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Loading... Prince of Wolves (2010)by Dave Gross
![]() None No current Talk conversations about this book. ![]() ![]() Prince of Wolves is another unassuming, yet satisfying sword and sorcery novel put out by RPG publisher Paizo. Whilst it's certainly not going to turn any heads, the book does an admirable job of serving up a a satisfying tale that is neither too smart nor too stupid. Varian Jeggare is in gothic climes trying to track down a protege with his devilish bodyguard, Radovan. What should be a simple investigation quickly gets complicated with cults, werewolves, and a prisoned god threatening to escape. Prince of Wolves did the job. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as my other Paizo novel to date, Death's Heretic; Gross is not as fluid with his prose. The beginning of the book is hampered by an awkward framing device - Varian is writing "letters" to his missing friend. It's a silly way to start a novel, inescapably false and mannered, and the book is much stronger once he abandons it. Likewise, the characterisation, more Varian than Radovan, is on the simplistic side. There are times Gross's planning is clear and what the characters are saying and thinking is more to do with where he wants them to go than any organic development. But that said, Gross does have a destination in mind - for both characters and plot - and that goes an almost depressingly long way in modern fantasy. By the end of the book, the story is wrapped up, our characters have grown and are poised for the next adventure. I certainly wouldn't be recommending Prince of Wolves to anyone who doesn't read in the genre, and then with caveats. But these books are guilty pleasures for me, and it's nice to read a stand-alone fantasy, that clocks under a hundred thousand words, with a fun, pastiche-filled setting going beyond a rehashed dark ages. These might be simple stories, but thus far the Pathfinder Tales have avoided many of the traps that fell more ambitious, weightier tomes in the genre. I'll definitely be reading more. it starts a bit slow and i'm sorry to say the narative as through the eyes of the noble remains somewhat drier than the parts through the eys of the servent, but i bid readers to stick with it....this ends up being a fairly descent tale with plenty of twists that shall keep one reading. i must add a few spoilers: if you are a young lady in the protection of the count protaganist, panic....you'll suffer a horid death or worse within a short number of pages. also, how on earth did Radovan not stay? nice symbolisim with the pet to, i think. Anywho, this books gets my stamp of approval. The 1st person narative added to the story and took away at the same time, but all in all, a good tale.
Count Varian Jeggare and his bodyguard Radovan Virholt are deserved inheritors of the “buddy adventurers” mantle. They belong squarely in the company of Fafhrd and Gray Mouser as heroes par excellence, complete with the occasional foray into light comedy and weird happenstance. With the newest volume of author Dave Gross’ Pathfinder Tales book, Queen of Thorns, Radovan and Count Jeggare continue to crystalize as iconic characters. The heroes are imperfect and “human”—well, a half-elf and a demon-spawn, but still—which really makes them a cut above the usual dramatis personae.... Part witty banter and part brothers-in-arms, Varian and Radovan read like a cross between Gilmore Girls and Reservoir Dogs, smack dab in the middle of a sword and sorcery world. The first of the Radovan and Varian Jeggare novels is Prince of Wolves. ... the action of the story by and large takes place in a sort of “Transylvanian” pastiche, complete with Hammer Film clichés. ... Master of Devils goes an entirely different route: Kung-Fu movies.... , Queen of Thorns is his take on epic fantasy. Has the (non-series) prequel
For elven Pathfinder Varian Jeggare and his devil-blooded assistant Radovan,things are rarely as they seem. Yet not even the notorious crime-solving duo isprepared for what they find when a search for a missing Pathfinder takes theminto the mi No library descriptions found. |
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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