What do you think?
Rate this book
Black Wolves #1
Black Wolves
For readers of Brent Weeks and fans of Netflix's Marco Polo comes a rich and inspired fantasy tale of warriors and nobles who must take the most desperate gamble of all: awaken allies more destructive than the hated king they hope to overthrow. Kate Elliott's new trilogy is an unmissable treat for epic fantasy lovers everywhere.
An exiled captain returns to help the son of the king who died under his protection in this rich and multi-layered first book in an action-packed new series.
Twenty two years have passed since Kellas, once Captain of the legendary Black Wolves, lost his King and with him his honor. With the King murdered and the Black Wolves disbanded, Kellas lives as an exile far from the palace he once guarded with his life.
Until Marshal Dannarah, sister to the dead King, comes to him with a plea-rejoin the palace guard and save her nephew, King Jehosh, before he meets his father's fate.
Combining the best of Shogun and Netflix's Marco Polo, Black Wolves is an unmissable treat for epic fantasy lovers everywhere.
An exiled captain returns to help the son of the king who died under his protection in this rich and multi-layered first book in an action-packed new series.
Twenty two years have passed since Kellas, once Captain of the legendary Black Wolves, lost his King and with him his honor. With the King murdered and the Black Wolves disbanded, Kellas lives as an exile far from the palace he once guarded with his life.
Until Marshal Dannarah, sister to the dead King, comes to him with a plea-rejoin the palace guard and save her nephew, King Jehosh, before he meets his father's fate.
Combining the best of Shogun and Netflix's Marco Polo, Black Wolves is an unmissable treat for epic fantasy lovers everywhere.
780 pages, Paperback
First published November 3, 2015
About the author
Kate Elliott
112 books2,751 followersAs a child in rural Oregon, Kate Elliott made up stories because she longed to escape to a world of lurid adventure fiction. She now writes fantasy, steampunk, and science fiction, often with a romantic edge. She currently lives in Hawaii, where she paddles outrigger canoes and spoils her schnauzer.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 301 reviews
December 23, 2018
Black Wolves was a fantasy focused on political intrigue, mystery, and a bit of action. It was a character driven story but both the plot and the worldbuilding had plenty of depth to them. I'd not say it was a fast paced book but it had enough happening that the story held my interest!
This actually reminded me a lot of better version of Sam Hawke's City of Lies. It had a similar feel and dealt with a lot of the same themes and topics. Both had a heavy focus on intrigue and issues caused by both religious and racial tensions and both did a decent job of providing a bit of balance and showing that problems were not exclusive to just one particular culture.
The story was a strange one as it kicked of set in a time where King Anjihosh, foreign conqueror of the Hundred, was in his 20th year of rule. We met his two teenage children as well as the man in charge of his vaunted Black Wolves military unit. We also learned good bit about the Hundred and the various people and religions present at the time. Then came the weird bit. A massive 44 year time jump! King Jehosh, grandson of King Anjihosh, recalls Kellas the leader of the now disbanded Black Wolves, to the Palace. Kellas has been absent for 22 years after barely surviving the scandal that saw King Atani murdered. Jehosh hopes Kellas will be the man to root out people in his own court and those outside of it who he feels are plotting to kill him!
The story was interesting enough. The characters were all shades of grey, even the likeable ones, and that plus the fact that a lot of people and factions all had their own secrets and personal goals made for a story that had plenty of depth to it. It was the same with the worldbuilding. The story was set in the kingdom of the Hundred. The Hundred was an interesting place and contained peoples who followed three major religions. There was also real magic thrown into the mix to spice things up as well as some cool fantasy creatures like flying eagles that could bond with riders and winged horses!
The POV characters were also a varied bunch. They ranged from the likes of Kellas and Lady Dannarh, in their 60 and 70s for most of the tale, to younger characters like Lord Gil, Sarai, and Lifka. All were from various different backgrounds.
The big flaw in the story was that 44 year time jump. I'd just gotten used to the world and characters then it all changed! After that it took me a while to get into the story again. Once I got used to the new time and used to a new set of characters and realities it ended up being quite interesting to see how things had changed in the Hundred over the 44 years.
I think the other flaw was that there was just too many characters I wanted to see die! Even the characters I could root for had some severe flaws. It meant that what we got was actually quite a dark tale at times but not what I'd consider grimdark. There was not tone of despair or glorification of violence. The villains of the tale were the sort who made you wish someone would kill them every single time they made an appearance! They were all the more scary because they were not over the top villains but characters with believable motivations and flaws!
One of the best bits of the story was the plot twists and turns. This was the sort of tale that was never easy to predict as just when I thought I was getting a feel for where the story was going something unexpected would happen to change the dynamics completely.
All in all I think this was a good tale that could have been better without that unexpected time jump and with just a few characters that were more easy to root for.
The other thing to note is the fact that this series was set in the same world as Kate Elliott's Crossroads series. I've not read the Crossroads trilogy but I do not think that hurt me too much as this story was pretty easy to understand and worked fine as a standalone series.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Audio Note: This was narrated by Richard Ferrone. I felt he did a good job but should not that he read slow. I had to speed him up as I feel like this 30 hour audio would have been wrapped up in 24 hours with any other narrator reading it!
This actually reminded me a lot of better version of Sam Hawke's City of Lies. It had a similar feel and dealt with a lot of the same themes and topics. Both had a heavy focus on intrigue and issues caused by both religious and racial tensions and both did a decent job of providing a bit of balance and showing that problems were not exclusive to just one particular culture.
The story was a strange one as it kicked of set in a time where King Anjihosh, foreign conqueror of the Hundred, was in his 20th year of rule. We met his two teenage children as well as the man in charge of his vaunted Black Wolves military unit. We also learned good bit about the Hundred and the various people and religions present at the time. Then came the weird bit. A massive 44 year time jump! King Jehosh, grandson of King Anjihosh, recalls Kellas the leader of the now disbanded Black Wolves, to the Palace. Kellas has been absent for 22 years after barely surviving the scandal that saw King Atani murdered. Jehosh hopes Kellas will be the man to root out people in his own court and those outside of it who he feels are plotting to kill him!
The story was interesting enough. The characters were all shades of grey, even the likeable ones, and that plus the fact that a lot of people and factions all had their own secrets and personal goals made for a story that had plenty of depth to it. It was the same with the worldbuilding. The story was set in the kingdom of the Hundred. The Hundred was an interesting place and contained peoples who followed three major religions. There was also real magic thrown into the mix to spice things up as well as some cool fantasy creatures like flying eagles that could bond with riders and winged horses!
The POV characters were also a varied bunch. They ranged from the likes of Kellas and Lady Dannarh, in their 60 and 70s for most of the tale, to younger characters like Lord Gil, Sarai, and Lifka. All were from various different backgrounds.
The big flaw in the story was that 44 year time jump. I'd just gotten used to the world and characters then it all changed! After that it took me a while to get into the story again. Once I got used to the new time and used to a new set of characters and realities it ended up being quite interesting to see how things had changed in the Hundred over the 44 years.
I think the other flaw was that there was just too many characters I wanted to see die! Even the characters I could root for had some severe flaws. It meant that what we got was actually quite a dark tale at times but not what I'd consider grimdark. There was not tone of despair or glorification of violence. The villains of the tale were the sort who made you wish someone would kill them every single time they made an appearance! They were all the more scary because they were not over the top villains but characters with believable motivations and flaws!
One of the best bits of the story was the plot twists and turns. This was the sort of tale that was never easy to predict as just when I thought I was getting a feel for where the story was going something unexpected would happen to change the dynamics completely.
All in all I think this was a good tale that could have been better without that unexpected time jump and with just a few characters that were more easy to root for.
The other thing to note is the fact that this series was set in the same world as Kate Elliott's Crossroads series. I've not read the Crossroads trilogy but I do not think that hurt me too much as this story was pretty easy to understand and worked fine as a standalone series.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Audio Note: This was narrated by Richard Ferrone. I felt he did a good job but should not that he read slow. I had to speed him up as I feel like this 30 hour audio would have been wrapped up in 24 hours with any other narrator reading it!
December 28, 2018
The Black Wolves blends a variety of cultures with political intrigues and a touch of magic in this world.
There were many times I thought I knew where the story was going just to be abruptly surprised when the direction swiftly changed and went a new direction altogether.
There are plenty of villains roaming around and the good guys aren’t just good, they are complex and depending on what side of the battle you are one might be described a little villainous as well. I did have a few favorite characters in Sarai, the bastard daughter of a clan that seems very middle eastern culturally speaking. She is strong since she has been an outcast in her clan all of her life. I love how smart and cunning she is. Lifka is also a strong female character, she should be a slave but was taken in by a family and raised as their own. Now bonded to an Eagle and enemy of the prince she will have to fight to save her family and keep her own skin.
There are a dozen great story arcs happing in the middle of the main arc and so the pacing of the story takes awhile to get going. One reason is that this starts with a set of characters and we read 7-8 chapters with them before time jumping 44 years into the future. I was really invested in the main characters in the beginning and when we return to the story not all of them are alive and things have really changed. It did take awhile for everything to pick back up again after that, but it did.
The worldbuiding is interesting, once upon a time the creatures now called Demons were called Guardians and acted as Judges seeking justice in the land. But time has changed and now they are considered evil and hunted to be killed. There is a subtle magic here. It is not overt but there are bonds between Eagles and people that allow them to have a partnership. There are also places called Demon Coils that are scattered across the land and seem to play a part in the roles of the Guardians and other who a considered demon touched. I liked this part of the world the most.
Even with a few of the pacing issues I really got into the story and with how it ended I’ll be excited to see what happens to all the characters in the next book of the series. The good news was there are a lot of strong women characters to root for and a few men that I really liked as well. But the characters I hated I really hated, they were so awful that I just wanted someone to kill them soon. While I got my wish on a few of them there are still plenty left for the next book out in 2020. I’ll be back to this world then.
“Dannarah, never forget that a king wields many weapons, and some of them are men. The soldiers I command are sometimes kinsmen but most, however valuable, are expendable in the service of victory. Do not deploy them lightly, or incompetently. Do not waste them, because the best ones take far more time to train than they do to die. But never mistake them for something they are not. Do you understand me?”
There were many times I thought I knew where the story was going just to be abruptly surprised when the direction swiftly changed and went a new direction altogether.
There are plenty of villains roaming around and the good guys aren’t just good, they are complex and depending on what side of the battle you are one might be described a little villainous as well. I did have a few favorite characters in Sarai, the bastard daughter of a clan that seems very middle eastern culturally speaking. She is strong since she has been an outcast in her clan all of her life. I love how smart and cunning she is. Lifka is also a strong female character, she should be a slave but was taken in by a family and raised as their own. Now bonded to an Eagle and enemy of the prince she will have to fight to save her family and keep her own skin.
There are a dozen great story arcs happing in the middle of the main arc and so the pacing of the story takes awhile to get going. One reason is that this starts with a set of characters and we read 7-8 chapters with them before time jumping 44 years into the future. I was really invested in the main characters in the beginning and when we return to the story not all of them are alive and things have really changed. It did take awhile for everything to pick back up again after that, but it did.
The worldbuiding is interesting, once upon a time the creatures now called Demons were called Guardians and acted as Judges seeking justice in the land. But time has changed and now they are considered evil and hunted to be killed. There is a subtle magic here. It is not overt but there are bonds between Eagles and people that allow them to have a partnership. There are also places called Demon Coils that are scattered across the land and seem to play a part in the roles of the Guardians and other who a considered demon touched. I liked this part of the world the most.
“To become one of the nine Guardians, those whom your father also called demons, you must die in the pursuit of justice. Then the land restores you in the form of a Guardian with cloak and horse so you can continue to seek justice as a judge in the land.”
Even with a few of the pacing issues I really got into the story and with how it ended I’ll be excited to see what happens to all the characters in the next book of the series. The good news was there are a lot of strong women characters to root for and a few men that I really liked as well. But the characters I hated I really hated, they were so awful that I just wanted someone to kill them soon. While I got my wish on a few of them there are still plenty left for the next book out in 2020. I’ll be back to this world then.
December 7, 2015
4.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2015/12/07/b...
Kate Elliott is on fire this fall with the release of this first novel of a new series, set in the same world as her celebrated Crossroads trilogy. What can I say, but Black Wolves is a sweeping masterpiece that will leave fantasy readers spellbound. Coming in at nearly 800 pages–all jam-packed with richness and beauty–this epic novel sank its talons in me and kept me enthralled for days on end until I finished it. No question about it, this is my favorite book by the author yet.
While Black Wolves is technically the beginning of a sequel trilogy to Crossroads, reading the original series is not a prerequisite to starting this book. The characters and events appear pretty separate, seeing as we do jump 44 years ahead in time after the first 90 pages, though the preceding section does introduce a couple of the main characters. First there’s Kellas, captain of the Black Wolves, an elite fighting force dedicated to serving King Anjihosh of the Hundred. Then there’s also Dannarah, Anjihosh’s young daughter who dreams of a life beyond being married off to some foreign land for political gain.
After the time jump in Part Two, we discover that Dannarah has gotten her wish, having become a Marshal of the eagle-riding enforcer group known as the reeves. However, we also find out that her brother Atani, who succeeded Anjihosh for the throne, sadly died twenty-two years ago, murdered in a traitorous plot. Captain Kellas, the man who was charged to protect Atani, saw the death of his king as a personal failure and retired to a life of obscurity after disbanding the Black Wolves.
But now Kellas, old as he is, has been called to serve again. Unlike Anjihosh and Atani, the new king is weak, unable to hold the Hundred together in the face of social unrest, corrupt politics, and conniving palace schemes. Fearing demon assassins in the shadows, the king calls upon Dannarah to coax Kellas out of retirement so that the former Black Wolves captain can serve as his protector. Mindful of his own tumultuous history with the royal family, Kellas is reluctant at first but eventually agrees. Politically unstable and rife with strained relations, the Hundred is a land in need of men and women like Kellas and Dannarah to protect it right now—but first our heroes must make peace amongst themselves and determine where their loyalties lie.
With such a huge jump forward in time and all the subsequent flashbacks throughout, it’s probably no surprise when I say that pacing was the story’s main weakness. For almost a hundred pages, we got to know and love Kellas and the royal children Dannarah and Atani, but with one turn of a page, everyone became forty-four years older. Worst of all, clever and precocious Atani, the boy prince who so enjoyed thwarting King Anjihosh and getting his guardian Kellas into all sorts of trouble, is already dead! Granted, I probably wouldn’t have felt so terrible if I didn’t like the character so much, but it was still hard not to feel cheated. Also, call me crazy, but I don’t like missing out on huge chunks of a character’s life. Flashbacks are a handy plot device, but they just aren’t the same (not to mention, they can be confusing). I wanted to be “in” the moment when Dannarah became a reeve, or when Kellas fell in love with a demon, instead of experiencing all of those events through memories.
But as you can see, I still loved Black Wolves, and indeed the pacing issues resolved themselves about a third of the way into the book. While it was not immediately apparent, there were good reasons for the time skips. With a book so all-encompassing and massive, you do have to allow for a lot of story organization and set-up. As expected, the beginning of the book was slower as Elliott prepared the stage. Patience paid off big time in this case, as the pieces of the plot gradually fell in the place and the story built up momentum. The world-building was to die for, and in addition to Kellas and Dennarah there were other supporting characters like Lifka, Sarai and Gilaras to fill out this ensemble cast. Everyone had a vital role to play in this intricate web, with all the relationships and connections culminating into a stunning finale.
On the subject of characters, the ones who stood out most were the women—no contest there at all. Despite my misgivings surrounding the huge time skip, I took an immediately liking to the aged version of Dennarah. Not only is it a breath of fresh air to see an older woman playing a starring role in an epic fantasy novel, she’s also a force to be reckoned in her position as an experienced fighter and peacekeeper. Then there are Sarai and Lifka, young women who refuse to be pawns, instead stepping up to seize control of their own destinies. These heroines feel larger-than-life but also down-to-earth at the same time, a testament to the incredible character development and the careful way Kate Elliott crafted the women’s histories.
So if you love epic fantasy, you’ll want to check out Black Wolves, a powerful novel that excels in the traditions of the genre—rich storytelling, vivid world-building, and dynamic characters. If that’s what you’re looking for, Kate Elliott’s got you covered.
Kate Elliott is on fire this fall with the release of this first novel of a new series, set in the same world as her celebrated Crossroads trilogy. What can I say, but Black Wolves is a sweeping masterpiece that will leave fantasy readers spellbound. Coming in at nearly 800 pages–all jam-packed with richness and beauty–this epic novel sank its talons in me and kept me enthralled for days on end until I finished it. No question about it, this is my favorite book by the author yet.
While Black Wolves is technically the beginning of a sequel trilogy to Crossroads, reading the original series is not a prerequisite to starting this book. The characters and events appear pretty separate, seeing as we do jump 44 years ahead in time after the first 90 pages, though the preceding section does introduce a couple of the main characters. First there’s Kellas, captain of the Black Wolves, an elite fighting force dedicated to serving King Anjihosh of the Hundred. Then there’s also Dannarah, Anjihosh’s young daughter who dreams of a life beyond being married off to some foreign land for political gain.
After the time jump in Part Two, we discover that Dannarah has gotten her wish, having become a Marshal of the eagle-riding enforcer group known as the reeves. However, we also find out that her brother Atani, who succeeded Anjihosh for the throne, sadly died twenty-two years ago, murdered in a traitorous plot. Captain Kellas, the man who was charged to protect Atani, saw the death of his king as a personal failure and retired to a life of obscurity after disbanding the Black Wolves.
But now Kellas, old as he is, has been called to serve again. Unlike Anjihosh and Atani, the new king is weak, unable to hold the Hundred together in the face of social unrest, corrupt politics, and conniving palace schemes. Fearing demon assassins in the shadows, the king calls upon Dannarah to coax Kellas out of retirement so that the former Black Wolves captain can serve as his protector. Mindful of his own tumultuous history with the royal family, Kellas is reluctant at first but eventually agrees. Politically unstable and rife with strained relations, the Hundred is a land in need of men and women like Kellas and Dannarah to protect it right now—but first our heroes must make peace amongst themselves and determine where their loyalties lie.
With such a huge jump forward in time and all the subsequent flashbacks throughout, it’s probably no surprise when I say that pacing was the story’s main weakness. For almost a hundred pages, we got to know and love Kellas and the royal children Dannarah and Atani, but with one turn of a page, everyone became forty-four years older. Worst of all, clever and precocious Atani, the boy prince who so enjoyed thwarting King Anjihosh and getting his guardian Kellas into all sorts of trouble, is already dead! Granted, I probably wouldn’t have felt so terrible if I didn’t like the character so much, but it was still hard not to feel cheated. Also, call me crazy, but I don’t like missing out on huge chunks of a character’s life. Flashbacks are a handy plot device, but they just aren’t the same (not to mention, they can be confusing). I wanted to be “in” the moment when Dannarah became a reeve, or when Kellas fell in love with a demon, instead of experiencing all of those events through memories.
But as you can see, I still loved Black Wolves, and indeed the pacing issues resolved themselves about a third of the way into the book. While it was not immediately apparent, there were good reasons for the time skips. With a book so all-encompassing and massive, you do have to allow for a lot of story organization and set-up. As expected, the beginning of the book was slower as Elliott prepared the stage. Patience paid off big time in this case, as the pieces of the plot gradually fell in the place and the story built up momentum. The world-building was to die for, and in addition to Kellas and Dennarah there were other supporting characters like Lifka, Sarai and Gilaras to fill out this ensemble cast. Everyone had a vital role to play in this intricate web, with all the relationships and connections culminating into a stunning finale.
On the subject of characters, the ones who stood out most were the women—no contest there at all. Despite my misgivings surrounding the huge time skip, I took an immediately liking to the aged version of Dennarah. Not only is it a breath of fresh air to see an older woman playing a starring role in an epic fantasy novel, she’s also a force to be reckoned in her position as an experienced fighter and peacekeeper. Then there are Sarai and Lifka, young women who refuse to be pawns, instead stepping up to seize control of their own destinies. These heroines feel larger-than-life but also down-to-earth at the same time, a testament to the incredible character development and the careful way Kate Elliott crafted the women’s histories.
So if you love epic fantasy, you’ll want to check out Black Wolves, a powerful novel that excels in the traditions of the genre—rich storytelling, vivid world-building, and dynamic characters. If that’s what you’re looking for, Kate Elliott’s got you covered.
Read
December 13, 2015Copy provided by publisher
If I’m not certain I’ll want to read a book, I jump right into reviews, even go for spoilers if I’m extra unsure. But if I know I’m going to read a book, I avoid all mentions except pub date.
So it was with Black Wolves. I opened this book having no idea what it was about, only that it was a Kate Elliott epic fantasy. What I expect from a Kate Elliott book is interesting worldbuilding, interesting women as well as men, and a complex storyline with the kind of emotional rollercoaster I like: high moments and low, scenes of tension and tenderness, and the kind of insight that makes the best fantasy an imaginative, dramatic expression of hidden truths.
So the beginning provided bursts of surprise when I discovered references to the Spirit Gate series. I don’t think a new reader of this book must know that series, as this novel takes place at another time. But when my favorite aspect of those books, the reeves and their giant eagles, and the Guardians, showed up here, wahoo!
The first ninety pages establish the ruling family of the Hundred, a small kingdom with some intriguing magical attributes. Through the eyes of Captain Kellas, a local young man who climbed the treacherous (and forbidden) Law Rock just to be doing it (and nearly lost his life, had not the king decided he shouldn’t go to waste, and so makes him part of his elite Black Wolves), we get to know the king Anjihosh. And his two eldest kids, Princess Dannarah, who is so very much like her father and is impatient of the cultural restraints on women, and Prince Atani, who could be excused at age sixteen for being a smug, obnoxious twit because he’s so beautiful, but he’s got a beautiful nature as well.
Slowly we find out the complexities (and dangers) of being in the royal family, as well as close to it. And just when we meet a surprising character . . . we jump ahead to Part Two, forty-two years later.
I found the first chapter to be the only slow part of the book, as several conversations border on maid-and-butler dialogue, that is characters telling each other stuff they already know. Lots of stuff. Some of these are overheard by characters who will become important. But that slowness didn't last long.
What these dialogues do is get the reader caught up fairly rapidly on those forty years as well as some important cultural details as we meet the new generation, and discover who is alive and who isn’t among the old.
Now, to keep this spoiler free, I’ve got to be even more vague and general.
There are two structurally risky things Elliott does with this book: the first is Part One taking place a generation ago, as mentioned. But the second is the slowly unfolding evidence that a crucial event happened roughly midway through those 42 years, and the rest of the book includes conversations, flashbacks, and magic-induced (and shock-sparked) memories about that event as we slowly find out what happened, interspersed with the accelerating action of the present time.
The present section of the story begins to take off when Sarai, a girl regarded by her clan as the shameful result of her mother’s running away, takes her own life into her hands to change what would have been a fairly arid future. What really happened to her mother is a small part of the larger mystery that begins to unfold.
Sarai is taken to the palace to marry Gil, one of my favorite characters. He’s the last son of a disgraced family, which propels us into palace life in the present day. Elliott gives us a variety of complex characters, each with his or her own motivations and ambitions, each pursuing truth that is not necessarily the same truth everyone else sees. This is one of the best aspects of the book, along with the reflections on kingship.
I was delighted to see Dannarah again, now a tough, outspoken reeve marshal who is still very much her father’s daughter, and Captain Kellas, disgraced during those mystery years, now drawn back again by the new king who needs someone he can trust. Old people being interesting, horrifying, awesome, and influential for bad and good mix with the young and passionate, and all types between.
As events begin cranking up toward conflict on several fronts, the influence of that important past event becomes clearer, and as the climax occurs, the reason why the story must be told this way hits with all the impact that a linear tale could not have. Wow.
Along the way, many moments of wonder, terror, humor, tragedy, and a host of worldbuilding delights.
The book closes with one important resolution—in key characters coming to understand an event, which in turn impels shocking (and inevitable) action, but this was not an ending. Oh, no. Levels lit up with tantalizing glimpses on a bunch of fronts. How am I going to stand waiting for the next?
If I’m not certain I’ll want to read a book, I jump right into reviews, even go for spoilers if I’m extra unsure. But if I know I’m going to read a book, I avoid all mentions except pub date.
So it was with Black Wolves. I opened this book having no idea what it was about, only that it was a Kate Elliott epic fantasy. What I expect from a Kate Elliott book is interesting worldbuilding, interesting women as well as men, and a complex storyline with the kind of emotional rollercoaster I like: high moments and low, scenes of tension and tenderness, and the kind of insight that makes the best fantasy an imaginative, dramatic expression of hidden truths.
So the beginning provided bursts of surprise when I discovered references to the Spirit Gate series. I don’t think a new reader of this book must know that series, as this novel takes place at another time. But when my favorite aspect of those books, the reeves and their giant eagles, and the Guardians, showed up here, wahoo!
The first ninety pages establish the ruling family of the Hundred, a small kingdom with some intriguing magical attributes. Through the eyes of Captain Kellas, a local young man who climbed the treacherous (and forbidden) Law Rock just to be doing it (and nearly lost his life, had not the king decided he shouldn’t go to waste, and so makes him part of his elite Black Wolves), we get to know the king Anjihosh. And his two eldest kids, Princess Dannarah, who is so very much like her father and is impatient of the cultural restraints on women, and Prince Atani, who could be excused at age sixteen for being a smug, obnoxious twit because he’s so beautiful, but he’s got a beautiful nature as well.
Slowly we find out the complexities (and dangers) of being in the royal family, as well as close to it. And just when we meet a surprising character . . . we jump ahead to Part Two, forty-two years later.
I found the first chapter to be the only slow part of the book, as several conversations border on maid-and-butler dialogue, that is characters telling each other stuff they already know. Lots of stuff. Some of these are overheard by characters who will become important. But that slowness didn't last long.
What these dialogues do is get the reader caught up fairly rapidly on those forty years as well as some important cultural details as we meet the new generation, and discover who is alive and who isn’t among the old.
Now, to keep this spoiler free, I’ve got to be even more vague and general.
There are two structurally risky things Elliott does with this book: the first is Part One taking place a generation ago, as mentioned. But the second is the slowly unfolding evidence that a crucial event happened roughly midway through those 42 years, and the rest of the book includes conversations, flashbacks, and magic-induced (and shock-sparked) memories about that event as we slowly find out what happened, interspersed with the accelerating action of the present time.
The present section of the story begins to take off when Sarai, a girl regarded by her clan as the shameful result of her mother’s running away, takes her own life into her hands to change what would have been a fairly arid future. What really happened to her mother is a small part of the larger mystery that begins to unfold.
Sarai is taken to the palace to marry Gil, one of my favorite characters. He’s the last son of a disgraced family, which propels us into palace life in the present day. Elliott gives us a variety of complex characters, each with his or her own motivations and ambitions, each pursuing truth that is not necessarily the same truth everyone else sees. This is one of the best aspects of the book, along with the reflections on kingship.
I was delighted to see Dannarah again, now a tough, outspoken reeve marshal who is still very much her father’s daughter, and Captain Kellas, disgraced during those mystery years, now drawn back again by the new king who needs someone he can trust. Old people being interesting, horrifying, awesome, and influential for bad and good mix with the young and passionate, and all types between.
As events begin cranking up toward conflict on several fronts, the influence of that important past event becomes clearer, and as the climax occurs, the reason why the story must be told this way hits with all the impact that a linear tale could not have. Wow.
Along the way, many moments of wonder, terror, humor, tragedy, and a host of worldbuilding delights.
The book closes with one important resolution—in key characters coming to understand an event, which in turn impels shocking (and inevitable) action, but this was not an ending. Oh, no. Levels lit up with tantalizing glimpses on a bunch of fronts. How am I going to stand waiting for the next?
July 1, 2016
This book was 780 pages in the ARC I poured into my eyeholes because Kate Elliott writes long books full of feelings and description of foods and the inner lives of women and excellent, complicated politics in shades of gray. And friends, I now wish I could unread ALL 780 PAGES so I could immediately pour them directly back in through a fresh reread. If you know how I read epic fantasy (with a notebook and pen and a page of notes for almost every character because they're so long/big I get easily confused) you will see why this is notable. IF I COULD I WOULD READ THIS BOOK FOUR TIMES FOR THE FIRST TIME AND I DON'T SAY THAT LIGHTLY.
Also, ignore all the reviews that go "blah blah blah dude hero blah blah dude dude dude". This is book about the LADIES.
Now, where is the sequel????
More thoughts: http://ladybusiness.dreamwidth.org/20...
B&N thoughts: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sc...
Tumblr thoughts: http://heyheyrenay.tumblr.com/post/13...
Fangirl Happy Hour thoughts: https://twitter.com/fangirlpodcast/st...
Book Smugglers Guest Review: http://thebooksmugglers.com/2016/06/g...
I had a lot of thoughts okay.
(I feel you judging me. I JUST LOVE THIS BOOK ALL RIGHT!!)
Also, ignore all the reviews that go "blah blah blah dude hero blah blah dude dude dude". This is book about the LADIES.
Now, where is the sequel????
More thoughts: http://ladybusiness.dreamwidth.org/20...
B&N thoughts: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sc...
Tumblr thoughts: http://heyheyrenay.tumblr.com/post/13...
Fangirl Happy Hour thoughts: https://twitter.com/fangirlpodcast/st...
Book Smugglers Guest Review: http://thebooksmugglers.com/2016/06/g...
I had a lot of thoughts okay.
(I feel you judging me. I JUST LOVE THIS BOOK ALL RIGHT!!)
Read
July 31, 2015I blurbed this book:
"On a vast, colorful canvas, Kate Elliott has drawn dozens of characters who act and react with poetry and grit. Lush and textured, by turns moving, exciting, playful, and contemplative, BLACK WOLVES is a masterpiece that soars with an epic soul."
You're truly in for a treat. This is wondrous.
"On a vast, colorful canvas, Kate Elliott has drawn dozens of characters who act and react with poetry and grit. Lush and textured, by turns moving, exciting, playful, and contemplative, BLACK WOLVES is a masterpiece that soars with an epic soul."
You're truly in for a treat. This is wondrous.
April 26, 2017
An Asian-inspired epic fantasy with a huge cast of characters and exploring generational social and political upheaval.
The Hundred is a small and largely coastal area north of the hug Sirinakian Empire and relatively recently saved from warring demons by a nobleman from the Empire who has set himself up as King of the Hundred. We get an introduction to Captain Kellas as he gets assigned to be the head of the King's son's personal guard as well as the King's daughter Dannarah who desperately wants more from life, to be a giant eagle rider rather than just another daughter married off to a foreign nobleman.
Then we get a time jump of 44 years to find out how that all turned out. Kellas and Dannarah are still very much main characters, but we also follow a whole cast of much younger people, including the shamed daughter of a Ri Amirah clan (a religious and ethnically separate minority), the adopted daughter of a peasant family who has both a destiny and a hidden past, and a bored young nobleman chafing against the expectations of his family.
The Hundred itself is a very different place with a southern religion insinuating itself everywhere, the palace rife with intrigue with at least three separate factions, and civil unrest because of the number of people swept up into work-gangs and marched south. Meanwhile, the demons are active again.
I enjoyed this quite a lot, but the length and rambling nature of the book were major problems for me. I also felt that pacing was a problem with the story being carried by different characters at what felt like uneven rates and with uneven amounts of time spent with them. Kellas, while setting up to be a major character through the first part of the book becomes backgrounded later on and major elements of his story are hinted at throughout but left hidden to the reader for dramatic purposes until later. I'm not a huge fan of this writing technique for a viewpoint character. It's one thing to have a hidden or shameful past, it's something completely different to reveal that his goal is very different to what you had been told.
I was a huge fan of the female characters in this, particularly the adopted girl and the Ri Amarah. Both are under societal strictures of what women can and can't do and both are brave, bold and capable besides. I also like the feckless nobleman. All of whose stories have barely begun and in a much wider context than just the Hundred.
Very much looking forward to book two.
The Hundred is a small and largely coastal area north of the hug Sirinakian Empire and relatively recently saved from warring demons by a nobleman from the Empire who has set himself up as King of the Hundred. We get an introduction to Captain Kellas as he gets assigned to be the head of the King's son's personal guard as well as the King's daughter Dannarah who desperately wants more from life, to be a giant eagle rider rather than just another daughter married off to a foreign nobleman.
Then we get a time jump of 44 years to find out how that all turned out. Kellas and Dannarah are still very much main characters, but we also follow a whole cast of much younger people, including the shamed daughter of a Ri Amirah clan (a religious and ethnically separate minority), the adopted daughter of a peasant family who has both a destiny and a hidden past, and a bored young nobleman chafing against the expectations of his family.
The Hundred itself is a very different place with a southern religion insinuating itself everywhere, the palace rife with intrigue with at least three separate factions, and civil unrest because of the number of people swept up into work-gangs and marched south. Meanwhile, the demons are active again.
I enjoyed this quite a lot, but the length and rambling nature of the book were major problems for me. I also felt that pacing was a problem with the story being carried by different characters at what felt like uneven rates and with uneven amounts of time spent with them. Kellas, while setting up to be a major character through the first part of the book becomes backgrounded later on and major elements of his story are hinted at throughout but left hidden to the reader for dramatic purposes until later. I'm not a huge fan of this writing technique for a viewpoint character. It's one thing to have a hidden or shameful past, it's something completely different to reveal that his goal is very different to what you had been told.
I was a huge fan of the female characters in this, particularly the adopted girl and the Ri Amarah. Both are under societal strictures of what women can and can't do and both are brave, bold and capable besides. I also like the feckless nobleman. All of whose stories have barely begun and in a much wider context than just the Hundred.
Very much looking forward to book two.
December 13, 2015
Review from The Speculative Herald: http://www.speculativeherald.com/2015...
Black Wolves may be a daunting read as it is a massive book and I know sometimes readers are deterred by that. The thing is, though, it is also a massively impressive book. Scaling it down would be a disservice to the story and quite honestly the story deserves to be read. I have not formulated my ‘best of the year’ list, but I can tell you this book will appear on it as it is easily one of the best epic fantasies I have read recently.
I have not read any books by Kate Elliott before. This is evidently placed in the same world as some of her other series, but features a completely new set of characters. So for anyone wondering if you need to read her previous books prior to this, I would tell you I felt great about reading experience despite having read none of the other books set in this world.
Rarely have I read a book where the timing and execution of flashback scenes has worked so well with tension/suspense. The integration of these scenes was incredibly well executed. Initially, we are introduced to Kellas, a daring young man who has just completed and unclimable climb without assistance. Actually, it was an impulsive act of defiance and self indulgence as he rather recklessly decided to ignore the laws and climb the mountain, just because he was sure he could. And he did. That decision and the resulting fallout completely changes Kellas’ life. While he is being tried by the King, we also get a glimpse of a young Dannarah, the King’s daughter.
The King decides to show mercy and rather than sentence Kellas to death, as is the known punishment for the climb, he sees an opportunity to use Kellas’ skills and drive for his own benefit by placing him in an elite military group. Dannarah is a spirited girl that you can quickly tell would thrive best outside of her expected role as a princess (which would usually be the role of marrying off for a political alliance). The story spans decades of these characters’ lives and we can see how they grow as people, yet still possess that spirit that we glimpsed in their youth.
I quickly was enamored by both of these characters and so I have to confess to a moment of disappointment when the story takes a 40 year jump in time. I was just invested and attached to these young people and hence I was a bit reluctant to switch gears. However, it did not take long at all before I was just as caught up in events unfolding in the new time period. I also think I felt a stronger connection to both Kellas and Dannarah, who are now aged past their prime, than I would have without that initial opening. It’s not that I wouldn’t be capable of enjoying them as much, I just feel that what we read in the opening gives such a clear and definitive picture of them in their youth and sets their characters up for their path down the road.
In relation to the time jumps, I can be very sensitive to spoilers, feeling they can remove some level of suspense. I always want to get the story how the author decides to tell it. That is the point, after all. But often I think flashbacks don’t work for me because of the knowledge I have about the future (similar to spoilers you may run across from other readers). But in this I craved the details for that skipped over time despite knowing information on “the future”. There are many critical events that take place 20 years after our initial introduction, 20 years prior to the current time after the timeline jump. I loved getting to piece together that part of the story as we went. And how this pieces together turns out to be quite relevant in the current timeline as well.
Characters are so important, and I know there are complaints about the lack of solid female characters in epic fantasy. This book gives us several. In addition to Dannarah, we also are introduced to Sarai in the newer timeline. A bold, impulsive decision forever changes the course of her life, and I have to confess to having a serious soft spot for her. There are also some characters that play a lesser role in the novel, but are incredibly strong, interesting and fun women. To be honest, I hope to see more of at least one of them in the future books.
My chief complaint is really that I have to wait for the next one to be published. Hands down one of my favorite fantasy books of the year and makes me feel perhaps I should explore more of Kate Elliott’s books.
Black Wolves may be a daunting read as it is a massive book and I know sometimes readers are deterred by that. The thing is, though, it is also a massively impressive book. Scaling it down would be a disservice to the story and quite honestly the story deserves to be read. I have not formulated my ‘best of the year’ list, but I can tell you this book will appear on it as it is easily one of the best epic fantasies I have read recently.
I have not read any books by Kate Elliott before. This is evidently placed in the same world as some of her other series, but features a completely new set of characters. So for anyone wondering if you need to read her previous books prior to this, I would tell you I felt great about reading experience despite having read none of the other books set in this world.
Rarely have I read a book where the timing and execution of flashback scenes has worked so well with tension/suspense. The integration of these scenes was incredibly well executed. Initially, we are introduced to Kellas, a daring young man who has just completed and unclimable climb without assistance. Actually, it was an impulsive act of defiance and self indulgence as he rather recklessly decided to ignore the laws and climb the mountain, just because he was sure he could. And he did. That decision and the resulting fallout completely changes Kellas’ life. While he is being tried by the King, we also get a glimpse of a young Dannarah, the King’s daughter.
The King decides to show mercy and rather than sentence Kellas to death, as is the known punishment for the climb, he sees an opportunity to use Kellas’ skills and drive for his own benefit by placing him in an elite military group. Dannarah is a spirited girl that you can quickly tell would thrive best outside of her expected role as a princess (which would usually be the role of marrying off for a political alliance). The story spans decades of these characters’ lives and we can see how they grow as people, yet still possess that spirit that we glimpsed in their youth.
I quickly was enamored by both of these characters and so I have to confess to a moment of disappointment when the story takes a 40 year jump in time. I was just invested and attached to these young people and hence I was a bit reluctant to switch gears. However, it did not take long at all before I was just as caught up in events unfolding in the new time period. I also think I felt a stronger connection to both Kellas and Dannarah, who are now aged past their prime, than I would have without that initial opening. It’s not that I wouldn’t be capable of enjoying them as much, I just feel that what we read in the opening gives such a clear and definitive picture of them in their youth and sets their characters up for their path down the road.
In relation to the time jumps, I can be very sensitive to spoilers, feeling they can remove some level of suspense. I always want to get the story how the author decides to tell it. That is the point, after all. But often I think flashbacks don’t work for me because of the knowledge I have about the future (similar to spoilers you may run across from other readers). But in this I craved the details for that skipped over time despite knowing information on “the future”. There are many critical events that take place 20 years after our initial introduction, 20 years prior to the current time after the timeline jump. I loved getting to piece together that part of the story as we went. And how this pieces together turns out to be quite relevant in the current timeline as well.
Characters are so important, and I know there are complaints about the lack of solid female characters in epic fantasy. This book gives us several. In addition to Dannarah, we also are introduced to Sarai in the newer timeline. A bold, impulsive decision forever changes the course of her life, and I have to confess to having a serious soft spot for her. There are also some characters that play a lesser role in the novel, but are incredibly strong, interesting and fun women. To be honest, I hope to see more of at least one of them in the future books.
My chief complaint is really that I have to wait for the next one to be published. Hands down one of my favorite fantasy books of the year and makes me feel perhaps I should explore more of Kate Elliott’s books.
January 12, 2019
My first read of 2019 and I’m already prepared to earmark it a spot on my best of 2019 list! I picked this book up because Kate Elliott is coming to a local convention (and by local I mean on the other side of the country) as a guest of honour in June, and I wanted to have read a copy before I attended.
If you haven’t already guessed, I really loved Black Wolves. Looking at the size of the book, it’s quite a daunting read. At almost 800 pages, it’s a huge book, but it has an epic, all-encompassing scope which I really enjoyed. Events in the book span over 60 years, and have some of the best time skips I’ve read. There are so many amazing things going on that cutting it down would’ve been a travesty, and I was wishing it wouldn’t end.
The start of the book is very interestingly done. It starts off following a young Kellas, a member of the Black Wolves, the king’s elite soldiers, and then it jumps forward 50-odd years and the story really kicks off. Kellas is in his 80s and in exile, events from early on in the book have very real consequences in the events 50 years on. If someone had told me there would be a 50-year time skip I would probably have told them it wouldn’t work, but Elliott really pulls off her time shifts. Characters and events from those early chapters are still relevant later on in the book, despite the passage of time, and while it took me a while to mentally shift from the time change, I was glad to have read the earlier part as it really enhanced the later story. Even in his 80s, Kellas still has his martial skills and is a fantastic character to follow, other characters from 50 years ago are still there and major parts of the story.
The characters are really well done throughout the book, you can clearly see their motivations, thoughts, and flaws. There were several characters I really loved and wanted to see thrive, and a few I really loathed. In a way, it has a bit of a Game of Thrones feel to it, with a scale from good to evil and you can’t always place where the characters sit on the scale or what course of action is right or wrong. I really loved that about this book, it’s a wild ride and all you can do is hold on and hope for the best for the characters you love.
The setting is quite unique and wonderful too. There are giant eagles which bond with people and operate (with their bonded) as scouts for the kingdom. There are demons which used to walk the land but have basically vanished, occasionally appearing again. There’s a whole world built on non-European culture and technology. There is intrigue and complexity in the world and the characters. There are hints of magic and other subtleties of things happening throughout the wider world too.
This book has so much character, it’s unique, complex, emotional, and I enjoyed every moment of it. I wanted to cheer for some characters and I wanted to punch others in the face.
Overall, Black Wolves was a fantastic book and I can’t wait to meet the author in June (Continuum Convention in Melbourne Australia, if anyone was curious). I highly recommend this to people who enjoy:
Epic Fantasy
Non-European Settings
Older Protagonists
Multiple POVs
Political Intrigue
Gender Politics
For more reviews, check out my blog, The Fantasy Inn.
If you haven’t already guessed, I really loved Black Wolves. Looking at the size of the book, it’s quite a daunting read. At almost 800 pages, it’s a huge book, but it has an epic, all-encompassing scope which I really enjoyed. Events in the book span over 60 years, and have some of the best time skips I’ve read. There are so many amazing things going on that cutting it down would’ve been a travesty, and I was wishing it wouldn’t end.
The start of the book is very interestingly done. It starts off following a young Kellas, a member of the Black Wolves, the king’s elite soldiers, and then it jumps forward 50-odd years and the story really kicks off. Kellas is in his 80s and in exile, events from early on in the book have very real consequences in the events 50 years on. If someone had told me there would be a 50-year time skip I would probably have told them it wouldn’t work, but Elliott really pulls off her time shifts. Characters and events from those early chapters are still relevant later on in the book, despite the passage of time, and while it took me a while to mentally shift from the time change, I was glad to have read the earlier part as it really enhanced the later story. Even in his 80s, Kellas still has his martial skills and is a fantastic character to follow, other characters from 50 years ago are still there and major parts of the story.
The characters are really well done throughout the book, you can clearly see their motivations, thoughts, and flaws. There were several characters I really loved and wanted to see thrive, and a few I really loathed. In a way, it has a bit of a Game of Thrones feel to it, with a scale from good to evil and you can’t always place where the characters sit on the scale or what course of action is right or wrong. I really loved that about this book, it’s a wild ride and all you can do is hold on and hope for the best for the characters you love.
The setting is quite unique and wonderful too. There are giant eagles which bond with people and operate (with their bonded) as scouts for the kingdom. There are demons which used to walk the land but have basically vanished, occasionally appearing again. There’s a whole world built on non-European culture and technology. There is intrigue and complexity in the world and the characters. There are hints of magic and other subtleties of things happening throughout the wider world too.
This book has so much character, it’s unique, complex, emotional, and I enjoyed every moment of it. I wanted to cheer for some characters and I wanted to punch others in the face.
Overall, Black Wolves was a fantastic book and I can’t wait to meet the author in June (Continuum Convention in Melbourne Australia, if anyone was curious). I highly recommend this to people who enjoy:
Epic Fantasy
Non-European Settings
Older Protagonists
Multiple POVs
Political Intrigue
Gender Politics
For more reviews, check out my blog, The Fantasy Inn.
December 27, 2017
For most of the book I loved it, the characters and the world were rich... quite a few times I was on the edge of my seat. One scene in particular had me raging at one of the characters.
The book started dragging for me in the third (?) act... and never really picked up again. It wasn't boring or dull but it wasn't "good" either.
What I liked/loved:
Sarai
Kellas
Dannarah
the Reeves and Eagles
Different creatures/cultures/peoples of the Hundred
What bothered me/didn't like:
The time jump from when Kellas was young to years later when he is in his 70s. I was disappointed in that. Yes, if it had been included the book probably would have been 1000 pages long or something but I though it weakened the book to not have more of the time between when Anjijosh was still alive and Atani's reign. We get snippets how things are afterwards and the impact those events have on people's lives but it doesn't feel like enough.
In that same vein, some of the twists are clever (one I suspected from the get go) but it feels spoon-fed at times, specially a revelation about Atani that comes late in the game.
So many things we hear about but not in complete detail.
*Personally, I think this storyline would have been better as book two and the events that happened before it as book one but that's just my humble opinion* With not knowing what book two's plot will be *shrugs*
The attitude and treatment toward women in this had me wanting to drop kick some down that big rock.
Ending was well done but felt anticlimatic.
All in all, not a bad book but I felt underwhelmed by it in alot of ways. Go for it if it still interests you *waves*
The book started dragging for me in the third (?) act... and never really picked up again. It wasn't boring or dull but it wasn't "good" either.
What I liked/loved:
Sarai
Kellas
Dannarah
the Reeves and Eagles
Different creatures/cultures/peoples of the Hundred
What bothered me/didn't like:
The time jump from when Kellas was young to years later when he is in his 70s. I was disappointed in that. Yes, if it had been included the book probably would have been 1000 pages long or something but I though it weakened the book to not have more of the time between when Anjijosh was still alive and Atani's reign. We get snippets how things are afterwards and the impact those events have on people's lives but it doesn't feel like enough.
In that same vein, some of the twists are clever (one I suspected from the get go) but it feels spoon-fed at times, specially a revelation about Atani that comes late in the game.
So many things we hear about but not in complete detail.
*Personally, I think this storyline would have been better as book two and the events that happened before it as book one but that's just my humble opinion* With not knowing what book two's plot will be *shrugs*
The attitude and treatment toward women in this had me wanting to drop kick some down that big rock.
Ending was well done but felt anticlimatic.
All in all, not a bad book but I felt underwhelmed by it in alot of ways. Go for it if it still interests you *waves*
August 26, 2015
One of the better epic fantasies you'll read this year. Also, the protagonists are senior citizens, which is fantastically awesome.
June 26, 2018
Massive, and oh so good. An epic fantasy with two older protagonists and interesting women. A story that starts, gets you invested in the characters, then jumps forward forty four years later with several new characters to meet. And complex, political maneuvering and treachery and giant eagles!! And did I mention the older characters, both of whom are active participants in moving the story forward, while the women, one of whom is significantly older than typically seen in speculative fiction, are interesting, intelligent, opinionated and unwilling to let events or characters push them around. The women are wonderful in this book, and are very important to the action, and did I mention there are giant eagles!
November 21, 2020
If you've read my previous reviews for this author, you'll have noted that I was very disappointed with how her Crown of Stars series ended, so this book was very much a 'last chance for this author' read. This is a five star review, so obviously Kate Elliott pulled it off and I recommend this book to everyone, right? Well - yes and no.
From the back cover:
Twenty-two years have passed since Kellas, once Captain of the legendary Black Wolves, lost his king and with him his honour. With the king murdered and the Black Wolves disbanded, Kellas lives in exile far from the palace he once guarded with his life.
Until Marshal Dannarah, sister to the dead king, comes to him with a plea: re-join the palace guard and save her nephew, King Jehosh, before he meets his father's fate.
This book was one hell of a ride - and I freaking loved it.
We catch a brief glance of Kellas as a rebellious young soldier and the teenage princess Dannarah (who has an unrequited crush on the handsome young captain), before the book unexpected fast forwards forty four years! Now I'm probably one of the many older readers who would prefer older protagonists rather than a bunch of teens, but this is certainly one of the few books I've read with a MC over the age of 70!
But the considerably older Kellas and Dannarah (now one of the marshals of the reeves, the giant eagle riders who help keep the kingdom together) aren't the only characters in this book; Sarai, sold in marriage to a noble, Lifka, the adopted daughter of peasants chosen as a new reeve, and the king's two queens and their children all have a part to play in this story.
It's a gleeful tangle of plot threads, but Kate Elliott displays masterful control over what might have been a horrible mess. I never once felt she'd lost control of the story, which was one of my main problems with her previous series.
The world has a wonderful feel as well - despite the impression the cover might give (and isn't that a wonderful cover? Publishers, please take note - this is the kind of cover we should see more of, not cloaked silhouettes!) this is not a book set in a fantasy version of Japan, but a place that is very much a fantasy world and not an apparent carbon copy of anywhere, it seems (as far as I know, anyway). There are several different races of people, each which seem to have a well-developed background. It's one of those books where I'd happily read about the everyday culture of the people, it feels so real.
So with all that, why don't I wholeheartedly recommend this book? Because it ends with the plot unresolved; it was supposed to be the first of a trilogy, but books 2 and 3 don't exist, and never will. This is not due to the author not writing, but due to the publisher, who decided to cancel the series. So if you decide to read this book, be aware that the story will never be finished.
So five stars for Kate Elliott, and five brickbats for the publisher.
From the back cover:
Twenty-two years have passed since Kellas, once Captain of the legendary Black Wolves, lost his king and with him his honour. With the king murdered and the Black Wolves disbanded, Kellas lives in exile far from the palace he once guarded with his life.
Until Marshal Dannarah, sister to the dead king, comes to him with a plea: re-join the palace guard and save her nephew, King Jehosh, before he meets his father's fate.
This book was one hell of a ride - and I freaking loved it.
We catch a brief glance of Kellas as a rebellious young soldier and the teenage princess Dannarah (who has an unrequited crush on the handsome young captain), before the book unexpected fast forwards forty four years! Now I'm probably one of the many older readers who would prefer older protagonists rather than a bunch of teens, but this is certainly one of the few books I've read with a MC over the age of 70!
But the considerably older Kellas and Dannarah (now one of the marshals of the reeves, the giant eagle riders who help keep the kingdom together) aren't the only characters in this book; Sarai, sold in marriage to a noble, Lifka, the adopted daughter of peasants chosen as a new reeve, and the king's two queens and their children all have a part to play in this story.
It's a gleeful tangle of plot threads, but Kate Elliott displays masterful control over what might have been a horrible mess. I never once felt she'd lost control of the story, which was one of my main problems with her previous series.
The world has a wonderful feel as well - despite the impression the cover might give (and isn't that a wonderful cover? Publishers, please take note - this is the kind of cover we should see more of, not cloaked silhouettes!) this is not a book set in a fantasy version of Japan, but a place that is very much a fantasy world and not an apparent carbon copy of anywhere, it seems (as far as I know, anyway). There are several different races of people, each which seem to have a well-developed background. It's one of those books where I'd happily read about the everyday culture of the people, it feels so real.
So with all that, why don't I wholeheartedly recommend this book? Because it ends with the plot unresolved; it was supposed to be the first of a trilogy, but books 2 and 3 don't exist, and never will. This is not due to the author not writing, but due to the publisher, who decided to cancel the series. So if you decide to read this book, be aware that the story will never be finished.
So five stars for Kate Elliott, and five brickbats for the publisher.
July 6, 2016
I don't know what to say. Review to come.
May 4, 2016
This is my 4.5 star review on Black Wolves by Kate Elliott.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oh_p...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oh_p...
November 16, 2015
Kate Elliott never fails me. She consistently writes fun, thoughtful, original fantasy, featuring diverse and interesting characters of both genders, and set in complex, textured worlds. This book is no exception. It must be said, however, that the beginnings of her series are consistently and painfully dull; I was about 200 pages into this one before it convinced me.
Black Wolves is the first novel in a new epic fantasy series set in the world of the Hundred, which also featured in the Crossroads Trilogy. While I recommend reading that trilogy, because it is good, that is not necessary to understand this one. This book begins about 16 years after the end of Traitors’ Gate, but after 80 pages it jumps ahead another 44 years, and then the real story begins. As another reviewer aptly described it, this is modern epic fantasy, in the best sense: a story told on a large scale, but driven by characters rather than tropes.
Note: this review will contain spoilers for the first half of the book, because as I said, the first 200 pages aren’t really worth talking about.
Like most epic fantasy, this features several point-of-view characters, though it still feels focused, as the connections among characters quickly become clear. Dannarah is a blunt, opinionated reeve marshal (i.e. a leader who flies about on a giant eagle); she is of the royal family but has her own ideas about where the country should go, and at age 60, she’s not taking any nonsense. Kellas is a disgraced but skillful guard captain and longtime associate of Dannarah’s, and comes out of retirement to deal with a precarious situation at the palace. And Sarai is a cloistered but knowledgeable young woman who jumps at the chance of an arranged marriage to escape her outcast status at home. There are also a couple of secondary POVs: Gil, the bored and mischievous young nobleman whom Sarai marries, and Lifka, a young reeve of exotic origin.
Once it gets going, the book has an engaging plot and is a quick read; there is a lot going on here, with a large cast of characters, a complex political story and plenty of unexpected plot twists. There’s a bit of magic (but not too much) and a bit of romance (but again, not too much – Gil and Sarai’s scenes never failed to put a smile on my face, though they’re a long shot from the melodramatic pronouncements that usually accompany fictional romance). There are villains, but this isn’t shaping up as your standard good-vs.-evil fantasy; instead of asking who is the rightful king, the book questions whether there ought to be a king at all. As always, progressive ideas inform Elliott’s writing; these books are set in a land influenced by Asian and Polynesian rather than European cultures, and the book treats its diverse cast of characters with respect. They are an interesting and well-developed bunch, and even those not in positions of power manage to take control of their situations in fresh and believable ways.
In other words, this is just the sort of fantasy I want to read and wish more authors would write. Beyond the slow start, I have few criticisms: there is some overly expositional dialogue early on, and the book ends with little resolution. I want to know what happens next! Fortunately, Elliott writes at a good pace, so there shouldn’t be too long to wait.
Black Wolves is the first novel in a new epic fantasy series set in the world of the Hundred, which also featured in the Crossroads Trilogy. While I recommend reading that trilogy, because it is good, that is not necessary to understand this one. This book begins about 16 years after the end of Traitors’ Gate, but after 80 pages it jumps ahead another 44 years, and then the real story begins. As another reviewer aptly described it, this is modern epic fantasy, in the best sense: a story told on a large scale, but driven by characters rather than tropes.
Note: this review will contain spoilers for the first half of the book, because as I said, the first 200 pages aren’t really worth talking about.
Like most epic fantasy, this features several point-of-view characters, though it still feels focused, as the connections among characters quickly become clear. Dannarah is a blunt, opinionated reeve marshal (i.e. a leader who flies about on a giant eagle); she is of the royal family but has her own ideas about where the country should go, and at age 60, she’s not taking any nonsense. Kellas is a disgraced but skillful guard captain and longtime associate of Dannarah’s, and comes out of retirement to deal with a precarious situation at the palace. And Sarai is a cloistered but knowledgeable young woman who jumps at the chance of an arranged marriage to escape her outcast status at home. There are also a couple of secondary POVs: Gil, the bored and mischievous young nobleman whom Sarai marries, and Lifka, a young reeve of exotic origin.
Once it gets going, the book has an engaging plot and is a quick read; there is a lot going on here, with a large cast of characters, a complex political story and plenty of unexpected plot twists. There’s a bit of magic (but not too much) and a bit of romance (but again, not too much – Gil and Sarai’s scenes never failed to put a smile on my face, though they’re a long shot from the melodramatic pronouncements that usually accompany fictional romance). There are villains, but this isn’t shaping up as your standard good-vs.-evil fantasy; instead of asking who is the rightful king, the book questions whether there ought to be a king at all. As always, progressive ideas inform Elliott’s writing; these books are set in a land influenced by Asian and Polynesian rather than European cultures, and the book treats its diverse cast of characters with respect. They are an interesting and well-developed bunch, and even those not in positions of power manage to take control of their situations in fresh and believable ways.
In other words, this is just the sort of fantasy I want to read and wish more authors would write. Beyond the slow start, I have few criticisms: there is some overly expositional dialogue early on, and the book ends with little resolution. I want to know what happens next! Fortunately, Elliott writes at a good pace, so there shouldn’t be too long to wait.
November 19, 2015
Once the beloved captain of the King’s Black Wolves, Captain Kellas retired in disgrace and wants nothing more to do with court politics–but when the king summons him to his palace and involves him in a feud between his two wives, Kellas feels duty-bound to step in. Dannarah, the great-aunt of the current king, is a reeve, bonded to a giant eagle and entrusted with watching over the land; but all is not well in the reeves’ halls… Sarai is a member of a rich but distrusted minority; disgraced through her mother’s acts, she finds salvation in an arranged marriage. And Lifka is an outlander child, who should have been marked as a slave but instead found a beloved family–but unexpectedly finds herself drawn into the politics of the court…
It’s hard to summarise Black Wolves, partly because it is a thick book; but also because it is so very, very dense. Elliott excels at worldbuilding, and the tangled skein of politics and religion she weaves in the book is absolutely masterful–this is a universe that feels lived-in and real, and not merely a prop for a war. Black Wolves tackles ideas of duty to one’s country and one’s king, and how far they can be separated–but it also deals, interestingly, with the past. The prologue, set 42 years before the main narration, seems at first an interesting if bewildering choice when the pace moves forward and a lot of the characters are lost; but it turns out to be an absolutely key piece of the book, as one of the major themes is change, and the moment of change–and the question of how much a kingdom has to change to face the future.
The creeping influence of the Beltak religion is sometimes a bit caricatural (though there are plenty of other religions to offset this), but the court politics and the way they can trap even the king himself are wonderfully done. This is a book that concerns itself with people not always seen in epic fantasy: with women (and older women in particular, Dannarah and a few other characters being refreshing because they’re effortlessly competent and not inclined to give much thought to other people’s opinions); with older heroes (Kellas in particular), and with the influence people who aren’t of noble birth or of royal blood (or male) can have on the fate of a nation where men seem, at first glance, to hold most of the power (and are making plans to acquire even more of it).
There are several wrenching twists as Elliott brings her narration home; a reminder that even the best laid plans can falter and fail on what seems like the most inconsequential of things–and an absolutely awesome ending that effortlessly turns everything that’s happened till then on its head and made me take a long, hard look at my own assumptions.
Also, it has giant eagles. What are you waiting for?
Recommended, and the best epic fantasy book I read this year
It’s hard to summarise Black Wolves, partly because it is a thick book; but also because it is so very, very dense. Elliott excels at worldbuilding, and the tangled skein of politics and religion she weaves in the book is absolutely masterful–this is a universe that feels lived-in and real, and not merely a prop for a war. Black Wolves tackles ideas of duty to one’s country and one’s king, and how far they can be separated–but it also deals, interestingly, with the past. The prologue, set 42 years before the main narration, seems at first an interesting if bewildering choice when the pace moves forward and a lot of the characters are lost; but it turns out to be an absolutely key piece of the book, as one of the major themes is change, and the moment of change–and the question of how much a kingdom has to change to face the future.
The creeping influence of the Beltak religion is sometimes a bit caricatural (though there are plenty of other religions to offset this), but the court politics and the way they can trap even the king himself are wonderfully done. This is a book that concerns itself with people not always seen in epic fantasy: with women (and older women in particular, Dannarah and a few other characters being refreshing because they’re effortlessly competent and not inclined to give much thought to other people’s opinions); with older heroes (Kellas in particular), and with the influence people who aren’t of noble birth or of royal blood (or male) can have on the fate of a nation where men seem, at first glance, to hold most of the power (and are making plans to acquire even more of it).
There are several wrenching twists as Elliott brings her narration home; a reminder that even the best laid plans can falter and fail on what seems like the most inconsequential of things–and an absolutely awesome ending that effortlessly turns everything that’s happened till then on its head and made me take a long, hard look at my own assumptions.
Also, it has giant eagles. What are you waiting for?
Recommended, and the best epic fantasy book I read this year
January 10, 2019
But whatever Jehosh might be, he did not have his grandfather's brutal possessive streak, the will to prevent anyone else from tasting a nectar he wanted to keep for himself.
Jehosh loved the pursuit.
His grandfather desired control.
Atani had carved a different path for himself, cut short far too soon.
Rep: East Asian based setting, female bi character
Kate Elliott is the supreme ruler of fantasy (yes, even better than Melina Marchetta, blasphemous though that may be). George R. R. Martin has nothing on this. Nothing.
Elliott has this way of creating a complex story, but with few enough characters that you can keep track of them all, and half way through you'll think you'll know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are and then something will happen that flips everything on its head, which makes you question everything you thought up until that point.
The characters always feel so real and so human, and you want to punch the arsehole bad guys (*cough cough* Tavahosh) and cry when something bad happens to the good guys (my poor Tyras) and still you don't know whether you should in fact be supporting those people or not. Because Kate Elliott is so good at manipulating you into liking someone then they'll do something and you're left like, should I really have been supporting them?
And then you're left finishing the book at 1am and questioning your life choices.
The only problem I did have, was that this book is long. It's a commitment, frankly, even if you can read it pretty quickly once you've got into it. It's not like it's lacking plot for half of it, like some books do, but I found that, once I'd put it down, for whatever reason I was generally a bit reluctant to pick it back up (probably because the length of it was daunting).
And also, there's no news yet on book 2, which is just cruel.
Read
February 6, 2017Not giving this one a rating as I didn't even get halfway. I can hardly believe I am reading the same book as everyone else looking at all the glowing reviews. Reminds me of watching an Asian movie with a really bad dubbed translation. The language and writing just felt weird in so many different places that it was too much of a struggle for me to immerse myself in the story. And then the story jumps about forty years into the future and almost the entire cast of characters up to that point are cut from the story. No thanks.
December 24, 2015
Normally I love Kate Elliott. The worldbuilding is incredible, the characters tend to be shades of grey rather than all good/all bad, and she always has strong, independent female characters with minds of their own.
And all of that is here too, along with a variety of characters spanning decades, a key plot point unfolding from multiple viewpoints - each of which seems to be the truth and perfectly reasonable - and showing the long-term effects of a conquered land, along with inhabitants, cultures and religious beliefs. All wonderful.
And there was a lot of crude language, far more than I thought necessary. I know this must have been a deliberate choice on Kate Elliott's part, as she managed just fine without this crudity before (indeed, she's managed whole series with about an average of 2 actual swear words per book) but it being intentional doesn't mean I have to like it.
And all of that is here too, along with a variety of characters spanning decades, a key plot point unfolding from multiple viewpoints - each of which seems to be the truth and perfectly reasonable - and showing the long-term effects of a conquered land, along with inhabitants, cultures and religious beliefs. All wonderful.
And there was a lot of crude language, far more than I thought necessary. I know this must have been a deliberate choice on Kate Elliott's part, as she managed just fine without this crudity before (indeed, she's managed whole series with about an average of 2 actual swear words per book) but it being intentional doesn't mean I have to like it.
Read
December 8, 2015Probably the most intriguing epic fantasy world since Nevèrÿon. I’m definitely still a fan of the quest/heroic battles/grimdark/etc types of fantasy novels that are recommended and celebrated, but there’s something about the way Elliott plays with power and change and culture in Black Wolves. Like Nevèrÿon, and The Grace of Kings (released earlier this year), Black Wolves is challenging the traditional ideas and scope of epic fantasy. I’ve seen folks calling this the best fantasy novel of 2015, and while I still have a bit of reading to do, I can’t outright dispute that claim. — Troy L. Wiggins
from The Best Books We Read In November: http://bookriot.com/2015/11/30/riot-r...
from The Best Books We Read In November: http://bookriot.com/2015/11/30/riot-r...
September 22, 2019
I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to reading book two. The only reason that I can't give this five stars is that it took about 150 pages for me to start loving the story, but it will still go on my favorite reads list because when it grabbed me it kept me wrapped up until the very last page.
Where you can find me:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @monicaisreading
Instagram: @readermonica
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
Where you can find me:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @monicaisreading
Instagram: @readermonica
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
February 24, 2016
Mea culpa: I haven't read anything written by Kate Elliott in over two decades. This is long overdue, I know. And I have no excuse. I read the Jaran books back in the day, but nothing else since. I have bought every single Crown of Stars installment as soon as they came out, yet I decided not to start reading the series until it was complete. Did the same thing with the Crossroads trilogy. So yes, I should have at least read King's Dragon and its sequels a long time ago. But for some reason, something always got in the way. New books and other authors clamored for my attention, again and again. Which brings us here today. I was planning on reading either King's Dragon or Spirit Gate when I realized that Elliott had just released a new fantasy novel. Hence, Black Wolves went to the top of the pile of books I was going to read next.
Although the novel has garnered rave reviews, it appears that it's also quite divisive among fans. A quick perusal of online ratings and reviews shows that lots of readers didn't like it, and some of them did not even finish it. I never read reviews beforehand when I decide to insert a title into my reading rotation, so I wasn't aware of that fact. Perhaps that's why I went into this one with somewhat lofty expectations. And which is probably why I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
This new series is a sequel to the Crosroads trilogy. When I inquired, I was informed that one didn't need to have read the previous series in order to enjoy Black Wolves. It might be the case, but now that I'm done with the book I'm not so sure. Ofttimes, I felt that I was missing some nuances, some little things that could have made me like the novel a bit more.
The main problem I had with this book is that it reads like something that's not the final draft of a manuscript. Which was surprising. There are so many unnecessary scenes that bog down the narrative, it makes it hard to believe that this work went through the entire editorial process. Of course, it did, which is kind of scary, given how bloated the novel is. At times, Black Wolves is a case in point of everything that's wrong with epic fantasy these days. Too many protagonists and too many POVs, most of which bringing little or nothing to the story arcs. Too many plotlines focusing on extraneous or secondary characters or events, most of which getting in the way of the actual storytelling. Massive info-dumps as well as sequences and whole chapters fattened with filler material. Don't get me wrong. There is a lot of good stuff between the covers of Black Wolves. Problem is, you have to sift through a lot of superfluous material to get to it. So much so that it's more than a little off-putting, and now I understand why some readers couldn't get through the book.
Here's the blurb:
An exiled captain returns to help the son of the king who died under his protection in this rich and multi-layered first book in an action-packed new series.
Twenty two years have passed since Kellas, once Captain of the legendary Black Wolves, lost his King and with him his honor. With the King murdered and the Black Wolves disbanded, Kellas lives as an exile far from the palace he once guarded with his life.
Until Marshal Dannarah, sister to the dead King, comes to him with a plea-rejoin the palace guard and save her nephew, King Jehosh, before he meets his father's fate.
Combining the best of Shogun and Vikings, Black Wolves is an unmissable treat for epic fantasy lovers everywhere.
The decidedly unconventional structure is clearly the most off-putting aspect of this book. In the acknowledgments, Kate Elliott mentions that this was a tremendously difficult novel to write and it shows. Often, especially throughout the first two parts, it felt as though the author is making it all up as she goes along, that she doesn't necessarily know where the story is going. Which is why it feels like this isn't the final draft of the manuscript. The way Elliott uses flashback scenes can be confusing, as is the decision to focus on protagonists and events for nearly half of the book and then fast-forward forty-four years into the future. In retrospect, now that I have finished Black Wolves, it appears that you could pretty much get rid of the first 347 pages, those which focus on what took place in the past, as in the end they get in the way of what is essentially a very good second half. Had I received an ARC and was reading this one with no knowledge of some rave reviews by some critics whose opinion I respect, I would never have gotten past the first hundred pages. This weird structure, going back and forth between the past, the present, and the future is not only confunding, but it makes it hard to get into it and enjoy the tale. Indeed, by the time you reach page 347, you still have no idea what this book is supposed to be about. Better to begin forty-four years later and rely on flashback scenes to help readers catch up with the events that led to the second half of the work, especially since Elliott is fond of doing that throughout the novel anyway.
The worldbuilding is good, but too often the author relies on huge info-dumps to share information with her readers. A number of scenes and conversations are nothing more than info-dumps, which somewhat cheapens the whole thing. On the other hand, sometimes it feels as though readers should know what's going on and no explanations are offered. Which is why I felt that perhaps those who have read the Crossroads trilogy might be a step ahead of newbies like me. Still, Kate Elliott came up with a multiayered and convoluted tale of betrayal, and the second portion of the novel demonstrates that this story arc is much more complex than what I had come to expect. The blurb mentions James Clavell's masterpiece, Shogun, which implies that Black Wolves would have an Asian-like setting as a political and historical backdrop and not the habitual medieval European environment that has become the norm in the genre. Sadly, other than the occasional rice cakes and rice wine, and a few names here and there, absolutely nothing of the setting and the traditions truly feels Asian. Unlike Clavell's Shogun and Kirk's Child of Vengeance, novels in which everything down to the last minute detail reflects the Japanese way of life and customs, very little within the pages of Black Wolves feels different from other fantasy works on the market today. Which, in the end, was a major disappointment, as I elected to read this novel instead of an older Elliott title specifically because of the promied Asian setting.
The characterization is quite uneven. It can be brilliant, but it also often leaves a lot to be desired. As I mentioned, there are way too many chacaters and POVs. More than the story needed, and that's why the going can be so rough at times. Whole scenes and chapters could have been excised without hurting the story. Captain Kellas, former leader of the legendary Black Wolves, is an excellent protagonist. Complex and mysterious, there are a lot of layers to this man. The second main character, Marshal Dannarah, is the complete opposite. That woman is such a two-dimensional protagonist and I cringed when I read almost every scene she appeared in. She is incredibly dense when the story dictates that she be dumb, yet she becomes an eagle-flying Perry Mason/Inspector Columbo who can unravel the most impenetrable mysteries without much of a hint when the plot demands it. Oddly enough, with the jump ahead in the timeline, both Kellas and Dannarah are senior citizens for most of the duration of the novel. Which is unusual, but works well on the whole. Two other POV protagonists, Sarai and Lifka, are by far the most interesting characters in the book. It's a pity that it takes so long for their storylines to truly take off. But their back stories are the most fascinating, so it's evident that Kate Elliott has a lot in store for them. Finally, Gilaras' plotline gets too much exposure and would likely have worked better with less "air time". Again, the author spent too much time padding each individual storyline with too much filler material. Each storyline has its own reward before you reach the end, that goes without saying. But you have to go through so much irrelevant stuff to get there that it's understandable that some readers gave up at some point.
The dialogue can be jarring, especially in scenes featuring Marshal Dannarah. It seems that in trying to make her so overly competent and badass, the author created what turned out to be a caricature of sorts. I hoped she would die, but I have a feeling that she's in for the long haul.
The politicking is sometimes clumsy. Political intrigue is not something that every SFF author does well, and not everyone is as gifted as George R. R. Martin or Katherine Kurtz in that regard. But since a large part of Black Wolves hinges precisely on that aspect, it can be a bit of a setback.
The pace is abominably slow. Nothing seems to be happening for the longest time and it does take forever for the tale to finally kick into gear. Still, though the second portion of the novel gets better and tells a much more compelling story, there is no denying that the narrative continues to get bogged down by filler and extraneous material throughout. The end doesn't offer much in terms of resolution and is nothing more than a "To be continued" kind of thing. As such, after slogging through nearly 800 pages, I'm not sure Kate Elliott delivered as much as she wanted to as far as the ending is concerned.
Would I read the sequel? I'll give it a shot, no question. The way Elliott capped off Black Wolves makes me want to discover what happens next. But there is no way I'm slogging through another interminable and bloated read. If the story doesn't kick into high gear in the first hundred pages or so, I'll simply abandon the book.
If you are one of those people who couldn't finish it, I suggest you give Black Wolves another shot. Things do get better by the time you reach the halfway point. It's getting there that's hard. . .
For more reviews, check out www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com
Although the novel has garnered rave reviews, it appears that it's also quite divisive among fans. A quick perusal of online ratings and reviews shows that lots of readers didn't like it, and some of them did not even finish it. I never read reviews beforehand when I decide to insert a title into my reading rotation, so I wasn't aware of that fact. Perhaps that's why I went into this one with somewhat lofty expectations. And which is probably why I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
This new series is a sequel to the Crosroads trilogy. When I inquired, I was informed that one didn't need to have read the previous series in order to enjoy Black Wolves. It might be the case, but now that I'm done with the book I'm not so sure. Ofttimes, I felt that I was missing some nuances, some little things that could have made me like the novel a bit more.
The main problem I had with this book is that it reads like something that's not the final draft of a manuscript. Which was surprising. There are so many unnecessary scenes that bog down the narrative, it makes it hard to believe that this work went through the entire editorial process. Of course, it did, which is kind of scary, given how bloated the novel is. At times, Black Wolves is a case in point of everything that's wrong with epic fantasy these days. Too many protagonists and too many POVs, most of which bringing little or nothing to the story arcs. Too many plotlines focusing on extraneous or secondary characters or events, most of which getting in the way of the actual storytelling. Massive info-dumps as well as sequences and whole chapters fattened with filler material. Don't get me wrong. There is a lot of good stuff between the covers of Black Wolves. Problem is, you have to sift through a lot of superfluous material to get to it. So much so that it's more than a little off-putting, and now I understand why some readers couldn't get through the book.
Here's the blurb:
An exiled captain returns to help the son of the king who died under his protection in this rich and multi-layered first book in an action-packed new series.
Twenty two years have passed since Kellas, once Captain of the legendary Black Wolves, lost his King and with him his honor. With the King murdered and the Black Wolves disbanded, Kellas lives as an exile far from the palace he once guarded with his life.
Until Marshal Dannarah, sister to the dead King, comes to him with a plea-rejoin the palace guard and save her nephew, King Jehosh, before he meets his father's fate.
Combining the best of Shogun and Vikings, Black Wolves is an unmissable treat for epic fantasy lovers everywhere.
The decidedly unconventional structure is clearly the most off-putting aspect of this book. In the acknowledgments, Kate Elliott mentions that this was a tremendously difficult novel to write and it shows. Often, especially throughout the first two parts, it felt as though the author is making it all up as she goes along, that she doesn't necessarily know where the story is going. Which is why it feels like this isn't the final draft of the manuscript. The way Elliott uses flashback scenes can be confusing, as is the decision to focus on protagonists and events for nearly half of the book and then fast-forward forty-four years into the future. In retrospect, now that I have finished Black Wolves, it appears that you could pretty much get rid of the first 347 pages, those which focus on what took place in the past, as in the end they get in the way of what is essentially a very good second half. Had I received an ARC and was reading this one with no knowledge of some rave reviews by some critics whose opinion I respect, I would never have gotten past the first hundred pages. This weird structure, going back and forth between the past, the present, and the future is not only confunding, but it makes it hard to get into it and enjoy the tale. Indeed, by the time you reach page 347, you still have no idea what this book is supposed to be about. Better to begin forty-four years later and rely on flashback scenes to help readers catch up with the events that led to the second half of the work, especially since Elliott is fond of doing that throughout the novel anyway.
The worldbuilding is good, but too often the author relies on huge info-dumps to share information with her readers. A number of scenes and conversations are nothing more than info-dumps, which somewhat cheapens the whole thing. On the other hand, sometimes it feels as though readers should know what's going on and no explanations are offered. Which is why I felt that perhaps those who have read the Crossroads trilogy might be a step ahead of newbies like me. Still, Kate Elliott came up with a multiayered and convoluted tale of betrayal, and the second portion of the novel demonstrates that this story arc is much more complex than what I had come to expect. The blurb mentions James Clavell's masterpiece, Shogun, which implies that Black Wolves would have an Asian-like setting as a political and historical backdrop and not the habitual medieval European environment that has become the norm in the genre. Sadly, other than the occasional rice cakes and rice wine, and a few names here and there, absolutely nothing of the setting and the traditions truly feels Asian. Unlike Clavell's Shogun and Kirk's Child of Vengeance, novels in which everything down to the last minute detail reflects the Japanese way of life and customs, very little within the pages of Black Wolves feels different from other fantasy works on the market today. Which, in the end, was a major disappointment, as I elected to read this novel instead of an older Elliott title specifically because of the promied Asian setting.
The characterization is quite uneven. It can be brilliant, but it also often leaves a lot to be desired. As I mentioned, there are way too many chacaters and POVs. More than the story needed, and that's why the going can be so rough at times. Whole scenes and chapters could have been excised without hurting the story. Captain Kellas, former leader of the legendary Black Wolves, is an excellent protagonist. Complex and mysterious, there are a lot of layers to this man. The second main character, Marshal Dannarah, is the complete opposite. That woman is such a two-dimensional protagonist and I cringed when I read almost every scene she appeared in. She is incredibly dense when the story dictates that she be dumb, yet she becomes an eagle-flying Perry Mason/Inspector Columbo who can unravel the most impenetrable mysteries without much of a hint when the plot demands it. Oddly enough, with the jump ahead in the timeline, both Kellas and Dannarah are senior citizens for most of the duration of the novel. Which is unusual, but works well on the whole. Two other POV protagonists, Sarai and Lifka, are by far the most interesting characters in the book. It's a pity that it takes so long for their storylines to truly take off. But their back stories are the most fascinating, so it's evident that Kate Elliott has a lot in store for them. Finally, Gilaras' plotline gets too much exposure and would likely have worked better with less "air time". Again, the author spent too much time padding each individual storyline with too much filler material. Each storyline has its own reward before you reach the end, that goes without saying. But you have to go through so much irrelevant stuff to get there that it's understandable that some readers gave up at some point.
The dialogue can be jarring, especially in scenes featuring Marshal Dannarah. It seems that in trying to make her so overly competent and badass, the author created what turned out to be a caricature of sorts. I hoped she would die, but I have a feeling that she's in for the long haul.
The politicking is sometimes clumsy. Political intrigue is not something that every SFF author does well, and not everyone is as gifted as George R. R. Martin or Katherine Kurtz in that regard. But since a large part of Black Wolves hinges precisely on that aspect, it can be a bit of a setback.
The pace is abominably slow. Nothing seems to be happening for the longest time and it does take forever for the tale to finally kick into gear. Still, though the second portion of the novel gets better and tells a much more compelling story, there is no denying that the narrative continues to get bogged down by filler and extraneous material throughout. The end doesn't offer much in terms of resolution and is nothing more than a "To be continued" kind of thing. As such, after slogging through nearly 800 pages, I'm not sure Kate Elliott delivered as much as she wanted to as far as the ending is concerned.
Would I read the sequel? I'll give it a shot, no question. The way Elliott capped off Black Wolves makes me want to discover what happens next. But there is no way I'm slogging through another interminable and bloated read. If the story doesn't kick into high gear in the first hundred pages or so, I'll simply abandon the book.
If you are one of those people who couldn't finish it, I suggest you give Black Wolves another shot. Things do get better by the time you reach the halfway point. It's getting there that's hard. . .
For more reviews, check out www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com
February 23, 2016
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Eagles, demons, and an epic game of thrones, will Kellas and Dannarah figure out who killed King Atari before King Jehosh loses his throne?
Opening Sentence: “The whole business stank of rotting fish.”
The Review:
Dannarah, Kellas, Sarai and Lifka are the four major point of views throughout this novel. Dannarah is a reeve (eagle rider), she used to be the Chief Marshal until her nephew, the King, relieved her. Kellas used to be the Captain of the Black Wolves (the King’s personal unit), he left after he failed to save King Atani. Sarai is a mysterious young girl trying to take her life into her own hands after her mother disgraced the clan by running away (remember this, it becomes clear and important later.) Lifka is a young girl chosen by the eagles with another tie in that is important to remember as well.
The first part of the book is mostly told through Kellas’ perspective and it ties into the second half of the book when they are finally figuring out who killed King Atani and why. Then it jumps 42 years into the future and a good portion of that is told through Dannarah and Sarai, with Lifka coming in as well. The beginning part of this section is a bit rough because you go for from one cast of characters to Dannarah, who is in the front portion, but minor in the scheme of things to full drop down into the middle of what is going on currently. Dannarah is a marshal in the reeves (eagle riders) and she is still haunted by the death of her brother, to the point that she has really ignored the rest of the royal family and immersed herself in the reeves.
King Jehosh is Dannarah’s nephew, and the son of her brother, Atani. He is the ruler of the Hundred, a small kingdom surrounded by the Empire and other larger nations. For most of his reign, 22 years, he has been fighting an unpopular war to the north. When he returns he begins to suspect his wife of moving against his second wife and her children. He asks Dannarah to get Kellas back, so that they can stop what is going on. With Kellas returning will they be able to figure out who murdered King Atani, and what danger King Jehosh is in?
I will say this, I liked the story in the beginning, Kellas’s part was really interesting and kind of enough to invest me in the story. I do admit that when it jumped 42 years in the future and introduced the three other perspectives, I found it hard at times to know if I was in the past, future, or who was telling the story and it made it a little hard for me to keep going. But I pushed through and I am so glad I did because when it all started coming together, everything started making sense. So while it may seem that Sarai and Lifka really have nothing to do with what is going on, you just have to get past the halfway point in the book and bam do the hits just start coming.
This book is a slow burn in the first half and total punch in the face in the last half. Kate Elliott wove a completely subtle and complex tale that has so many pieces it just blows your mind. I really cannot rave about it enough. I loved, loved the second half of Black Wolves and was totally invested, shocked, dismayed and blown the heck away by the end. This is a GRRM level epic and in length too, but the worldbuilding, and the characters makes it all worth while. If high fantasy is your thing, than this book is definitely a need to read. I am seriously a little upset that I have to wait until the end of the year to get my hands on book 2. I guess in the meantime I will check out the other series that is referenced in this book.
Notable Scenes:
“He was sure they were being watched and there was in fact still one youth unaccounted for, but he heard nothing and saw no one except, once, a crow perched on a fallen long in the clearing.”
“Her gaze devoured him, for that was the particular sorcery of cloaked demons.”
“It seemed that the disgraced young malcontent of eight years ago had, without intending to, climbed Law Rock into the very heart of the palace.”
“If only Atani were, here, he would uncover the young man’s entire history of a cup of tea.”
“The demon prised open her mind and exposed her memories like the guts of a slaughtered soldier.”
” For a long time I’ve known I am a demon, bound to the land.”
“Each pillar carved with the same words, the same laws, the same sentiments.”
FTC Advisory: Orbit/Hachette Book Group provided me with a copy of Black Wolves. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick & Dirty: Eagles, demons, and an epic game of thrones, will Kellas and Dannarah figure out who killed King Atari before King Jehosh loses his throne?
Opening Sentence: “The whole business stank of rotting fish.”
The Review:
Dannarah, Kellas, Sarai and Lifka are the four major point of views throughout this novel. Dannarah is a reeve (eagle rider), she used to be the Chief Marshal until her nephew, the King, relieved her. Kellas used to be the Captain of the Black Wolves (the King’s personal unit), he left after he failed to save King Atani. Sarai is a mysterious young girl trying to take her life into her own hands after her mother disgraced the clan by running away (remember this, it becomes clear and important later.) Lifka is a young girl chosen by the eagles with another tie in that is important to remember as well.
The first part of the book is mostly told through Kellas’ perspective and it ties into the second half of the book when they are finally figuring out who killed King Atani and why. Then it jumps 42 years into the future and a good portion of that is told through Dannarah and Sarai, with Lifka coming in as well. The beginning part of this section is a bit rough because you go for from one cast of characters to Dannarah, who is in the front portion, but minor in the scheme of things to full drop down into the middle of what is going on currently. Dannarah is a marshal in the reeves (eagle riders) and she is still haunted by the death of her brother, to the point that she has really ignored the rest of the royal family and immersed herself in the reeves.
King Jehosh is Dannarah’s nephew, and the son of her brother, Atani. He is the ruler of the Hundred, a small kingdom surrounded by the Empire and other larger nations. For most of his reign, 22 years, he has been fighting an unpopular war to the north. When he returns he begins to suspect his wife of moving against his second wife and her children. He asks Dannarah to get Kellas back, so that they can stop what is going on. With Kellas returning will they be able to figure out who murdered King Atani, and what danger King Jehosh is in?
I will say this, I liked the story in the beginning, Kellas’s part was really interesting and kind of enough to invest me in the story. I do admit that when it jumped 42 years in the future and introduced the three other perspectives, I found it hard at times to know if I was in the past, future, or who was telling the story and it made it a little hard for me to keep going. But I pushed through and I am so glad I did because when it all started coming together, everything started making sense. So while it may seem that Sarai and Lifka really have nothing to do with what is going on, you just have to get past the halfway point in the book and bam do the hits just start coming.
This book is a slow burn in the first half and total punch in the face in the last half. Kate Elliott wove a completely subtle and complex tale that has so many pieces it just blows your mind. I really cannot rave about it enough. I loved, loved the second half of Black Wolves and was totally invested, shocked, dismayed and blown the heck away by the end. This is a GRRM level epic and in length too, but the worldbuilding, and the characters makes it all worth while. If high fantasy is your thing, than this book is definitely a need to read. I am seriously a little upset that I have to wait until the end of the year to get my hands on book 2. I guess in the meantime I will check out the other series that is referenced in this book.
Notable Scenes:
“He was sure they were being watched and there was in fact still one youth unaccounted for, but he heard nothing and saw no one except, once, a crow perched on a fallen long in the clearing.”
“Her gaze devoured him, for that was the particular sorcery of cloaked demons.”
“It seemed that the disgraced young malcontent of eight years ago had, without intending to, climbed Law Rock into the very heart of the palace.”
“If only Atani were, here, he would uncover the young man’s entire history of a cup of tea.”
“The demon prised open her mind and exposed her memories like the guts of a slaughtered soldier.”
” For a long time I’ve known I am a demon, bound to the land.”
“Each pillar carved with the same words, the same laws, the same sentiments.”
FTC Advisory: Orbit/Hachette Book Group provided me with a copy of Black Wolves. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
January 5, 2016
Puts the epic in epic fantasy! I could have used more action and less court intrigue, but otherwise this world is awesome, the characters are diverse and lovely, and the magic is fascinating. Can't wait to find out what happens next!
February 26, 2017
Black Wolves does something pretty bold in the beginning.
In the first ~90 pages we get Atani, Dannarah, Anjihosh and Kellas as our main characters. They're well-fleshed, dynamic, interesting and compelling. Other secondary characters appear and provoke intrigues, revelations and other actions that promise a lot of tension and conflict later.
Atani and Dannarah are great siblings, complementing each other very well. Kellas is also great, the spy/assassin member/secret leader of the deadly Black Wolves. Anjihosh is pretty grey when you look closely. Then comes queen Zayrah, the king's mother and politics, demons get involved, Mai, Arisit. The initial buildup is very good.
Then after getting attached to these characters and a really difficult choice is presented... Fourty-four years later...
Yes, that's right. It's a time skip of almost half a century.
And you learn that Atani, a great character, simply died twenty-two years ago, murdered by his own general. Dannarah is more than 60 years old. Kellas is more than 70. The Black Wolves were disbanded. The whole world is different, customs changed and there's a whole new cast of characters for you to start again.
Atani was intriguing. Dannarah was a 17 year old betrothed to a prince of another country. She didn't want to go, she wanted to do so many other things. Atani also didn't want her to go. Now we learn she actually escaped that fate by becoming a reeve. A reeve are riders of giant eagles. They are scouts and aerial warriors of the kingdom. Kellas is retired and threatened back to service.
I struggled through the next ~100 pages. I don't think it was only the massive changes, but also the way things were portrayed. There is a lot of exposition explaining things. And not much well-disguised infodumps, including characters speaking like encyclopedias during various tea meetings.
Then things started to move pretty nicely. Mostly Dannarah and Kellas carried until Sarai/Gil warmed up to a really nice plotline. Lifka started interesting but quickly faded into the background. The other interesting thing is the very rare flashbacks of Atani, whose murder and mystery were probably far more intriguing than the main plot.
There are lots of other secondary characters. And this causes a lot of exposition, because there really isn't page time for all of them. Tavahosh and Jehosh are more present and discernible, followed a little behind by Queen Chorranah.
There a lot of others (specially more sons, daughters, kin and etc) but they either simply end up fading or being introduced too late. The only thing you can make about them is what other characters explicitly tell you about their traits and behavior, which means you're always being told how to see/feel them.
There's a lot of factions and lots of people with secret agendas. Maybe a little too many of those. Jehosh, Tavahosh, Farihosh, Chorranah, Dia, the daughter of the neighboring Empire later, their agents' plots and the main characters.
This book already clocks around 800 pages and I think that for such large scope it wasn't nearly enough to properly shown it all.
Even Dannarah and Kellas start to fade a little near the end.
It felt like the book tried to do too much at once, even for 800 pages. And then that means for it to be more engaging, it would have to be even longer.
This means that even for a 800-page book, the story is overpopulated.
I think this affected the prose and the writing as well, as I highlighted very few passages (maybe 5) throughout 800 pages.
I think that the first ~90 pages were so gripping because they were showing me Kellas, Ajinhoshi, Dannarah and Atani extremelly well, but after the time skip and so much plot going on in an already long book, it had to switch for pure necessity to much more telling.
When characters were arguing it was still really nice and fluid to read, but when this wasn't happening and the narrative and descriptions settled in, it started to really suffer with pacing.
Also, the initial theme and intrigue of demons also disappears after the beginning to only return at the end of the book.
On the other hand it accomplishes other things really well. One thing a lot of people search for is for female empowerment and Black Wolves delivers on that.
Both queens (the king can have multiple wives) are the major players in the plots of the realm, much more than the king.
Dannarah continues to be a reeve and is also a Marshal who tricks princes and gets her way most of the time.
Sarai is the most curious one in this regard. While a lot of the other women usually fight against the traditional condition, Sarai fights to actually keep it, in a way. For example, Dannarah in the beginning doesn't want to marry politically. In the end, it works her way. Sarai, on the other hand, is sent to Gil (who also didn't want to marry anyone). Turns out they work together fairly well and come to like each other genuinely. Then he gets disgraced and everyone plots to divorce Sarai and even cause a miscarriage on her. Sarai passes the entire book fighting to actually keep her status as married to Gil. She's one who found freedom, in both body and mind, in marriage, and decides to stay in it out of her own choice instead of a pawn in others' plots.
There's very little violence in this book. I think there's only one mention of a battle (in a flashback near the end). There are no duels, gruesome assassinations or wars, sadly not even with the reeves and their mighty eagles. There's one or other dark moment, but considering the length, too few.
I think it's also a theme of the book. The cases of injustice, abuse and violence are all based on abuse of power. People getting arrested for very minor things, taxation, customs, racism, hierarchies. It's all about the power.
If you need battles and the like, you'll be a little disappointed. But if you want intrigue and power plays, you'll enjoy it if the other things I mentioned don't get in your way.
Finally, I have to say that Atani and his storyline (and how he died and why) is what made me really curious to keep going. It's very short, but definitely surprised me and probably won't disappoint you as well.
That's kinda of saying something about Atani. He only appears in the "prologue" and is dead for 90% of the book, only appearing through three of four rare and short flashbacks. For a comparison, he's a much better Rhaegar Targaryen.
While that says he's pretty great, maybe it also says something about the main plot and characters.
Which all comes down to the 44 year time skip.
I think I would've enjoyed Black Wolves much more if the initial story was the one told.
I wanted to see Atani grow (he also manages to get his two wives to be friendly to each other, another interesting plotline that is only mentioned briefly) and his death would've been much more shocking.
I wanted to see Dannarah's frustration at her fate and then becoming a reeve and working her way up to be one of the best. And her love/infatuation case with Kellas.
In the same line, I wanted to see more of Kellas' jobs and relationship with Dannarah and Mai. There's a part where Ajinhoshi discovers something about Kellas and Atani has to intervene. I wanted to see that scene, but it's only summarized.
And of course, the facets of good father to abusive/uncaring spouse of Ajinhoshi.
I think this plotline would've covered the book very well, and I would have been shown them instead of told. Or maybe it was the time skip that was too long.
Anyway, at that point the characters were really gripping, the story was flowing well and being pretty tight and surrounded with nuanced and explicit conflict and tension, present and future.
At the very least this story really left me wanting for much more. And it's probable it will be explored in later installments, but again, most likely through flashbacks.
It has some noticeable flaws, but overall it was an enjoyable ride, specially if you don't have trouble adjusting to the massive time skip.
In the first ~90 pages we get Atani, Dannarah, Anjihosh and Kellas as our main characters. They're well-fleshed, dynamic, interesting and compelling. Other secondary characters appear and provoke intrigues, revelations and other actions that promise a lot of tension and conflict later.
Atani and Dannarah are great siblings, complementing each other very well. Kellas is also great, the spy/assassin member/secret leader of the deadly Black Wolves. Anjihosh is pretty grey when you look closely. Then comes queen Zayrah, the king's mother and politics, demons get involved, Mai, Arisit. The initial buildup is very good.
Then after getting attached to these characters and a really difficult choice is presented... Fourty-four years later...
Yes, that's right. It's a time skip of almost half a century.
And you learn that Atani, a great character, simply died twenty-two years ago, murdered by his own general. Dannarah is more than 60 years old. Kellas is more than 70. The Black Wolves were disbanded. The whole world is different, customs changed and there's a whole new cast of characters for you to start again.
Atani was intriguing. Dannarah was a 17 year old betrothed to a prince of another country. She didn't want to go, she wanted to do so many other things. Atani also didn't want her to go. Now we learn she actually escaped that fate by becoming a reeve. A reeve are riders of giant eagles. They are scouts and aerial warriors of the kingdom. Kellas is retired and threatened back to service.
I struggled through the next ~100 pages. I don't think it was only the massive changes, but also the way things were portrayed. There is a lot of exposition explaining things. And not much well-disguised infodumps, including characters speaking like encyclopedias during various tea meetings.
Then things started to move pretty nicely. Mostly Dannarah and Kellas carried until Sarai/Gil warmed up to a really nice plotline. Lifka started interesting but quickly faded into the background. The other interesting thing is the very rare flashbacks of Atani, whose murder and mystery were probably far more intriguing than the main plot.
There are lots of other secondary characters. And this causes a lot of exposition, because there really isn't page time for all of them. Tavahosh and Jehosh are more present and discernible, followed a little behind by Queen Chorranah.
There a lot of others (specially more sons, daughters, kin and etc) but they either simply end up fading or being introduced too late. The only thing you can make about them is what other characters explicitly tell you about their traits and behavior, which means you're always being told how to see/feel them.
There's a lot of factions and lots of people with secret agendas. Maybe a little too many of those. Jehosh, Tavahosh, Farihosh, Chorranah, Dia, the daughter of the neighboring Empire later, their agents' plots and the main characters.
This book already clocks around 800 pages and I think that for such large scope it wasn't nearly enough to properly shown it all.
Even Dannarah and Kellas start to fade a little near the end.
It felt like the book tried to do too much at once, even for 800 pages. And then that means for it to be more engaging, it would have to be even longer.
This means that even for a 800-page book, the story is overpopulated.
I think this affected the prose and the writing as well, as I highlighted very few passages (maybe 5) throughout 800 pages.
I think that the first ~90 pages were so gripping because they were showing me Kellas, Ajinhoshi, Dannarah and Atani extremelly well, but after the time skip and so much plot going on in an already long book, it had to switch for pure necessity to much more telling.
When characters were arguing it was still really nice and fluid to read, but when this wasn't happening and the narrative and descriptions settled in, it started to really suffer with pacing.
Also, the initial theme and intrigue of demons also disappears after the beginning to only return at the end of the book.
On the other hand it accomplishes other things really well. One thing a lot of people search for is for female empowerment and Black Wolves delivers on that.
Both queens (the king can have multiple wives) are the major players in the plots of the realm, much more than the king.
Dannarah continues to be a reeve and is also a Marshal who tricks princes and gets her way most of the time.
Sarai is the most curious one in this regard. While a lot of the other women usually fight against the traditional condition, Sarai fights to actually keep it, in a way. For example, Dannarah in the beginning doesn't want to marry politically. In the end, it works her way. Sarai, on the other hand, is sent to Gil (who also didn't want to marry anyone). Turns out they work together fairly well and come to like each other genuinely. Then he gets disgraced and everyone plots to divorce Sarai and even cause a miscarriage on her. Sarai passes the entire book fighting to actually keep her status as married to Gil. She's one who found freedom, in both body and mind, in marriage, and decides to stay in it out of her own choice instead of a pawn in others' plots.
There's very little violence in this book. I think there's only one mention of a battle (in a flashback near the end). There are no duels, gruesome assassinations or wars, sadly not even with the reeves and their mighty eagles. There's one or other dark moment, but considering the length, too few.
I think it's also a theme of the book. The cases of injustice, abuse and violence are all based on abuse of power. People getting arrested for very minor things, taxation, customs, racism, hierarchies. It's all about the power.
If you need battles and the like, you'll be a little disappointed. But if you want intrigue and power plays, you'll enjoy it if the other things I mentioned don't get in your way.
Finally, I have to say that Atani and his storyline (and how he died and why) is what made me really curious to keep going. It's very short, but definitely surprised me and probably won't disappoint you as well.
That's kinda of saying something about Atani. He only appears in the "prologue" and is dead for 90% of the book, only appearing through three of four rare and short flashbacks. For a comparison, he's a much better Rhaegar Targaryen.
While that says he's pretty great, maybe it also says something about the main plot and characters.
Which all comes down to the 44 year time skip.
I think I would've enjoyed Black Wolves much more if the initial story was the one told.
I wanted to see Atani grow (he also manages to get his two wives to be friendly to each other, another interesting plotline that is only mentioned briefly) and his death would've been much more shocking.
I wanted to see Dannarah's frustration at her fate and then becoming a reeve and working her way up to be one of the best. And her love/infatuation case with Kellas.
In the same line, I wanted to see more of Kellas' jobs and relationship with Dannarah and Mai. There's a part where Ajinhoshi discovers something about Kellas and Atani has to intervene. I wanted to see that scene, but it's only summarized.
And of course, the facets of good father to abusive/uncaring spouse of Ajinhoshi.
I think this plotline would've covered the book very well, and I would have been shown them instead of told. Or maybe it was the time skip that was too long.
Anyway, at that point the characters were really gripping, the story was flowing well and being pretty tight and surrounded with nuanced and explicit conflict and tension, present and future.
At the very least this story really left me wanting for much more. And it's probable it will be explored in later installments, but again, most likely through flashbacks.
It has some noticeable flaws, but overall it was an enjoyable ride, specially if you don't have trouble adjusting to the massive time skip.
September 11, 2016
I stuck it out for 100 pages before I called it. I may someday try to go back and finish this, but right now I just can't justify spending another minute of my life slogging through it.
My first issue with this book is that it promises a Chinese (or alt-China) setting and aesthetic, but very little in the book is actually Chinese. Nobody has Chinese names, and in fact nobody has names that are consistent enough to make me think they belong to the same ethnic groups.
The author uses the word "Qin" to describe people ethnically, but not in a way that makes sense. Qin is a thing. It's either a state or it's a dynasty (circa 220 BC), it's a part of Chinese history but it's like the author just picked up the word and mixed it in. I'm not an expert on Chinese history by any means, but I know enough that it bothered me each time I saw it because THAT WORD ACTUALLY MEANS STUFF FROM REAL LIFE HISTORY. So either respect that and address it in a way that makes some sense or USE A DIFFERENT WORD.
The author seems to have nabbed bits and pieces of China that she liked and that was it. It's like she wanted to set a grand epic in, say, generically ye old China but didn't wanna bother doing the massive amount of research it would take to do it well.
The book is in need of some really good editing. The dialogue is terribly awkward in places. The author apparently needs to make up fake exclamatory words: "Aui!" and "Eiya!". Also, the way the author uses the word "cursed" instead of just saying "damn" is grating. I counted it up each time I saw it. Nineteen times in 100 pages, the author could've just used the word "damn".
Take for instance this gem on page 12: "Heya, lads, what say we go down to that thrice-rotted inn and drink what passes for decent rice wine here in this cold-cursed valley?" I winced. That sounds like a bad line out of some snoozefest doorstopper fantasy book set in Medieval Whitebreadia. Shouldn't this guy be helping a farm boy realize his royal destiny or something?
Side note: One thing I've learned is that it's always to the author's benefit not to invent curse words or slang any more than is necessary.
The book also takes a long, long time to get interesting. The first few pages mean very little. Throwing lots of contextless names at us through Kellas's eyes makes them all seem fake and meaningless, which just makes the scene seem pointless.
The entire first chapter is summarized in a paragraph when Kellas speaks to King Anjihosh and frankly, that would've been a better place to start. You know, with the actual story.
Exposition in the book is clumsy. And I mean clumsy. There's literally a scene where all the background info on Anjihosh's reign and general world history is explained by the young princess telling them about her school lessons.
The book does manage to get interesting somewhere around page 40 when people we have context for actually start doing things that we have a reason to care about. And it goes on a good run, following Atani and Dannarah (the king's oldest kids) and Kellas as they discover that King Anjihosh has some seriously awful secrets. There's a runaway prince, a princess who wants to fly on eagles, a guy who was just some reckless fool who climbed a rock and ended up a trusted officer now tasked with looking after this prince who, as I mentioned, doesn't like to stay put.
It gets really good. Like "get the popcorn" good. We're following Kellas, we got some family secrets that just saw the light of day and maybe more waiting to be uncovered, we got a squirrely prince on the loose, a sympathetically tough princess with a crush, and there's some plot actually happening.
Then *bam*. That part of the book ends and we fast forward by forty-four years and suddenly we're right back in a setting filled with characters running around with fake sounding names, a lot of weirdly placed exposition, and no clue as to what kind of actual plot is taking place. All we get are hints that we skipped the good stuff.
Then we get to see Dannarah fly on an eagle and while I'm happy that she gets to be badass, could we maybe get to the point instead of going through a whole new cycle of intro, exposition, description of architecture and background and As You Know Bob type dialogue. It's like having to start again with an entirely new book and given that this thing is 782 pages, I'm just noping my way on out of it.
My first issue with this book is that it promises a Chinese (or alt-China) setting and aesthetic, but very little in the book is actually Chinese. Nobody has Chinese names, and in fact nobody has names that are consistent enough to make me think they belong to the same ethnic groups.
The author uses the word "Qin" to describe people ethnically, but not in a way that makes sense. Qin is a thing. It's either a state or it's a dynasty (circa 220 BC), it's a part of Chinese history but it's like the author just picked up the word and mixed it in. I'm not an expert on Chinese history by any means, but I know enough that it bothered me each time I saw it because THAT WORD ACTUALLY MEANS STUFF FROM REAL LIFE HISTORY. So either respect that and address it in a way that makes some sense or USE A DIFFERENT WORD.
The author seems to have nabbed bits and pieces of China that she liked and that was it. It's like she wanted to set a grand epic in, say, generically ye old China but didn't wanna bother doing the massive amount of research it would take to do it well.
The book is in need of some really good editing. The dialogue is terribly awkward in places. The author apparently needs to make up fake exclamatory words: "Aui!" and "Eiya!". Also, the way the author uses the word "cursed" instead of just saying "damn" is grating. I counted it up each time I saw it. Nineteen times in 100 pages, the author could've just used the word "damn".
Take for instance this gem on page 12: "Heya, lads, what say we go down to that thrice-rotted inn and drink what passes for decent rice wine here in this cold-cursed valley?" I winced. That sounds like a bad line out of some snoozefest doorstopper fantasy book set in Medieval Whitebreadia. Shouldn't this guy be helping a farm boy realize his royal destiny or something?
Side note: One thing I've learned is that it's always to the author's benefit not to invent curse words or slang any more than is necessary.
The book also takes a long, long time to get interesting. The first few pages mean very little. Throwing lots of contextless names at us through Kellas's eyes makes them all seem fake and meaningless, which just makes the scene seem pointless.
The entire first chapter is summarized in a paragraph when Kellas speaks to King Anjihosh and frankly, that would've been a better place to start. You know, with the actual story.
Exposition in the book is clumsy. And I mean clumsy. There's literally a scene where all the background info on Anjihosh's reign and general world history is explained by the young princess telling them about her school lessons.
The book does manage to get interesting somewhere around page 40 when people we have context for actually start doing things that we have a reason to care about. And it goes on a good run, following Atani and Dannarah (the king's oldest kids) and Kellas as they discover that King Anjihosh has some seriously awful secrets. There's a runaway prince, a princess who wants to fly on eagles, a guy who was just some reckless fool who climbed a rock and ended up a trusted officer now tasked with looking after this prince who, as I mentioned, doesn't like to stay put.
It gets really good. Like "get the popcorn" good. We're following Kellas, we got some family secrets that just saw the light of day and maybe more waiting to be uncovered, we got a squirrely prince on the loose, a sympathetically tough princess with a crush, and there's some plot actually happening.
Then *bam*. That part of the book ends and we fast forward by forty-four years and suddenly we're right back in a setting filled with characters running around with fake sounding names, a lot of weirdly placed exposition, and no clue as to what kind of actual plot is taking place. All we get are hints that we skipped the good stuff.
Then we get to see Dannarah fly on an eagle and while I'm happy that she gets to be badass, could we maybe get to the point instead of going through a whole new cycle of intro, exposition, description of architecture and background and As You Know Bob type dialogue. It's like having to start again with an entirely new book and given that this thing is 782 pages, I'm just noping my way on out of it.
January 26, 2018
3.8 Stars
Mix of Audio & Print Review:
This book is hard to review because I have conflicting responses to it. I enjoy stories more in print but hardly have the time for it due to a busy life. Audiobooks have been a great compromise and allow me to continue taking in new stories by ear while I do other things. Richard Ferrone is a good narrator. I would like to listen to him tell another story but he was not the right fit for this one. This story has a solid base on Asian culture. There's a twist of words and pace that needed to be told in a certain fashion. He narration didn't have what my ear needed to hear.
Even when I read the story, that cadence was not consistently placed within the whole of the book. Yet when it was evident, it was a delightful and rich experience.
The story takes place in a made up world but it has too many solid links in phrasing, stories, habits, clothes, objects and etc that link to Asian cultures for me to think of it as a "new world with Asian influences". Because the cultural impacts and mannerisms are so strongly entwined, I felt disgruntled when it was not done well and enthralled when it was.
Overall, the series has a lot of promise and I am a total fan of Kellas. It has an intricate plot, strong characters, rich culture and the rioting flames of battle ready to roar. This book is about a man who had too much spirit to calmly take his place in life and do what others expected of him. His reckless passion tossed him right into the arms of Fate and a fight that he would give his life to champion.
In disjointed scenes going from the present to the past and times between, I stumble into a world that is familiar in every alien way possible. You get a solid base for the world that holds the Hundred, the greedy Empire, dark skinned travelers and common folk. The conflicting details of several people are drawn out in bits and pieces. A glimpse of the preternatural that lives alongside the norm. The whole of a mystery is unveiled as others flit like teasing mist. One formidable hero comes to the last stages of his time as new ones grow to take their own place.
I really like this book a lot but it is not a seamless piece without flaws. I think the next one will be great. I look forward to the next phase of the Hundred and the people who fight for their vision of it.
Mix of Audio & Print Review:
This book is hard to review because I have conflicting responses to it. I enjoy stories more in print but hardly have the time for it due to a busy life. Audiobooks have been a great compromise and allow me to continue taking in new stories by ear while I do other things. Richard Ferrone is a good narrator. I would like to listen to him tell another story but he was not the right fit for this one. This story has a solid base on Asian culture. There's a twist of words and pace that needed to be told in a certain fashion. He narration didn't have what my ear needed to hear.
Even when I read the story, that cadence was not consistently placed within the whole of the book. Yet when it was evident, it was a delightful and rich experience.
The story takes place in a made up world but it has too many solid links in phrasing, stories, habits, clothes, objects and etc that link to Asian cultures for me to think of it as a "new world with Asian influences". Because the cultural impacts and mannerisms are so strongly entwined, I felt disgruntled when it was not done well and enthralled when it was.
Overall, the series has a lot of promise and I am a total fan of Kellas. It has an intricate plot, strong characters, rich culture and the rioting flames of battle ready to roar. This book is about a man who had too much spirit to calmly take his place in life and do what others expected of him. His reckless passion tossed him right into the arms of Fate and a fight that he would give his life to champion.
In disjointed scenes going from the present to the past and times between, I stumble into a world that is familiar in every alien way possible. You get a solid base for the world that holds the Hundred, the greedy Empire, dark skinned travelers and common folk. The conflicting details of several people are drawn out in bits and pieces. A glimpse of the preternatural that lives alongside the norm. The whole of a mystery is unveiled as others flit like teasing mist. One formidable hero comes to the last stages of his time as new ones grow to take their own place.
I really like this book a lot but it is not a seamless piece without flaws. I think the next one will be great. I look forward to the next phase of the Hundred and the people who fight for their vision of it.
November 30, 2015
This book is everything I hoped that it was going to be and more.
Most of the events of Black Wolves are set about 60 years after the end of events in the Crossroads Trilogy. Kate says that you don't need to have read Crossroads in order to understand what's going on in Black Wolves, and while I think that's certainly accurate, and you can and should absolutely take the author at her word, I think you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't read Crossroads first. There's a ton of socio-political history that is relevant to the story in Black Wolves that happens because of the events of Crossroads, and it's good to have first-hand sources, so to speak. (Crossroads is also just a seriously fucking excellent series all on its own. There are giant eagles that people fly with. If that doesn't convince you, I'm not sure what will.)
The format of the story is mostly present day, interspersed with flashbacks, as two of the main characters ("senior citizens" as much of the promo has called them) attempt to regain former positions of influence at court while also solving a murder plot that they were both implicated in, while both believing that the other might have been involved, but neither of them truly believing that much since they both loved the king too much to murder him. There are also several younger viewpoint characters, each of whom is an outsider in rather specific and obvious ways, trying to both fit in and stay true to themselves. Every character is very distinct from one another, and all of them have tangled motivations and desires. No simple characters here. No simple plot either. I was left gaping by the twist at the end (although really, it's the only thing that made sense, given what we know), and desperately unhappy that the next book isn't finished yet.
If you want intrigue, gender politics (of several different flavors, actually), martial arts, giant eagles, some economics, sociology, theology, families of choice rather than of blood, settings that aren't based on Europe, and/or non-white characters, I'd definitely recommend this book.
Most of the events of Black Wolves are set about 60 years after the end of events in the Crossroads Trilogy. Kate says that you don't need to have read Crossroads in order to understand what's going on in Black Wolves, and while I think that's certainly accurate, and you can and should absolutely take the author at her word, I think you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't read Crossroads first. There's a ton of socio-political history that is relevant to the story in Black Wolves that happens because of the events of Crossroads, and it's good to have first-hand sources, so to speak. (Crossroads is also just a seriously fucking excellent series all on its own. There are giant eagles that people fly with. If that doesn't convince you, I'm not sure what will.)
The format of the story is mostly present day, interspersed with flashbacks, as two of the main characters ("senior citizens" as much of the promo has called them) attempt to regain former positions of influence at court while also solving a murder plot that they were both implicated in, while both believing that the other might have been involved, but neither of them truly believing that much since they both loved the king too much to murder him. There are also several younger viewpoint characters, each of whom is an outsider in rather specific and obvious ways, trying to both fit in and stay true to themselves. Every character is very distinct from one another, and all of them have tangled motivations and desires. No simple characters here. No simple plot either. I was left gaping by the twist at the end (although really, it's the only thing that made sense, given what we know), and desperately unhappy that the next book isn't finished yet.
If you want intrigue, gender politics (of several different flavors, actually), martial arts, giant eagles, some economics, sociology, theology, families of choice rather than of blood, settings that aren't based on Europe, and/or non-white characters, I'd definitely recommend this book.
August 18, 2015
This book is a murder mystery at the heart of a political thriller wrapped up in an epic fantasy setting.
It's been decades since Commander Anji saved the Hundred from the internal conflict that ravaged it's people by killing the demons responsible and bringing the chaotic political factions to heel under his strong hand. Now his grandson is king and conflict is again brewing; the first stirrings of a succession war are beginning to surface in the palace, and there is unrest in the population as the old ways of the Hundred are being displaced by the growing influence of the current queen's religion. But threaded through the narrative is the still-raw ache of the untimely murder of King Atani, Anji's son, and all the questions surrounding it that remain unanswered.
This is a delighftully tricksy book. Just when I thought I had all the factions straight, knew what their motivations were, another layer got peeled back and I had to reassess. And the same is true for nearly every character in the book. As each are confronted with answers to the questions they've carried with them for decades, they find everything they thought they knew about their past and history upended.
If you have previously read the Crossroads trilogy, your view of history is quite different than the majority of the characters in Black Wolves. It was both very fun to know things the others didn't, and incredibly aggravating to watch just how true it is that history is written by the victors. There are some cameos of characters from the original trilogy that were thrilling but all too brief for me.
Readers of epic fantasy might find the structure of the book a little frustrating, the way the past is slowly revealed through memories and new information discovered decades later. But I promise your patience will be rewarded, as nearly all is revealed by the end of the book. And the questions that remain are more tantalizing than frustrating. I very very much look forward to the next book.
It's been decades since Commander Anji saved the Hundred from the internal conflict that ravaged it's people by killing the demons responsible and bringing the chaotic political factions to heel under his strong hand. Now his grandson is king and conflict is again brewing; the first stirrings of a succession war are beginning to surface in the palace, and there is unrest in the population as the old ways of the Hundred are being displaced by the growing influence of the current queen's religion. But threaded through the narrative is the still-raw ache of the untimely murder of King Atani, Anji's son, and all the questions surrounding it that remain unanswered.
This is a delighftully tricksy book. Just when I thought I had all the factions straight, knew what their motivations were, another layer got peeled back and I had to reassess. And the same is true for nearly every character in the book. As each are confronted with answers to the questions they've carried with them for decades, they find everything they thought they knew about their past and history upended.
If you have previously read the Crossroads trilogy, your view of history is quite different than the majority of the characters in Black Wolves. It was both very fun to know things the others didn't, and incredibly aggravating to watch just how true it is that history is written by the victors. There are some cameos of characters from the original trilogy that were thrilling but all too brief for me.
Readers of epic fantasy might find the structure of the book a little frustrating, the way the past is slowly revealed through memories and new information discovered decades later. But I promise your patience will be rewarded, as nearly all is revealed by the end of the book. And the questions that remain are more tantalizing than frustrating. I very very much look forward to the next book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 301 reviews