Friday, September 19, 2008

Risa Aratyr - Hunter of the Light


Once every nine years the sacred elk runs through Eire and the designated hunter must hunt him before Bealtine Day. This year the task is all the more difficult because Shadow has reared his head and Scaileanna and Orcs are abroad, ravaging the villages that lie in their path. There is also a false hunter who wishes to kill the sacred elk and bring the Light forever to Shadows. The Mighty of Eire, the Midhe and the Sidhe align themselves to fight the Shadow and help the called hunter. For only when the sacred elk dies by the spear of the hunter will the Light survive, and magic still aid Eire.
In this world the poets are deemed the greatest because their words can make or mar a person. Mothers are revered for the far reaching powers they have and the Kings fight lustful for the Glory. The women are not consigned to the hearth, but stand in the forefront as leaders, it is the men who seem to be a step behind. This is the world Blackthorn the bard loves, when he is called to be Hunter of the Light, he knows he has to put all he has into the hunt and succeed at any cost or all Eire will suffer.
This fairy tale charms its way into your heart with references to elves, spells and mighty warriors. It harks upon the times when men walked with fairies and were privy to their secrets. But those were not innocent times, life was hard for all and danger lurked at all bends. It was in these times that nature was at its most beautiful and terrible, and men needed to be true survivors or fall.
The words of the tale are chosen with utmost care by the writer, making sure they maintain the folklore-like tone of the tale. The story never falters, never loses its step. The descriptions are almost cinematic, making the world come alive virtually in your mind. We see the long limbed dark hunter stride through the forest, stalking his prey. We see the evil elves, quick to wreck havoc upon peaceful folks, and the greed in the heart of the false hunter who wishes to rule Eire with the aid of the Shadow. The poet Scatach, dancer Meacan, Mother Liannan, King Niall, Reatach the shape shifter and Cessair the Sidhe warrior, Una, all come alive for us. It also tells us that all will be right with the world if Love prevails, for the relentless hunter Blackthorn is also a true lover, who must race against time to lift the spell on his beloved Roisin Dubh.
This magnificent book is written by Risa Aratyr, though it seems as if the tale has come down from a line of bards, like Iliad. Her vivid prose is worthy of high praise, and the book deserves the kind of success Lord of the Rings has.
How did I come by the book is a story in itself and needs to be told in detail, which I will do soon, I promise.


I have to thank couchpapaya for this award. Her blog is extremely interesting and I look forward to her new posts eagerly. I am supposed to forward this award and all the people on my blogroll deserve it. I admire bloggers because they take time out to express themselves. It is art for art's sake, most times. In my turn, I will confer it on Oxymoronic despite his love for Rakhi Sawant, because I think his posts are highly irreverent, extremely entertaining and often shake you up. He even has a stalker, a fact I envy.

11 comments:

Vee said...

Never heard of either book or the author. Did some google n wiki.. Hmm, I loved LOTR (book, not movie) so I guess I might like this. Not sure though.

Thanks for the award. Now what am I supposed to do? I mean I know I have to put it in my blog and gotta pass it over to some one. But how do I put it? How how how? Will call.

And so u speak of Stalker and u envy that. Hmmm, Don know wot to say!!!

couchpapaya said...

lovely review, i love a well-written fantasy and am itching to read this now. seems hard to get ahold of tho ... just checked amazon and my library. of course my ill-stocked lib doesnt have it :( is it good enough to buy avdi ???

sometimes i wonder what the fantasy genre did before LOTR - orcs and others are standard fare now :)

Ava said...

Oxy, mark my words.. this book is totally worth it. TOTALLY. Read my last line where I say the book deserves as much success as LOTR.

Yes you are supposed to download the image and paste it on your blog.

Ava said...

Papaya.. this book is worth every penny and more. You still have to read the story behind the book. That will surely whet your apetite further.

Dear, the fantasy genre was always around. Remember Beowulf? And even before that it was the subject of tales of bards. Remember Homer? And then think of our own Mahabharata, Ramayana, Panchtantra. What are these if not fantasy fiction? I would call this the oldest genre.

Smita said...

Never heard of the author & the book. But your review is compelling me to find this...

Will try finding it :) lovely review.

Vee said...

as much as LOTR??? Whoa!!! That makes me more curious now... On a hunt now..

Will be flaunting my award sooner.. :)

Ava said...

Smita - Try Amazon
Oxy - S - I wish I could lend you my copy.

Vinz said...

blogs with review on books..something i was searching in for..!!

oxy's blog lead me here...!!
nice review..waiting for more..!!

Ava said...

Thanks Vinz... I will check out yours ..

couchpapaya said...

avdi - i HAVE toi thank u so much for this recco ... .finished the book last night, it was AMAZING!!! an absolutely thrilling fantasy, i might just write a review on it, lately havnt been too interested in reviewing.

oh, abt my comment above i meant the creation of new 'evil' creatures called orcs. surely those wre invented by tolkien (and then i've seen them in numerous books)?? but maybe not, am not well-read enough to know :(

Ava said...

CP - That was my intent, to encourage people to read this book. I am glad you liked it.

Frankly I have not read too much fantasy fiction either, so I cant say when Orcs made their first appearence. I havent read Eragorn yet, and that is supposed to be highly acclaimed.