The Hob's Bargain (alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi 2001; vuoden 2009 painos)

This book just really didn't do anything for me. It had a very passive sort of feel to it, like things were happening all around Aren and to Aren, but that she had little control over any of it and little care for any of it. There was no urgency to anything that happened.
I wish there were more scenes from Caefawn perspective. I would have been interested in learning more about his binds with the Mountain and his mysterious past but all of that was just glossed over.
All in all there was a lot of potential for this book, but I found myself as bored as the main character seems to be with everything that went on. ( )

A beauty and the beast sort of tale. Magic had been bound by the evil bloodmages, it is now loose and magic is returning as well as the wildlings. Hob is the last of his kind, Aren has been hiding who she really is, it's a lovely tale.
( )

Mrs Briggs knows how to weave a story. While I found that her heroin Aren recovered very fast from the loss of her whole family, I also liked the balance between Aren's strength and weakness. The hob is a very interesting creature as well as a character. I regret I didn't get to see more of him or learn more about hob lore. The story is mostly plot driven and takes you in from the beginning, even though the reader isn't thrown in the middle of a battle from the first sentence. Patricia Briggs takes her time to introduce her plot and her characters but it's never boring. All in all, a pretty good read. ( )

This is a cute story that could easily have been a trilogy. The characters were likable, the world was well designed, and the action was well managed. ( )

I really like the premise of this story: the return of magic and the 'Hob's Bargain' the main character makes to gain a powerful ally. The author uses multiple viewpoints, and I like being able to see the story from different view points. Kind of a shame that it is a stand alone, but it is a good story with interesting character development and solid world building. ( )