Book Review - Huntress
Labels:
book review,
huntress,
novella,
renee carter hall
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| Cover art courtesy of Barnes and Noble. |
Author: Renee Carter Hall
Publisher: Smashwords
Publication Date: September 20, 2015
Version I Read: Ebook
Rating: 5/5
I've always loved anthropomorphic animal fantasy, so when I found this book I was instantly drawn in (the cover floored me, especially for an indie). I don't regret it - Huntress was amazing.
Note: this review is only regarding Huntress, not the short stories that are included in the ebook. I haven't read those yet, but I most certainly will when I get a minute.
Huntress tells the story of Leya, a young lioness who wants nothing more than to join the karanja, proud huntresses who bring meat to their villages. But to do that, she must forego life with a mate and cubs. At first, she can't wait to get out from village life and under her mother, but when her childhood friend confesses his love for her, her choice becomes more complicated than she could have imagined.
Huntress, is, quite simply, a magnificent piece. If anything, it could have easily been expanded into a novel.
Spoiler warning.
The world building and sheer details of the culture stand out most of all. These are truly anthropomorphized animals, as they act human but still very much live in animal ways (the males are the leaders of their villages while the karanja are groups of all female hunters - that's basically how lions work.) A lot is crammed into this novella in regards to their culture and mythology, which grabbed and fascinated me from page one. But none of it manages to get convoluted or confusing. The only thing I would have liked more of was more information on the other anthropomorphized animals out there, since Hall chose to include them (the painted dogs and the jackals). Perhaps they'll feature more in the short stories.
Even in such a small space, every character is given significance and views the world and situations in very different ways, which only serves to make the story more interesting. Leya is, of course, a spunky, likable heroine who grows tremendously over the course of the story and I'm never going to say no to that, Bahati was the very kind, stable pillar she needed, Thembe was a cool substitute mom and guiding force for her, and Nuru had lots of interesting things about him. Even Masika, Naimah, Shani, and Ndiri, relatively minor characters, all had dimension and came to life. I think I liked pretty much everyone.
Leya's choice becomes more complicated the more she learns, and it's effectively communicated to the reader how hard this choice is. At first I wanted her to get together with Bahati, but the karanja are so cool too and I wanted her to follow her dream as well. The things she had to do to become a karanja were also creative (such as the initiation test with the ants; even her thought process was well thought out and believable) and horrifying (having their breasts cut off. Eeek.). I also really appreciated the spiritualism and Hall's choice to make it maybe magic, maybe mundane - it's up to you. (Maybe the elephant is her spirit guide or Thembe's spirit, maybe it's both, or maybe it's just her own inner voice given shape.) Her final decision to take a third option and forge a path for herself, scary as that must have been, left me feeling very satisfied for these characters and the world they are going to build together.
The Verdict: Huntress is an engaging novella with fantastic world building, likable characters, and a good story.
Neither Karen Lofgren nor Loyalty Press has any affiliation with the author or publisher. This review constitutes Fair Use.
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