The Claidi Collection: Books I-III - Wolf Tower; Wolf Star; Wolf Queen

This is a book from when I was a kid that I picked up to read again. This was my first time to re-read any of this quartet, of which the first three books are included in this collection. I didn't remember them being spectacular, but I wasn't quite expecting the level of boredom these novels evoke.

In Wolf Tower, Claidi escapes from the place where she grew up as a slave, and tags along with an obnoxious prince. She's infatuated with him for far too long, and the one and only time she thinks for herself, she makes the wrong decision. Once she's trapped once again, she finally comes up with a plan of escape--but only after her true love shows up to help. Said true love is an all-too-convenient, completely flat character.

Wolf Star takes Claidi across the sea to a really awesome setting: a cliffside palace with rooms and gardens that move, unpredictably. The spectacular setting is not fully taken advantage of, as once again Claidi fails to ask questions or come up with anything to do for herself. She spends most of her time sitting around doing nothing.

Wolf Queen features Claidi's reunion with her true love--only, he's distant and cold. She spends days following after him, which drives me crazy. So what if he won't let you talk to him, girl--talk to him anyway! How is what you're doing in any way useful!? Of course, the guy turns out to be an automaton recreation of the true love (which you can see coming from a mile away), and the real guy helps rescue Claidi from yet another tower.

The 90s YA fantasy market was flooded with strong female protagonists--what was poor, pathetic Claidi doing among their ranks? ( )

This was SUPPOSED to be a read- and- toss (a friend gave it to me years ago and I only just read it, so how good could it be??), but the story was too compelling and re-readable to give away. The journal entry format makes this easy to read.

The story begins with Claidi, a badly treated slave, in a place called The House. Everything outside of it is known as The Waste, which is believed to be unlivable, frightening, and full of monsters. One day a hot air balloon from The Waste floats, and is shot down, over The House. The pilot is taken prisoner. Claidi helps the pilot escape to Wolf Tower, across The Waste.

This entire world is a strange mixture of science, sci- fi, and fantasy. I found the world a bit too weird for my tastes, but the people and relationships were interesting. The greatest mystery of all is: Who is the person in the background who REALLY started these chain of events? Unfortunately you will have to hunt down the fourth book in the series (Wolf Wing) to get a satisfactory answer to that! ( )