What do you think?
Rate this book
The Sacred Hunt #1
Hunter's Oath
An alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here.
When the covenant was made with the Hunter God, all who dwelt in Breodanir swore to abide by it. The Hunter Lords—and the hunting dogs to which their minds were specially attuned—would seek out game in the God’s woods to provide food for their people, and the Hunter God would ensure that the Hunters, the land, and the people prospered.
But in payment, once a year the Sacred Hunt must be called, the God’s own Hunt in which the prey became one of the Lords, or his huntbrother. This was the Hunter’s Oath, sworn by each Lord and his huntbrother—the companion chosen from the common folk to remind each Lord of his own ties to humanity. It was the Oath pledged in blood by Gilliam of Elseth and the orphan boy Stepehn—and the fulfillment of that Oath would lead them to the kind of destiny from which legends were made…
When the covenant was made with the Hunter God, all who dwelt in Breodanir swore to abide by it. The Hunter Lords—and the hunting dogs to which their minds were specially attuned—would seek out game in the God’s woods to provide food for their people, and the Hunter God would ensure that the Hunters, the land, and the people prospered.
But in payment, once a year the Sacred Hunt must be called, the God’s own Hunt in which the prey became one of the Lords, or his huntbrother. This was the Hunter’s Oath, sworn by each Lord and his huntbrother—the companion chosen from the common folk to remind each Lord of his own ties to humanity. It was the Oath pledged in blood by Gilliam of Elseth and the orphan boy Stepehn—and the fulfillment of that Oath would lead them to the kind of destiny from which legends were made…
314 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 1995
52 people are currently reading
3070 people want to read
About the author
Michelle West
75 books471 followersSee also:
Michelle Sagara West
Michelle Sagara
Michelle is an author, bookseller, and lover of literature based in Toronto. She writes fantasy novels as both Michelle Sagara and Michelle West (and sometimes as Michelle Sagara West). You can find her books at fine booksellers.
She lives in Toronto with her long-suffering husband and her two children, and to her regret has no dogs.
Reading is one of her life-long passions, and she is sometimes paid for her opinions about what she’s read by the venerable Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. No matter how many bookshelves she buys, there is Never Enough Shelf space. Ever.
She has published as Michelle Sagara (her legal name), as Michelle West (her husband's surname), and as Michelle Sagara West (a combination of the two).
Michelle Sagara West
Michelle Sagara
Michelle is an author, bookseller, and lover of literature based in Toronto. She writes fantasy novels as both Michelle Sagara and Michelle West (and sometimes as Michelle Sagara West). You can find her books at fine booksellers.
She lives in Toronto with her long-suffering husband and her two children, and to her regret has no dogs.
Reading is one of her life-long passions, and she is sometimes paid for her opinions about what she’s read by the venerable Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. No matter how many bookshelves she buys, there is Never Enough Shelf space. Ever.
She has published as Michelle Sagara (her legal name), as Michelle West (her husband's surname), and as Michelle Sagara West (a combination of the two).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
June 10, 2017
It took a full month, but I finally finished this 800-plus page duology. I'm a fairly steady reader, but Michelle West's book series are very extensively-detailed and not light or quick reading. Having already read the Sun Sword series years ago, as well as much of The House War series, I liked the opportunity to see the earlier events in Hunter's Oath and Hunter's Death. This duology was published as two separate books originally, before the other two series, but I had missed it. All of these novels are set in the lands of Essalieyan, Annagar, the North lands, the Free Towns, The Hells, and the "between" worlds like the Gods' halfworld, and the Summer Path and Winter Path. The duology is initially set in the western land of Breodanir, country of the Hunter Lords. There is an element of time travel for one character, Evayne, which ties together the characters' efforts to defeat the Lord of the Hells, and survive the plotting of his minions and himself, throughout all of series. The books are a sort of high fantasy genre, but Michelle West writes with an immediacy that puts you straight into her world, and does not give a feeling of "long ago and far away."
The two stories of the duology set events into motion, in Breodanir, as Hunter Lord Gilliam and his Huntbrother Stephen grow up, and are drawn into perplexing happenings beyond their control. There are similarities to certain Celtic and British mythologies, and I particularly liked how the Firstborn feel a bit like a combination of high elves and fae. There are gods and godborn children, kings and queens, spies and mages. But it's the everyday people who capture the reader's attention and sympathies, such as : Stephen, trying to balance his own bookish and scholarly interests with his duties to the family who saved him as a child; Elsabet, Lord Gilliam's mother, committed to her country's dangerous and deadly way of life, but insightful enough to mourn the loss of those killed during the Hunt; and Kallandras, bard in Averalaan, with a mysterious past and secret abilities.
Best of all, for me, was Jewel, adolescent leader of a street 'den' of young thieves, trying to survive in abject poverty while using her untrained but intriguing seer's gifts, and trying to find security for those she's taken on responsibility for.
This duology is meant to feature Gilliam and Stephen as main chracters, but the multiple storylines take on lives of their own. I'm certain that this is why Ms. West went on to write the next two series, and I remember reading somewhere that she said it was Jewel who started out as a sideline character and then just 'took over' her books. I'm glad of this, but those who read the duology based on Gilliam and Stephen's story may be frustrated by the story diverging in many directions, if they do not wish to go on and read the subsequent series. Other reviewers have noted that Gilliam feels too flat, like a one-dimensional character, but I don't quite agree. He is non-communicative, given both his personality and his function as a Hunter Lord, and plays an important role in the story's concluding events. Stephen is the thoughtful one, and we see plot events unfold more from his perspective, but again, eventually we have multiple characters' perspectives and events expand beyond Breodanir into the other lands. I particularly liked knowing more about certain of the demons, the 'kin,' in this duology. Many things concerning their plotting was gone over in greater detail, which was more peripheral in later books.
Overall: The Sun Sword series is my favorite of Ms. West's books, followed by what I have read of the House series. However, Hunter's Oath and Hunter's Death are also good reading, and add a lot to the totality of the stories in all of the series. Based on quality of writing though, I'd recommend reading The Sun Sword series first.
The two stories of the duology set events into motion, in Breodanir, as Hunter Lord Gilliam and his Huntbrother Stephen grow up, and are drawn into perplexing happenings beyond their control. There are similarities to certain Celtic and British mythologies, and I particularly liked how the Firstborn feel a bit like a combination of high elves and fae. There are gods and godborn children, kings and queens, spies and mages. But it's the everyday people who capture the reader's attention and sympathies, such as : Stephen, trying to balance his own bookish and scholarly interests with his duties to the family who saved him as a child; Elsabet, Lord Gilliam's mother, committed to her country's dangerous and deadly way of life, but insightful enough to mourn the loss of those killed during the Hunt; and Kallandras, bard in Averalaan, with a mysterious past and secret abilities.
Best of all, for me, was Jewel, adolescent leader of a street 'den' of young thieves, trying to survive in abject poverty while using her untrained but intriguing seer's gifts, and trying to find security for those she's taken on responsibility for.
This duology is meant to feature Gilliam and Stephen as main chracters, but the multiple storylines take on lives of their own. I'm certain that this is why Ms. West went on to write the next two series, and I remember reading somewhere that she said it was Jewel who started out as a sideline character and then just 'took over' her books. I'm glad of this, but those who read the duology based on Gilliam and Stephen's story may be frustrated by the story diverging in many directions, if they do not wish to go on and read the subsequent series. Other reviewers have noted that Gilliam feels too flat, like a one-dimensional character, but I don't quite agree. He is non-communicative, given both his personality and his function as a Hunter Lord, and plays an important role in the story's concluding events. Stephen is the thoughtful one, and we see plot events unfold more from his perspective, but again, eventually we have multiple characters' perspectives and events expand beyond Breodanir into the other lands. I particularly liked knowing more about certain of the demons, the 'kin,' in this duology. Many things concerning their plotting was gone over in greater detail, which was more peripheral in later books.
Overall: The Sun Sword series is my favorite of Ms. West's books, followed by what I have read of the House series. However, Hunter's Oath and Hunter's Death are also good reading, and add a lot to the totality of the stories in all of the series. Based on quality of writing though, I'd recommend reading The Sun Sword series first.
February 10, 2017
This duology (Hunter's Oath & Hunter's Death) is one story in two books, not really two separate novels.
After reading the Greg Keyes "Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone" books, I was in the mood for some more epic fantasy; however West's books compare very badly to those.
The story starts out with a somewhat promising premise: The Hunter Lords of Breodanir are an elite class, pledged to their hunter god. However, each Lord is oathbound to a Huntbrother, picked from the peasantry, who lives as partner and brother for life - which is often not that long, as hunter Lords and Huntbrothers are regularly killed in their ritual hunts. The narrative follows Stephen, Huntbrother, and his Lord, Gilliam. Stephen turns out to be an intelligent young man, hungry for learning, while Gilliam is crude, crass, and tends to behave much like his beloved hunting dogs. The hunt is his only interest.
If the story had just stuck with these two characters and their personal conflicts within their own society, I think I would have liked the story. However, soon a Wise and Beautiful Sorceress, Evayne, shows up. She is one of the most one-dimensional characters I've ever encountered. No clue is given to her background, personal feelings, etc. She warns of Evil Demons, trapped underground, who want to break out and Take Over. (Very cliche.) For some reason, which I can't quite remember, as it
felt very contrived, in the second book, Stephen & Gilliam have to travel to the foreign city of Averalaan and help Evayne stop the demons.
That's an extremely short summary of what is in reality an extremely long and often tedious story. I nearly gave up on it at times, but then it would pick up and catch my interest for a bit - so I did finish, but overall I would say it never gets better than mediocre.
After reading the Greg Keyes "Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone" books, I was in the mood for some more epic fantasy; however West's books compare very badly to those.
The story starts out with a somewhat promising premise: The Hunter Lords of Breodanir are an elite class, pledged to their hunter god. However, each Lord is oathbound to a Huntbrother, picked from the peasantry, who lives as partner and brother for life - which is often not that long, as hunter Lords and Huntbrothers are regularly killed in their ritual hunts. The narrative follows Stephen, Huntbrother, and his Lord, Gilliam. Stephen turns out to be an intelligent young man, hungry for learning, while Gilliam is crude, crass, and tends to behave much like his beloved hunting dogs. The hunt is his only interest.
If the story had just stuck with these two characters and their personal conflicts within their own society, I think I would have liked the story. However, soon a Wise and Beautiful Sorceress, Evayne, shows up. She is one of the most one-dimensional characters I've ever encountered. No clue is given to her background, personal feelings, etc. She warns of Evil Demons, trapped underground, who want to break out and Take Over. (Very cliche.) For some reason, which I can't quite remember, as it
felt very contrived, in the second book, Stephen & Gilliam have to travel to the foreign city of Averalaan and help Evayne stop the demons.
That's an extremely short summary of what is in reality an extremely long and often tedious story. I nearly gave up on it at times, but then it would pick up and catch my interest for a bit - so I did finish, but overall I would say it never gets better than mediocre.
August 22, 2023
Wow. How has this been off my radar for 28 years? This was better than I thought it would be.
The amount of world-building put into these 313 pages was fantastic. The Hunter god grants mortals the abilities needed to be master hunters. And humanity assigns these Hunters a hunt-brother, there to remind the Hunter of their own humanity and of the people they hunt for. It's a sacred bond. Also, the Hunter god demands a yearly hunt where he kills one hunt master or hunt brother. Not having this yearly tradition has drastic effects. Cool. Dig it. Here for it.
BUT a second plot emerges. A time-bending sorceress on a mission to prevent the end of the world and to find/protect/deliver a mysterious girl. Ok, I am intrigued. Add in demi-gods, wizards, master crafters, master bards, an assassin guild, and demons.
Our main character is a hunt brother who may have some other things going on...and the hunt master he is tied to is the right kind of jerk. I'm intrigued to see how these two and others tie into the tapestry of this saga. Saga, you say?
This is book one of two and also book one of an overarching series currently at 16 books set concurrently across three series.
The amount of world-building put into these 313 pages was fantastic. The Hunter god grants mortals the abilities needed to be master hunters. And humanity assigns these Hunters a hunt-brother, there to remind the Hunter of their own humanity and of the people they hunt for. It's a sacred bond. Also, the Hunter god demands a yearly hunt where he kills one hunt master or hunt brother. Not having this yearly tradition has drastic effects. Cool. Dig it. Here for it.
BUT a second plot emerges. A time-bending sorceress on a mission to prevent the end of the world and to find/protect/deliver a mysterious girl. Ok, I am intrigued. Add in demi-gods, wizards, master crafters, master bards, an assassin guild, and demons.
Our main character is a hunt brother who may have some other things going on...and the hunt master he is tied to is the right kind of jerk. I'm intrigued to see how these two and others tie into the tapestry of this saga. Saga, you say?
This is book one of two and also book one of an overarching series currently at 16 books set concurrently across three series.
September 3, 2008
I really loved this book! Michelle West (or Sagara as she writes other books under) is one of my fave authors, and I can't believe I haven't read this before. I'm reading the followup, Hunter's Death right now.
September 9, 2023
This has many interesting concepts of gods, demons, and time travel. I'd say a fairly original plot even held up against modern fantasy.
However, there are times when it feels a chore to read. The plot could have developed more smoothly and the Hunter/huntbrother relationship could have been developed more believably. The brother's chapters were more difficult to get through and I found myself just wanting to focus on Evayne and Kallandras.
You get thrown around a lot in a jarring way, but there's something special here. A clumsy start with infinite promise.
However, there are times when it feels a chore to read. The plot could have developed more smoothly and the Hunter/huntbrother relationship could have been developed more believably. The brother's chapters were more difficult to get through and I found myself just wanting to focus on Evayne and Kallandras.
You get thrown around a lot in a jarring way, but there's something special here. A clumsy start with infinite promise.
March 11, 2013
I have mixed feelings about this book.
Many basic ideas are good, even new and original, which, in this genre, is really saying something. The writer is capable of imagining and describing settings in detail and of building proficient emotional climaxes.
Many other things I find lacking.
Breodanir is a small provincial kingdom pervaded by the cult of the Hunter God, a divinity at the same time cruel and generous, which is a clever assumption, mirrored by many existing myths.
In this kingdom women and men share the power but, while describing how powerful women are, our author feels very self complacent which of course is clumsy: many authors have created fantasy worlds where women hold the power but always as if it were obvious, trusting their readers to do their own social math.
This aside there are several inconsistencies throughout the novel, from details about clothes through funeral rites to laws and customs, inconsistencies that I never fail to notice and always find annoying.
Characters are not particularly well rounded and they seldom interact: Ms West seems more interested in having them snapping at each other and building her above mentioned climaxes.
Her use of the language is often repetitive and plain: her characters' voices are so often "icy" that Breodanir should should be covered by a thick ice cap.
Another problem is how she deals with the supernatural, which is duly misty but also unclear and contrived, not to mention that I am fed up with these wise people (here the seeress Evayne) who never know enough to save the world by themselves and need to manipulate the unfortunate main heroes who never seem to have the guts to insult them thouroughly.
Homosexuality is never ever mentioned or even hinted at but gay readers will probably feel a thick subtext in the symbiotic relationship between hunter and huntbrother.
Many basic ideas are good, even new and original, which, in this genre, is really saying something. The writer is capable of imagining and describing settings in detail and of building proficient emotional climaxes.
Many other things I find lacking.
Breodanir is a small provincial kingdom pervaded by the cult of the Hunter God, a divinity at the same time cruel and generous, which is a clever assumption, mirrored by many existing myths.
In this kingdom women and men share the power but, while describing how powerful women are, our author feels very self complacent which of course is clumsy: many authors have created fantasy worlds where women hold the power but always as if it were obvious, trusting their readers to do their own social math.
This aside there are several inconsistencies throughout the novel, from details about clothes through funeral rites to laws and customs, inconsistencies that I never fail to notice and always find annoying.
Characters are not particularly well rounded and they seldom interact: Ms West seems more interested in having them snapping at each other and building her above mentioned climaxes.
Her use of the language is often repetitive and plain: her characters' voices are so often "icy" that Breodanir should should be covered by a thick ice cap.
Another problem is how she deals with the supernatural, which is duly misty but also unclear and contrived, not to mention that I am fed up with these wise people (here the seeress Evayne) who never know enough to save the world by themselves and need to manipulate the unfortunate main heroes who never seem to have the guts to insult them thouroughly.
Homosexuality is never ever mentioned or even hinted at but gay readers will probably feel a thick subtext in the symbiotic relationship between hunter and huntbrother.
September 9, 2016
Though written 15 yrs ago, I think this book is perfectly polished as any of the later works,no apologies needed. And I agree with the writer's suggestion to read the House Wars first 3 books first and then go back to Hunter duology.
These two books storylines are mostly quite different from the House Wars that the amount of retread is bearable. I am not a person who reads things more than twice, but I would consider reading this duology again. SO MANY of the things I didn't understand or seemed to have been kind of sloughed off in House Wars series make so much more sense now that I've read this book. I really like Stephen. I can see why all the ladies love him.
I also appreciate the more than ample time to get used to the fact that this character is going to die, and in an ugly way. But also that his death serves a purpose- several really, so that it's not in vain.
I must say that I dislike this Jewel intensely- devoid of grace, maturity and compassion and circumspection. Ditto, the other kids.She did an excellent job refining these characters in the House Wars books.
These two books storylines are mostly quite different from the House Wars that the amount of retread is bearable. I am not a person who reads things more than twice, but I would consider reading this duology again. SO MANY of the things I didn't understand or seemed to have been kind of sloughed off in House Wars series make so much more sense now that I've read this book. I really like Stephen. I can see why all the ladies love him.
I also appreciate the more than ample time to get used to the fact that this character is going to die, and in an ugly way. But also that his death serves a purpose- several really, so that it's not in vain.
I must say that I dislike this Jewel intensely- devoid of grace, maturity and compassion and circumspection. Ditto, the other kids.She did an excellent job refining these characters in the House Wars books.
January 30, 2026
I can see why this one hangs low for some of the fans of this series. And perhaps I wouldn't be able to appreciate it like I do if I hadn't read the first 3 books of The House War series. With background knowledge of the Kialli, Evayne's mysterious nature and some tiny details, I could feel the depth and gravity of the conflicts in this book that didn't say very much about it.
While I missed seeing my favorite characters in House War, I grew to enjoy the shift in location and the exploration of the Breodanir culture. Although I would've preferred it if the pacing here was less uneven. They were moments of nothing happening and trudging ahead felt like moving through a quicksand. This has nothing to do with slow pacing because House War is even slower but there is a depth and gravity that weighs upon the character interactions despite the seeming absence of a moving plot. This made The House War books much more immersive than this one.
However this was still a satisfactory read and I'm impressed with the amount of nuance delivered in less than 500 pages. Evayne a'Nolan stands out the most to me in this book. I felt the pain of her isolation and burden in moving through and out of time. The Otherwhen sears her relationship with people, makes it difficult for her to gain trust as she is trapped by its own secrets and stamp on her fate. She moves in and out of time, ages and gets younger, moving with only the insight the Otherwhen offers her and she bears all that with a mask of ice. Sometimes she tries to reach out to others, to be normal, but secrets bind her. Secrets, purpose and pain. I teared up for her sake and I wonder how her gifts as a seer will either mirror or parallel that of Jewel later on in the series.
The Breodanir culture we have here is also engrossing and rich with details. It is a very patriarchal culture and I'm wowed with how Michelle delivers a two fold reality to the dynamics of The Hunter God and his people. On one side the Breodanir people prosper via their rituals. On the other hand the men (The Hunters) lose a bit of themselves and are disconnected from functioning like normal people. It gives a picture of toxic masculinity and men who think through their “pride” and “glory”. The Hunting culture perfectly captures that sense of “male dominance” which in many cases veers into a very irritating personality and I like how Michelle used Gilliam to perfectly illustrate this even though it was very excruciating to read from his pov or read about him sometimes. The endpoint of this two pronged reality which Michelle establishes is its culmination in death of either Hunter or Huntbrother and the pain the women (wives and sisters) will have to live through knowing fully well they serve a god that sends their husbands and brothers to die. All for the “benefit of the people” by the way. There is balance and nuance in all this and I was thoroughly impressed. I like Stephen too and I enjoyed his journey from a thief in the streets to being a Huntbrother that knocks sense to Gilliam all the time although I wish their dynamics were explored deeper than what we got
Lady Elsa holds my heart the most besides Evayne. I love that woman so much and each time she grieved, each time she questioned why they served a heartless god, I ached for her.
I also liked Kallandras in this book and there's this dichotomy in his personality. He moves between being a cold blooded killer with an ice expression and a heartwarming compassionate character. We grasped bits of his history as a former assassin to a group he “betrayed” and we see him struggle to reconcile his choices with what he left behind. Michelle really holds no bars when it comes to character work.
This was a very beautiful book and it would be 5 stars if not for the uneven pacing and lack of deeper dynamics I sought between Gilliam and Stephen. So it'll sit at 4.5 stars
While I missed seeing my favorite characters in House War, I grew to enjoy the shift in location and the exploration of the Breodanir culture. Although I would've preferred it if the pacing here was less uneven. They were moments of nothing happening and trudging ahead felt like moving through a quicksand. This has nothing to do with slow pacing because House War is even slower but there is a depth and gravity that weighs upon the character interactions despite the seeming absence of a moving plot. This made The House War books much more immersive than this one.
However this was still a satisfactory read and I'm impressed with the amount of nuance delivered in less than 500 pages. Evayne a'Nolan stands out the most to me in this book. I felt the pain of her isolation and burden in moving through and out of time. The Otherwhen sears her relationship with people, makes it difficult for her to gain trust as she is trapped by its own secrets and stamp on her fate. She moves in and out of time, ages and gets younger, moving with only the insight the Otherwhen offers her and she bears all that with a mask of ice. Sometimes she tries to reach out to others, to be normal, but secrets bind her. Secrets, purpose and pain. I teared up for her sake and I wonder how her gifts as a seer will either mirror or parallel that of Jewel later on in the series.
The Breodanir culture we have here is also engrossing and rich with details. It is a very patriarchal culture and I'm wowed with how Michelle delivers a two fold reality to the dynamics of The Hunter God and his people. On one side the Breodanir people prosper via their rituals. On the other hand the men (The Hunters) lose a bit of themselves and are disconnected from functioning like normal people. It gives a picture of toxic masculinity and men who think through their “pride” and “glory”. The Hunting culture perfectly captures that sense of “male dominance” which in many cases veers into a very irritating personality and I like how Michelle used Gilliam to perfectly illustrate this even though it was very excruciating to read from his pov or read about him sometimes. The endpoint of this two pronged reality which Michelle establishes is its culmination in death of either Hunter or Huntbrother and the pain the women (wives and sisters) will have to live through knowing fully well they serve a god that sends their husbands and brothers to die. All for the “benefit of the people” by the way. There is balance and nuance in all this and I was thoroughly impressed. I like Stephen too and I enjoyed his journey from a thief in the streets to being a Huntbrother that knocks sense to Gilliam all the time although I wish their dynamics were explored deeper than what we got
Lady Elsa holds my heart the most besides Evayne. I love that woman so much and each time she grieved, each time she questioned why they served a heartless god, I ached for her.
I also liked Kallandras in this book and there's this dichotomy in his personality. He moves between being a cold blooded killer with an ice expression and a heartwarming compassionate character. We grasped bits of his history as a former assassin to a group he “betrayed” and we see him struggle to reconcile his choices with what he left behind. Michelle really holds no bars when it comes to character work.
This was a very beautiful book and it would be 5 stars if not for the uneven pacing and lack of deeper dynamics I sought between Gilliam and Stephen. So it'll sit at 4.5 stars
March 12, 2012
What I really love about Michelle West's writing is that she gets into each character's head so well. While a lot is still clothed in mystery, the switches in perspective shift this story from just another fantasy novel into something deeper and more epic. That very epic sense is what makes HUNTER'S OATH so dense. There were times that I had to pause, take a breath, and learn to savor the story itself.[return][return]Gilliam is a Hunter Lord; Stephen is his Huntbrother. Together, they must participate in the Sacred Hunt each year in order to keep Breodanir safe and bountiful, at the risk of their own lives. But it soon becomes much more than that as Stephen falls prey to the unfathomable world of magic, demon-kin, and Gods.[return][return]I suspect what many can either find fault with or relish in HUNTER'S OATH is its ability to surround you with so much that you're not sure if you're enthralled with the world... or just confused. But if you simply let go, agree to not understand every little detail - then you can let it take you on a ride that is most definitely worth reading. I found myself incredibly attached to the world, its characters, its conflicts, which was really a surprise because I never thought I'd be thrilled to be reading about hunting and dogs. But really, it's so much more than that.[return][return]I'd say, read this if you're looking to get into something interesting but also by no means an easy, sit-back-and-enjoy type of book. You'll find yourself immersed in a world wrought with intense intrigue, conflict, and sacrifice, and a mishmash of fascinating characters (time-travelers, assasins, kings, thieves) that kept me keenly interested.
July 4, 2011
This was my first time starting the duology that preceeded the Sun Sword books. For some reason I always thought it looked like the story would be boring. And to be honest, it was a little hard to get into but once you knew the characters it became vastly interesting. The addition of Evayne was a little jarring at first, but eventually her story dovetailed with the story of the boys. It was nice seeing 'familiar' faces in this work and it certainly lends flavor and depth to their characters in later books. I'm excited to start the next book!
March 7, 2013
This is an easy read, but the universe is very compelling. I'm on a bit of a Sagara kick having discovered that she builds epic universes in a way that I associate with Brandon Sanderson, but is even better at creating characters that draw you in. The villians in this series are a bit on the simplistic side though, but demons usually are...
August 9, 2007
There's really nothing wrong with this book that I can specifically point to, but there is an atmosphere to it that strikes me as cheesy. West isn't writing the same old fantasy novel, but there's something that's just plain goofy about this book. It's probably just me.
February 12, 2021
7/10*
A beautifully written story with strong characters, a well built world and interesting magic.
A beautifully written story with strong characters, a well built world and interesting magic.
May 28, 2020
I'm working my way through the Essalieyan Chronicles in the author's recommended reading order. While she says you can start the saga with either the Sacred Hunt Duology or the first part of the House War, she said most readers prefer the House War and I see why. In summary, this was a hard book to get into because the conflict is a very slow build, and the protagonists aren't as vividly drawn as the side characters. It's a complete tonal shift from The House War.
Mild spoilers ahead![discussion of the world building but no reveal of major plot points] This book introduces us to the Breodani people, who are essentially pagans in this universe. They worship a hunter god who demands a human sacrifice every year. Our main character is Stephen, who becomes huntbrother to Breodani noble Gilliam Elseth. We spend fully half the book introducing the characters as children, how they became huntbrothers, etc. They are supposed to be extremely close, but we are told and not shown. The affection they have for each other doesn't really come through. In contrast, Gilliam's father has a very strong relationship with his wife and his huntbrother (there are even some mild allusions to a possible polyamorous situation). There chemistry, platonic or not, crackles on the page. Stephen and Gilliam are just boring.
Then without fanfare, we skip ahead about ten years. One moment Gilliam and Stephen are fighting because Stephen has a crush on a young lady, then bam, the villains show up. We are briefly introduced to the baddies in the first half but given only the barest of insight as to why they're a threat. It was only meaningful to me because I knew him from the House War. We end on a cliffhanger and even though Stephen and Gilliam have been forced to grow up overnight, their mother's struggle with the knowledge that she can't protect them is far more moving than their discomfort.
I suspect that in the grand scheme of things, this duology could be skipped but I'll reserve judgment until I finish Hunter's Death.
Mild spoilers ahead![discussion of the world building but no reveal of major plot points] This book introduces us to the Breodani people, who are essentially pagans in this universe. They worship a hunter god who demands a human sacrifice every year. Our main character is Stephen, who becomes huntbrother to Breodani noble Gilliam Elseth. We spend fully half the book introducing the characters as children, how they became huntbrothers, etc. They are supposed to be extremely close, but we are told and not shown. The affection they have for each other doesn't really come through. In contrast, Gilliam's father has a very strong relationship with his wife and his huntbrother (there are even some mild allusions to a possible polyamorous situation). There chemistry, platonic or not, crackles on the page. Stephen and Gilliam are just boring.
Then without fanfare, we skip ahead about ten years. One moment Gilliam and Stephen are fighting because Stephen has a crush on a young lady, then bam, the villains show up. We are briefly introduced to the baddies in the first half but given only the barest of insight as to why they're a threat. It was only meaningful to me because I knew him from the House War. We end on a cliffhanger and even though Stephen and Gilliam have been forced to grow up overnight, their mother's struggle with the knowledge that she can't protect them is far more moving than their discomfort.
I suspect that in the grand scheme of things, this duology could be skipped but I'll reserve judgment until I finish Hunter's Death.
February 22, 2019
What a weird book. Towards the end of the book lots of action and near death for the characters. It did get interesting but not sure I'll read more of it. I was compelled to finish by page 350 and it ended up being a cliffhanger of sorts. 4 stars.
September 30, 2019
Removing one star from my rating because upon reflection, as much as I loved it, it's so clearly a prologue. A long one, yeah - four hundred pages - but for all the awesome moments and development, the entirety of the book is setting up for the final scene,
But let's talk about the journey, because as I said: four hundred pages. That's a lot of stuff happening.
The book centers around four main characters: Stephen, Gil, Elseth, and Evayne. There are some other minor pov characters, but it's gonna be these four you're looking at.
Stephen and Gil are brothers - Stephen's an adopted orphan, Gil is the next Hunter Lord for his lands, which means he is psychically linked to his dogs, hunts for a living, is nobility, shares a psychic bond with his brother, and once a year must risk his life in the Sacred Hunt where his God will kill one of the Hunter Lords or their brothers. And if this hunt doesn't happen, God will literally raze their lands and starve the people.
It's a beautiful, bloody paganistic ritual and relationship, and it's drawn with wonderful style: the respect the villagers have for their Lords, the grief the wives hold for their husbands and sons, the joy of the hunt, the fear of it. I never knew a European-style fantasy could look at the premise of nobility and take it to another level, but here we are. Read it for this alone, if you do.
But oh: the other main characters are women, and this book grants them as much essential focus as it does to our stereotypical young men. Elseth is Gil's mother, and it's from her vantage point that we get a deeper understanding of what it means to live in Breodanir, what it means to risk losing your husband every year, and what it means when your sons are being hunted by demons: you arm yourself and your daughter with crossbows and set out to protect them, because damn it, they're your sons!
I would die for Elseth. She's that cool.
Evayne meanwhile is the representative of the larger plot at work, here, as this isn't just slice of life/tragedy about hunters in Breodanir. See, fantasy Satan himself is enacting a scheme where he can manifest himself in the mortal world, and the first line of defense against this plot is Evayne: she's a mage who has lived her entire life out of order. A deal her father made cursed/blessed her to never know where she'll appear next: ten thousand years ago, ten years ahead, whenever. But it's a straight line that she cannot deviate from, otherwise the curse implodes on itself and she dies. And since her actions are crucial to saving the world from Satan, it'll probably take the world with her if she ever screws up.
So she doesn't. And she's at once easy to sympathize for and difficult to like, because she's so alien to everyone else in the entire plot. She knows things, she struggles alone, and it's no surprise that at least one of her allies hates her.
So! With all of this rich world-building and wonderful characters, what does the author do with it? Well, she starts by essentially giving you the biography of Stephen and Gil, with interludes from the ladies. Stephen gets adopted from off the streets, learns to hate and then love his brother, they both become hunters, blah blah blah. It's fun to read but typical.
Then the plot has a big interlude about Evayne and her ex-assassin ally rescuing a girl from demons in the woods and it leads to some baller action sequences before finishing and dropping us back off with Stephen and Gil as they take part in their first Sacred Hunt. This is life-changing and defining and it's incredible to read - especially once an assassin tries to mess up the Hunt.
Digressing here a moment to say - yeah, a lot of this book only hints at the main plot, or gives you a brief short story about it before getting back to the life of Stephen. And that's fine, because it's so well written and compelling to read. But as I said at the top, I had to pull a star because the main Satan vs Hunters plot doesn't come into play until the very end of the book, and then it's just a prologue. All of the resolution is yet to come, and Hunter's Death (book 2) is a thick 600+ pages. I'm starting it today, but yeah. I love this book, but it's hard to rec until I know if it pays off or not.
But I'll rec it anyways because I've never read a depiction of such a nakedly brutal pagan ritual hunt intertwined with an entire society so well before. I've never seen any book where the protagonists get to be psychically bonded to dogs the way you see other books with horses. (Valdemar...) God I love dogs, and they're the unsung champs of this book. They're written as they should be and I recognize them in my own pooch, so, y'know, I'm biased.
Read this book, it's a fantasy that's rich and thick and it has badass characters. I don't know what else you'd want from a fantasy novel anyways! :P
But let's talk about the journey, because as I said: four hundred pages. That's a lot of stuff happening.
The book centers around four main characters: Stephen, Gil, Elseth, and Evayne. There are some other minor pov characters, but it's gonna be these four you're looking at.
Stephen and Gil are brothers - Stephen's an adopted orphan, Gil is the next Hunter Lord for his lands, which means he is psychically linked to his dogs, hunts for a living, is nobility, shares a psychic bond with his brother, and once a year must risk his life in the Sacred Hunt where his God will kill one of the Hunter Lords or their brothers. And if this hunt doesn't happen, God will literally raze their lands and starve the people.
It's a beautiful, bloody paganistic ritual and relationship, and it's drawn with wonderful style: the respect the villagers have for their Lords, the grief the wives hold for their husbands and sons, the joy of the hunt, the fear of it. I never knew a European-style fantasy could look at the premise of nobility and take it to another level, but here we are. Read it for this alone, if you do.
But oh: the other main characters are women, and this book grants them as much essential focus as it does to our stereotypical young men. Elseth is Gil's mother, and it's from her vantage point that we get a deeper understanding of what it means to live in Breodanir, what it means to risk losing your husband every year, and what it means when your sons are being hunted by demons: you arm yourself and your daughter with crossbows and set out to protect them, because damn it, they're your sons!
I would die for Elseth. She's that cool.
Evayne meanwhile is the representative of the larger plot at work, here, as this isn't just slice of life/tragedy about hunters in Breodanir. See, fantasy Satan himself is enacting a scheme where he can manifest himself in the mortal world, and the first line of defense against this plot is Evayne: she's a mage who has lived her entire life out of order. A deal her father made cursed/blessed her to never know where she'll appear next: ten thousand years ago, ten years ahead, whenever. But it's a straight line that she cannot deviate from, otherwise the curse implodes on itself and she dies. And since her actions are crucial to saving the world from Satan, it'll probably take the world with her if she ever screws up.
So she doesn't. And she's at once easy to sympathize for and difficult to like, because she's so alien to everyone else in the entire plot. She knows things, she struggles alone, and it's no surprise that at least one of her allies hates her.
So! With all of this rich world-building and wonderful characters, what does the author do with it? Well, she starts by essentially giving you the biography of Stephen and Gil, with interludes from the ladies. Stephen gets adopted from off the streets, learns to hate and then love his brother, they both become hunters, blah blah blah. It's fun to read but typical.
Then the plot has a big interlude about Evayne and her ex-assassin ally rescuing a girl from demons in the woods and it leads to some baller action sequences before finishing and dropping us back off with Stephen and Gil as they take part in their first Sacred Hunt. This is life-changing and defining and it's incredible to read - especially once an assassin tries to mess up the Hunt.
Digressing here a moment to say - yeah, a lot of this book only hints at the main plot, or gives you a brief short story about it before getting back to the life of Stephen. And that's fine, because it's so well written and compelling to read. But as I said at the top, I had to pull a star because the main Satan vs Hunters plot doesn't come into play until the very end of the book, and then it's just a prologue. All of the resolution is yet to come, and Hunter's Death (book 2) is a thick 600+ pages. I'm starting it today, but yeah. I love this book, but it's hard to rec until I know if it pays off or not.
But I'll rec it anyways because I've never read a depiction of such a nakedly brutal pagan ritual hunt intertwined with an entire society so well before. I've never seen any book where the protagonists get to be psychically bonded to dogs the way you see other books with horses. (Valdemar...) God I love dogs, and they're the unsung champs of this book. They're written as they should be and I recognize them in my own pooch, so, y'know, I'm biased.
Read this book, it's a fantasy that's rich and thick and it has badass characters. I don't know what else you'd want from a fantasy novel anyways! :P
August 22, 2014
Gilliam is a Hunter Lord; Stephen is his huntbrother. Together, they hunt in the forests of their God, but in return, their God demands the chance to devour one Hunter Lord each year. And he's one of the good Gods.
Hunter's Oath is several different novels spliced together. The first novel is full of generic mythological gods and evil demons who laugh manically as they plot to destroy humanity. This novel is boring. The second novel is a trash-epic fantasy about adopted orphans and castles and psychic dog packs and wizards and unsophisticated court politics. This novel is thoughtless but satisfying: the intellectual equivalent of spraying EZ-CHEEZ straight into your mouth. The third novel is the disjointed account of a young woman driven to hop-scotch through time, never sure where she will arrive or what she will be forced to do. And this novel is interesting, if jarring: despite acting as an omnipotent deus ex machina for the other characters, Evayne has no control over her travels and no way to change the terrible history she must visit again and again.
If Evayne's third of Hunter's Oath is awkwardly executed, it's at least intriguing. Not so the other two thirds. The generic fantasy bilge is just white noise to be skimmed, but the third with Hunter's Oath's ostensible protagonist, Stephen of Elseth, is more problematic. The tragic paradox driving all of the novel's events is that the Hunter Lords and huntbrothers have great power and freedom in Breodanir -- but at the cost of sacrificing one of their members each year to their God. As you may imagine, this really harshes the Breodani's buzz. So, large swaths of the novel are dedicated to the Breodani bemoaning their fate and their dead fathers/brothers/sons and thinking unkind thoughts about their hungry God et cetera. Which is weird but okay -- it's strange that the Breodani have so many self-doubts about their inculcated culture of human sacrifice, but as their society is consistently portrayed as self-flagellating, I will accept it without too much thought. But. The reason the Breodani put up with their rapacious God is (ostensibly) the great fringe benefits: the land is fertile, the feudal estates are at peace, and all the ruling Hunter Lords get to hunt the rest of the year with their psychic dog packs. Breodani society is built around the hunt.
But. Our Hero Stephen doesn't particularly like hunting: he would rather read books than hunt with Gilliam, and he feels no great connection to Gilliam's hunting pack. Stephen is the reader's main point of view, and he's just not interested in hunting, which flies in the face of both his background, his relationship with Gilliam, and his society. And this disinterest fatally undermines the book, because how can the reader emphasize with the Breodani's (much bemoaned) sacrifice if they can't understand the (tepidly endorsed) benefits?
Hunter's Oath is several different novels spliced together. The first novel is full of generic mythological gods and evil demons who laugh manically as they plot to destroy humanity. This novel is boring. The second novel is a trash-epic fantasy about adopted orphans and castles and psychic dog packs and wizards and unsophisticated court politics. This novel is thoughtless but satisfying: the intellectual equivalent of spraying EZ-CHEEZ straight into your mouth. The third novel is the disjointed account of a young woman driven to hop-scotch through time, never sure where she will arrive or what she will be forced to do. And this novel is interesting, if jarring: despite acting as an omnipotent deus ex machina for the other characters, Evayne has no control over her travels and no way to change the terrible history she must visit again and again.
If Evayne's third of Hunter's Oath is awkwardly executed, it's at least intriguing. Not so the other two thirds. The generic fantasy bilge is just white noise to be skimmed, but the third with Hunter's Oath's ostensible protagonist, Stephen of Elseth, is more problematic. The tragic paradox driving all of the novel's events is that the Hunter Lords and huntbrothers have great power and freedom in Breodanir -- but at the cost of sacrificing one of their members each year to their God. As you may imagine, this really harshes the Breodani's buzz. So, large swaths of the novel are dedicated to the Breodani bemoaning their fate and their dead fathers/brothers/sons and thinking unkind thoughts about their hungry God et cetera. Which is weird but okay -- it's strange that the Breodani have so many self-doubts about their inculcated culture of human sacrifice, but as their society is consistently portrayed as self-flagellating, I will accept it without too much thought. But. The reason the Breodani put up with their rapacious God is (ostensibly) the great fringe benefits: the land is fertile, the feudal estates are at peace, and all the ruling Hunter Lords get to hunt the rest of the year with their psychic dog packs. Breodani society is built around the hunt.
But. Our Hero Stephen doesn't particularly like hunting: he would rather read books than hunt with Gilliam, and he feels no great connection to Gilliam's hunting pack. Stephen is the reader's main point of view, and he's just not interested in hunting, which flies in the face of both his background, his relationship with Gilliam, and his society. And this disinterest fatally undermines the book, because how can the reader emphasize with the Breodani's (much bemoaned) sacrifice if they can't understand the (tepidly endorsed) benefits?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2009
Hunter's Oath is the first book in a two-book series by Michelle West. I actually picked this book up and read it several years ago, and then I never managed to find the sequel. At some point, I sort of forgot about the book, but I would see it occasionally at the library and want to pick it up again. I am so glad I finally did. I honestly do not remember liking it this much the first time I read it, but I loved it this time around.
The Hunter Lords of Breodanir have sworn a pact with their god. The Hunter God gives his people plentiful food in both the hunt and their farms, but once a year all of the Hunter Lords and their huntbrothers must participate in the Sacred Hunt, where they become the hunted, and one of them will suffer the Hunter's Death. Not too long ago, the King refused to call the Sacred Hunt, and his people were sorely punished for it. When the Prince finally killed the King and became King himself, that year the Sacred Hunt claimed many more than its usual one life. The Hunter God showed his anger, but he also gave back to his people, bringing them out of the famine the old king had left them in. The Hunter Lords know their burden, but they are also given special gifts by the god - they have the ability to communicate with their hunting dogs, to enter the hunter's trance and become more than simply human. Each Hunter Lord must have a huntbrother, someone chosen from the common people at the age of eight - the huntbrothers keep the Lords grounded, and they share a bond that is stronger than any other. The Queen and the Hunter Ladies are the ones that truly run the kingdom, while the King (Master of the Hunt) and his Hunter Lords provide for them.
Stephen was a thief in the King's City until he was chosen by Lord Elseth to become huntbrother to Gilliam, Lord Elseth's son. But Stephen has been marked by the gods for much more. The story continues to get complicated as we learn of the world outside of Breodanir, and of the Darkness that rises. Somehow the Hunter God, and Stephen and Gilliam, are involved in the coming battle, where all of their oaths will be put to the test.
I loved this book, and I am tremendously excited to read the next one, Hunter's Death. The world that West has created is different from many other fantasy worlds, and she does an excellent job of sharing that world with her readers. The characters are also very well written. Even though you want to hit them for making stupid mistakes sometimes, you still love them all the way. This book is highly recommended for anyone who loves fantasy and is looking for an interesting read.
The Hunter Lords of Breodanir have sworn a pact with their god. The Hunter God gives his people plentiful food in both the hunt and their farms, but once a year all of the Hunter Lords and their huntbrothers must participate in the Sacred Hunt, where they become the hunted, and one of them will suffer the Hunter's Death. Not too long ago, the King refused to call the Sacred Hunt, and his people were sorely punished for it. When the Prince finally killed the King and became King himself, that year the Sacred Hunt claimed many more than its usual one life. The Hunter God showed his anger, but he also gave back to his people, bringing them out of the famine the old king had left them in. The Hunter Lords know their burden, but they are also given special gifts by the god - they have the ability to communicate with their hunting dogs, to enter the hunter's trance and become more than simply human. Each Hunter Lord must have a huntbrother, someone chosen from the common people at the age of eight - the huntbrothers keep the Lords grounded, and they share a bond that is stronger than any other. The Queen and the Hunter Ladies are the ones that truly run the kingdom, while the King (Master of the Hunt) and his Hunter Lords provide for them.
Stephen was a thief in the King's City until he was chosen by Lord Elseth to become huntbrother to Gilliam, Lord Elseth's son. But Stephen has been marked by the gods for much more. The story continues to get complicated as we learn of the world outside of Breodanir, and of the Darkness that rises. Somehow the Hunter God, and Stephen and Gilliam, are involved in the coming battle, where all of their oaths will be put to the test.
I loved this book, and I am tremendously excited to read the next one, Hunter's Death. The world that West has created is different from many other fantasy worlds, and she does an excellent job of sharing that world with her readers. The characters are also very well written. Even though you want to hit them for making stupid mistakes sometimes, you still love them all the way. This book is highly recommended for anyone who loves fantasy and is looking for an interesting read.
June 15, 2011
What I really love about Michelle West's writing is that she gets into each character's head so well. While a lot is still clothed in mystery, the switches in perspective shift this story from just another fantasy novel into something deeper and more epic. That very epic sense is what makes HUNTER'S OATH so dense. There were times that I had to pause, take a breath, and learn to savor the story itself.[return][return]Gilliam is a Hunter Lord; Stephen is his Huntbrother. Together, they must participate in the Sacred Hunt each year in order to keep Breodanir safe and bountiful, at the risk of their own lives. But it soon becomes much more than that as Stephen falls prey to the unfathomable world of magic, demon-kin, and Gods.[return][return]I suspect what many can either find fault with or relish in HUNTER'S OATH is its ability to surround you with so much that you're not sure if you're enthralled with the world... or just confused. But if you simply let go, agree to not understand every little detail - then you can let it take you on a ride that is most definitely worth reading. I found myself incredibly attached to the world, its characters, its conflicts, which was really a surprise because I never thought I'd be thrilled to be reading about hunting and dogs. But really, it's so much more than that.[return][return]I'd say, read this if you're looking to get into something interesting but also by no means an easy, sit-back-and-enjoy type of book. You'll find yourself immersed in a world wrought with intense intrigue, conflict, and sacrifice, and a mishmash of fascinating characters (time-travelers, assasins, kings, thieves) that kept me keenly interested.
February 10, 2024
Phew, it's over.
I need a shelf for "Finished out of a sense of duty, do not recommend to a single soul.'
It's a shame, really, because even though the broken crown series isn't my normal fare, I can say that it's quite good. This? Isn't.
Maybe it was her first novel. If so, a lot is forgivable.
Like the names. Oh my word. If you want to invent new cultures and have amazing names like Kallandros, and Khrysanthos, and Espere, you go. You do you. Let the creative juices flow, but do not, I repeat, do not, pair them with Stephen. It's way too cringy when the main character has a pronounceable name and every other character has something with a thousand syllables. It's jarring.
The setting doesn't make sense.
There's this culture of people who couldn't feed themselves farming like every other culture so their god gave some of their men the power to commune with dogs so that they could hunt and feed their family in exchange for the god hunting the men once a year. Okay. That's fine, I can go with that. Then how do they have cities? Villages? Why do the villagers have to be told to go plant stuff, and then also line the road to treat the hunters with reverence as they go off to do this sacred hunt? Why don't they just raise pigs, cows, or rabbits to get their protein? They have horses that they have domesticated, so why don't they just farm their meat that way? I suppose she tries to cover this by having him be not just a god of hunting but also fertility. After all, if they don't have this sacred hunt, their crops fail. But that doesn't make sense in the greater universe because you have these gods of individual things: Knowledge, time, justice, wisdom. And now you have a god that covers two domains? Hunting and fertility? They're not even related. I can go with it's a different domain than the other gods, he's an outsider, fine. But do break all the rules and get two things under his control? Why is he that special? Especially when you already have a goddess of the hunt, Winter, the Lady, as is established in the rest of the books? She seems kind of possessive, I can't imagine her sharing The Hunt.
The society doesn't make any sense. In the other series where we interacted with two different cultures, both bigger and more populated than this itty bitty one in the middle of nowhere and we never saw a maker-born, and saw like, two mage-born the entire time. Now? We have mage-born delivering bodies, healer-born tripping all over themselves, and maker-born everywhere making sculptures of stone, of wood, of antlers, of leaves. Everyone knows one. Are they born at a higher rate here? Why? The hunters, the ones that are responsible for keeping the kingdom going, are treated surprisingly cavalierly. Stephen knows, through the bond, that Gilliam is in danger and tells his mother, this Lady of the realm so, and she's just like 'oh, well go forth and find him my hero.' Why didn't she organize a search party? Why didn't she take up her crossbow and dagger and venture forth to protect her son? Nope, instead we have her just kind of sitting there waving a handkerchief as her other son sallies forth to do battle with the darkness.
Not only that, but the hunters are well, kind of dumb. They are only interested in hunting and being with their dogs, but then they somehow manage to get married to these super knowledgeable Ladies who wield more power than they do, acting as judges, managing estates, and being submissive to their husbands? How does that make sense? It's a super feudal society, a Lord with a house and a village with a headman or headwoman who are under his authority and treat him as their ruler, but he doesn't have to do anything for the village other than provide meat to them? What about mutual defense? Feudal societies normally built up around a Lordship because he kept a small fighting force to fight off marauders. Are there no marauders? Then why does the Lady Elseth have crossbows on hand? How does she manage to use them without having been trained? How does she manage to sneak up on three people in skirts that are massive, impractical, and rustle? How does she manage to hit someone on her first try? Just saying "She thought they did very well for all that they hadn't been trained" doesn't cover it. She's throwing daggers by the end 'because all women are trained to it' only there was no mention of it anywhere else in rest of the book. It's always been focused on her brocade, not her steel.
Actually the character of Elsabet didn't make sense in the slightest. She's the mother of Gilliam, who needs a huntbrother from the 'common people' to remind him of humanity, so they hunt a child out of the slums and then adopt him, she becomes his mother. He thinks she's an angel on earth and does everything to obey her, respect her, worship her, and live up to the gift of calling her 'mother'. Then her husband dies and he's suddenly calling her a pet name 'Elsa' and cupping her cheek in his hand?
Dude. That's weird.
My brothers still call my mom 'mom' they don't call her Cin Cin or something creepy and then gently cup her face in their hand while gazing soulfully into her face.
That's not how mothers and sons interact. Gilliam doesn't treat his mother like this. Mauebelle, or however you spell her name, doesn't treat her mother like this. It's creepy and weird and completely uncalled for. Why would the lady who is a super stickler on manners, and family honor, and not bringing shame to the line, be okay with an 18 year old she raised calling her a pet name?
The strong point of the later series is how everything is implicit. You have to read between the lines. What is left unsaid is where all the meaning is.
Not so here. Absolutely everything is explained. All of the things that don't need to be explained are dwelt on. A god statue tells Stephen to 'Go', and by go, that doesn't just mean venture forth. It means leave behind this woman that you love who is throwing herself at you because now is not the time for your tryst to be consummated. No. Really? I kind of got that by him looking up from kissing the girl to have the god statue frown and say 'Go'. Gods that think it's important enough to animate a statue of stone in order to give a supernatural message are usually not willing to wait for the poor mortals to have their little tryst. I didn't need a paragraph explaining it to me. I could figure it out on my own.
I wonder if this was originally one book and she had to stretch it out to make it a duology?
Sigh, I'm really not looking forward to the next one.
I need a shelf for "Finished out of a sense of duty, do not recommend to a single soul.'
It's a shame, really, because even though the broken crown series isn't my normal fare, I can say that it's quite good. This? Isn't.
Maybe it was her first novel. If so, a lot is forgivable.
Like the names. Oh my word. If you want to invent new cultures and have amazing names like Kallandros, and Khrysanthos, and Espere, you go. You do you. Let the creative juices flow, but do not, I repeat, do not, pair them with Stephen. It's way too cringy when the main character has a pronounceable name and every other character has something with a thousand syllables. It's jarring.
The setting doesn't make sense.
There's this culture of people who couldn't feed themselves farming like every other culture so their god gave some of their men the power to commune with dogs so that they could hunt and feed their family in exchange for the god hunting the men once a year. Okay. That's fine, I can go with that. Then how do they have cities? Villages? Why do the villagers have to be told to go plant stuff, and then also line the road to treat the hunters with reverence as they go off to do this sacred hunt? Why don't they just raise pigs, cows, or rabbits to get their protein? They have horses that they have domesticated, so why don't they just farm their meat that way? I suppose she tries to cover this by having him be not just a god of hunting but also fertility. After all, if they don't have this sacred hunt, their crops fail. But that doesn't make sense in the greater universe because you have these gods of individual things: Knowledge, time, justice, wisdom. And now you have a god that covers two domains? Hunting and fertility? They're not even related. I can go with it's a different domain than the other gods, he's an outsider, fine. But do break all the rules and get two things under his control? Why is he that special? Especially when you already have a goddess of the hunt, Winter, the Lady, as is established in the rest of the books? She seems kind of possessive, I can't imagine her sharing The Hunt.
The society doesn't make any sense. In the other series where we interacted with two different cultures, both bigger and more populated than this itty bitty one in the middle of nowhere and we never saw a maker-born, and saw like, two mage-born the entire time. Now? We have mage-born delivering bodies, healer-born tripping all over themselves, and maker-born everywhere making sculptures of stone, of wood, of antlers, of leaves. Everyone knows one. Are they born at a higher rate here? Why? The hunters, the ones that are responsible for keeping the kingdom going, are treated surprisingly cavalierly. Stephen knows, through the bond, that Gilliam is in danger and tells his mother, this Lady of the realm so, and she's just like 'oh, well go forth and find him my hero.' Why didn't she organize a search party? Why didn't she take up her crossbow and dagger and venture forth to protect her son? Nope, instead we have her just kind of sitting there waving a handkerchief as her other son sallies forth to do battle with the darkness.
Not only that, but the hunters are well, kind of dumb. They are only interested in hunting and being with their dogs, but then they somehow manage to get married to these super knowledgeable Ladies who wield more power than they do, acting as judges, managing estates, and being submissive to their husbands? How does that make sense? It's a super feudal society, a Lord with a house and a village with a headman or headwoman who are under his authority and treat him as their ruler, but he doesn't have to do anything for the village other than provide meat to them? What about mutual defense? Feudal societies normally built up around a Lordship because he kept a small fighting force to fight off marauders. Are there no marauders? Then why does the Lady Elseth have crossbows on hand? How does she manage to use them without having been trained? How does she manage to sneak up on three people in skirts that are massive, impractical, and rustle? How does she manage to hit someone on her first try? Just saying "She thought they did very well for all that they hadn't been trained" doesn't cover it. She's throwing daggers by the end 'because all women are trained to it' only there was no mention of it anywhere else in rest of the book. It's always been focused on her brocade, not her steel.
Actually the character of Elsabet didn't make sense in the slightest. She's the mother of Gilliam, who needs a huntbrother from the 'common people' to remind him of humanity, so they hunt a child out of the slums and then adopt him, she becomes his mother. He thinks she's an angel on earth and does everything to obey her, respect her, worship her, and live up to the gift of calling her 'mother'. Then her husband dies and he's suddenly calling her a pet name 'Elsa' and cupping her cheek in his hand?
Dude. That's weird.
My brothers still call my mom 'mom' they don't call her Cin Cin or something creepy and then gently cup her face in their hand while gazing soulfully into her face.
That's not how mothers and sons interact. Gilliam doesn't treat his mother like this. Mauebelle, or however you spell her name, doesn't treat her mother like this. It's creepy and weird and completely uncalled for. Why would the lady who is a super stickler on manners, and family honor, and not bringing shame to the line, be okay with an 18 year old she raised calling her a pet name?
The strong point of the later series is how everything is implicit. You have to read between the lines. What is left unsaid is where all the meaning is.
Not so here. Absolutely everything is explained. All of the things that don't need to be explained are dwelt on. A god statue tells Stephen to 'Go', and by go, that doesn't just mean venture forth. It means leave behind this woman that you love who is throwing herself at you because now is not the time for your tryst to be consummated. No. Really? I kind of got that by him looking up from kissing the girl to have the god statue frown and say 'Go'. Gods that think it's important enough to animate a statue of stone in order to give a supernatural message are usually not willing to wait for the poor mortals to have their little tryst. I didn't need a paragraph explaining it to me. I could figure it out on my own.
I wonder if this was originally one book and she had to stretch it out to make it a duology?
Sigh, I'm really not looking forward to the next one.
July 9, 2016
Hunter's Oath follows two boys named Stephen and Gilliam of Elseth. One from the streets (Stephen) and the other born of noble blood (Gilliam), and they are hunters. The Hunters/Huntbrothers go out once a year to go on a hunt (yeah...) were one of them inevitably dies, pleasing the god of the hunt and grants them another year of food. Sounds like hungers games, I know. When all this is going on the book follows another story about a girl named Evayne and Evayne is a seer. Meaning she's a mage, fortuneteller and time traveler, yes a time traveler, and she's dealing with some shit that I don't want to get into because of spoilers, lets just say she's dealing with apocalypse gods stuff.
This book was fun and paced well. I especially like the magic system and the bounds with the dogs, very unique. My one major complaint is that Evayne's story was soooo boring. I found myself blindly reading her story and not retaining anything. Also as she ages through the book it didn't feel like she actually aged. It felt like people and herself just commented on it, like she changed physically but not in character
People I really enjoyed was Stephan and Gilliam. I like their banters, their relationship, pretty much everything about them. I enjoyed that they still fight even though they are friends/blood brothers, we all fight with our friends even if they're our best friend. I always looked forward to there part of the story and I can't wait to read more about them in the seconded book.
December 7, 2010
This was the first of Michelle Sagara's books I ever read. I got it in a box of books from a family friend who was moving. It took me years to find Hunter's Death and the Sun Sword books, but eventually I did.
My only complaint is that this is a hard way to get into the series (and when I say 'series', I mean this duology, the Sun Sword books, and the House War books). One characteristic of these books is the very slow reveal of information. Once you're hooked, and grasp what's going on, it's hard to STOP reading. But in Hunter's Oath, it takes a good while to understand the world, and it takes patience with the confusion of not knowing exactly what's going on.
All of that said, it is absolutely, 100% worth it to keep going and get further into this book and the series as a whole. The further you get, the more information is revealed, along with more secrets/mysteries. The characters are great, and you want to know more of what happens to them as they grow - and you see a lot of that. These books aren't the typical "coming of age" stories, but the characters are people who grow and age and adapt to the situations they're thrown into or the paths they choose to follow.
My only complaint is that this is a hard way to get into the series (and when I say 'series', I mean this duology, the Sun Sword books, and the House War books). One characteristic of these books is the very slow reveal of information. Once you're hooked, and grasp what's going on, it's hard to STOP reading. But in Hunter's Oath, it takes a good while to understand the world, and it takes patience with the confusion of not knowing exactly what's going on.
All of that said, it is absolutely, 100% worth it to keep going and get further into this book and the series as a whole. The further you get, the more information is revealed, along with more secrets/mysteries. The characters are great, and you want to know more of what happens to them as they grow - and you see a lot of that. These books aren't the typical "coming of age" stories, but the characters are people who grow and age and adapt to the situations they're thrown into or the paths they choose to follow.
Read
September 18, 2012I don't think I'm going to finish this book. This series came to me as a recommendation, so I know *other* people like it. But for me, it's not working. The main premise, about the Hunt Lords and their bonded Hunt Brothers, is really interesting, but I'm halfway through and this book is just not grabbing me.
It's kinda bad to say that and give no reason, but sometimes it's hard to give a reason. Why do I like some people, and not others? There's a word I use to describe a certain books to myself: murky. It means that the way I need to have words arranged on a page is not jiving with the way an author arranges words, and as a result, I have trouble "seeing" the story. Reading becomes a little like negotiating a strange dream. I can't track the action, and the characters turn flat. Murk might mean the writing just is not very good, or it might mean that I'm just not the right recipient for the writing. In this case, it is probably the later.
It's kinda bad to say that and give no reason, but sometimes it's hard to give a reason. Why do I like some people, and not others? There's a word I use to describe a certain books to myself: murky. It means that the way I need to have words arranged on a page is not jiving with the way an author arranges words, and as a result, I have trouble "seeing" the story. Reading becomes a little like negotiating a strange dream. I can't track the action, and the characters turn flat. Murk might mean the writing just is not very good, or it might mean that I'm just not the right recipient for the writing. In this case, it is probably the later.
April 18, 2008
I devoured this series as whole, so my review of one book has to cover my review of all the books. This is one of my favorite series (and Michelle West is one of my favorite authors). When I finished the series the first time through I was compelled to go back and re-read just the parts that featured my favorite character (Jewel). I keep this series handy, because it's one I reach for time and again when I'm in the mood for a good book. Sometimes I re-read the whole series and other times I just re-read my favorite parts. However, I didn't like Hunter's Oath and Hunter's Death (the sequel to Hunter's Oath) quite as much as I liked The Sunsword series which follows.
December 30, 2014
I loved this, as I have loved all Michelle West books. Between this book and its pair, I love how MW has continued to build up the story. Granted, I started my venture into MW books with The Hidden City. It's one of those times I wish I had known of The Hunter's Oath and the Sun Sword series before I read The Hidden City. I love the books, but you really do need to read all of them to really get an understanding of this world. Each book only develops a small piece of the story, and each piece overlaps. Even know, I feel as if there is a 4th series that lays the foundation for this world that I do not know about.
May 21, 2015
If you've read The House War series or the Sun Sword books, this is a prequel series - although chronologically it was released first. I think I actually enjoyed reading it more after reading the house war series, since instead of presenting mysterious characters like Evayne and Kallandras with no explanation, you're actually getting more background on them. Some parts will be repetitive if you've read the house war series first, but I just skimmed those.
One star less because I really hated Gilliam and kind of the Hunter Lords in general, they're selfish and spoiled and basically being propped up by their hunt brothers and Ladies so they don't have to deal with anything.
One star less because I really hated Gilliam and kind of the Hunter Lords in general, they're selfish and spoiled and basically being propped up by their hunt brothers and Ladies so they don't have to deal with anything.
March 26, 2022
Some of the worldbuilding was interesting and I would've happily read a whole book about Evayne (she seems cool, her story's a little tragic and the time travelling aspect is fun). However I found the characters really dull, and the whole book followed a tell not show approach to the characters and their relationships. For example, it suddenly introduced a love interest for Stephen and told us that Stephen is into her and she's into him, but the book never showed their relationship growing or why they like eachother. I really can't with books like that because I don't end up caring for the characters at all.
June 6, 2013
Intersting but could have been better
The world building was original and intersting and I liked the characters. Nevertheless, I had trouble getting into the book and I only read it because I have read other series set in the same universe figuring the same characters. I found that the second book in the series is more intersting, but that may be because we then see some characters I had already seen in the House War series and whom I like better.
The world building was original and intersting and I liked the characters. Nevertheless, I had trouble getting into the book and I only read it because I have read other series set in the same universe figuring the same characters. I found that the second book in the series is more intersting, but that may be because we then see some characters I had already seen in the House War series and whom I like better.
October 9, 2015
From what I managed to get through - I think I was about 100 pages from the end when I stopped - it seems like beautifully written classic fantasy, though the magic is a bit mushier than I would like.
Unfortunately, New York City library books can't stay with me in England, so this one had to go back for the moment. I'll definitely return to it, and once I'm done with the duology I think I'll have to go back to House War.
Unfortunately, New York City library books can't stay with me in England, so this one had to go back for the moment. I'll definitely return to it, and once I'm done with the duology I think I'll have to go back to House War.
November 5, 2011
Good, but not as good as her House Wars series. It does tie in, though, and I was really pleased to discover that I already knew some of the characters. My estimation of Ms. West increased greatly with the reading of this book; it takes great skill to orchestrate different series so they run parallel, but don't give away key plot points or require foreknowledge of either series. Good stuff!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews