The Hunter's Kind

The Hollow Gods #2

by Rebecca Levene

Born in tragedy and raised in poverty, Krishanjit never aspired to be anything greater than what he a humble goatherd, tending his flock on the slopes of his isolated mountain home.But Krish has learned that he's the son of the king of Ashanesland - and the moon god reborn. Now, with the aid of his allies, Krish is determined to fight his murderous father and seize control of Ashanesland. But his allies Dae Hyo, Eric and Olufemi, are dangerously unreliable and hiding secrets of their own. To take Ashanesland, Krish must travel to the forbidden Mirror Town and unlock the secrets of its powerful magic. But the price of his victory may be much greater than the consequences of his defeat... For, deep in the distant Moon Forest lives a girl called Cwen - a disciple of the god known only as the Hunter. She believes that Krish represents all that is evil in the world. And she has made it her life's mission to seek Krish and destroy all who fight by his side.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

481 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 2, 2015

About the author

British author, editor and tv storyliner.
Educated at Clare College, Cambridge.
She has written books for Virgin's Doctor Who line, Abbadon books and Black Flame.
She also writes for Doctor Who Magazine and SFX.

Reviews

[John McDermott · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent sequel to Smiler's Fair. This is very much in the grimdark area of Fantasy in which the author deliberately presents us with two sides who are neither good or evil but are both in the right and use a great deal of violence in order to prove it. Rebecca opens up her world a lot more in The Hunting Kind as her characters traverse it from one end to the other. The Smiler's Fair,which was very much the star in the last book, barely gets a mention .I have to admire that, as it would have been easy for Rebecca to just continue with that world. Great writing with the same memorable characters and some new ones added. I particularly liked Cwen and Alfreda. I would heartily recommend this series to all Fantasy fans and I'm very much looking forward to The Sun's Domain when it's finally released later on this year.

[Kitty G Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this for free from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so stunning in every way. I read Smiler's Fair earlier this year and I really enjoyed seeing the connections between such a variety of characters and their pasts and cultures. This is somewhat similar to a cross between Game of Thrones and The Night Circus with dashes of Military and Tribes thrown in. Unlike Game of Thrones we have a gritty world of travelling people all from various places, cultures and environments and they all struggle to survive in a world where Gods are rising and everything is uncertain.

I loved seeing the Gods and their differences and influences upon the people and magic of this world. We have Yron and Mizhara who are the Moon and Sun gods and they were once brother and sister until the Sun defeated the Moon. This is what people have been taught, and so the Sun is the god most people worship, and anyone praising the Moon god has to hide their beliefs.

The magic of this world revolves largely around mythical beasts, Gods and runes, all of which were pretty cool. I enjoyed learning more about the runes and the way that each of them worked and was related to the power of the Gods.

This book takes place right after the ending of Smiler's Fair with a small interlude at the beginning to introduce a new character, but we're quickly back to the action and intensity where we left off book 1 and I loved being able to go straight back into it all.

We follow a lot of different characters over the course of the books, each of them is independently intriguing and very well fleshed out so as to be believable and enjoyable to follow. They all have their own opinions and gods, and each culture is pretty different to the next due to the dangers of the world and the fairly limited travelling and trading that goes on> Most cultures are fairly self-sufficient so as not to endanger themselves by splitting up to trade.

Some of the characters we follow include:-

Cwen - Who is a new addition to this book that we have not yet come across in Smiler's Fair. The story began by introducing her to us and showing how she came into the world, how she was raised, and what her future holds. She's a genuine and interesting character straight from the beginning, but she develops a lot over the book and the next time we see her we've skipped forward in time to meet her in the present day situation.
I found her story to be one that I could instantly connect with and I found her character to be one of the ones which I liked seeing the progression of and seeing the way she coped with the problems she was thrust into. She has a lot of responsibility to deal with and she faces the problems well which is wonderful to see!

Alfreda - Is another character who's new. She's the older sister of an inventive brother and together they are great at coming up with new designs. She's a very quiet type and has a lot of trouble opening up to people and articulating her thoughts verbally which is why her brother's flamboyance and fun more than makes up for her silence.
Her character was one who took a little longer for me to adjust to and enjoy quite as much as some of the others, mainly because she's a little less open with her feelings and a little slower to open up, but when her story got going it was certainly vital to the plot and I thought that she became a stronger person as she went on.

Krish - Is one of the characters from Smiler's Fair who we met as a Goatherd. Since the start of Smiler's Fair his story has certainly gone an entirely new direction with a lot of interesting elements being thrown in and a lot of chaos. He's thrust into some of the most difficult situations of all of the character and he's forced to make some tough decisions which will no doubt haunt him, but he's doing it for something bigger.
Krish's story was gripping straight away and he's a character that I already knew and enjoyed from book 1 and was hoping for a lot more development in this volume which is exactly what I got. He's charming and fun, but he's not that aware of how to best handle situations and often times the setting can run away with him.

Marvan - is a character who we didn't see a great deal of in this book compared to the first but he's a rather sinister character. His story was largely developed in book 1 and so when he's separated from his goal of the first book he's a little bit unsure of exactly what do with himself and he struggles to really know his place.
I found it easier to sympathise with Marvan in this book compared to the first because we saw a little more of his soft side and we saw how lost and alone he truly was, but I still find him to be one of the most disturbed characters I've encountered and for that reason he's fascinating.

Dae Hyo - is another character whom we met in Book 1 and he's the remaining member of the Dae tribe which was wiped out many years ago by the Brotherhood (a group of rapists and murderers who claim to serve the Moon God). He's constantly dealing with the loss of his kin and seeking to find new ways of redemption, but he struggles with alcoholism and he has a lot of post-traumatic stress to deal with.
Despite all his flaws he's loyal to a fault and when he does befriend you you're a friend no matter what. He's kind, fierce and he knows what he wants and how to get it because he's been a bit of a loner for most of his life and he's had to make do the hard way.
I really admire his character and resilience, and even though he has many opportunities to give up entirely, his willingness to help his friends is wonderful and warming to see.

Eric - is my FAVOURITE character still. We met him in book 1 and I fell utterly in love with his joyful nature and naive, laid back approach. He's kind and sweet and loving, and he's forced to go through a lot which changes and tests him in book 1. However, he's still one of the characters with not only the best personality, but also he has one of the most intriguing storylines because of the situation he's ended up in.
When I began in Smiler's Fair I couldn't have begun to imagine the journey Eric would go on and the paths he would take, but I have to say I adored seeing the way things shaped up for him, and I continue to believe he's the best character!

Olufemi, Vordanna, Sang Ki, Jinn and Rii are some of the other characters I liked a lot but who were more sidelined in this book:
- Olufemi is a mage who is trying to assist the heir to Yron in awakening the Runes and fulfilling his destiny, she's somewhat dislikable, but she's a useful person to have around too.
- Vordanna and Jinn are mother and son and the son is a preacher of Yron's teachings. They have both believed that the Moon god will return for a very long time, and in this book events take place which test their resolve once and for all.
- Sang Ki is a Seonu who believes he needs to kill Yron's heir to avenge his father, he's fat and a little incompetent at times, but his journey forces him to confront some harsh realities and I saw him develop as he did so.
- And finally Rii is a large bat-like creature who we met in book 1 but she's even more badass and cool in book 2. She speaks in a kind of archaic form and she knows a lot about the will of the Moon God because she was once one of his beasts but she's been trapped for many years in servitude and longs for nothing more than her freedom and the return of her god.

The pacing of this book I felt was wonderfully done because we're instantly back with the action but there's still a slow build up and blend of each storyline. I found all the characters to be interesting in their own ways either for their personalities or their stories and seeing how each one was linked to the others as the story gradually revealed more secrets was enthralling. The last 150pgs was utterly wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed them!!

Overall I would say; characters: CHECK, plot: CHECK, world-building: CHECK, pacing: CHECK, style: CHECK and enjoyment: DOUBLE CHECK so it's a fantastic book and even better than the first. I'd highly recommend that you pick up Smiler's Fair if you've not already and that when this book comes out (July 2nd) you're ready to begin the next part of the adventure. I am already eagerly awaiting book 3 and 4, and I would say this was by far and easy 5* read!! Highly recommended!

[Maja · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 stars but I got too few five stars so rounding up

Continuing on the dark, gory way. Just as I like it. I was going to wait with this one until the third book was released, which I think was supposed to be earlier this year but got postponed. Now I'm not sure when it will come so I thought I could just as well read this one now. Both Smiler's Fair and The Hunter's Kind are relatively short so a re-read when the third book do actually comes will go in a whim.

I was a little distracted from being very tired while reading this one, which affected the reading a little. Which might be why it's not a solid 5 star because I did enjoy a lot. The ending felt a bit anti-climatic though with how easily things seemed to have resolved between Krish and Nayan but I guess it's just a small brick in a larger plot in that arc. So I'm excited to see how it will play out, and the epilogue gives me high hopes for book three.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting world and a stunning story with a great set up. Multiple POVs across both sides of a developing war manage to be set up and handled without ever becoming over complicated or convoluted. The characters themselves are well developed and all draw you in.
This book managed to be always interesting and a pleasure to read

[Solseit · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I loved the ride - I actually enjoyed the story and how it developed. I was a little less enthusiast about the end. It felt a little rushed but I guess that is what was needed for the next phase!
I am curious to see what possibly can come next.

[Aoife · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

It's been a long time since I read The Smiler's Fair which follows several characters including a boy called Krish who is apparently the 'Moon God reborn'. The Hunter's Kind follows on after a terrible fire had ripped through Smiler's Fair, Krish is on the run with his warrior friend Dao Hyo and a mage Olufemi looking for somewhere safe to stay while his enemies rally to take him down.

I thought I would be really lost going into this as the story of The Smiler's Fair was really, really faint in my memory by surprisingly, most things floated back to me. I enjoyed the story at the start but I actually preferred Cwen, Alfreda and Sang Ki's storylines better than Krish's, who I ended up disliking. I felt like things kind of flipped in this book compared to the first book and I was suddenly left not knowing who was bad and who was good and who I should be rooting for (I feel like with fantasy, you normally know who the baddies are) and I didn't like that feeling.

I felt disappointed with the ending, it was rather flat and I also hated the terrible waste of human life just so there could be a bit of family bonding. Personally, I actually though Dao Hyo was going to slit Krish's throat and I was actually okay with that. I'm not sure if there's going to be a next book as anothr isn't showing up on Goodreads so if there's not the epilogue was a bit crappy and it definitely wasn't any kind of conclusion I wanted.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly hope this hidden gem of a series eventually gets the massive audience it deserves.

The story goes in directions I couldn't predict, with a fantastic new character addition in Cwen. I find myself rooting for every character on both sides - I'm both Team Moon and Team Sun. But they all may be evil. There may be no story with more shades of grey.

An abrupt ending (in a good way) that leaves me wondering how the third book will end the series. Or if it's even the end of the series.

If you like epic and dark toned fantasy, look no further. This is one of the best being written at the moment.

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first novel in this series. Smilers Fair, was one of my favourite fantasy reads of last year so I was extremely keen to find out what happened next and I was not disappointed – if anything I liked this one even more.

What I love most about these stories is the intensity and depth of culture and background Rebecca Levene brings to her characters and setting- there is a lot going on, a beautifully imagined world of Gods and magic, a complex mix of morals and adventure that is gripping in the extreme. A world where shades of grey pervade every decision and there are no heroes and villains as such, just a heady mix of eclectic and fascinating people that you will fall in love and hate and everything inbetween with.

Certainly The Hunters Kind was a step up from Smilers Fair, introducing new characters (Cwen who I adore for example) and fleshing out the old ones (Krish, always Krish who faces some severely difficult moral choices here) expanding the mythology, setting the reader up for fall after fall, terrifically addictive and really really clever.

The world building is second to none, a dark and edgy feel to the narrative alongside some really magnificent use of descriptive prose brings the whole thing vividly to life – an absolutely spellbinding read that will excite, intrigue and enthrall you throughout, no drop in standard or pause to take breath.

Deliberately I do not say much on the actual plot development – for those of you who have yet to enter the world of the Hollow Gods you would not want to have too much information prior to diving in – and dive in you absolutely should. Really top notch reading – Rebecca Levene has written old school fantasy brought into our modern era – if you have been looking for that little frisson, that slight tingle in the back of your mind when you start reading a book that tells you this is something special then look no further.

Highly Recommended.

[Rhoda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything I hoped it would be. Brilliant!

[Ale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as part of the r/fantasy Book Bingo Challenge 2018 for the "Book with <2,500 Goodreads ratings" category. Hard Mode for this square required a book with fewer than 500 ratings.

The rating is actually closer to 4.5 stars

Such a shame that this book isn't better known about! When I first read Smiler's Fair two years ago, I remarked on the originality of the worldbuilding and how, once Levene got going, she managed to create an engaging work of fiction that really turns the "goatherd boy prophecy" right on its head. I mentioned the humanity and variety of her characters (something that follows through into The Hunter's Kind) and how easily I got sucked into the stakes of the world. After the convergence of all the threads at the the end of the first novel, this one picks right back up and we're back into the thick of things.

But where Smiler's Fair set the scene and set up the conflicts and the world, The Hunter's Kind is the spark that ignites the war. For although Krish may be the god Yron, the moon reborn, he needs an army and followers if he is to stand against his father, the Ashane king. Now a runaway with the mage Olufemi and his stalwart brother Dae Hyo, Krish tries to find support among the secretive tribe of the Rah, with disastrous consequences. Meanwhile, the forces of the Hunter, enemy of Yron and servant of the sun goddess, are mustering in the Moon Forest; Cwen, a hawk and the Hunter's second in command, has made it her life's mission to track Krish down and kill him. And in the frozen north, plans are laid and secrets held tightly, as the Servants of Mizhara and Eric come to terms with what Yron's return truly means.

Levene isn't afraid to tackle themes of family and belonging, but also war (and its effects on civilians), slavery and the cost of magic and loyalty to a cause so doomed, so rooted in evil that civilisations have died in its worship. There are moments of true horror here, death and destruction and the insidiousness of Yron's magic, devilish and deceitful and always exacting a higher price. She doesn't shy away from portraying her characters in difficult situations, faced with impossible odds and terrible choices; no one comes out of this unscathed (not even you, the reader) and by the end of the book I still wasn't sure if all the sacrifices were worth making.

I like how much The Hunter's Kind made me think. About humanity and its changeable nature, about loyalty and the ends to which it can be stretched, about love and how far one is willing to go in order to protect those they love. It's also a book about prejudice and acceptance, with moments of that drove me to anger or frustration; this is the level of skill that we're talking about here, how easily Levene can pivot between the soaring heights of triumph to the depths of despair and still leave you satisfied and hollowed out, like all emotion has been sucked out of you. Only to start that all again next chapter, to the point where I couldn't tell which storyline thread left me more breathless and eager for more.

It seems to me that books like Smiler's Fair and The Hunter's Kind are criminally underrated and underread (which is why perhaps this is one of the easiest squares on the bingo card for me to achieve in Hard Mode). They are rich in worldbuilding and lore, with further promise of other nations and religions in the third book of this planned quartet, The Sun's Domain. Allegedly this will be released next year (in 2019), so I really hope it stays on track and I can get to read it soon. Because the way The Hunter's Kind ended really made me want to immediately crack open the sequel and see what happens next.

The Hollow Gods is shaping up to be a great hidden gem of a series. I recommend it thoroughly and I hope you give this series of books a try: they take ideas that you may have seen in other books and turn them onto their heads. They are grim, brutal books, but ones perhaps with a message of hope hidden deep in their core. Or perhaps by the time the final book comes out, I'll be ready to watch it all burn down. Whatever outcome Levene puts together, it will be worth waiting for.

[january · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 21%
1.0 ⭐️

This is the first book I've dnf-ed since I started goodreads, so yay to that I guess! To be clear, I've read terrible books that I did finish, but that doesn't mean that this books is somehow the worst of all. The prose is actually lovely but there wasn't much else for me.
Imo there are several reasons to keep reading a book that you don't like (not counting the obsessive need to force yourself through every book you pick up):
a) You have the vague hope it'll get better somehow
b) It's #X in a series and you're already invested
c) It's so bad it's hilarious
d) It's YA and you're playing trope bingo

The Hunter's Kind had none of those things. I remember being somewhat intrigued by Smiler's Fair despite its weirdness, but here reading on felt like a chore. The atmosphere didn't work for me, the world didn't work for me and there were so many names of clans and places and peoples and religions and characters, I could not keep up for the life of me. Especially since it's been a while since I read Smiler's Fair.
And I could have forgiven all of that if the characters had been interesting, but I either felt nothing for them or a vague dislike. Especially Krish left me really damn uncomfortable, but I don't know what I expected. He was basically introduced with him explaining how to make goats fuck.

Anyways, I'm realising more and more that free time is precious and that I don't have to spend it on things that I don't enjoy. And if I don't even get a good roast out of it in the end, what's the point.

[Wolfe]

I don’t really know how to rate this. The world building is really stellar, there’s a lot of unique and interesting elements that keep me reading. I really like that you’re not sure what side you’re supposed to be on, there’s a lot of moral grayness that feels very real.
But I’ll be reading along and the author will make a choice that makes me go “what” out loud. The weirdly out of place fatphobia always throws me off, Eric’s whole character, there’s definitely other things that I’ve forgotten. Since I own the 3rd book I might as well go ahead and finish.

[Blodeuedd Finland]

Book 1 was good, but I should have listened to that inner voice that said that it was just ok at times. Which it was. But then it got good, and then ok. I remember not liking any of the characters that much and I must have been in a good mood when I decided to give it another go. Cos...not even skimworthy and that is bad

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This turned out to be long, wow! TL;DR: Read this very good Grimdark Fantasy series with great world-building, complex characters, and the subversion of some common fantasy tropes.

Content warnings: rape, child abuse, child death, torture

Genres: Fantasy, Grimdark

I just finished The Hunter's Kind, book two of the Hollow Gods quartet and loved it so much I had to write a review.

First of all, you need to know that the gorgeous cover art does a bad job of selling what these books contain. These are not the cheery, cartoonish books the art might suggest - these books are grimdark in every sense of the word, far closer to Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence and GRRM than the works of someone like Sanderson or Naomi Novik. These books feature every sort of depravity, from rape to visceral murder to torture to the abuse of children. But it never feels like the inclusion of these depravities is meant to titillate - their horror is always clearly underlined and for the most part, the victims are treated as people, not as plot tools. But if any of these topics are ones you'd rather avoid, definitely steer clear of these books. Levene doesn't shy away from showing you horrors.

One of the most compelling aspects of the series for me is the world-building. The Lands of the Sun and the Moon(this is one of those books where you'll find yourself flipping often to the map to track characters' progress) show the wide-ranging ramifications that one simple idea can have on world-building. In the world of the Hollow Gods, that central idea is this: Beneath the ground of the Lands of the Sun and the Moon live the Worm Men, servants of the dead Moon God who resemble twisted, clawed men and who spell disaster and death for the surface-dwellers. Fortunately, Worm Men cannot surface anywhere that the light of the sun has touched in the past few weeks. But if any piece of ground should remain in darkness or shadow for a period of weeks or months, Worm Men can emerge from it and snatch surface-dwellers away to their deaths. Permanent structures in this land are a rarity, as their interiors would be constantly in shadow and vulnerable to attack.

Thus, the people of this world have devised a variety of methods to ward against the Worm Men. The Ashane nobility live on "Shipforts," massive ships that ply the great lakes that dot their land, trusting a barrier of water to protect them against the moon's servants. The plains to the west are populated by the nomadic peoples of the fourteen tribes, who never stay in one place long enough to risk attack. [minor book 2 spoilers](#s "there's even a city rigged with mirrors that are constantly moved to ensure that every square inch of every building is scoured with light to keep the Worm Men at bay"). Then there is Smiler's Fair, a massive carnival and den of sin that travels a circuit around the known world. The fair's method of dealing with Worm Men is simple - they take a careful roll call of all workers and guests in each section of the fair at various times throughout the day. When anyone goes missing, they know that they have stayed in one place too long and the Worm Men have begun their snatching. Then the whole fair packs up and moves, its buildings easily deconstructible and movable thanks to the freight mammoths employed by a guild of drovers. Smiler's Fair is a central locale during book 1, a crossroads for our characters and the threads of the story to come together, disperse, and interact.

The threat of worm men affects every aspect of life in this world. Metal is extremely rare and precious, as plumbing the depths of mines is an even more dangerous job in this world than in ours. And the threat of horrors lurking just below the surface give the world a sense of impending threat and tension that spurs the story forward.

There is magic in this world, but it is in the background for much of the story - it takes a bigger role in the plot in book 2. For most of the story, it is mysterious, ancient, and poorly understood. Magic was thought lost with the death of the moon god and now that he is reborn, magic has been reborn with him.

The books' other great strength are its complex characters and the shades of gray that bely easy descriptors of each side as right or wrong. From just reading what I've written so far, you might think identifying the "good" and "bad" side of the conflict are easy - the people of the Sun are in the right, while the Moon and its twisted followers are evil abominations that must be destroyed. But the Moon has human followers too, those descended from the losers of the Sun and the Moon's last great war. And as the series progresses, we gain hints that even the more monstrous creatures of this world might be more than just faceless horrors in the night.

Indeed, this struggle between choosing a side and justifying one's actions in pursuit of a cause is a central struggle that many of the characters face. It's especially evident in the case of Krish, a goatherd who grew up with an abusive father who finds out that he is much more - but this tropey fantasy cliche is twisted interestingly, as he finds out that the god of whom he is supposedly the reincarnation is the same one that most of the people of his world use stories of to scare children to sleep at night. And as the story progresses, Krish struggles with great atrocities committed in his name. His story is that of growing up while learning to deal with holding the lives of strangers and innocents in his hand, and struggling to do what is right when those around him pull him in a thousand different directions and want to achieve different, often contradictory goals.

While Krish is the fulcrum around whom the story turns, the other POV characters are equally as vivid and while their stories do not have stakes of the same gravity, we feel them as strongly and perhaps even more viscerally, as they sometimes feel closer and more intimate than Krish's nation-spanning ambitions. Dae Hyo grapples with grief from the genocide of his people and searches for oblivion in drink, violence, and finally in brotherhood. Wild runaway whore Eric is finds betrayal and purpose in an unexpected place, and Nethmi, married against her will, escapes her unwanted fate at terrible cost and is forced to run. Perhaps the most one-note character, at least through the first two books, is Marvan, a drover at Smiler's Fair with a Dexter-like love of torture and killing. He is constantly finding excuses to challenge drunks to duels in order to sate his bloodlust, but his companions at the Fair are catching on. He's fine if you like that sort of thing, but honestly I think the books would suffer very little from his exclusion. [book two spoilers](#s "he literally spends half of book 2 on top of a pole. Kinda wish he'd just stay there.") Perhaps he will have a bigger role to play in books 3 and 4 of the series.

Book 2 introduces several new POV characters, promoting some side characters from book 1 and introducing some new ones altogether.

***MAJOR BOOK 2 SPOILERS BELOW***

My favorite of these is Cwen, who is relatively unique in these books in that she has a clarity of purpose. She doesn't believe in some abstract ideal of the sun god, but rather in serving the Hunter Bachur, the only one who ever cared for her or wanted her. Even as she hates what she has to do, the death and suffering of which she is the cause, she never wavers in following Bachur's orders, even unto her own death. It is interesting that the only one with that kind of purpose is the one who doesn't survive the battle of Mirror Town. Her ending is abrupt at Dae Hyo's axe and her purpose left unfulfilled. Alfreda is a welcome addition bringing something new to the table. I found Olufemi largely uninteresting and tiresome, but she is necessary to the plot and learning the workings of magic from her is interesting. Sang Ki is a wonderful character - he reminds me of Geder Palliako from The Dagger and Coin series by Daniel Abraham, if he were a little wiser and didn't go bad. I love his conflict over maybe-Nethmi and how at the end he decides it doesn't matter who she was in her past - only who she is now and going forward. I love his slow discovery that he actually has morals when he's always considered himself a pragmatist. And I love his grief for Laali, his great old war-vulture who no one could love but himself - surely he sees himself in the bird. I think Sang Ki by the end of the book may have proven to be the only 'heroic' character in the series - though the stakes are low and he is able only to save one life, that of Maybe-Nethmi. And more than her life, he is able to save her soul.

I love that the sides of this war between the Sun and the Moon has no right and no wrong. We have POV characters on each side of the conflict and each of them makes compromises with depravity, has heroic and despicable moments, commits atrocities and acts of mercy. It reminds me a bit of Game of Thrones, if both the Starks and Lannisters were removed from the equation and there were no Zombie Army to the North. There are no paragons of virtue, and no blackened, irredeemable hearts. And there is no pure evil descending upon the world that all men and women must put aside their petty differences in order to face. Indeed, this war is all about petty differences - the people are fighting the echo of a war between gods none of them have ever known - one dead and the other long departed. They seem to be fighting at times merely because their ancestors did, and because each expects the other to. The characters are forced to constantly question their own motivations and reasons for fighting, and rarely are the answers comforting or easy. War is slaughter, and there is little honor left for those who survive.

The books have a slow build, and I found myself struggling through them at first, but as I continued the characters hooked me in and I couldn't put the book down. The same cycle repeated in book 2, due to the introduction of new characters. But by the end I felt inspired to come write a 13,000-word review, so clearly something worked.

The books have great diversity and representation, including characters of all different races, skin tones, genders, sexualities, and more. There is a gay POV character, a lesbian POV in book 2, bisexual characters, and minor transgender characters. In addition, there is a major character who is fat, and while it is an important part of his character, he is a fully realized character with complex feelings and motivations.

[Metaphorosis · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews

Summary
Krishanjit, born a shepherd, has turned out to be the son of a king - and may be a god. But there seem to be a lot of people that think he's on the wrong side of everything, and will do what they can to stop him.

Review
I picked up the last book in this trilogy to read, and in going back to my notes to recall the previous one (I remember when I had the time to re-read all prior books in a series before a new one. Sigh.), I found that there’s an odd gap in my reviews in the fall of 2018. However, I definitely read this book, so this is a sadly brief, reconstructed review based on memory and a very few notes (which tell me the date I read it).

I’d really been taken by the first book in this series, Smiler’s Fair , which I thought was innovative and interesting. I recall that this second book was something of a disappointment – still innovative, but gradually falling apart as it went on. Perhaps, in fact, too many innovations, without enough time spent worldbuilding, or tying all the pieces and characters together.

There’s the occasional continuity flaw, and too many reinventions, too many ‘cultural cognates’. Some of the personal reveals struck me as forced and weak. A key decision toward the end of the book is not very well founded, and I simply didn’t find it credible.

All in all, a good book, but a letdown after the strength of its predecessor.

[David Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm grateful to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book through Bookbridgr.

When I discovered that Levene's Smiler's Fair was to have a sequel, I was delighted but a bit nervous. (I should warn you now that there are spoilers below for Smiler's Fair - if you haven't read it, stop now, get a copy and read it. Then come back and carry on... here.)

The titular fair had knitted together a large number of characters as it travelled the lands of the Sun and the Moon, some of them delightful, some horrible, none perfect - or utterly evil - all very human. However, most of them hadn't crossed paths and some - like the boy Eric - had been spirited far away from the main action. I was concerned that it would be difficult to keep up the unity of the story once the Fair ended up in ashes. (I warned you - spoilers!)

I needn't have worried. Levene picks up the story exactly where she left it - in the cooling embers of the Fair - but drives it forward with, if anything, even greater verve and unity than in the first book. And while that was largely an introduction to her characters - Krish, goat herdsman/ missing king turned moon god, Dae Hyo, drunken warrior, Nethmi, a bride who stood up against an abusive husband and killed him, Olufemi, the mage who started it all off, and many others - here... here stuff gets read and they really begin to be. We also get some new characters. There is Cwen, one of the Hunter's hawks. I don't think I can easily convey how amazing Cwen is: she takes nonsense from nobody but is also miles away fro the archetypical "strong female character". There are sister and brother Algar and Alfreda, a pair of itinerant metalworkers who have invented something Very Important... and more.

Mix them up - the lost prince, the mage, the warrior woman. Add some fantasy tropes: the Prophesy, the reawakened gods. Stir. Invert. make something new and different. You can see it happening but, like the best magic, you can't see how it happens. Before the reader's eyes, the characters come alive and shape their world. Krish is supposedly the reincarnation of the god Yron, the Moon, who was vanquished millenia ago by his sister Mizhara, the Sun. His dark creatures haunt the land, his underground servants haunt mines and caverns, killing and eating any humans they find (so metals are scarce and expensive). Cwen and the other Hawks hunt them down without mercy.

Yet despite the evil Krish is a real person, a good person. he hasn't asked for the role of god, has no idea what to make of it and it's not his doing that half the continent wants to destroy him because of it. (The other half wants to destroy him because he happens to be the heir to a great empire, whose king - his father - he's prophesied to kill. But that's not his doing either).

All this was there in Smiler's Fair, but here the consequences start to pile up. The book deals in shades of grey. Both "sides", if there are "sides" here, are trying to do their best: there are no fantasy Dark Lords or White Riders. Though there is plenty of darkness, it is a more human, recognisable darkness. Slavery. Poverty. Religious fanaticism. The slaughter and rape of the Brotherband as they pillage their way across the land. These things aren't just part of the background ("that's just how it is in fantasy"), they raise questions, pose challenges to the characters (especially to Cwen and Krish). What is one to do when one's trusted allies are slavers? What is one to do when calling together forces to win a battle leaves distant villages exposed to the Brotherband?

The book is full of forced, least worst choices, attempts to keep some morality, some light in an ever darker world.

Very much, I think, a book for now. A magnificent, brave book, showing what fantasy can and should be - a mirror to the world, but a dark mirror.

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the title suggests, The Hunter’s Kind focuses more on those who follow the Hunter and the sun god Mizhara rather than the moon god. As the book opens, we are introduced to Cwen, a young girl who has been marked to become a Hawk, a servant to the Hunter. We learn much more about this presumed god who was only a fleeting presence in the first book and about the people who serve her.

There are a lot more revelations up at Salvation too. This was the element of the first instalment that I wasn’t so sure about. But I found myself much more invested in Eric and his wife’s future. And I’m still loving Rii, the giant bat creature he befriended.

Of course, Krish is still central to this world order and we follow him through different lands as he tries to find followers. His friendship with Dae Hyo is pushed to its limits and he struggles with his choices as he starts to realise he holds a power over people. And power always comes at a cost.

I surprisingly enjoyed the character development of Sang Ki. A character introduced as a villain, he becomes so much more rounded, perhaps softening a little and actually making friends of sorts. I think his isolated childhood and his overbearing mother did him no favours, but now he’s out in the world, we see his glee at visiting distant lands that he’d only ever read about. And his relationship with the burnt woman that he believes is Nethmi, the woman who murdered his father, goes to show how there is a chance for change in this world.

The story shows how people who believe in the same thing can be worlds apart and want very different things. Many of Yron’s followers are not nice people, to put it mildly, and so far from the kind of person Krish wants to be. Some of the people who want him dead would probably agree with his ideologies but they can’t see past the fact he is the embodiment of their god’s enemy.

The loss of life in a pointless war is rather saddening. The connection to some characters is so well done, they may be flawed but they are people we want to see grow, yet they don’t get the chance. It is very much an unglorified war.

At one point I was worried it was descending into the kind of hopelessness that exists in so many comparable series. Without giving too much away, I would say it redeems itself and has a small degree of positivity. It turned itself round just in time to make it one of my top reads so far this year.

Review copy provided by publsiher.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having learned that he is both the king's son and the moon god reborn, Krish is on the run from his father's troops with his companions Dae Hyo and Olufemi, searching for a safe place to stay and allies to help them defeat their enemies. Meanwhile, the followers of Mizhara, the sun goddess, gather in their own camp, assembling a force they hope will be strong enough to overcome the evil they believe Krish represents.

I didn't enjoy this as much as the first book. I didn't like Krish or Olufemi much in Smiler's Fair and they haven't grown on me since. With most of the characters we've been following now gathering in two camps, we get to spend a looot of time with them... and while Dae Hyo was one of the characters I found most interesting in the previous book, he really doesn't get to do much of note in this one. Much like Marvan and Nethmi, who were also among the more interesting characters in the first part. Out of this book's new additions to the character pool, I liked Cwen the most - she's a fierce, kickass character who was pretty much the main reason I kept reading. I didn't care much for the ending. After all the build-up, it just felt like it was lacking something. Like a better death scene for Cwen - if she had to die, she at least deserved better than being unceremoniously killed off in half a sentence like that.

[Corey James Soper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating exercise in world-building and a work of considerable imagination, but the actual story tends to get lost in exposition and travelogue. With the protagonist overcoming his own lack of assertiveness through the book, there's very much a sense that things happen to the characters and they drift along in the passenger's seat. There's very little tension, and the events of the novel pile up like sediment with no real drama or engagement.

A number of characters feel increasingly superfluous (Marvan) or have arcs that never really go anywhere (Cwen) - as though they're being kept on ice for their part in the sequel. Aside from Sang Ki, Krishanjit and Eric, much of the cast struggle to have any sort of distinctive voice, and spend most of their chapters describing the events that unfold and moaning about previous tragedies to have befallen them.

Read it for a diet of potent idea-food (the Worm Men have already made an appearance in my D&D campaign....), but you will not find yourself itching to dive back in.

[Christopher Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Smiler's Fair. I was excited for the follow-up, to see what would happen next in this world which I thought was quite exciting and unique. Sadly, though we saw a great deal more of the world and its peoples and I cannot say I did not enjoy the book, a lot of it fell pretty flat to me. The characters who I had grown to appreciate in the previous book were turned sour and given little development while I was much more sympathetic to their opponents. The unexpected twists and turns that I had loved in the first novel felt less surprising here. I didn't want Krish to loose, I guess, but I wanted Sang Ki to join him and kick some sense into the kid.
All in all still reasonably enjoyable, if frustrating—especially the ending—and I will still read future books if Levene comes out with more for this series. It was just not quite as inspiring as I'd hoped.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, mixed feelings on this one, certainly not as good as the first and it felt like the second book in a trilogy (I think). Lots of filler, a build up to an event which seems large but wasn't as big as the final one will be and an ominous cliffhanger to finish. I didn't feel as immersed in this as I did I the first and some of the locations felt a bit blurry and ill defined. That said I'll read the next one. Solid 3.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sprawling, imaginative and violently engrossing fantasy, Hunter's Kind followed in the wake of Smiler's Fair with none of the struggle sequels often have. I could not have dreamt up the convergence of the many threads of plot and was gripped to the end in seeing how they twined together and came to their close. I can only say now that I am anxiously waiting to find out how this all ends!
(I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.)

[Alister Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

The standard 'goat-herder is really a God' tale. Except...this cast of characters includes rent boys, serial killers and their Princess hangers-on, socially awkward girl blacksmiths, morbidly obese scholars and my favourite, Conan the alcoholic. What's not to like?

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was a brutally epic battle at the end.
Review to come.

[Alisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, some of you may remember my Smiler's Fair review? I raved about it in an overly long review because I loved every page of it. I was so incredibly excited to find out there would be a sequel, I knew I had found another fantastically epic series to throw myself in to, and I couldn't get enough of the world or the characters. As with the first book, this sequel blew all my assumptions away and kept me surprised until the end, and with the ending of Game of Thrones, I really did need a fantasy to take it's place and tide me over. I have waited for this book so impatiently that I dived in as soon as it arrived, and it's taken me a while to read because I was determined to savour it rather than reading it in like a day, like I did with the first one. Before we get to the review though, let me set the scene/ add some tidbits to the synopsis I have included above.

The Hunter's Kind picks up directly after Smiler's Fair, picture the scene, wafting smoke and ash, destruction everywhere and a woman plucked from the wreckage. But who is she? Is she who our characters think? Or is she someone else? The prologue serves to remind us of what happened at the end of Smiler's Fair, like as soon as I started reading I started getting flashbacks to the first book! Anyway, it lures you straight in from the first page and you're hooked. Then we swoop over to Cwen and learn of her heritage, and her mission. Once that's done, we start to see some old faces.

We have Krish headed with his gang to some tribe lands, but obviously something goes wrong and he must flee to Mirror Town. New face Cwen is on the hunt for Krish, and she has some help in the form of Sang Ki. Now this lot are all heading towards the same place and the same confrontation and we actually meet Krish's actual father. Now, I hesitate to say Nethmi and I'll explain why later, but a burned woman is with Sang Ki, and that's a whole other political turmoil. Eric is awaiting the birth of his child so he can essentially flee to join in with all this rumpus. So as you're reading, you're reading a very complex plot, and a very intriguing one, with lots going on but that's all setting the stage for the final act.

I enjoyed that so many of the characters continued to be linked together in little ways, it was all very cleverly done. The Hunter's Kind is every bit as awesome as the Smiler's Fair and will definitely fill the Game of Thrones void in your life....but only because it's an epic fantasy full of imagination, they're not really the same in any other way.

The thing I loved about this book and the one previously, was how gritty it was, and how it had so many different types of people all over the place, each with different beliefs and customs and cultures and they're all fighting to survive while the Gods rise and decide to have a smack down. I love reading about all the different people and learning about them because they all have something different to differentiate them, and they're all equally fascinating, and I'm really excited for the next book to see more new lands and more new people. This book is just as sweeping as the first book as it takes us on a journey to new areas, shall we say because I can't think of the word I want right now!

In Smiler's Fair it was obvious that the world had been painstakingly created with plenty of thought and detail, and this continues to be obvious in Hunter's Kind as we see more people, more places and more creatures and learn more...information. We see many more places in this book, including a really cool Atlantis like underwater city that I really want to know more about! Mirror Town was simply ingenious with it's houses and mirror system, and just served to prove how well thought out the book was and how painstakingly created everything in it is. But there are still plenty of other places left unexplored and I'm eager to see more!

I love a good book map and HK has one of the best! I just can't really get over how astounding the world building is, I mean it stretches your imagination while you're reading it and the author must have one hell of an imagination to actually create it. When you read it, if you haven't already, you'll see what I mean about all the detail. But it's not like you're bogged down with description either. Somehow the author has managed to work some magic of her own (there's legit magic in the book yes) and give you this incredibly vivid world that as soon as you start reading about, you feel yourself transported there, without bogging you down with pages and pages of description, it's like max payout with concise descriptions. I literally get sucked in to the world every time I start reading, and it's such a fantastically created, sweeping world that I never want to leave it.

Like Smiler's Fair, and unlike GoT as I have already mentioned, was incredibly easy to keep reading. The characters are all easy to keep track of, I remember who everyone is, whereas with GoT I always feel like I need to be taking notes and I could never read it in one go. Whereas Hunter's Kind I could have read in one go like I did SF, but I wanted to savour it so I dragged it out for myself, which wasn't easy because it was so hard to put down so can I get some props please?! What I'm trying to say is that while HK was incredibly complex, it was easy to follow, there was no confusion and overly drawn out scenes with too much information. I love GoT, really I do, but they're kind of a slog, whereas I can see myself re-reading this series whenever I feel like.

Hunter's Kind is continued on so perfectly from Smiler's Fair that it's like I never left the world of the characters. Like the months of waiting never happened. It was amazing really. Much like the first book, this is very full on, there's lots of gory battles with intricate battle plans and gruesome deaths and there's no glossing over it, but somehow they're written so incredibly realistically, especially the battle plans and everything, but like the deaths aren't over done either. I think the realistic yet gory deaths make it more gritty to be honest, like hello, at one point of our existence on this planet stuff like this was a regular occurrence, just without the magic and everything.

Ah the magic. The beasts. The Gods. I was absolutely fascinated by the magic/lore/mythology/history in the first book and continued to be in this book. We actually learned more about Mizhara and it was....illuminating shall we say. ( I just read this back and omg no pun intended haha). We learn more of the battle of the Gods thanks to the underwater city, as well as Rii. We learn more of some of the tribes and their history as well. It's all so fascinating and there's so much that there could be a book just on the history and legends of this world. Like I would pay good money for one! Anyway, I also find it fascinating to read about the Gods and their influences on the world in the book and the people, they're so different it's seriously fascinating.

Again, much like SF, the pace of this book is fast, the flow of it is smooth. There were no bits dragging on that you wanted to skip past. But while the pace was fast, and there was plenty of action, there was still a lot of build up going on. There were smaller threads/plots that were panning out, but building up and leading up to the big plot towards the end of the book and it was so well done, in the beginning I didn't really know what it was leading towards, it wasn't until halfway in to the book I think that I was like "okay....I can see we're moving towards something huge, and I'd better settle in with supplies".

We have a narrative that switches between a few different characters, I think it's less characters than last time, but still, each narrative was engaging and distinctive. Each switch smooth with a perfect continuation. You see what's going on in one part of the world, and how it's going to effect someone else in another part and so on, and things like that, it didn't half build up anticipation sometimes and towards the end of the book it really helped ramp up the tension and the feeling of frenzy. The thing is, the plot is complex, the politics is complex, the history is complex, and it's all woven together in to an intricate and complex web....yet you never got confused. Which is always a bonus!

In the first book I loved all the magic, and continued to love it in this book. The premise of the book is so unique, and the world and everything in it is so unique, so I was pleased that magic was a little bit different in the world of this book. It has a price, and it also adds a very interesting moral dilemma for a character or two. The runes and the mages and the complexity of it all, it was fascinating.

I was sad we didn't see more of Adolfo though! I loved that little guy! There were however, plenty of other creatures, less seemingly cute than Adolfo that were brilliantly unique and yet also kind of terrifying. I remember wanting to see more of them in the previous book, but now I'm like "jeez I was so wrong". So gross.

One creature I wanted to see more of was Rii and I was not disappointed. I really do love her, she's like a giant bat, and I was so fascinated with her and her story and we got to learn even more about her and while I'm like "aw yay Rii" I'm also like "wow that sucks for you" at the same time, but then she kind of gets to get a bit of her own revenge in this book and I was cheering her on every step of the way to be honest. There was way more to her than met the eye and I hope to see even more of her, especially as I love her relationship with Eric!

Now. On to characters.

I'm still trying to decide if Levene is going to be the "I will kill every character whether you love them or hate them muahaha" writer or not, but so far I can't argue with any of the character deaths!
That is a direct quote from my review of Smiler's Fair, I've been using it for reference to help keep this kind of point I suppose. Anyway. I said that. I no longer stand by it. She's the "I will kill every character you love" kind of author. Seriously. There's a character death or two in this book that crushed me and I was like "NOOO YOU CAN'T NO I LOVE THAT CHARACTER WHAT ARE YOU DOING NO". Just warning y'all. Brace yourselves.

Now, first off I actually quite like Cwen. Seriously, at times I liked her more than Krish. She's new and I loved her blunt way of speaking and some of the lines she came out with had me snorting. I also loved her relationship with Alfreda and how she took her under her wing sort of and kept an eye on her. She's an incredibly interesting character and we got to see her childhood before skipping to present day and she undergoes loads of character development and to be honest, nobody lynch me, I was kind of rooting for her. I don't know why, I found myself relating to her and connecting with her and I was genuinely on her side more than once.

Alfreda was another character I loved, I mean, at one point I was convinced she must have been in the first book even though I knew she wasn't, because I felt like I'd known her for so long. She was another character I connected to and could relate to and I just understood her so perfectly. She had such an interesting story line, she's a blacksmith, she has a bit of anxiety about talking to people and she's not very open in the beginning so I liked watching her development, although I'm slightly worried about where she's going in the next book! Anyway, she and her brother were the perfect combination of opposites and where a truly interesting pair.

Marvin is back. Marvan "I walked out of an episode of Criminal Minds". He really did. Seriously. Marvan wasn't in this book much, but he was sinisterly lurking about and popping up in places you didn't expect. He's still there, he's just quiet. Without his partner in crime he was almost a bit lost. I kinda felt a bit sorry for him a couple of times because he was on his todd and completely lonely, but at the same time he's incredibly disturbed, which is kind of interesting as someone who watches Criminal Minds, but like...totally creepy and murdery. He also appears to need to have a murder friend.

Eric I feel like we got a bit more of this book, or he had a bigger part to play. I loved Eric in the first book because of his personality and attitude and it's still in evidence in this book even if he has changed a bit. I'm still rooting for him to get back to his love but I'm not cynical enough that I doubt it will end well. Anyway, I find his situation very intriguing, as well as what's going to happen to him next. I should also mention one of his wives, Drut. I didn't really like her much, she was bland, but she just got veeeeerrryyyy interesting.

Sang Ki. How I disliked you in book one but how very far you have come. He does some serious development in this book and by the end I found him a bit less vile? I mean, I kind of felt like I should connect with him because he loves history so much and everything but he was SO VILE in book one and I was so torn. But over the course of this book he changes, and he starts to question his fathers behaviour and he made one analogy about the brother band and his father marrying Nethmi that made me realise, okay, you've changed. I actually enjoyed watching his development and at times he became a lot braver than he ever was before. He was also hanging out with the burned woman. Now he and Marvan think it's Nethmi, but we don't get a Nethmi PoV in this book to confirm whether she is Nethmi or the person that she says she is...who isn't Nethmi, I actually can't remember the name of who she thinks she is but it began with M and I can't decide if she is or isn't or what.

Olufemi. I really did not like you in this book. She went through a lot this book, and she's the one using the magic and having to decide whether it's worth the price and so on, and I can't really put my finger on exactly why I didn't like her but I found her so dislikable this book.

Dae Hyo. Now in the first book I wasn't expecting to like him at all, yet I found myself getting a soft spot for him and being all overwhelmed when he got his brother. Dae Hyo is a character I connected with in the first book and who I was rooting for and in this book I was entirely on his side so when certain things happened, I was just as angry and annoyed at other characters as he was. Personally I would have left said characters to get on with it I mean the huge reveal about his people, I really couldn't even.

Krish. At points during this book, I really started to dislike him, like I said, I was actually on Cwen's side even though I knew that Krish wouldn't die because the series is about him. By the end of the book, well, I'm still not entirely sure whether or not I'm on his side. I don't think I am. He destroyed one people in this book and nearly destroyed another, I don't know, it was at Mirror Town that I most started to dislike him for his behaviour and how he treated other people. I think its' going to be the awkward moment were I don't like what I'm assuming is supposed to be, the main character/hero. I really felt like he was trying to do something good in the beginning of the book, but towards the end he lost his path, and he appears to become every bit as evil as the Hawks believed him to be. He's getting much darker.

This book and the series in general, is unpredictable. You never know what's going to happen next, and there are so many shocking plot twists in this book in particular. There are some really game changing reveals. The ending....it was shocking. It was surprising, and it left me desperate for the next book because it was even more of a game changer than some of the other reveals. I'm so incredibly excited to see were this goes next, but I'm not relishing the wait!

The Hunter's Kind is the kind of sequel you hope for, it meets every expectation and then surpasses it. Old faces are joined by new, and the character development is a thing of beauty as some characters change entirely. The plot was complex, intricate and fast paced while building up to the huge climax. There's more magic, more mythology, more history and more lore, and there's even more of the world to see. Everything you loved about the first book is present in this one, but there's more of it. So much is expanded on but still leaving you wanting more. Your imagination is given a stretch, and you're left wondering at the skill and work put in to create the world of the book.

The Hunter's Kind is a meaty, rich book that you can sink your teeth in to. It will surely become a favourite as you lose yourself in the world and find reality passing you by until you come back with a jolt as the book ends, leaving you somewhat bereft and eager to start reading it again.

[Thea Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Thoughts On The Book:

The Plot Of The Story:
The Hunter's Kind takes up the action directly after the cataclysmic conclusion of Smiler's Fair. The Fair is burning to the ground and Krish, the lost son of the king of Ashaneland flees for his life, away from those intent on capturing him. Krish realises that he has a fight on his hands just to survive, he is the Moon God returned to the lands and has people willing to follow him if he's willing to fight against his murderous father and seize the land from him. Along with his allies Dae Hyo and Olufemi a plan begins to formulate but it's going to take some doing, if possible to do at all, especially when those closest to you hold secrets of their own that could ruin everything.
Meanwhile Eric, former gigolo of Smiler's Fair who was stolen away to father children for the servants of the dead Sun God, is still battling for his own freedom hundreds of miles away as he awaits the birth of his child and his own escape, not knowing how close his own fate lies with the man he's never met, young Krish himself.
The plot of this book is wonderfully complex and complicated in all the best ways, following on closely from the last book we get to follow young Krish plight in even greater depth as we watch the plot-lines from the last book get drawn closer together in this one, as they begin to twist together in ways I hadn't necessarily seen coming. It's a very interesting story and is one that has totally grabbed my attention with all it's compelling twists and turns, it's beautifully put together and draws the reader right into the story so you have no choice but to read on and get caught up entirely in the prolific prose!

What Is There To Love?
There is just so much to love about this book and it's again all the same things that there was to love in the last book too. As before the characters are what drives this book forward and we get a whole new group of character to meet and get to know including Cwen from the Moon Forest and weapons maker Alfreda and her brother. We also get to know the older character introduced in the last book in much more detail from before, each are further expanded and evolve greatly, some more than others as Marvan, for example, doesn't have to much to do in this book where Sang Ki, son of the murdered Seonu leader, has a much expanded story-line this time around which turns him from a hated character into someone that makes you change your mind about them and I found myself actually start to like the man rather than despise him. As before the characterizations are all thoughtfully and creatively crafted and really do drive the story on. The star of the shows are Krish and Eric, like before, they both have been flung onto lives they didn't expect or want and are having to deal with the repercussions of both their fates and their choices.Both are struggling to cope with where and what they are and both are genius constructs on the authors part as they feel very real, flawed and all too human.
This is quite a cultural series, no more so than in this book, as we get to see lots of different groups of people throughout the lands during the course of the book as Krish travels the land towards Mirror Town, each with their own ways and means of living, there own religions, rites and tribal ways. It can be a lot to take in at times but I felt that it kept the book all the more interesting to me.
The magic of the lands has been upped in The Hunter's Kind as Krish reaches Mirror Town which holds a magic all of it's own and Olufemi really gets to step forward as a character here as she fights to do the rune magic required to save her hometown and loved ones for the oncoming onslaught of those chasing Krish down. The rune magic is a fascinating force in this world and has really upped the interest for me.
The violence first showed in the first book is back but it's not gratuitous violence, it has purpose and isn't done in the grimdark style where it can be overly graphic, it has it's place and fits with the story, a book like this needs the violence for the story to feel real but it doesn't go over the top.

What Is There To Dislike?
Nope, nothing, loved it all. Everything is all good with me with this one, or complaints or niggles whatsoever.

How's The Writing?
Wonderful, just wonderful!
The writing is impeccably done, it's got all the pace and action you need to keep the book flowing constantly without any breaks to catch your breath while still remaining deep, evocative and intensive. Every part of the book is integral to the overall story and it's really gripping stuff. Each of the story-lines grow and evolve and they are slowly beginning to blend together in subtle ways.
The world building is being slowly built on but we did get such a good basis for the world in the first book and the world building was epic enough there that it could only be added upon in the future. The world we are reading feels realistic and the rich and vivid characters only add another level to it all.
Rebecca Levene has a wonderful style of writing that evokes the feels of the good old school fantasy, her ideas are eloquent, theatrical and memorable and she really knows how to craft the best kind of story and how to bring all of her character and world creations to authentic and substantial life. I think she is real talent in the fantasy genre and if her future works continue to build the way these two books have been going then I think she will be force to be reckoned with and an author that will become a significant part of my reading world.

Final Thoughts:
The world of The Hollow Gods is creatively imagined and doesn't let you down in any way. It's a vivid and rich world full of expressive characters with spot on pacing and action that's literally to die for. Levene is a talented writer with a touch of class that has made her work standout from the crowd for me and I can say that her work gets me excited in all the best ways.
The Hollow Gods series to date has everything that I personally love about the fantasy genre, it's almost old school fantasy before it went so very 'grimdark' in some cases, GRRM's style that is so very dark and violent, and it's rapidly becoming a favourite of mine. It's spellbinding work at it's best as well and I cannot wait to see where things go in the next book as this edgy and gritty series continues towards what I feel will be an epic conclusion, the wait for it is going to be killer!


I received my copy of The Hunter's Kind for free from the publisher via Bookbridgr.

[Callum · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit of a struggle to get through.

Naturally this book carries on from Smiler's Fair and features the same characters - although not to the same detail and beauty as the first. This book lacked depth. When I look back on what was accomplished by every character in this book, it is undeniable that things happened. But whether they actively developed the story or our understanding of the characters is really a bit questionable. As I say, things just happened.

It wasn't until the final few chapters that I exclaimed "AH! Finally" and things started to get a wriggle on in the right direction. I'm intrigued enough to want to read the next book but I don't have the highest of expectations.

A good book but nothing worth raving about.

[L. Glama]

A great sequel. We follow a fascinating cast of somewhat grey characters, on both sides of a global conflict. Levene doesn't shy away from killing off POV characters, nor from causing them grievous injury, and the upped stakes make everything more exciting. I really like how this is a war of not-exactly-good vs not-exactly-good instead of the usual good vs evil. I'm sort of mildly contradictorily rooting for both sides at once, and I'm very curious about what happens next.

[Alicia Utter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 7/10
Pages: 468

This follow up definitely paints a darker picture of what is happening, especially in the City of Mirrors. I love the interplay of the different gods and the main characters, interweaving and messing with their paths.

I enjoyed watching as Krish changes, as he makes his decisions. Looking forward to the end in this trilogy.

Kindle

[Scott Waldie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As compelling as the first novel, Rebecca Levene continues to carve out the world of the Hollow Gods, following numerous characters, their plights and flights, and always maintaining that stark, grim tone which has vaulted it into one of the most intriguing fantasy settings around these days.