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Wolfwalker #4
Wolf's Bane
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!
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!
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 28, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 26, 2011
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.
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.
June 9, 2024
Oh hey lets kill off the main character’s loved ones for ‘the feelings’
Nope no thank you
The whole set up started being obvious and I just don’t want it. Wished I had stopped before the second round happened. Not really necessary.
Nope no thank you
The whole set up started being obvious and I just don’t want it. Wished I had stopped before the second round happened. Not really necessary.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 26, 2016
I really wanted to like this book, I really did. I truly enjoyed books 1-3 but this one... as others have said, after the traumas Dion's been through, if she was suffering from PTSD, that'd be understandable. Maybe it's just that you go from Dion being mostly ok in book 3 to someone who basically seems to be suffering, without much, if any, lead up and without enough of her going through it in her life, outside of stressful situations. Or maybe it's just that we don't ever really get any of the trauma, just the bad things that happen and that she doesn't seem to handle those bad things in ways that previous Dion would have. Maybe it's a lack of showing and a heavy telling hand.
I don't know.
I do know this book was a slough and the characters and interactions felt flat. Pacing seemed really off, with the important stuff crammed in and laid out in awkward and incomplete strokes, smack at the end.
*shrug* I will give book 6 a crack, but I can say, i'm not super optimistic about it.
I don't know.
I do know this book was a slough and the characters and interactions felt flat. Pacing seemed really off, with the important stuff crammed in and laid out in awkward and incomplete strokes, smack at the end.
*shrug* I will give book 6 a crack, but I can say, i'm not super optimistic about it.
August 23, 2014
My feelings about this Wolfwalker tale are a bit mixed. I both enjoyed the story (damn there's a lot of danger going on there!), but at the same time found it to be a bit too split, not focused enough... And don't get me started on that comic-y cover which seems childish compared to the elegant Dion from the first books, and she's 15 years older here!
Was nice meeting Aranur and Dion again 15 years later, and with kids! Hishn as well... Story continues in the next book. If I remember correctly the two together make a good tale.
Was nice meeting Aranur and Dion again 15 years later, and with kids! Hishn as well... Story continues in the next book. If I remember correctly the two together make a good tale.
May 17, 2020
I was excited to read Wolf’s Bane because I loved reading other Tales of the Wolves books in the past. On that note, I had trouble getting into this one. For me, it was slow paced and the plot was weak. Honestly, Wolf’s Bane did not hold my interest until Dion’s sons death. Dion’s initial grief and deeper depression when Aranur died caused Dion’s true purpose to be found which introduced stronger components of the story. Overall, not a bad read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2012
out of all of her books this is my least favorite. I read to continue the series.... but I found it to be choppy. and it seemed to me at this point the author is just tormenting one of her best characters....
March 21, 2009
This is a VERY good book. All of Tara K. Harper's books are very good.
October 24, 2009
It sounded like it would be an interesting book, but I just didn't care much for it. This could be as I've not read the other books in the series as this is the only one the library had.
February 7, 2014
human animal pairing, on a psychological connection between a young girl and her wolf in attempt to help her world... this is a great series.
September 28, 2016
Love Tara Harper. Love the world she's created.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews