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TO TOUCH THE STARS She was Dion the Wolfwalker, and through her telepathic bond with the Gray Ones, she could hear the packsong and run with the wolves. And now, as fate ripped from her almost everything she held dear, her wolfbond became her only reason to live, for she could not deny the Call of the wolves to help them. Driven by the need of the Gray Ones, she would seek out and confront the mysterious beings of the sky--the ones who had once brought death to the world. In eight hundred years, no human had survived that contact. But Dion could not avoid it. Only by facing the aliens could she save herself . . . and the future of the wolves!… (more)
Tara K. Harper's Wolfwalker series is among the best science fiction I've ever read. I love her characters, the unique world she's created, and the story lines she's developed. Wolf's Bane, however, does not at all live up to the rest of the books in the series.
I found this book to be unnecessarily brutal. Bad things kept happening one after another, to the point that I felt it was put in more for shock value than anything else. Had there been longer breaks in between the horrible parts, it might have been better.
Most of the book is spent on how depressed Dion is because of the tragedies she's had to go through. This is completely understandable, but it makes for a boring story. Instead of the adventure I was expecting, it was flat. Either Dion is immersing herself in the wolves or her friends are griping to each other about who should snap her out of her unhealthy depression.
The ending is the worst, though. The entire book might have been redeemed if the ending had been better. However, after 300 pages of set-up, the last 50 pages weren't enough. There was hardly a resolution. Dion ends up feeling better about her life and where it's headed, but after wanting concrete answers for the entire novel, she settles for something far less than that.
Despite all this, I did get some enjoyment out of it. It was nice to revisit the world and the characters. Harper does a great job in giving them different traits as they all age. Dion is no longer than infallible wolfwalker, and Aranur is even beginning to slow down a bit. This novel does shed a bit more light on Grayheart and the other books set in the future, but I don't think that the time spent getting through it is worth the bits of enlightenment we get.
If you're reading the series, I would say skip this one entirely. You can pretty much figure out its content from her other novels set in the future and you will save yourself some time and a lot of frustration. ( )
In the night, the roads are different. The roots stretch out like white-skinned arms, the moons are eyes that do not blink. The air is think with sounds that gather silently to watch you pass and you kick your dun to a faster gait, while fear hands on your back like a worlag clawing at your courage. But you ride, because the lives of your family ride with you. You ride the black road, because your speed is the difference between life and death.
Riding the Black Road, by Menai Karrliamo maKaira
Dedication
In memory of my mother.
To Those who have generously given of their invaluable time and advice, Many thanks:
Ed Godshalk Marc Wells Howard Davidson, Ph.D, Sun Microsystems Thomas Moore, University of Arizona Ernest V Curto, PhD, University of Alabama, Birmingham Matthew Beckman, Ph.D, University of Alabama, Birmingham William C Haneberg, Ph.D, New Mexico Bureau of Mines, Yehudah Werner, Ph. D Gary Mayner Nick Landau Chip Gardes Toby Tyrel and the crew of the USCS Polar Star
Also, special thanks to: Dan Harper, Kevin Harper, Richard Jarvis, Colleen Gaobois, Kris Hasson, and Sandra Keen
TO TOUCH THE STARS She was Dion the Wolfwalker, and through her telepathic bond with the Gray Ones, she could hear the packsong and run with the wolves. And now, as fate ripped from her almost everything she held dear, her wolfbond became her only reason to live, for she could not deny the Call of the wolves to help them. Driven by the need of the Gray Ones, she would seek out and confront the mysterious beings of the sky--the ones who had once brought death to the world. In eight hundred years, no human had survived that contact. But Dion could not avoid it. Only by facing the aliens could she save herself . . . and the future of the wolves!
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I found this book to be unnecessarily brutal. Bad things kept happening one after another, to the point that I felt it was put in more for shock value than anything else. Had there been longer breaks in between the horrible parts, it might have been better.
Most of the book is spent on how depressed Dion is because of the tragedies she's had to go through. This is completely understandable, but it makes for a boring story. Instead of the adventure I was expecting, it was flat. Either Dion is immersing herself in the wolves or her friends are griping to each other about who should snap her out of her unhealthy depression.
The ending is the worst, though. The entire book might have been redeemed if the ending had been better. However, after 300 pages of set-up, the last 50 pages weren't enough. There was hardly a resolution. Dion ends up feeling better about her life and where it's headed, but after wanting concrete answers for the entire novel, she settles for something far less than that.
Despite all this, I did get some enjoyment out of it. It was nice to revisit the world and the characters. Harper does a great job in giving them different traits as they all age. Dion is no longer than infallible wolfwalker, and Aranur is even beginning to slow down a bit. This novel does shed a bit more light on Grayheart and the other books set in the future, but I don't think that the time spent getting through it is worth the bits of enlightenment we get.
If you're reading the series, I would say skip this one entirely. You can pretty much figure out its content from her other novels set in the future and you will save yourself some time and a lot of frustration. (