Wild Hunt

by Jane Yolen

Living in the same house but in different parallel dimensions, Jerold and Gerund find out about each other from a talking cat who lives in both worlds, and they are brought together for a bizarre adventure. Reprint.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult, Mythology, Childrens, Retellings, Urban Fantasy

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1995

About the author

Jane Yolen is a novelist, poet, fantasist, journalist, songwriter, storyteller, folklorist, and children’s book author who has written more than three hundred books. Her accolades include the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Awards, the Kerlan Award, two Christopher Awards, and six honorary doctorate degrees from colleges and universities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Born and raised in New York City, the mother of three and the grandmother of six, Yolen lives in Massachusetts and St. Andrews, Scotland.

Reviews

[Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Yolen is a ubiquitous, talented, high-output author that you might not know if you never dwell in the realm of children's books (although she has written for adults also.) I probably first noticed her name through the "How do Dinosaurs..." picture book series (illustrated by the supremely talented Mark Teague) then started noticing her everywhere as I started to assemble chidren's books for our home library from a previous public library's massive donation-driven book sales. Wow, she has written a lot, at high quality, with countless awards and accolades. I probably missed learning of her earlier because I had aged out of her books' most common demographic when she came into her stride.

This particular book challenges age assignment. It has the form of a children's book, but the content is best suited to adults. It's a highly literary, dark, and frightening interpretation of fairy tales and classic children's fantasy, with open references to The Book of Job and an especially deep cut from a 19th century ballad about 13th century figure Thomas Rymer (or Thomas the Rhymer), and invocations of the boy heroes from A Wizard of Earthsea, The Dark Is Rising, and Arthurian legend. Children might follow the thrust of the story without awareness of the many references, but I can't imagine many would enjoy it.

The short illustrated book is hardly a novel, not even a novella or novellette based on word count and the page count is deceptive because of copious white space, very well designed. It consists of fifteen chapters, each tripled in collated fashion, with each chapter followed by two alternate versions titled as in "Chapter Four" then "Chapter Four—Sort of" then "Chapter Four—Almost," presenting different realities that gradually intertwine to create a singular tale.

I found it quite interesting, successfully experimental, with outstanding wordcraft and welcome illustrations, and representative of an authentic literary talent.

[Mary Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different take on the Wild Hunt story. As always with Jane Yolen book there is magic and mystery.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly magical. It shouldn't have taken three days to read as it is a very short book. With illustrations. But it is Christmas time and I'm busy. This is the kind of story that uses words like gerund and widdershins. Delicious!

Two boys are in this story. They each live in a house in a wood. The house is surrounded by Rowan trees. The house is the same but different for each of the boys. In one house there is a dog. In both houses there is a white cat.

It is another story of the battle between light and dark. The Summer Queen and Winter's King. It is a story about heroes. Stories about heroes can be enormously comforting.

A delightful read for a wintry morning. It does remind me that eventually it will be spring again.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books that I like to revisit from time to time. Not only is it a great adventure, but by the time you finish reading it, you will NEVER forget what a gerund is! Two boys, in parallel times, live in the same lonely mansion with a cat-who-is-not-a-cat. They have no idea how they came to be in that place, no name save the one the cat-who-is-not has given them. Outside the mansion, snow falls deep and the sounds of horses' hooves and baying hounds can be heard. The cat has warned the boys, in their time in space, not to venture out. Of course, one of them does...

[Jaimie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had so much potential, but it didn't quite manage to reach the mythic proportions of Yolen's storytelling abilities. She was clearly channeling Susan Cooper's the Dark is Rising series, the legends of the Wild Hunt, and the complexity of the fairy king and queen's rivalry, but the story was so short and underdeveloped that I feel like we only got a taste of the actual story.

[Kristin Yuill · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a book i read for the first time when i was like, eleven, and i still love to read it. its a great winter time book to read in a quiet house with the snow. easy for children to read, but entertaining with beautiful images and thoughtful characters.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

if you like humor read this book.

[A. L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I... have no idea what I just read. It's clearly an allegory, though exactly what it's being allegorical about, I'm not entirely certain. The seasons? Good and evil? Making your own choices despite higher authorities trying to control you? I'm not even certain how to summarize it, and I think other people have the same problem considering my local library only had this in its description:

"Two young boys become reluctant pawns in a showdown between light and dark, summer and winter, good and evil."

There's also a house that seems to be existing on two different planes of existence, a basement that has a river of blood, and a ring of rowan trees that can protect from all magic save a furious scream given by a horned king thing. And one boy is a hero and the other live bait? I don't know. I am utterly lost.

I gave this book a three only because it is utterly baffling. It is fascinating, and the illustrations are gorgeous, but it went right over my head. Give it a go if you want to dig into something that is short enough to read in one sitting but deep enough to have you puzzling for hours!

[Johanna Haas · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a house, with a boy, a talking cat, and tongues that turn into knives. Then it's a different house, with a different boy, and an added dog. Then it is the wild woods where the dark hunter is mustering his hounds. Each chapter has two shadows, or two mirrors that flow into each other by the end. The old war of dark v. light, summer v. winter plays out on both human and superhuman scales. Loved it!

[Amanda Walz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this story a bit odd. I didn't really care for it. But that is my personal opinion. It might change when I read it again. That's the best thing about some stories. You could read it once and think nothing of it, then read it again and it's your favorite.

[Esme · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A funny little book I found on my in-law's bookshelf at Christmas time. It reworks folklore into a puzzle that pulls the reader through as they try to solve it. The ending proves the story is a questioning of folklore/hero's journey tropes rather than an iteration.

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry, I didn't get it. This is a childrens/ya story, I think, so perhaps I was applying some fableistic concepts to it that didn't belong. My bad, I guess.

[Sotaneary Kea · Rating 3 out of 5]

it is good and it have something i want to know;

[Alaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strange and wonderful.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting little book... I quite liked aspects of it, and I loved that it was told in three stages/paces...

[Emalee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever and engaging, with attractive illustrations.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

So well done, I remember it years later.

[Robin Helweg-Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rich, fragmented fantasy that plays with archetypes in a wild, poetic fashion. Charming, frustrating and eminently rereadable.

[Kathryn Grace Loves Horror · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really could have done without the dog dying.

[Jaide · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautifully written. It just didn’t end satisfactorily or with any questions answered.

I’d rather recommend:
-The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
-The Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O’Shea

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's okay. I wanted it to be better than it was. A short easy read anyway, though.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautifully written but a bit complex conceptually for children (I'm not convinced it IS for children), as two parallel worlds collide during the Wild Hunt. The mystical style, "almost" chapters, and the poetic terseness of the prose make for a haunting impression but a struggle to read, at least for me.

[Damien Blackmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main story of the book is a battle between a physical form of winter and summer. I think the book was well-paced and an easy read. I liked how at the end Jerold disobeyed the cat. "the cat came back into the hall. You can not go, she said fiercely. You are my chosen, champion for the year. You cannot leave until I dismiss you. But the two boys were already gone."(yolen 160)The audience I would recommend this book to is someone who is okay with not figuring things out till the last minute. You should read this book because it is an easy read and fun.

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the author of the "How Do Dinosaurs....?" series, but I enjoyed reading this book as adult. I enjoyed reading The Wild Hunt because of the author's skilled use of language and writing style. There are no extraneous words here. I would re-read certain passages to ensure I was seeing the imagery or to enjoy Yolen's artistry. I especially like her style of telling her story in segments (Chapter 1, Chapter 1 Sort Of, Chapter 1 Almost, etc.) as a technique to weave different time-spaces together. In its most basic form, this is a story of good and evil. At 138 pages, one could probably reads the book in one sitting.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this book in about 45 minutes. I found it to be kind of shallow and simple. Ok if you just want a really quick read for maybe an hour, but I found that the plot wasn't very intricate or intriguing, and I was reading more to see if something interesting was going to happen at the end. There were a few questions presented, but the story and answers to the questions could have probably been written out a bit better.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

The wild hunt is a short fun read. Nothing big. Yolen does know how to put the right words together enough to make you want to read to the end. I would recommended this book to people who are between books.

[Kiersten]

The triple-chapter-in-one format drew me to this book. I'm a big Jane Yolen fan, but i'm not sure what to make of this book...short, dark, and memorable. With a happy and lovable dog.

[Lisa]

The Wild Hunt by Jane Yolen (1995)

[Pandionhalatius37.6 · Rating 5 out of 5]

... When something is so amazing that you respect it with silence. Read into the tiniest detail in this book. You're not going crazy, its that awesome. Fae.

[Jeri Roys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice atmosphere, but not a lot else going on.