actually surprised how sad I am to finish it and say goodbye.