Despite the name, trolls don’t seem to quite fit into the author’s conjured up medieval world. The single troll’s appearance is never explained, their history open to speculation.
Otherwise, strong start - strong finale. That leaves the middle part which, unfortunately, hangs through and crawls on its belly.
In fact, everything about the book is a bit inconsistent. Some characters are well developed, some aren’t. Some descriptions are well-done, others seem just added as an afterthought.
Much is quite predictable, the ending is not.
If you can get through dry phases and the corny, unrealistic stuff, there will be highlights to enjoy. ( )

Trolls - mindless, destructive monsters, driven by their hunger and willing to eat any living thing – especially humans. Terrorizing the countryside and any towns they cross, trolls kill and eat all the humans they can. From far and wide, people travel to locate The Troll Hunters – the only men able to track and kill these man-eating beasts. How did these men become Troll Hunters and what motivates them? This is their story.

That little summary above is a lot closer to what the book is about than the actual blurb. But even then it really doesn’t tell the reader what the book is about before the reader picks it up. And that is the major problem I had with this book – the description of the book does not give the reader any real clue as to what is going on. A friend recommended this book to me – telling me that it was very like [a:David Eddings|8732|David Eddings|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1223870462p2/8732.jpg] (one of my favorite authors).

If I had to try to compare this book or author to anyone I would say that [a:Keith C. Blackmore|4455470|Keith C. Blackmore|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1289611090p2/4455470.jpg] and The Troll Hunter is a lot closer to [a:Glen Cook|13026|Glen Cook|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1207159752p2/13026.jpg] and [b:The Black Company|140671|The Black Company|Glen Cook|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1317066907s/140671.jpg|390334]. This is Military fantasy without any magic…just a really big and really bad troll. Not an evil troll, just destructive and hungry. So, I really wasn’t expecting Military Fiction…and I’ve been a bit of a moody reader lately. I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this book. The book is very well written and I did enjoy it…I just wasn’t expecting it.

The Troll Hunter actually starts in medias res. The reader is plopped down in the middle of a military barrack and flung directly into a murderous mutiny. I had no clue what was going on for a quite a while (because I was still expecting some Eddings-like action) but the story is well written enough that I was able to get over that. At its heart, The Troll Hunter is a story of military discipline, treachery, love and tragedy. The reader follows several different characters, the most important being Bloor, Alwan, Morriana, and Two Knife.

Bloor was…a rather complicated uncomplicated man. A military man through and through, Bloor’s dedication to discipline and courtesy felt simple at the beginning of the book – and as time passed Bloor became much more complicated. Some of his inner struggles made me think of the character Druss the Legend by [a:David Gemmell|11586|David Gemmell|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1202771023p2/11586.jpg] but it also reminded me of [b:The Bhagavad Gita|99944|The Bhagavad Gita|Ved Vyasa|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311794048s/99944.jpg|1492580] (not entirely, of course, because the Bhagavad Gita honors action for action’s sake without the goal of personal reward).

I had some issues with Princess Morianna’s characterization during the flashback. When the reader first meets Morianna, she’s about 15 years old and a total spoiled bitch. It was a bit ridiculous, to be honest. She acted like someone between the ages of 8-10 instead of 14-15. I would have expected Morianna to be a bitch but she wouldn’t have been tossing around insults like “horseface.” I would have expected her insults to be much more cutting and intelligent.

Alwan felt a lot simpler - he was a killer with few morals and loved it – and although he and Bloor sniped at each throughout the book, they were each other’s best friend. It was a strange relationship, to be honest. Two Knife was also simple character – he’s a killer of his own people. Unfortunately, the reader never learns his true motivation.

As I mentioned earlier in this rambling review, The Troll Hunter is a story of military discipline, treachery, love and tragedy. The military discipline is a major theme that runs through the novel. Bloor is known for being a stickler for military discipline. He performs every duty to the exactness in which he was taught – and he expects all military personnel to do the same. Even after Two Knife and his band of cutthroats’ mutiny, he still expects his Sujins (Army) to behave with the discipline that they were trained with.

The theme of treachery is found on multiple fronts: the king of Sunja completely ignores the tragedies of his people while in the midst of a brutal and decimating war; Two Knife and his Sujins mutiny and commit treason; Bloor and Alwan plot are you sure you want to read this? It really is a spoiler and while it won’t ruin your enjoyment of the book…it will take away some of it…to kidnap Morianna since Bloor is in love with her.

There is a thin thread of love running through the novel as well. Morianna grows from a spoiled bitch to someone who would make a great ruler by learning how to love. Bloor loves his country, he loves being a part of the Cavaliers (Cavalry), and he loves Morianna. There is also a strange connection between Alwan and Bloor that is a strange type of respect, brotherhood and friendship that borders on love.

Tragedy. Gosh, I hate tragedy but it is important to have drama. This is the biggest spoiler that there could possibly ever be for this book. I suggest that you not read this. But that’s just my opinion.I could not BELIVE that Blackmore killed off Morianna!! After forcing me to slog through so much death and pain and sadness…I was like WTF??!! Are you freaking SERIOUS? Just like that, huh? That’s the reader’s payoff???!!!!?!

If you read the spoiler, you know I pretty much hated the ending. This is a pretty long book – it’s about 150,000 words and if you average 250 words per printed page (as in a MMPB) it’s a solid 604 pages – and I wanted a more satisfying payoff. I felt that Bloor got a really shitty deal and with all of the death, destruction and sadness I dealt with while reading this book…I wanted a bit of a happier ending. And if I don’t get a happy ending I wanted some major ass kicking to happen and I didn’t really get that either. The ending felt…rather abrupt after the lengthiness of the rest of the book. There was also a few lingering questions that I had: What happened to Sunja and the war? The reader spends a lot of time on the front lines with Bloor. Why no hint as to the resolution? What about the king? Does he find out what happens?

So. Good book, especially if you like military fantasy. The story is a little...sad, so be prepared. 4 stars!

http://osgabookreviews.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/the-troll-hunter/

Currently being offered for free on Amazon's Kindle here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Troll-Hunter-ebook/dp/B0045JLQCS ( )

Trolls - mindless, destructive monsters, driven by their hunger and willing to eat any living thing – especially humans. Terrorizing the countryside and any towns they cross, trolls kill and eat all the humans they can. From far and wide, people travel to locate The Troll Hunters – the only men able to track and kill these man-eating beasts. How did these men become Troll Hunters and what motivates them? This is their story.

That little summary above is a lot closer to what the book is about than the actual blurb. But even then it really doesn’t tell the reader what the book is about before the reader picks it up. And that is the major problem I had with this book – the description of the book does not give the reader any real clue as to what is going on. A friend recommended this book to me – telling me that it was very like [a:David Eddings|8732|David Eddings|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1223870462p2/8732.jpg] (one of my favorite authors).

If I had to try to compare this book or author to anyone I would say that [a:Keith C. Blackmore|4455470|Keith C. Blackmore|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1289611090p2/4455470.jpg] and The Troll Hunter is a lot closer to [a:Glen Cook|13026|Glen Cook|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1207159752p2/13026.jpg] and [b:The Black Company|140671|The Black Company|Glen Cook|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1317066907s/140671.jpg|390334]. This is Military fantasy without any magic…just a really big and really bad troll. Not an evil troll, just destructive and hungry. So, I really wasn’t expecting Military Fiction…and I’ve been a bit of a moody reader lately. I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this book. The book is very well written and I did enjoy it…I just wasn’t expecting it.

The Troll Hunter actually starts in medias res. The reader is plopped down in the middle of a military barrack and flung directly into a murderous mutiny. I had no clue what was going on for a quite a while (because I was still expecting some Eddings-like action) but the story is well written enough that I was able to get over that. At its heart, The Troll Hunter is a story of military discipline, treachery, love and tragedy. The reader follows several different characters, the most important being Bloor, Alwan, Morriana, and Two Knife.

Bloor was…a rather complicated uncomplicated man. A military man through and through, Bloor’s dedication to discipline and courtesy felt simple at the beginning of the book – and as time passed Bloor became much more complicated. Some of his inner struggles made me think of the character Druss the Legend by [a:David Gemmell|11586|David Gemmell|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1202771023p2/11586.jpg] but it also reminded me of [b:The Bhagavad Gita|99944|The Bhagavad Gita|Ved Vyasa|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311794048s/99944.jpg|1492580] (not entirely, of course, because the Bhagavad Gita honors action for action’s sake without the goal of personal reward).

I had some issues with Princess Morianna’s characterization during the flashback. When the reader first meets Morianna, she’s about 15 years old and a total spoiled bitch. It was a bit ridiculous, to be honest. She acted like someone between the ages of 8-10 instead of 14-15. I would have expected Morianna to be a bitch but she wouldn’t have been tossing around insults like “horseface.” I would have expected her insults to be much more cutting and intelligent.

Alwan felt a lot simpler - he was a killer with few morals and loved it – and although he and Bloor sniped at each throughout the book, they were each other’s best friend. It was a strange relationship, to be honest. Two Knife was also simple character – he’s a killer of his own people. Unfortunately, the reader never learns his true motivation.

As I mentioned earlier in this rambling review, The Troll Hunter is a story of military discipline, treachery, love and tragedy. The military discipline is a major theme that runs through the novel. Bloor is known for being a stickler for military discipline. He performs every duty to the exactness in which he was taught – and he expects all military personnel to do the same. Even after Two Knife and his band of cutthroats’ mutiny, he still expects his Sujins (Army) to behave with the discipline that they were trained with.

The theme of treachery is found on multiple fronts: the king of Sunja completely ignores the tragedies of his people while in the midst of a brutal and decimating war; Two Knife and his Sujins mutiny and commit treason; Bloor and Alwan plot are you sure you want to read this? It really is a spoiler and while it won’t ruin your enjoyment of the book…it will take away some of it…to kidnap Morianna since Bloor is in love with her.

There is a thin thread of love running through the novel as well. Morianna grows from a spoiled bitch to someone who would make a great ruler by learning how to love. Bloor loves his country, he loves being a part of the Cavaliers (Cavalry), and he loves Morianna. There is also a strange connection between Alwan and Bloor that is a strange type of respect, brotherhood and friendship that borders on love.

Tragedy. Gosh, I hate tragedy but it is important to have drama. This is the biggest spoiler that there could possibly ever be for this book. I suggest that you not read this. But that’s just my opinion.I could not BELIVE that Blackmore killed off Morianna!! After forcing me to slog through so much death and pain and sadness…I was like WTF??!! Are you freaking SERIOUS? Just like that, huh? That’s the reader’s payoff???!!!!?!

If you read the spoiler, you know I pretty much hated the ending. This is a pretty long book – it’s about 150,000 words and if you average 250 words per printed page (as in a MMPB) it’s a solid 604 pages – and I wanted a more satisfying payoff. I felt that Bloor got a really shitty deal and with all of the death, destruction and sadness I dealt with while reading this book…I wanted a bit of a happier ending. And if I don’t get a happy ending I wanted some major ass kicking to happen and I didn’t really get that either. The ending felt…rather abrupt after the lengthiness of the rest of the book. There was also a few lingering questions that I had: What happened to Sunja and the war? The reader spends a lot of time on the front lines with Bloor. Why no hint as to the resolution? What about the king? Does he find out what happens?

So. Good book, especially if you like military fantasy. The story is a little...sad, so be prepared. 4 stars!

http://osgabookreviews.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/the-troll-hunter/

Currently being offered for free on Amazon's Kindle here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Troll-Hunter-ebook/dp/B0045JLQCS ( )