Book 1 of the Hunter series
Narrated by Amy Landon
Genre: dystopian fantasy YA
Format: hardback, ebook, & audiobook
About Hunter:
They came after the Diseray. Some were terrors ripped from our collective imaginations, remnants of every mythology across the world. And some were like nothing anyone had ever dreamed up, even in their worst nightmares. Monsters. Long ago, the barriers between our world and the Otherworld were ripped open, and it’s taken centuries to bring back civilization in the wake of the catastrophe. Now, the luckiest Cits live in enclosed communities, behind walls that keep them safe from the hideous creatures fighting to break through. Others are not so lucky.Source: Info in the About Hunter was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24397041-hunter on 28/09/2015.
To Joyeaux Charmand, who has been a Hunter in her tight-knit mountain community since she was a child, every Cit without magic deserves her protection from dangerous Othersiders. Then she is called to Apex City, where the best Hunters are kept to protect the most important people.
Joy soon realizes that the city’s powerful leaders care more about luring Cits into a false sense of security than protecting them. More and more monsters are getting through the barriers, and the close calls are becoming too frequent to ignore. Yet the Cits have no sense of how much danger they’re in — to them, Joy and her corps of fellow Hunters are just action stars they watch on TV.
When an act of sabotage against Joy takes an unbearable toll, she uncovers a terrifying conspiracy in the city. There is something much worse than the usual monsters infiltrating Apex. And it may be too late to stop them…
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It took me a while to get into the post-apocalyptic dystopian world. I don't know, it just feels like somehow it lacks reality in fantasy. Gives off the "too surreal" to be real vibes. I was having a difficult time suspending disbelief. This made the pace considerably slower than I expected for a Mercedes Lackey book, even with the convenience of the audiobook format. This brought the rating of this book a notch or two down. But I soldiered on because I am an old fan of this author. I usually like her story telling quality even if it doesn't seem to be so apparent in this book.
The ending is a cliffhanger. Does not even end a dilemma that would justify an ending of a book. This is just a chapter of a bigger book.
There isn't a plot. Just a beginning of a plot.
Amy Landon's voice sounds young and fits the teen protagonist like a glove. She reminds me very strongly of Jenna Lamia. They have the same style of reading. Automaton-like.
Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3
Character development = 3
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 3
Ending = 1
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = 2
Plot = 1
Narration = 4.5
Books In The Hunter Series:
Meet The Author
Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music.
"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as `my job.' My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of `story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the `folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.
"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't `not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a `high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL [`There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the `evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.
"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:
"There's no such thing as `one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."
Also known as Misty Lackey
The Narrator
About Amy Landon:
Amy Landon is a classically trained actress with numerous off-Broadway, film, and television credits. Her voice can also be heard on many television and radio commercials. She has an easy facility with dialects, which she also coaches and teaches, and she is happy to find her lifelong obsession with books is matching up with her acting and vocal work.
I would recommend this series to anybody who likes epic fantasy reads!
The character development is very good as per usual with this dou author. I still miss Simera!
And usually I hate cliffhangers... but this time around I was prepared! Having known these authors' writing style from the 
.... it is really a good thing I got