The Hunter

Hunter #1

by Rose Estes

Ice Age warrior Braldt the Hunter is captured and sold into slavery while searching for a healing crystal, and is forced to fight against creatures from other worlds in an intergalactic coliseum called Arena.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Rose Estes is the author of many fantasy and science fiction books, including full length novels and multiple choice gamebooks. After contributing extensively to TSR, Inc.'s Dungeons and Dragons Endless Quest series (of which she wrote the first six, as well as others later down the line), she wrote her first full length novel, Children of the Dragon (1985). She continued to write for TSR by writing six volumes in a series of Greyhawk novels. She contributed to other series, but continued to write books and start series of her own that, like Children of the Dragon, take place in a fantasy or science fiction world created by her own imagination. She also wrote the Golden Book Music Video Sing, Giggle and Grin.

Reviews

[Derek · Rating 1 out of 5]

The cover (and back) promise "hi-tech arena", and you get the impression that this is trying for the Earl Dumarest style of high energy and weird pulpy excitement, but it never gets there. First, said High Tech Arena waits for you in the sequel. Second, this fritters itself away with mediocre exploration, travel scenes, and dialog in interludes. While it pokes at ideas, none really poke back.

There's a tightly-told story in here somewhere, of this primitive world that is being secretly manipulated by interstellar nogoodniks for reasons unknown, who subvert their spiritual system and introduce and abandon their slave species. And all this is a road of discovery for our heroes as they uncover the lies in their closely-held religion and the non-primitiveness of the rival tribes and discover that there are much bigger things in their universe. Hopefully, technologically-advanced arenas appear quickly.

[Simone Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book through a blind date and the thing said it was about an ice age warrior who gets sold into slavery and has to fight in a high tech death trap but that never happened. I was also not of a fan of the whole white guy being better than everybody else and ending up as the chief thing. That was pretty lame. It did have some cool ideas though and the plot was okay but I don’t appreciate the whole lying about the plot thing.

[Michael Brumbaugh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oddly written. Occasionally an unknown narrator jumps in and adds things to the story that would be unknown to any of the characters. Slow story. Not exciting characters. Characters at times act completely different for no reason other than plot device. Mix of fantasy with sci-fi.

Put in goodwill box.