Review: Ottilie Colter and the Master of Monsters
Ottilie Colter and the Master of Monsters by Rhiannon Williams
Published by Hardie Grant Children's Publishing
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Synopsis
Ottilie Colter is the first girl ever to join the secretive, boys-only Narroway Hunt--and she's determined that she won't be the last.
The Hunt trains children to kill ruthless monsters known as dredretches, but now it's under threat. Dredretches have invaded Fort Fiory, and no one is safe--especially not the girls who live there, but aren't allowed to fight.
Ottilie must convince the Hunt to train the girls--but with the dredretches getting worse, talk of witchcraft on the rise, and a mysterious hooded figure in the Narroways itself, her time is running out . . .
The second adventure in a thrilling feminist trilogy about friendship, monsters, and having the courage to be a rebel.
Review
Ottilie Colter and the Master of Monsters is the second book in Rhiannon Williams’ The Narroway trilogy. The story picks up almost a month after events at the end of the first book (read my review here), and the reader is immediately immersed in the Hunt’s world of training and monster fighting. Ottilie is determined to prove a girl can do just as well, or better, than any boy but curiosity regularly distracts her; her determination to rise through the ranks of the hunters competes with her desire to discover the true origins of the Narroway hunt and the history of the kingdom she lives in.
Ottilie must also navigate often hostile feelings of her fellow hunters, dangerous uncertainty regarding the trustworthiness of adults in charge, and complexities inherent in her various friendships. While the book is action packed, Williams manages to weave solid threads of character development, examining friendship, loyalty and even including a quite small hint of potential romance (which I personally found to be adorably well done).
In this book, the monsters are increasing in number and their behaviour is growing less predictable, with a few managing to enter the fort. After an attack leaves a girl dead, Ottilie is determined to teach the girls who work in the fort how to defend themselves against the monsters, even if she fails at proving girls should be allowed into the hunt.
Upping the sense of peril is Ottilie’s growing conviction that witches are real, and one is somehow involved in the attacks. Alongside the fear-inducing possibility of baby eating witches, is the significant risk to Ottilie, and all women and girls living in the fort, of gendered accusations and accompanying violence from the men if the idea of witches’ involvement comes to light.
I thought all the threads of this story were pulled together well in this book, in a way that often doesn’t work for second books. The plot is solidly satisfying, and includes significant building towards the final book. I enjoyed how Williams reveals various elements of the world in stages, answering some questions but also posing new ones.
As in the first book, I loved the characters WIlliams depicts a broad variety of people with distinct features and life trajectory. I particularly enjoyed the arc of Maeve, which was effectively set up in the first book, and included a number of expected, and yet still surprising, turns.
An excellent book in what is proving to be a great series, and I’m very keen to read the final instalment when (I hope) the remaining questions are satisfactorily answered.