Emily Lloyd-Jones returns to the beloved world of The Bone Houses and The Drowned Woods in The Wild Huntress, an enrapturing, action-filled standalone fantasy.
The immortal King Arawn of Annwvyn and the mortal King Pwyll of Dyfed celebrate their kingdoms' friendship every five years, on the last day of autumn, with the Wild Hunt, a "revel of blood and magic and madness." No one knows exactly what the participants hunt, but rumors say "monsters, legends, even mortals." The victor of the Hunt receives a boon: any wish that magic or power can grant.
Gwydion of Gwynedd is a 19-year-old trickster and diviner of trees and plants. He wants the Hunt's boon to prevent his tyrannical brother from ascending Gwynedd's throne. But Gwydion's no hunter, and he'll need a champion. Eighteen-year-old Branwen is a huntress who uses a magicked eye to hunt monsters that mortals can't see. The boon could cure her mother's devastating "memory sickness," so she agrees to be Gwydion's champion. Pryderi, the 18-year-old son of King Pwyll, was kidnapped as a baby by an afanc (an ancient monster with a scaled hide) and taught the way of monsters. He wants to win the Hunt to prove to the king (and himself) that he's more human than creature. The trio form an alliance and battle a conscious forest, dangerous otherfolk, and assassins on their quest for victory.
Emily Lloyd-Jones majestically marries magic and monsters against a backdrop of standout visuals and enticing action. Her fanciful, captivating setting is the stage for apt discussions of fate versus choice and how this relates to power and class. The three allies run the gamut of class distinctions--a commoner whose life is a "constant shuffling of resources" works with a noble who never has to ask the price of things. The Hunt, however, puts them on equal footing, as the boon affords them a way to change their futures. Jones extends that parity to the way she presents her compelling story: all three characters' voices are given equal space in alternating perspectives, and each are accompanied by snappy, droll dialogue and descriptions that tickle the senses ("The morning air was sweet in his chest--sun-burnished grasses, the tartness of blackberries, and a last whisper of autumn"). A sprinkle of romance helps balance the more intense fight scenes, and discussions of dementia are handled sensitively. An exceptional story of magic and fortune. --Lana Barnes, freelance reviewer and proofreader
Shelf Talker: A huntress, a trickster, and a prince become allies determined to win a magical boon in a royal hunt in this enrapturing, action-filled standalone fantasy set in the same world as The Bone Houses.