As a (new) reviewer, I can occasionally—ha, yeah, occasionally—hit a brick wall when it
comes to writing on a book I’ve enjoyed. Why? A good question I don’t quite
have the answer for. It probably comes down to being reluctant to deconstruct
the weaknesses as well as the strengths of a work when you have less tangible
reasons for liking it. How does The Hob’s
Bargain stand apart from other fantasy books? How is it similar? Is the
devil in the details rather than the, let’s face it, tried and true formulas of
stories in general? Finding the answers is a large part of why I started
reviewing fantasy books.
As a fan of both Rumpelstiltskin- and Beauty and the
Beast-inspired stories, the back cover of Hob’s
Bargain promised a mix of both. Aren, our hero, is a peasant woman with the
power of foresight, though it’s a fickle power she doesn’t have much control
over. Only when the raw magic of the world is released, previously bound by
human mages, does she begin to understand her gift. But with this
self-discovery come the dangers of untamed magic resurrecting supernatural
creatures of myth, including the Hob, a powerful being who is known for its
deals. To better understand her magic and guarantee the safety of her village,
which is filled with people who distrust her now that they know about her magic,
Aren strikes a bargain with the Hob.
The tags on the book throw special focus on Aren's deal with the Hob in two ways. One, the "every spell has its price" line points to the fact that she'll have to give him something. Two, the simple "Beauty and the Beast" line suggests a potential
romance or pseudo-romance between them. If that’s your cup of tea,
great, you’ll pick this up. If it’s not, there might be enough to the world
Briggs creates that makes it worth a look. For readers belonging in the first group, one of the
setbacks of this book will become apparent within the first few chapters: the
titular Hob and his bargain don’t make an appearance until after the book’s
halfway point. Seriously! Why does Briggs make us wait so long? I think because
Briggs’ primary interest isn’t romance, if one is comfortable to call the
gradual relationship between Aren and the Hob a romance. This is my first time
reading Briggs’ work, so The Hob’s Bargain might be unique in its
focus, but her series with coyote-shifter Mercy Thompson (Moon Called, Blood Bound,
Iron Kissed, etc.) suggests that this
writer enjoys fleshing out her female protagonists with optional romance.
Which, honestly, I find refreshing given the overabundance of books published
that demand romance when there’s a female lead.
That’s not to say Aren is
devoid of a love life: the novel opens with her being recently married to Daryn,
a handsome farmhand a few years younger than she. Sadly, tragedy takes not only
him but all that remains of her family, forcing her to face the village without
a support system. She does have a couple of friends, particularly the berserker Kith, but
theirs clearly is a platonic relationship, even as she’s prepared to risk her
life to save his. Even when the Hob, Caefawn, is introduced, the potential for
romance is very subdued. I wouldn’t be surprised if Briggs warily approached
the Aren/Caefawn relationship from a romantic angle because, well, Caefawn
isn’t human. Not even passably. He’s often described with feline features and
being thickly built while still agile—so a big, muscular cat? He actually
sounds adorable, but far from your typical romantic lead. Which isn’t a bad
thing, but it risks weirding out readers acclimated to love interests in the
vein of Edward Cullen and Jacob Black, physically speaking. I personally commend Briggs, but she might as well have
jumped in and let the relationship grow and bear fruit for the majority of the
story instead of introducing it in the back-half.
But there’s another reason
why it takes so long to meet Caefawn. Briggs’ desire to develop her heroines
may well go hand-in-hand with her desire to world-build. One of the book’s
strengths is that she knows how to sneak in pertinent information about Aren’s
village and the larger world. Sometimes I say she gives too little information,
forcing the reader to piece clues together that might eventually be confirmed
or disproved as the story progresses. For some readers, this is a fun
challenge. For others, it’s enough to make them through the book on the floor.
And there’s a sliding scale between the two types. For me, the way Briggs pulls
me into her world, first with glimpses and tidbits about daily life in the
valley, then step by step broadened my understanding of this world as
characters make journeys from place to place, I feel I’m reading a novelization
of a Hayao Miyazaki film. The special attention to the history and current
relationship between humans, magic and nature carry a tone similar to Princess Mononoke and Ponyo. Briggs also wins love by making
her characters, even the flat ones, just interesting enough that they stand
apart like real people in a community. Aren’s struggle to gain the confidence
and friendship of her town hits the right notes, hardly ever pushing for
melodrama to make her more sympathetic. Briggs has a gift for making quieter
moments engaging on a character level as well as a world-building one.
For readers looking for some reprieve from world-ending
stakes (well, the stakes are still pretty high) and plots flying at break-neck speed, The Hob’s Bargain comes highly recommended. It’s also suited to
people looking for something just a little different from the usual fantasy
fare while still harkening to familiar tropes, like Aren’s heroes journey and
her mentor/student dynamic with Caefawn. And for those harboring reservations
about some romantic (or dare I say sexual) interspecies themes, it’s all
lightly handled. For those who like their Beasts, the romance may come too
little too late, and sadly there doesn’t appear to be a sequel to follow up on
it. The best way to approach this book is to prepare for a slow-burn plot
sprinkled with violent, slightly gory action scenes, but with a primary focus
on a witch and her people coming to understand their changing world.
Rating: 4/5
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