(no subject)

[madbaker]

Well, I finally got caught up enough that I could read Bujold's The Hallowed Hunt.

I was disappointed. It was decent - but not up to the standard that she's generally been producing. Most of the characters, including the female protagonist, were cardboard cutouts. To some degree it felt like she had a world concept and then shoehorned in the gods and plot.

Comments

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Did you like the first Chalion book? We thought it was fairly terrible, but bought the second on remainder, and liked it immensely. Haven't tried the third yet.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

I liked the first two books quite a bit.

[maestrateresa.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...interesting....I loved all three of them, although my favorite was probably the second. I actually rather liked the "sideways" direction that the divine interference took in the culture of the third book.

Ditto "Interesting" comment

[callistotoni.livejournal.com]

As you know, I liked HH quite a bit. IMHO Curse is the weakest of the Chalion series, because *I* thought that those characters were the most "cardboard".

My general feeling with LMB's later writings is that her characters seem to come from the same Playbook (for lack of a better word). Mind you, it's a good playbook! I thought Paladin was good because Ista was a character whe hadn't really delt with before.

When I ask myself what her best writing is/was, I immediately think of Mirror Dance, and the stories in Borders of Infinity. It may be that that writing/those subjects and characters were fresh--I'd not read anything like that before. Taura, for example--what a mix! Maybe I'm coming to the conclusion that the characters in her Fantasy universe are more stock.

But, like I said in my review of the book, HH really worked for me, and I thought those characters/voices were more different--especially compared to Curse. Of course, to each his own.

Re: Ditto "Interesting" comment

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

I also thought focusing and redeeming Ista worked well in Paladin. My favorite of her books is Memory, with its political plotting and character growth.

I guess that's why Hunt didn't appeal to me as much - because the main characters don't really grow. The secondary characters, such as the Viking skald and the midwife divine, jump out a lot more (even if they are simple character types, they at least have interesting personality). I never felt like the two protagonists actually did anything other than react.