Review of THE HALLOWED HUNT by Lois McMaster Bujold

eos, June 2005

Lord Ingrey kin Wolfcliff knows about animal possession. Still, when he arrives at the deathscene of a prince, he is shocked to find the accused killer to be a beautiful woman--who happens to be possessed by a leopard. It's his duty to bring Lady Ijada to the capital where, perhaps, she can find justice. But some compulsion, almost impossible to resist, is urging him to kill her at once. A very different compulsion draws him to her.

In a meeting with a priestess, the wolf that dwells within Ingrey becomes active--opening his eyes to the magic that is around him and hinting at one of the ancient heresies--that animal-ridden people have a special path to the deities. But Ingrey and Ijada are not the only people with the forbidden animal inhabitation. Ingrey's cousin, Earl Horseriver, seems inhabited by a stalion--and something more. Whether that something more is good or evil, Ingrey has a hard time determining.

Author Lois McMaster Bujold (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by Bujold) combines fascinating world-building, intriguing and multi-dimensional characters, and plenty of magic and action to deliver a truly superior fantasy. Bujold explains the history of the tortured land, and then weaves that history into the present, and into the task that Ingrey and Ijada must fulfil.

THE HALLOWED HUNT is set in the same world as Bujold's earlier (and excellent) CURSE OF CHALION and PALADIN OF SOULS. Although I enjoyed the earlier books, I think HUNT surpasses even those.

Four Stars

Reviewed 6/01/05

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