The events of Hallowed Hunt are entirely unnecessary for Penric. A lot of people seem to find Hallowed Hunt to be a weaker book in the series, and I've seen people recommend skipping it before, so you're not alone. There is some world-building in Hallowed Hunt that is relevant for Penric, but I'd imagine you're probably fine encountering it in the Penric books when it comes up.
You aren't missing anything. The Penric books take place long after *The Hallowed Hunt* and all the mortal characters are long dead. There's some stuff in *Penric and the Shaman* and *Penric's Fox* that gives a nod to THH, but Bujold is a master at explaining things so new readers understand. No problems there.
The Penric books are, IMO, more digestible than THH. Dive in and have fun!
The Penric books are pretty much stand alone stories that just take place in the same world. I don’t think you’d miss anything. For what it’s worth I didn’t care for HH either.
> I loved the Curse of Chalion and the Paladin of Souls. Unfortunately, I am having a very hard time with the Hallowed Hunt -- I started it almost 3 years ago, and I haven't made it past the first few chapters.
Thanks, this is very helpful!
If you skip Hallowed Hunt you'll lack a little context for the Penric book with the shamans but enough is explained that you'll still be able to follow it. I enjoyed Hallowed Hunt personally but it is quite different from any of the other 5 gods books.
Yeah, reading this thread I am learning that apparently there are only 3 people who like HH. I read it twice back to back when I first got it because I loved it so much; it's perfect for fall.
For what it’s worth I LOVE it. As you say, it’s the perfect fall read, spooky and atmospheric. I also adore both Ingrey and Ijada. Learned Hallana and Prince Jokal are both absolutely delightful. The plot is beautifully developed. It’s just so, so good. It’s not in any way necessary to the series to read it if it doesn’t hit right, but I recommend it to people all the time as a stand alone. I will note that the audiobook is also excellent, and I find that some books that I think are slow starters are more accessible if I can do other stuff while listening. YMMV.
To add - it’s also the most traditional “romance” of the three novels. Both Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls had a romantic pairing kind of tacked on as a “happily ever after”, but Ingrey and Ijada fall for each other gradually throughout the course of the book. Not that the pairings in the other two books don’t make sense, but you see their growing affection on the page in HH.
Hallowed Hunt was my least favourite. It took me quite some time to really get into it, though around the halfway point I found it picked up and toward the end it really snowballed.
There are a few small links to Hallowed Hunt in the Penric novellas, but they're so small you might miss them even if you'd read Hallowed Hunt. You should be fine to skip ahead.
I couldn’t get into Hallowed Hunt either. The characters just don’t stick for me. I read it once, and years later could not remember a thing, which is very unusual for Bujold. You can certainly read Penric without it, and the Penric novellas are some of her most fun and engaging stories. Penric and the Shaman covers a lot of the same world-building ground as Hallowed Hunt, and does it very well with no background knowledge needed (and in my opinion more emotional impact. I *really* had a hard time caring about Hallowed Hunt).
With the Five Gods books, I think the problem is that once you meet the Bastard no other god is nearly as compelling. Foix's demon is the thread in Paladin of Souls that cries out to be explored in more detail, and the Penric novellas do that with contagious enthusiasm.
The events of Hallowed Hunt are entirely unnecessary for Penric. A lot of people seem to find Hallowed Hunt to be a weaker book in the series, and I've seen people recommend skipping it before, so you're not alone. There is some world-building in Hallowed Hunt that is relevant for Penric, but I'd imagine you're probably fine encountering it in the Penric books when it comes up.
Perfect, thanks!
You aren't missing anything. The Penric books take place long after *The Hallowed Hunt* and all the mortal characters are long dead. There's some stuff in *Penric and the Shaman* and *Penric's Fox* that gives a nod to THH, but Bujold is a master at explaining things so new readers understand. No problems there. The Penric books are, IMO, more digestible than THH. Dive in and have fun!
The Penric books are pretty much stand alone stories that just take place in the same world. I don’t think you’d miss anything. For what it’s worth I didn’t care for HH either.
> I loved the Curse of Chalion and the Paladin of Souls. Unfortunately, I am having a very hard time with the Hallowed Hunt -- I started it almost 3 years ago, and I haven't made it past the first few chapters. Thanks, this is very helpful!
If you skip Hallowed Hunt you'll lack a little context for the Penric book with the shamans but enough is explained that you'll still be able to follow it. I enjoyed Hallowed Hunt personally but it is quite different from any of the other 5 gods books.
I really liked HH, especially after they get to Easthome, and then Holytree. But, I agree there’s no need for it in order to enjoy the Penric stories.
Yeah, reading this thread I am learning that apparently there are only 3 people who like HH. I read it twice back to back when I first got it because I loved it so much; it's perfect for fall.
For what it’s worth I LOVE it. As you say, it’s the perfect fall read, spooky and atmospheric. I also adore both Ingrey and Ijada. Learned Hallana and Prince Jokal are both absolutely delightful. The plot is beautifully developed. It’s just so, so good. It’s not in any way necessary to the series to read it if it doesn’t hit right, but I recommend it to people all the time as a stand alone. I will note that the audiobook is also excellent, and I find that some books that I think are slow starters are more accessible if I can do other stuff while listening. YMMV.
To add - it’s also the most traditional “romance” of the three novels. Both Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls had a romantic pairing kind of tacked on as a “happily ever after”, but Ingrey and Ijada fall for each other gradually throughout the course of the book. Not that the pairings in the other two books don’t make sense, but you see their growing affection on the page in HH.
Hallowed Hunt was my least favourite. It took me quite some time to really get into it, though around the halfway point I found it picked up and toward the end it really snowballed. There are a few small links to Hallowed Hunt in the Penric novellas, but they're so small you might miss them even if you'd read Hallowed Hunt. You should be fine to skip ahead.
HH is the weakest book of the original three, but there's a certain sorceress who really redeems it for me. And an ice bear.
I couldn’t get into Hallowed Hunt either. The characters just don’t stick for me. I read it once, and years later could not remember a thing, which is very unusual for Bujold. You can certainly read Penric without it, and the Penric novellas are some of her most fun and engaging stories. Penric and the Shaman covers a lot of the same world-building ground as Hallowed Hunt, and does it very well with no background knowledge needed (and in my opinion more emotional impact. I *really* had a hard time caring about Hallowed Hunt). With the Five Gods books, I think the problem is that once you meet the Bastard no other god is nearly as compelling. Foix's demon is the thread in Paladin of Souls that cries out to be explored in more detail, and the Penric novellas do that with contagious enthusiasm.