Sunday 16 January 2011

Guest Review: The Hawk and His Boy - C.H.Bunn

The Tormay Trilogy, book 1

Genre: Fantasy, YA
Pages: 162, ebook
Published: 2010
Review by Lis

One night in the city of Hearne, a young thief named Jute is instructed to break into a wizard's house and steal an old wooden box. It sounds like a straightforward job. Climb down the chimney, creep through the house, find the thing and get out fast. Unbeknownst to the boy, however, the box contains the knife that killed the Wind. Overcome with curiosity, Jute opens the box and sets off a chain of events that soon has him on the run from the wizard, his old masters in the Thieves Guild, and their client, who happens to be the Lord of Darkness himself. On his odyssey of escape, Jute is aided by an unlikely assortment of friends, including a guilt-ridden assassin, a reluctant wizard, and a hawk who just might be able to teach him how to fly. But the Darkness will do anything to find Jute, even if it means plunging the whole land into war.

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Whoa boy! It's been a while since I came across a fantasy book like The Hawk and His Boy. I was plagued by a little bit of doubt and head scratching before I started this book. Mainly because it has been a while since I read fantasy. But I needn't have worried. This was a refreshing story and well worth time it took to read it!

The Hawk and His Boy  is the first in a trilogy set in a world far far away. This is the story of Jute a thief instructed to steal a box from a wizard with stern instructions not to open the book (remember that one folks? Pandora's box? Anyone?). Of course Jute, who has special abilities that make him an expert thief, opens the box. Well, not quite, it opens for him, but the dam is broken and trouble comes crashing through. Suddenly Jute's world is turned topsy turvy and he's on the run for characters that shady doesn't even begin to describe.

Jute is a very nice, interesting, funky and sympathetic character. He is joined by several other characters including Knife, a wizard and girl from half a world away with the ability to talk to animals. I liked the assortment of characters, but found they sometimes lacked sufficient presence. Fortunately none of the characters are flat, in fact they are nicely filled, though as in all fantasy stories they have a role to play. However, you do have to get used to the head hopping. I found that I've grown used to stories where there is only head hopping between two characters. (Yup, I confess, I'm a romance addict!)

The story itself is not your typical fantasy story, although there is a great evil lurking that just asks to be kicked ass. The story is as refreshing to the genre as water is in the desert.

The world building in this story is exquisite and gives you a good view into the setting that is sometimes not easy to read. The world these characters live in almost made me cry. This is where the sympathy for Jute comes from. This is also a world full of mysteries that has you wondering and your mind scrambling to unravel them!

 Fortunately for us, this book leaves us with a nice ending and not standing on the edge of a humongous cliff. The Hawk and His Boy is most definitely a book I would recommend. Mind you, it's more YA, but it is a good read and I can't wait for the second instalment of the Tormay trilogy!




Thank you Lis!

24 comments:

  1. Not my genre but I like the post!

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  2. Sounds like a neat book. Like Mystica, not really my thing but sounds really interesting!

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  3. What a great review, not my sort of read but thank u for sharing!

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  4. Mystica
    Lis sure writes fun reviews :)

    Marie
    It's always fun to look at books that are perhaps not the genre one usually read :)

    Hi Lea
    Hope you and Tori are fine :D

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  5. Love a story when the world building has been done probably and is beleivable. Does sound good.

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  6. I wouldn't be able to not open the box!!

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  7. Fun cover! ;) But iit's not really my book. :)

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  8. I struggle with fantasy, but my sister loves it, so I'm going to tell her about this one.

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  9. Now this is something I'd probably really enjoy. Especially since there is no cliffhanger! Woo! Great review!

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  10. Definitely something I would like to read in my free time - thanks for an awesome review Lis!

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  11. Naida
    It sure does :)

    Vivienne
    I am with you there, a great world, yay

    Staci
    Hihi, I am the same ;)

    Nina
    You never know until you tried it ;)

    Bermuda
    I love love fantasy, best genre ever

    Melissa
    Cliffhangers kill me, they are so evil

    Ana
    :)

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  12. This looks like something I would have loved to read in my teens. I'll have to keep it in mind.

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  13. I've read a lot of books with similar plot lines but this sounds like it could be a good book for my son to read soon. I'll have to check it out.

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  14. Sounds like a good book. Great review!

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  15. "The story is as refreshing to the genre as water is in the desert."

    I think this says it all. Thanks for the fab review Lis.

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  16. Alyce
    Fantasy is always good :)

    Simcha
    I am sure he would enjoy it :)

    Yvonne :)

    Jenny :)

    Btw, thanks LIS, as always :D

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  17. The cover gives off a whimsicial feeling to the story but don't think its my kind of read.

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  18. Aww this sounds so interesting. I normally don't go in for fantasy, but this sounds interesting.

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  19. Well, I love me some YA, and I totally love fantasy, too! This sounds awesome! Great review! :)

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  20. Jenny
    We can't all like the same things :)

    Nana
    Oh fantasy is the best genre ever :)

    Melissa
    Aww fantasy, love it to pieces

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  21. Thanks Lis for such a kind review! I'm glad you enjoyed The Hawk. I had a lot of fun writing it! Anyway, I just got the second book, The Shadow At The Gate, back from the copy editor, so I hope to have that out soon...

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  22. Thanks for stopping by Christopher :)
    Lis sure did a great job on this one

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  23. Hey everyone, sorry for the late reply, it was a bit hectic! Thanks for all the comments, it means a lot!

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