Elfquest Reader's Collection #11a: Huntress

Rating:
Summary: Ember and Teir: a story about the decision from hell
Review: "Huntress", the follow-up to the book "Legacy", describes the struggle of the young chieftess Ember to reconcile her love for the stranger Teir with the scary possibility that his presence could lead to the deaths of her tribesfolk. (Without giving too much away, let it be said that the ending of the story is NOT neat and clean, but raw as an open wound - and very moving for that reason. This story-line does not reach closure for a dozen years; but that is another story, another book - and not anytime soon.)

Compared to the artwork in "Legacy" (both books together comprise the last 14 issues of the "Hidden Years" comic-book series), that in "Huntress" is nearly all of a piece, and of a much higher standard. The one controversial point is the abrupt switch, after the second chapter, from color to black-and-white. WaRP's spin on this change is that it was an artistic decision. Don't believe it - in fact WaRP Publications faced a cash crunch in late 1995 that forced them to abandon color publication in order not to have their several stories - seven, at one point - orphaned. This is unfortunate, even though the present book is not in color; much of the extra visual richness comes through anyway.

A final note: to get a full grasp of the complete story, read this volume in conjunction with volume 12a, "Reunion" (not yet published), whose story parallels that in this book.

Rating:
Summary: Ember and Teir: a story about the decision from hell
Review: "Huntress", the follow-up to the book "Legacy", describes the struggle of the young chieftess Ember to reconcile her love for the stranger Teir with the scary possibility that his presence could lead to the deaths of her tribesfolk. (Without giving too much away, let it be said that the ending of the story is NOT neat and clean, but raw as an open wound - and very moving for that reason. This story-line does not reach closure for a dozen years; but that is another story, another book - and not anytime soon.)

Compared to the artwork in "Legacy" (both books together comprise the last 14 issues of the "Hidden Years" comic-book series), that in "Huntress" is nearly all of a piece, and of a much higher standard. The one controversial point is the abrupt switch, after the second chapter, from color to black-and-white. WaRP's spin on this change is that it was an artistic decision. Don't believe it - in fact WaRP Publications faced a cash crunch in late 1995 that forced them to abandon color publication in order not to have their several stories - seven, at one point - orphaned. This is unfortunate, even though the present book is not in color; much of the extra visual richness comes through anyway.

A final note: to get a full grasp of the complete story, read this volume in conjunction with volume 12a, "Reunion" (not yet published), whose story parallels that in this book.

Rating:
Summary: Regarding spoilers in this volume
Review: Another reviewer notes: "this one spoils the suspense of other volumes (Shards - Ascent - Reunion) by telling what happens to the elves who are fighting elsewhere while Ember is muddling through 'Huntress.' I'm amazed that the authors did such a clumsy thing!"

It's worth noting that the reason for this is that the original comics of Huntress and Shards were being published simultaneously. References back and forth were to keep the stories current with each other -- but I agree that if you are reading them in this book format, rather than the original serials, there is risk of such spoilers.

(Amazon requires that I give a rating, so I'll rank this book 3 stars, on a scale from 1 (anything Barry Blair did in the EQ world) to 5 (Pini art & stories). To one who spent decades with only Wendy Pini's art, the very different art style here is jarring, and the story sometimes clumsy -- but worthwhile once I got past that.)

Rating:
Summary: Regarding spoilers in this volume
Review: Another reviewer notes: "this one spoils the suspense of other volumes (Shards - Ascent - Reunion) by telling what happens to the elves who are fighting elsewhere while Ember is muddling through 'Huntress.' I'm amazed that the authors did such a clumsy thing!"

It's worth noting that the reason for this is that the original comics of Huntress and Shards were being published simultaneously. References back and forth were to keep the stories current with each other -- but I agree that if you are reading them in this book format, rather than the original serials, there is risk of such spoilers.

(Amazon requires that I give a rating, so I'll rank this book 3 stars, on a scale from 1 (anything Barry Blair did in the EQ world) to 5 (Pini art & stories). To one who spent decades with only Wendy Pini's art, the very different art style here is jarring, and the story sometimes clumsy -- but worthwhile once I got past that.)

Rating:
Summary: A worthy continuation of this magnificent series!
Review: I was first introduced to the Elfquest world over 13 years ago, and I fell in love with the story. Unfortunately, I was too young at the time to have enough money to buy the other books, however, that's all changed. I now have a job of my own, and can buy the series whenver I feel like it. This story tells of Cutter's grown up daughter, Ember, who must lead her people away from the war that her Father is fighting, thus giving the Wolfriders a chance to survive. In this story, Ember must make some hard decisions, which show that she has truly earned the right to be chief.

Rating:
Summary: Flawed, but be sure to read it anyway. It grows on you.
Review: This book was disappointing on first read, mostly because it doesn't fill in the emotional details for you. It makes you use your imagination to realize how the characters feel about the terrible things that are happening to them. My advice is to buy the book (yes, definitely buy it) and read it slowly a few times. I like it a lot, now that I've had time to ponder it. The artwork is quite good, the characters look pretty much the way Wendy Pini would draw them, and the sharp, clean pen and ink reproduces nicely in black and white. This book contains quite a lot of violence but very little nudity and no "adult situations" (yay). I really liked the continuing character development with Skywise and the very interesting new guy, Teir. On the down side, the story revolves around a pretty unbelievable group of adversaries, and I don't see why the authors have decided to make Winnowill responsible for every big problem the Wolfriders encounter. Not very plausible. Also, it's frustrating that the mysteries regarding Teir are not explained in this volume -- although apparently that is to be done in an upcoming book. But WORST OF ALL (!) this one spoils the suspense of other volumes (Shards - Ascent - Reunion) by telling what happens to the elves who are fighting elsewhere while Ember is muddling through "Huntress." I'm amazed that the authors did such a clumsy thing! And if you read "Reunion" first, it will spoil the end of "Huntress." ("Huntress" is meant to be read before "Reunion.") Very bad! But I do recommend that you read this book. It's an important and poignant part of the saga.