The Hunter's Moon

Chronicles of Faerie #1

by O.R. Melling

Canadian Gwen and her Irish cousin, Findabhair, have long planned a summer of backpacking around Ireland, visiting sites out of the old legends of fairy folk. Little do they know that it is the summer of the Hunter's Moon, a dangerous time for mortals who meddle with the kingdom of Faerie. One night, camping out on old ruins, Finn is kidnapped by the Faerie king, who wants her for a bride and possible sacrifice. It is up to Gwen, the more indecisive of the two, to rescue her cousin. Beautifully written, romantic, exciting, and evocative of both modern-day and mystical Ireland, this is a treat for girl fantasy readers.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fae, Fairies, Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Magic

305 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Born in Ireland, raised and educated in Toronto, Canada along with my seven sisters and two brothers, now living back in Ireland again. I have a beautiful daughter, Findabhair, doing her M.A. in Marine Biology and a beautiful cat, Emma, who would love to eat the fish Finn (great name for a marine biologist, eh?) wants to protect. My favourite author of all time is CS Lewis. I've read everything he ever wrote including non-fiction and adult fiction, but the Chronicles of Narnia are the best of all.

Reviews

[Sabrina · Rating 1 out of 5]

WARNING: Very strong opinions and a little bit of ranting.

I finished it as fast as I could because, honestly, it was kind of terrible. There were no transitions between plot points, no explanations behind any of the events that occurred, and it was just really choppy.

Also, the characters fell in love with each other or became loyal, lifelong friends after knowing each other for two pages, maybe. And those pages have big type and large margins. In addition, it was very cheesy and not at all realistic. (It's a fantasy book, I get that realistic is an... odd term here. Just let me explain.)

For one thing, the main character is a sixteen year old girl that travels across Ireland by herself (and she's a foreigner, mind you) and the only problems she runs into throughout the entire book are the ones the faeries cause. For another, the characters did not have accurate emotions. They were like children's storybook characters. There was no suspicion of anyone else, no disloyalty or lack of trust. Nothing but love and rainbows and fluff. Which got really annoying. I like to have some depressing in a book now and then.

Finally, I was just a little mad at the cover. Because it was very misleading. Yes, I know, don't judge a book by it's cover. I wasn't. I was judging it based off of the coolness of the font of the title.

Basically, don't read this book unless you need something to make you laugh incredulously while simultaneously crying hysterically and feeling like hurling the book into flames.

[Leanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gwen and Findabhair are cousins, but most of all, they're best friends. Gwen is from Canada, but she visits Findabhair every summer in Ireland. One particular summer, Gwen comes and they plan a backpacking trip all across Ireland, hitting all the major fantastical sites along the way. They go to the Mound of Hostages (aka supposed entrance to the faerie world) at the Hill of Tara (the ancient capitol of Ireland) and that is where the adventure begins.

I read this book while on a study abroad program in Ireland. Honestly, the cover made it look pretty interesting, plus we were going to be meeting with the author. I figured I'd give it a try even though it was "young adult literature." Once I picked it up, though, I couldn't put it down! O.R. Melling does a fantastic job at weaving a fiction novel with the Celtic myths and the Gaelic language. Her story, as well as her language, are enchanting and pulled me right in.

I would recommend this book for anyone who loves fantasy, mythology, adventure, or even romance.

This book is also the first book in O.R. Melling's series, The Chronicles of Faerie. The second book, The Summer King, is also good, and I am still waiting to get my hands on the third, The Light-Bearer's Daughter.

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was hard to read. And I really wanted to like it, truly.

I wanted a more middle grade fantasy book! But... this one was not it.

The book just.... happens? The story didn't feel like it flowed well. Suddenly everything just popped up and went the way it did. Like someone was writing an assignment and went "oh crap! I forgot to add that part. I'll just sneak that in..." and bam, it was there.

So... not a great read for me. It kind of hurt my brain.

One out of five stars.

[Krystle · Rating 2 out of 5]

My thoughts and impressions of this book weren’t that great. The writing was extremely choppy, disjointed, and the pacing of the story was extremely rushed. Everything happens so bam bam bam right after each other that you just couldn’t get into the characters or get a decent grasp for the whole build-up of suspense. So in the end you have a shallow portrait of the characters and what they’re really like. Another thing that I found really strange was that Findabhair is the name of the author's daughter.

I know the whole love at first sight thing is sweet, romantic, and everyone wishes that it could happen to them but at least make it plausible. The worst part about the romance interests for the two female leads is that this book happens in a timeframe that is just a few short days. And in that time Findabhair manages to fall in love with the King of Faeries and he vice versa? So much so that he’s willing to sacrifice his life for her? Gwen also had the whole, “wow I meet a hot guy” and they hit it off and then in one outing they become girlfriend/boyfriend and are super affectionate, kissing, hugging, what have you? I’m sorry I just don’t dig that. Then all of these people who barely knew her were willing to fight alongside her even if they would die in the attempt? Err… okay.

The writing does pick up by about the halfway mark and sort of settles down into a decent pace. There was a twist at the ending that I totally wasn’t expecting so that was some thumbs up. The author exploits fantastic knowledge of Irish mythology and knowledge of the area with great success. I was quite fascinated by the language and names.

[Chani · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of those books that probably is good to read when you're a young teenager. It blows your mind because it's a story about faeries and it's about a chubby girl gaining confidence etc. However, as an adult reading this, I was bored. There wasn't enough 'happening' and I say this in terms of hands on development. Yes, there was a lot of running around, but nothing REALLY happened. Two girls went traveling, one gets stolen by the faeries, wants to stay but her fat friend tries to drag her back, while struggling to gain her own self-confidence. It was written like a lot was happening, but as far as scenes where I actually saw the character learn and grow, these were very minimum. I was just 'told' that a lot of things happened, but I didn't SEE them. Also, I hate stories with shallow characters who just fall in love with attractive faces, like the main character's cousin. Maybe if the author has written more scenes or showed us a better connection between the faery king, I would have been able to believe their 'love.' But not this way. I am a person who picks up a book about faeries because I want to be transported. This did not transport me. I was stuck being shuffled around by an insecure 16 year old, over Ireland (which should have been awesome had it been described and brought to life) while she tries to drag her cousin back into the boring mortal world. Admittedly, it does pick up 2/3 of the way through once Gwen stops moping around.

[Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good! It had gotten way better than at the beginning of the story. Overall it was good!

[Miss Amelia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, very mixed feelings here! On one hand, I really really enjoyed the descriptive passages about Ireland and its rich history and mythology. On the other hand, I felt that the characters and the general plot were extremely underdeveloped, and in addition, just downright bizarre.
- The worst thing an author can do is neglect characterization. Her two protagonists - cousins Findabhair and Gwen - are just weird. First of all: adult supervision, anyone?!?!?! Of course not. It's never definitively explained what exactly these girls are doing, what they believe in, or even who they are. Things are just presented like “here you go!” without any characterization or explanation. Now, I actually think there ways to portray a struggle between emotions (at one point, a character contemplates joining the fairy word), but the author doesn’t give us any of that. There’s no explanation as to why characters do the things that they do, so we can’t really understand them, relate to them, or develop any feelings ourselves.
Some of my individual thoughts:
- Unromantic: It's like the author wants there to be a romantic angle, but she doesn't have the wherewithal to actually write and develop it.
On a personal note, I think the author has a really warped idea of what “romance” is. In fact, I think the author has some warped ideas about a lot of things... I would totally understand the struggle if there was a good love element: wanting to stay with said mythological creature, etc…but the scenario presented here is not a romantic one (pg 146 especially)
- The decision to have fairies be “neither good nor bad” or for there to be an absence of good/bad, creates a paradox when later, the king supposedly is in love with Findabhair. If there’s no good or bad, how can there be love (which is good)? The whole thing doesn’t make sense. It seems like I am putting more thought into this than the writer did!
- This battle stuff is way, WAY too fast. It’s very hard to appreciate/empathize with the gravity of the situation if things are so rushed and hectic. ^^Yes, "battle stuff". I guess to write fantasy, it is required that there be some kind of supernatural battle scene. In this case, it comes out of nowhere, with the unlikeliest and most haphazzard band of fighters, and it's extremely unclimactic. This is a far, far cry from Minas Tirinth!

So, it wasnt excrutiatingly bad, but it certainly wasn't great, either. There are things I can take away from this book, however, and that is the "travelism." To be fair, the author does really make you feel that you are touring Ireland--but that's the only redeeming quality. I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading this, but I would certainly caution them not to expect much...

[Ithlilian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hunter's Moon went by pretty fast for me, mostly because there wasn't much going on. The cousins decide to stay inside a faerie mound, one chooses to go away with the faerie and the other chases after her thinking she was kidnapped. Along the way she meets some nice helpful people that surprisingly believe in faeries (what a coincidence). Of course there is to be a sacrifice on Hunter's Moon, as anyone who is familiar with faerie lore knows, but somehow the characters are surprised by it. I'm surprised the author was able to fit a two sentence plot into 300 pages. Sometimes simplistic is good, if it is made to be endearing and entertaining for example, but this was neither. The characters fell in love too quickly, and there was so much running around we barely got to know them. Another disappointing fae novel.

[Whatchyareading]

The second in our Flashback Friday series is more than just a good book I remember reading when I was a teenager. It is the first real novel (besides ones written by Christopher Pike and R. L. Stine) that I can remember reading. My sister gave it to me when I lamented about how all the books I read were exactly the same.

When I opened the cover of the Hunter’s Moon by O. R. Melling for a re-read, it had a stamp on the first page that said October, 18, 1994. Which makes me think she bought it at one of those school book fairs we used to have. Do they still do those?

This was also the very first book I ever read about Faeries. Not Fairies. Faeries.

The Hunter’s Moon is about two cousins, Gwen and Findabhair (pronounced “Finnaveer”) who had been great friends as children, but haven’t seen each other since they were thirteen. Gwen lives in Toronto, Canada and Findabhair lives in Dublin, Ireland. Three years might not be that long to not see one another but the difference between thirteen and sixteen is a big difference and when Gwen first arrives she’s afraid that Findabhair is going to be to grown-up to fulfill their childhood dreams.

Their childhood dreams being going on a hunt around Ireland to discover the existence of Faeries. And on their first night of backpacking around the countryside, the girls bite off more then they can chew. Gwen wakes in the morning to find Findabhair missing and a strange set of clues left behind for her to follow.

My favourite thing about this book is Gwen’s opposing motivations for tracking down her cousin and the faeries that took her. On one hand, she wants to get her cousin back, safe and sound. On the other hand she resents her cousin for leaving her behind and wants nothing more than to join the faeries as well. After all, this is exactly what the girls have been looking for their whole life.

What follows is a fantastical (and not just because of the magic) journey up and down Ireland. You get to see regular people, magical beings, and you get to see Gwen go from being shy and quiet and practical to being decisive and brave and determined. I couldn’t help but love her. Findabhair I had a much harder time liking, she seemed to get everything that she wanted very easily and that’s never all that interesting. Still, you could tell that the girls share a strong bond and Findabhair does what she can to help Gwen.

Everything gets really exciting at the end when we discover what “The Hunter’s Moon” actually is and why the Faeries had wanted to steal away both girls. This is also when we meet the first book character I ever remember having a crush on. Dara, the Irish King of Inch Island, and college student. With his hair always in his eyes, his almost crooked grin, Irish accent, and how he drew that heart in the sand. He was the stuff my twelve-year-old dreams were made of.

The author was born and grew-up in Ireland and the book rings out with authenticity because of this. There is an understanding of the people and of the strange double-ness a lot of Europe has. They have traditional kings next to elected officials. They have great stone castles next skyscrapers. And for a lot of the book Gwen thinks that a person has to live in one world or the other. You can’t be both a business man and someone who leaves out a little bit of milk for the Good Folk. Melling is a genius at creating people who live in this world but believe in the other.

Now, the book was first published in 1993 and it is obvious. The girls don’t have cell phones or email and it the story opens with Findabhair reading a letter that Gwen sent her. A real, snail-mail letter. And the hitch-hike around a lot, although Gwen does mention that she would never do that at home so that might be different in Ireland. But, despite being a little dated the story still holds its own and the teenagers are still recognizably teenagers.

Also, the price on the back of this book made me long for 90s and not much can make me long for the 90s.

PS: I could not find a picture of the cover my book has anywhere. Grrrrrrrrrr

Reviewed on WhatchYAreading on September 10, 2010.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually don't read young adult books because I require a bit more depth and intricacy to my novels than most teen series can provide. I picked up this particular book because it deals with Celtic mythology, something I dearly love. I was pleasantly surprised.

The novel is paced well, with plenty of suspense and action to keep even the adult reader interested in the goings-on. The characters are well though out and three dimensional. I, for one, identified with both heroines within the first twenty pages of the novel.

My favorite part of this book were the allusions to mythology that I picked on very easily. I found myself excited everytime a familiar aspect of Irish mythology was referenced and used to inspire a specific part of the plotline.

Needless to say, I'm keep this novel and buying the rest from Amazon at the first available opportunity. One of the reviews on the back of the book says something along the lines of...'in a perfect world, people would line up for O.R. Melling's novels like the do J.K. Rowling's latest.' I have to say that I'd agree. I think both women have a great grasp on storytelling and crafting a story that is rich in mythology, characters, and a great read for old and young alike.

[K.K. Summer · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 Sterne

Ich muss sagen leider hat es mir leider nicht so sehr gefallen - ich fand die Story etwas flach und auch die Charaktere etwas stereotypisch. Allerdings drehte es sich um Elfen und so fand ich die Geschichte doch irgendwie gut ;) Aber leider konnte ich doch nicht mehr als 2* vergeben - mal sehen ob ich den zweiten Band noch lesen werde oder nicht. Allerdings keine schlechte Grundidee - ich denke mir könnte das zweite doch gefallen allein deshalb :)

[Amelia Mapstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well-described and eye-opening tale. Takes back a whole Irish setting created of the Faerie, Witches, and elves alike in Ireland. And it's all hid right before mortals' eyes! :) I loved it.

[Dianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cousins Gwen and Findabhair are searching for a way into Faerie, and find it. Gwen rejects the invitation and wakes alone. Her quest is now to find her cousin and return her to the real world.

I can’t say I loved this as much as I did The Singing Stone and The Druid’s Tune, but that’s the unfortunate result of becoming an adult.

At 16, the heroines are presented as a mix of old enough to get into fixed adult relationships and still young enough to have that child innocence/wonder of a CS Lewis or Alan Garner child.

The book feels too short, relationships too hurriedly established. The best part of the book is at the end, when the real action doesn’t come until the end.

My favourite bit was the immortal boy king, now in love with a human teenager, flirting with an old love, now in her 60s or 70s.

My second favourite thing was that eating faerie food isn’t as big a deal really as it’s made out to be, although definitely worthwhile making friends with a witch to help dose you back to normal.

In coming to write this review I’ve discovered that this is the first of a series which means I’m going to have to try and find the others somehow.

[Hope Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and fast paces story about fairies. It was enjoyable and fun read; if you love stories about fairies set in Ireland than you might enjoy this.
This book was intended for younger audience, early teens and tweens I would say.
Writing is alright, the story line was fast paces and it moved along. I think that that was bit of downside. Everything was moving along too fast to the point that the story had no natural progression. At times I felt the story was rushed towards the conclusion.
Romance was bit rushed and unbelievable especially between Dara and Gwen. If you are going to have love at first sight between two characters than you have to make it believable and I was not convinced.

Anyways, despite all the shortcoming I enjoyed reading this book and I will give book two try as well.

Happy Reading!!!

[Kimmi by the Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Song of the Sea and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell had a baby, it would be this book.

This was a nostalgic read, but other than some cringe 90s slang, I think it mostly holds up. Steeped in beautiful, rich descriptions of nature, food, color, folklore, and magic, this story is utterly transporting.

It's very much appropriate for readers of all ages. The tone does mostly fit younger YA, but it is written in a way (and with a vocabulary) that doesn't make it tedious for an adult reader. You could read this with a 5th grade as a bed time story, or you could pick this apart for its literary allusions, descriptions, metaphor, parallels to pagan myth, the tarot, etc. This story really does so much but so simply and accessibly.

[Alanah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just what I needed! Teens in the 90's? A Canadian traveling around Ireland? Adventures in the land of Faerie?? YES PLEASE.

I loved this story, though I did have an issue... The insta-love, and that a 16-year-old becomes a Faerie bride. I mean, it is a YA book from the 90's, but still, I would have liked more build up to relationships (and less of a child-bride situation). Otherwise, a very fun read!

[Mary O'Toole · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the first book I have absolutely disliked. I chose to read it because I love Irish folklore and fairies, and I gave the book a solid chance but I could not bring myself to like it. The story is choppy and messy, inserting ransoms details that have no purpose to the plot whatsoever. I tend to over analyze books due to being a former AP lit student, and with that I could definitely write an essay on the underlying messages encouraging anorexia. I would like to end this review saying this is my personal opinion, if you liked the book than go you but personally I had no attachment to the characters or the story line and in the end was just bored.

[P.M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually love books about the Fair Folk. However, the main female characters, Gwen and Finn, were too bland and undeveloped. I would have given this one star except I enjoyed the descriptions of Olde Ireland since my grandparents came from there.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been years since I've read this but I came across this author again and had to comment. This book was what started my passion for Irish folklore. I remember enjoying this immensely and was transported into the story in the best way possible. I intend to read it again!

[sam]

Yikes

DNF @ 16%

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had great expectations of this book. I've always loved books based on mythology that correspond to the setting. One of my favorites are the Celtic myths of Ireland. So when I picked up this book, I was delighted to sit down and allow myself to be taken on adventure around Ireland. I was greatly disappointed. The writing itself was too unrealistic. People don't act they way they do in this book whether they are in love or not. Another thing about the "romance". How can anyone fall in love in a day? Gwen seemed to do that. It is nice and all for love in first sight but at least make it a little believable.

The transition of events was also too fast paced. It seemed that Melling was focusing on so much in making the journey to each destination suspenseful that she completely neglected the important to details that would equally assist in the ongoing suspense leading to the climax. And WHO pray tell, on the eve of impending doom, has a glorious banquet with everyone having fun and completely oblivious to the fact they are going face-to-face with an ancient and immensely powerful evil? What reason did they have to be over confident?

Even then, the spell to kill the demon asked for seven ANGELS. Since when are 6 humans who believe in the Irish unknown and a fairy King considered as angels? Am I missing something?

What kept me from giving this book one star was the twist in the end. I was pretty sure that this is going to be a happy ending with them killing off the Worm and living happily ever after. Turns out, half the team almost died and Finvarra lost his immortality :) I don't mean to be to be a sadist but this is probably the most realistic this narrative could have gotten. I seriously hope the sequels come out better than this.

[Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this wonderful 'coming of age' book targeted for teens, O.R. Melling introduces readers to a fantasy world rich with factual elements and descriptions of Ireland.

The characters are interesting and refreshing to say the least. Gwen, the heroine, is described as being "short and plump with a head of cropped curls"... not the typical teen heroine that frequents other popular YA books on shelves today. Gwen is relateable to many a young girl. She is a fantasy geek, who loves movies, books, music, and art in pretty much any form of fantasy. She is also at the in-between stage where she isn't interested in dolling herself up for the opposite sex with revealing clothes and make-up despite the fact that most girls around her are, even her cousin to some extent has shifted her interest to boys and popular notions. Watching Gwen deal with the changes of growing up and becoming the brave young woman was wonderful.

What was really the jewel in this book is Ireland itself. Melling's knowledge and experiences there really shine through in the way she describes the country Ireland almost became a character in the story.. It is as if the author was educating readers on the folklore and geography while telling a fun adventure tale. In two words...It's great!

Another thing that I really enjoyed was the extra touches added to the book-- like a map of the country with places mentioned in the text on it, the glossary of Irish words used in the book, and the author's note on Irish language.

I really enjoyed The Hunter's Moon, and have shared it with my daughter, who loved it as well. We both look forward to reading the following books in the saga and planning a real Ireland adventure ourselves someday soon!

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

16-year-old Gwen travels from America to Ireland to visit her cousin Findabhair. The two girls share a love of fantasy and myth and plan to travel around Ireland visiting all the ancient sites associated with the fairy folk. On their first night out they sleep on the mound at Tara and Findabhair is carried away by the king of the fairies. Gwen, who is usually the follower, must travel the island alone, searching for her cousin and challenging the fairies. Her travels provide a good introduction to Irish places and legends. The relationships and motivations of the characters are not very convincing, but it is a pleasant, quick read with plenty of color.

[CeJayCe · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found the writing style of this book to be, for a lack of better word, juvenile. It wasn't very descriptive at all and did nothing to draw me into the story. It didn't help that the focus was constantly shifting between the two girls and never stayed on one long enough for me to really learn much about them. They were both very shallow in terms of character development. (Then again, I only read 50 pages before I had to stop...)

The plot itself...well, I just couldn't bring myself to care about it. I tried to, but I couldn't.

It's been awhile since I've had to completely give up on a book, but this one forced my hand.

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two cousins start looking for the world of faerie and they get more than they bargained for. This book is from the children's section of my library system but it is definitely for preteens and teens. What I liked about the writing was that the vocabulary was not simplified for the ages of the intended readers. It would certainly enhance the youngsters reading abilities and the story keeps the reader interested to find out just what will happen next. There is also a glossary in the back for all the Irish words used in the text. It contains the definitions and, thankfully, the pronunciations of these words.

[KA · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really really like this book. I wish I could say I love it, partly because I love the way Melling inverts some of the most problematic aspects of Susan Cooper (like, SPOILER ALERT for those who haven't read the whole "Dark Is Rising" series, the way the mortal kids are forced to forget everything). But somehow the characters didn't have enough depth--and therefore the plot didn't have enough propulsion, subjectively speaking, for me to give it a fifth star. Overall, though, I'd recommend this highly to readers of YA fiction.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those fans of fantasy, Ireland, and Irish language as well as mythology, this is a great series to begin. I have read the complete series but I believe that the first book may be my favorite. The author (from Ireland herself) immerses the reader into a believable world as well as a faerie world as well as introduces certain words or descriptions from the Irish language. A thoroughly enjoyable read!

[Reed · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was really bad lmao. The last 50 pages were okay, though.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the 3rd and 4th books made me want to reread the 1st 2. I thought I remembered them having a different feel. This book is pure magic, and is more about a lone person's quest than about a joint mission, like book 4 has. I like Gwen, even if I think the book never explores her character enough, and I love the red hair thing.

[Karen]

Added as "read" according to Goodreads on 10/8/2009. But I don't remember the story at all and there was no rating or review so I'm putting it back to "Want to Read"