Call of the Wolf

The Kohrinju Tai Saga #1

by J.P. Nelson

NEWLY RE-EDITED ... The first High Elvin Council called this world, Orucean. Later, the builders of Xibalba called it, Xn’Csero, meaning the 3rd World. But that was long ago, now filthy humans rule the world. The youth who calls himself Timber Wolf was born into slavery, a human and elf half-breed sold from his momma’s side as a child. Full of bitterness and hate, something, some kind of power from his lost, forgotten elvin ancestry was growing inside. But why and how could he use it? Did it have anything to do with strange weather patterns, awakening volcanoes, tidal waves and part of a continent falling into the sea?

Magic was a dying practice, his mother was the last Elvin Tell-Singer, there were no more Druids, and Kn’Yang, the youth’s great-great-grandfather, had been last of the Gahjurahnge Warriors … or was he? Religious leaders around the known world were moving toward the Kohntia Mountains in belief an upcoming stellar phenomenon would transform one individual into godhood. Finally escaped from slavery, Timber Wolf finds himself in position to become a hero, but why should he? Besides, what difference can one person make?

Follow Timber Wolf’s path in a world of chaos, tyranny, oppression by the sword and a worldwide Quest for Conquest by those seeking divine ascension … a world desperately in need of champions.

Call of the Wolf is the 1st novel in The Kohrinju Tai Saga. Weaving a story driven by character development, captivating visuals, fast moving action and intricate paradox against a background of richly detailed history and culture, J P Nelson has created an innovative new look at elves, leprechauns, dragons and magic with all new creatures, intelligent species and more …

Genres: Fantasy

720 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 23, 2014

Reviews

[TS Chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some mixed feelings about this one. There are parts which are engaging and parts which I find a bit tedious to trawl through. The single POV didn't help in this case. As much as I sometimes do not like to be diverted from the main protagonist's story, I do like to see how the other characters view said protagonist. There are a lot of details, almost too many different cultures and
names which are difficult to remember, as well as a lot of fighting. It's a good story nonetheless, and hence the 3-stars because all-in-all I did like it.

[Zachary · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much potential here. The characters and the character development was great, the culture and world building was fantastic, the writing was well done. However, I found that at times it focused on unnecessary things and made it overly detailed causing me to zone out at times, for example he describes his childhood house in intense detail spanning multiple pages which I found completely unnecessary, he also focused on periods of the MCs life where I would have preferred to just skip over or only focus on briefly but they were huge chunks of the book. I also wish it would have gotten to the point of the MC story from the beginning, (of him fighting in the stadium) quicker because that is what I was really looking forward to. I am quite upset there is a POV change in book 2, I doubt I will read it.

[Caitlyn Wolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

well written and enjoyable

I don’t usually leave reviews, but this book was genuinely epic. Despite being a long read, it was never boring. It flowed seamlessly through continuous adventures. The character development was incredible, and the unbelievable stories felt real. I was very sad as the book was coming to an end (because I wanted more!), but there’s more to this story to read! I can’t recommend this enough. Well done!

[Laurence Zhang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first review, and I may not be as enthusiastic or intelligent as others, so bear with me.

Call of the Wolf is well-written and intelligent, coming of age, high fantasy novel. The story is told from a single POV, a young half-elf called Komain (and later Sedrick and then Timber Wolf). The novel is ~700-800 pages, easily twice as long as other indie works. It’s quite detail-oriented, but the diction is never flowery and the details come through the storytelling. The story starts slowly, with the first 100 pages or so lagging a bit, but from there the story progresses smoothly. Komain is introduced as a slave tournament fighter. The story flashes back to when he was a young halfling, living alone with his elvin mother in enslavement to humans. Our hero Komain learns and grows and goes through a myriad of experiences and adventures. The world Nelson creates is vast and developed. The dialogue is natural and intelligent (nothing that makes you cringe, nothing awkward or stilted). Komain is flawed but likable. He has no qualms about killing his enemies, but he is a generally good guy. The characters around him aren’t necessarily groundbreaking, but each has his/her own personalities and faults and the relationships and interactions Komain has with them reveals his own personal growth. Great settings and descriptions, excellent action scenes (author is a martial arts instructor, a black belt, among other things, so he knows what he’s talking about), good storytelling, rich cultures behind the different races and peoples, elves and dwarves, kings, bandits, slaves, pit fighters, pirates, princes and princesses, different types of magic, a bit of romance…what more could you ask for?

Some negatives:
There were some grammar mistakes and typos, and the text read weirdly in some parts, but that’s what you expect from a self-published work, unfortunately. In one or two parts of the novel, the level of writing decreases enough to break the flow of the story. I also felt that the some of the humor and Komain’s narration were childish, anachronistic, or inconsistent with the context. These things detracted a bit from the overall enjoyment of the book, but should in no way prevent you from giving the book a shot.

4.25/5 stars for me. The main character and the narrative reminded me a bit of Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicles. In some instances, Nelson’s level of writing was on par with Rothfuss’s, which was very impressive.

[Marie Shirley Griffin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not really sci-fi, fantasy or worth the time

I'm a 55 year old female, huge fantasy/sci-fi . I was looking for a good fantasy read. This is not for the serious sci/fi - fantasy reader of any age, really, but the author seemed to gear more towards young males (15-18), with some familiarity of martial arts/Tai Chi.

On Pg. 235 the hero is singing Folsom Prison Blues to a spider, after trying to "communicate" with a rat, despite the fact, Johnny Cash, doesn't exist in this "world".

You'll also find references to other creatures very familiar to other fantasy books roaming the landscape.

As of Pg. 243 there were only 3 typos (for those playing "Where's Waldo?"). I am still wading through it as it's not terrible, just incredibly repetitive - the first 150 pgs. could have been cut in half with the same results.

The real problem, as I see it, is the author is trying to write this "great and wonderful" saga, but can't really seem to "focus" on just one coherent story.

I'm on page 266 and I feel like I keep expecting one of the characters to say, "Yes, Grasshopper, you have mastered ... (pick something)."

The author has talent, but from my perspective, "Grasshopper" would do well to take some writing courses.

GRAPHIC fight scenes

PEDOPHILIA (the first part of the book lends itself to much of this - while not graphic, certainly not for children)

GRAPHIC Language (folks can really cuss in pretty much any language in this world)

[Alyx Harkess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It's hard to put into a short review how it pushed all the right buttons for me. It was long, yet had me excited to see what was coming next. It followed a male protagonist in first person with no other pov's which excited me to no end, I hate reading a book or series that has so many pov's and you don't like the majority of the characters. I loved the world, the plot, the character because he has the potential to be written about for many many books. It was dark and gritty and full of action. It is the quintessential coming of age story about a tortured mind and body striving to become great. I've read this book 3 times and I actually come back to it every couple months to reaffirm my love of the fantasy genre. I was sceptical at first because of the terrible book cover but the old saying about never judging a book by its cover is true in the greatest sense here. Nelson actually opened me up to reading other books I might have balked at because of the cover. So thank you Jp nelson and please write the second one? Iv been checking every month since this book came out!!I

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost 5 stars

Most of the book was written succinctly, but some of it just rambled, big time. The sections I felt that rambled I skipped through, part of living with his mother and Rene's trip. Some stuff felt random and forced, like jazz and Tarzan. I'm still confused about the secret tunnel of flames.

Overall a neat story and looking forward to the next one.

[P Nore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent epic

Engaging protagonist and a different and interesting fantasy world. It could benefit from another proofread. Sometimes Wolf's new skill acquisition seems too easy and too much. Still, I'm anxious to read the next one.