Herein, phase formation and sintering of hafnium carbonitride ceramics from a 4HfC-3HfN powder mixture using reactive spark plasma sintering are studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) data show that the mutual heterodiffusion of carbon C and nitrogen N increases with sintering temperature within the studied temperature range 1500-2100 C. 4HfC-3HfN powder sintering at 1900 C for 5 min under 60 MPa pressure yields HfC x N 1Àx solid solution ceramics. The ceramic sample prepared under optimal conditions (2100 C, 5 min, 60 MPa) is characterized by an average grain size of 10 μm, microhardness of 19.6-22.5 GPa, and relative density above %97%.