Child of the Hunt

FROM THE ARCHIVES (Buffy book reviews)

CHILD OF THE HUNT

Christopher Golden & Nancy Holder (1998)

RATING: 5/5 Stakes

SETTING: Season Three

TV CHARACTER APPEARANCES: Buffy, Joyce, Giles, Xander, Willow, Oz, Cordelia, Angel, Sheila Rosenberg, Xander's Dad, Xander's Mom, Ira Rosenberg, Cordelia's Dad

MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: Connie DeMarco, Brian Anderson (runaways); Liz DeMarco, Jamie Anderson (runaways' parents); Erl King (villain); Lucy Hanover (ghostly Slayer); Roland (Erl King's son); "Robin Hood", "King Richard" (sorcerers)

BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: "Jousting contests, human chess matches, lords and ladies and beggars . . . a traveling Renaissance fair has come to Sunnydale. The fair may seem terminally uncool, but Buffy and her friends are charmed anyway. Especially by a sad-eyed boy named Roland, who serves as the court jester. Unfortunately, the people from the fair are not the only visitors in Sunnydale. Roaming the countryside are nasty little creatures with a taste for flesh: the dark faerie. They are minions of the Wild Hunt, servants of the evil Erl King. Buffy's challenge is to annihilate the king and his murderous horde. But the path to his destruction leads straight to Roland, who is not quite human . . . and destined to become the Slayer's mortal adversary."

REVIEW

Child of the Hunt was the first Pocket Books adult Buffy novel, following the early Archway series of "young adult" novels. The change in tone and length serves the novel well, as Child of the Hunt is able, like many early Buffy episodes, to discuss a real problem facing youth (in this case, runaway teens) through the context of a supernatural crisis.

The main villain of the story is the Erl King (also known as Hern the Hunter), a mythological entity who leads the Wild Hunt, a murderous pack of demons which kills some humans but sweeps up the lonely, the depressed, the suicidal, and others in the throes of misery to join the cause before moving on.

The theme of the novel is parents and their children, and we get to see, at least, briefly, scenes with each of the Scooby's parents--some of whom have never been portrayed on screen, like Willow's and Cordelia's fathers. Written and set near the beginning of Season Three, the story benefits and integrates Buffy's decision to run away from Sunnydale at the end of Season Two.
The authors (Golden & Holder) deliver their usual excellent characterization of the Buffy cast, but what makes this novel really stand-out is the portrayal of the supporting characters: the runaway teens and their parents. Unlike the supporting characters in most Buffy novels, these aren't generic victims or bystanders--they each have a real personality and a role to play in the story. In addition, the Erl King has some real weight as a villain with the incorporation of real-worth myth.

Not much more needs to be said. Child of the Hunt combines a real-world problem, an interesting fictional menace, and great writing. The result is an excellent novel, worth picking up at any used bookstore.