Gilliam is a Hunter Lord; Stephen is his huntbrother. Together, they hunt in the forests of their God, but in return, their God demands the chance to devour one Hunter Lord each year. And he's one of the good Gods.

Hunter's Oath is several different novels spliced together. The first novel is full of generic mythological gods and evil demons who laugh manically as they plot to destroy humanity. This novel is boring. The second novel is a trash-epic fantasy about adopted orphans and castles and psychic dog packs and wizards and unsophisticated court politics. This novel is thoughtless but satisfying: the intellectual equivalent of spraying EZ-CHEEZ straight into your mouth. The third novel is the disjointed account of a young woman driven to hop-scotch through time, never sure where she will arrive or what she will be forced to do. And this novel is interesting, if jarring: despite acting as an omnipotent deus ex machina for the other characters, Evayne has no control over her travels and no way to change the terrible history she must visit again and again.

If Evayne's third of Hunter's Oath is awkwardly executed, it's at least intriguing. Not so the other two thirds. The generic fantasy bilge is just white noise to be skimmed, but the third with Hunter's Oath's ostensible protagonist, Stephen of Elseth, is more problematic. The tragic paradox driving all of the novel's events is that the Hunter Lords and huntbrothers have great power and freedom in Breodanir -- but at the cost of sacrificing one of their members each year to their God. As you may imagine, this really harshes the Breodani's buzz. So, large swaths of the novel are dedicated to the Breodani bemoaning their fate and their dead fathers/brothers/sons and thinking unkind thoughts about their hungry God et cetera. Which is weird but okay -- it's strange that the Breodani have so many self-doubts about their inculcated culture of human sacrifice, but as their society is consistently portrayed as self-flagellating, I will accept it without too much thought. But. The reason the Breodani put up with their rapacious God is (ostensibly) the great fringe benefits: the land is fertile, the feudal estates are at peace, and all the ruling Hunter Lords get to hunt the rest of the year with their psychic dog packs. Breodani society is built around the hunt.

But. Our Hero Stephen doesn't particularly like hunting: he would rather read books than hunt with Gilliam, and he feels no great connection to Gilliam's hunting pack. Stephen is the reader's main point of view, and he's just not interested in hunting, which flies in the face of both his background, his relationship with Gilliam, and his society. And this disinterest fatally undermines the book, because how can the reader emphasize with the Breodani's (much bemoaned) sacrifice if they can't understand the (tepidly endorsed) benefits? ( )

This was the Nth time I've reread this - starting the whole series from scratch again now. I love these books, I love the sound of their voice. ( )

This duology (Hunter's Oath & Hunter's Death) is one story in two books, not really two separate novels.
After reading the Greg Keyes "Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone" books, I was
in the mood for some more epic fantasy; however West's books compare
very badly to those.
The story starts out with a somewhat promising premise: The Hunter
Lords of Breodanir are an elite class, pledged to their hunter god.
However, each Lord is oathbound to a Huntbrother, picked from the
peasantry, who lives as partner and brother for life - which is often
not that long, as hunter Lords and Huntbrothers are regularly killed
in their ritual hunts.
The story follows Stephen, Huntbrother, and his Lord, Gilliam. Stephen
turns out to be an intelligent young man, hungry for learning, while
Gilliam is crude, crass, and tends to behave much like his beloved
hunting dogs. The hunt is his only interest.
If the story had just stuck with these two characters and their
personal conflicts within their own society, I think I would have
liked the story.
However, soon a Wise and Beautiful Sorceress, Evayne, shows up. She is
one of the most one-dimensional characters I've ever encountered. No
clue is given to her background, personal feelings, etc. She warns of
Evil Demons, trapped underground, who want to break out and Take Over.
(Very cliche.) For some reason, which I can't quite remember, as it
felt very contrived, in the second book, Stephen & Gilliam have to
travel to the foreign city of Averalaan and help Evayne stop the
demons.
That's an extremely short summary of what is in reality an extremely
long and often tedious story. I nearly gave up on it at times, but
then it would pick up and catch my interest for a bit - so I did
finish, but overall I would say it never gets better than mediocre. ( )

I read West's House war books first (which tell the same story but from a different point of view). Because of that, Hunter's oath feels less polished to me, the writing style is a little more loose. In a way, that makes it easier to read, but to me it also feels less immersive than The hidden city, and I like that immersive quality. It is very nice to read about the familiar characters, though, and to learn a bit more about their backgrounds. Of course I knew this would be about the Hunter Lords, but I hadn't realized how much backstory these books provide about Evayne. Storywise I think it makes most sense to start with the Hunter books, but I'm not sure if I would have been pulled in as much as I have if I had.

It's difficult to judge this book on its own, but a few points I like: Michelle West writes good characters. They come alive, even the ones that don't play a huge role (yet). Although there is some traditional division of roles in Hunter society, it's interesting to note that the Ladies do most of the ruling. They do not engage in traditional fighting, but they do wield their own weapons and come to the rescue on one notable occasion. So even though a large part of the story is male-oriented (the hunting, even most of the magery), a world in which women of strength play crucial roles is already emerging. Having started Hunter's death and having read the first House war trilogy, I can only say that this becomes more extensive, even in those societies where women are seen as inferior. Finally, I find West's imagination astonishing. Sure, she uses traditional fantasy elements, but the way in which she uses them really stands out. She creates several societies (ok, in Hunter's oath we mostly see only one), mythologies and magics and forms them into a coherent whole. All the people have backstory, and so does the society as a whole. She creates an incredibly rich world with astonishing detail. Reading this first book now and knowing what is still to come, I am a little awestruck... ( )

What I really love about Michelle West's writing is that she gets into each character's head so well. While a lot is still clothed in mystery, the switches in perspective shift this story from just another fantasy novel into something deeper and more epic. That very epic sense is what makes HUNTER'S OATH so dense. There were times that I had to pause, take a breath, and learn to savor the story itself.

Gilliam is a Hunter Lord; Stephen is his Huntbrother. Together, they must participate in the Sacred Hunt each year in order to keep Breodanir safe and bountiful, at the risk of their own lives. But it soon becomes much more than that as Stephen falls prey to the unfathomable world of magic, demon-kin, and Gods.

I suspect what many can either find fault with or relish in HUNTER'S OATH is its ability to surround you with so much that you're not sure if you're enthralled with the world... or just confused. But if you simply let go, agree to not understand every little detail - then you can let it take you on a ride that is most definitely worth reading. I found myself incredibly attached to the world, its characters, its conflicts, which was really a surprise because I never thought I'd be thrilled to be reading about hunting and dogs. But really, it's so much more than that.

I'd say, read this if you're looking to get into something interesting but also by no means an easy, sit-back-and-enjoy type of book. You'll find yourself immersed in a world wrought with intense intrigue, conflict, and sacrifice, and a mishmash of fascinating characters (time-travelers, assasins, kings, thieves) that kept me keenly interested. ( )