Wolfsaugen

The Sight #1

by David Clement-Davies, Max Bartholl (Translator)

In the shadow of an abandoned castle, a wolf pack seeks shelter. The she-wolf's pups will not be able to survive the harsh Transylvanian winter. And they are being stalked by a lone wolf, Morgra, possessed of a mysterious and terrifying power known as the Sight. Morgra knows that one of the pups born beneath the castle holds a key to power even stronger than her own power that could give her control of this world and the next. But the pack she hunts will do anything to protect their own, even if it means setting in motion a battle that will involve all of nature, including the creature the wolves fear the most: Man.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Animals, Fiction, Wolves, Childrens, Adventure

573 pages, Paperback

First published January 11, 2001

About the author

David was born in 1964 and went to Westminster School and Edinburgh University. There, Clement-Davies read History and English Literature, specializing in the Italian Renaissance, and Russian Literature and Society. For many years, he dreamed of one day becoming an actor taking a drama course and working in theater. However, he was also interested in writing and soon became a freelance travel journalist.

Clement-Davies lived in a little mountain home in Andalusia region of Spain to write The Sight, has traveled the world and now also lives in London. He has also written a musical, two adult novels, and a play, set in the present and the 17th century, called Startled Anatomies, alongside his children’s books. His online publishing website is phoeniarkpress.com and from there he is trying to create a grass roots publisher.

Reviews

[Jackie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought I would love The Sight because it's about wolves but the author knows nothing about wolf behavior and it's annoying me. The things he makes mistakes on are basic behaviors; I feel he was lazy and didn't do his research. He could have found this stuff out in a matter of minutes.
For example, all wolves participate in the rearing of the pups, the author has only the females taking care of the pups. Fact: when pups are born, all members of the pack (male and female) secrete prolactin, 'the nurturing hormone', resulting in all members assisting in the rearing the pups. This is integral to the bonding process that is the single most important aspect of the wolfpack.
The author has non-family members in the same pack. This is a rare occurance as packs are formed of blood-ties, family members, again, integral to the bonding process. On the rare occasion when a pack accepts an outsider, that wolf is given the lowly and undesirable positon of Omega. The author has an outsider as the Omega but he makes the mistake of having other members as outsiders and non family members.
And the biggest faux paw (you get the pun?) is having a second breeding couple. Never would a couple usurp the Alpha male and female's right to be the sole procreators, for many reasons, the most important being it's not in the best interest of the pack, the pack could not sustain such a large number of pups with 2 breeding couples. A couple must leave and form it's own pack if it wants to breed. The author also makes the mistake of the timing of the births, the non-cooperation of the pack, these things just cannot be if a pack is to survive.
Another mistake: an enemy pack walking mere feet away from our pack, and the rival pack doesn't smell them? It's all about the scent for wolves, they don't rely on sight. It's just so inaccurate that I won't bore you with the myriad mistakes I've found because we could be here a long time.
When I read a book, even novels, I want the author to do his research. And Clement-Davies is seriously lacking in this area. It's too bad, because it might have been a better book.

Besides all the inaccuracies, it's just not that interesting. It could have been, with the legends the author added but he goes about it too slow. I'm halfway through and not much has happened with the legend since the initial hook. I don't rush to get back to it. I can't continue with this book at this point, maybe at another time.

Some months later: I eventually went back and finished it and my rating stands for the same reasons as halfway through. The only reason I finished it is I believe I can't say I hated a book with finality until I've finished it. And I think it'll get better (which they never do, sigh).
I can definitively say This Book Sucks from start to finish.

[Dannii Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a young-teenage favourite of mine, which I found comfort in returning to whenever the world got too much to handle. I would begin and drop the book at random intervals: sometimes starting the book from the last place I left off, other times at the beginning, but more often from whatever chapter the book fell open at.

I have no idea why exactly it brought me so much solace, as much of the events that occur are startlingly bleak. I can only imagine that it brought me peace to channel my young teenage angst into events so far displaced from reality. That, combined with this being my first introduction to fiction of this type, made this one of my beloved favourites and it will forever hold a nostalgic place in my heart.

Returning to it as an adult didn't bring with it exactly the same level of joy but I still appreciated the story and will forever reserve a special place in my heart for this book.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Sight seems to be right up my ally, ancient evil, families a'feudin, dark woods, winter and wolves. Checks a lot my boxes we are go for launch, but...this book has a few problems for me that start impeding my enjoyment of this book pretty early on.
Now I have said it before I will say it again "I LOVE wolves", but these wolves are the characters of the book it is their wolf pack that is a'feudin with another evil wolf pack. Hmmm...this concept just did not work for me and I don't know if was in delivery of it by way of the author or what, but every time something bad went down like super suspenseful and or dramatic, I expected the lead wolf to go

Which seems to take away from the creditability of the book, non?

But there were other things too, a lot of the facts about the wolves were not exactly um true, I love wolves and I am no expert, but David Attenborough has taught me a few things and this book was like opposite. I decided that these were "magic" wolves and applied the same rules you would to unicorns.Also they had awful names which I just could not get behind, that being said they were wolves and if one of them was Linda or Barb, I guess that would have been an issue as well.

And then the wolves got a bit frisky ...a bit amorous..? and
NOPE.....Uh-uh
Jessi OUT

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a stunning book. Stunning. I mean, it hit me and grabbed onto me and sucked me right into it.

I guess I do have to admit, it was a hard read. 500+ pages of very long stuff. If you start scanning the book, you get utterly confused.
And everyone dies. The main character dies. All the good characters die... It's heartbreaking for the most part. Depressing...

But it was extremely vivid, and as soon as you're drawn into the story, it is amazing. The Sight is that type of book that makes your heart start beating fast, and you fall in love with the characters.

The Sight is a wolf book. The more or less average fantasy "role-playing-plot" (those online forums which players write in words and 'roleplay' as their own fictional characters for a overall story)
Basically, in one sentence, the Sight is described as:
A family of wolves is torn apart where the main character must stop these evil wolves from enslaving everything, while one by one everyone dies.

It's a pretty hard book to get into, and you absolutely have to read very carefully the book. Meaning, if you don't, you still won't be able to tell the difference between a Drappa and Dragga by the end of the book. There's a lot of made up words in the wolf-language, and paying attention to the somewhat boring beginning is everything.

Most of all... just read... I hear people I have cried from reading this heartwrenching book. It's very emotional.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. 'Wow' is probably the only word that really describes this book. From its begining to amazing ending, David Clemet-Davies' 'The Sight' is definately one of the best books I've ever read.
In its first chapter, Clement-Davies introduces us to the strange and dangerous world of ancient Transylvania through the eyes of a wolf. Transylvania is both riveting and terrifying, where danger and beauty is everywhere. In a vast forest, we meet Huttser and his mate Palla, two alpha wolves, the head pair of a wolf pack. The pack is running away from Palla's half sister, Morgra, who has taken control of the Balkar, a large group of fighting wolves that used to protect the free packs. Palla is heavily pregnant. Little does the pack know, but Huttser and Palla are about to become the parents of a she-wolf who is blessed with an ancient power called the Sight. What was a race for one wolf pack to survive suddenly becomes a war between good and evil when the pack learns about a terrifying prophecy.
According to an ancient legend that Morgra is bent on fufilling, this she-wolf, Larka, is the key to the enslavement of nature itself...if Larka chooses to join her aunt.
David Clemet-Davies' works are always a joy for me to read. His writing is riveting and his views on nature is fastinating. He breathes depth and reality into his characters, especially Morgra and Larka. He created a tragic story behind Morgra's evil which really makes the reader want to sympasize with her. Larka is a bit annoying at first. She cleary doesn't want anything to do with the legend or Morgra. Guilt consumes her when most of her pack is killed off by her aunt's powers, which just gives her more meaning. She is so young when all of this begins, so it's really easy to understand the way she feels. And, eventually, she really matures and grasps her destiny. She deeply believes that love can and will stop the legend. Her faith is touching and unshakable, and it didn't just come out of nowhere. It grew in her heart over time, which enlightens her with depth.
David Clemet-Davies gives us a breathtaking view of the life of the wild wolf, and only makes it more colorful with eerie fantasy based loosly on ancient Romanian legends. He clearly did his research before writing.
Though this is a fantasy, his characters still feel believable. He is able to give them an amazing amount of feeling while still managing to keep them wolfish. You always remember that you're reading about wolves when you read. The supporting characters are simply wonderful in every sense of the word.
This story is long, though, and you do need to kind of force yourself along, but with the great writing and characters, you still want to keep going. The begining is a little slow, but I barely noticed that.

[James Steele · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure what to make of this story of telepathic wolves. It feels like the book is cleaved unevenly in two, so 2/3 of it is bad and the last 1/3 is enjoyable.

In this first cleave, the dialogue is horrible, the narration describes too little and action is glazed over so quickly it left me wondering did something just happen? In a single paragraph as many as three character’s points of view are given, and this flip-flopping changes the story’s focus so much that it’s hard to get a grip on what’s happening.

But when I crossed into the last third of the book, much of the bad dialogue, polluting adverbs (he wrote suddenly), confusing POV flipping, and hazy descriptions disappeared and what followed was a surprisingly well-written ending. It was like watching a writer’s style mature as he wrote.

The ending is exciting, but the beginning and middle are so badly written that the meaning is lost. If the author had taken the first 2/3 through another draft to clarify the enormous amount of back story and get rid of the POV flipping, then it would match the ending and make sense.

Honestly, it felt like this could’ve been great. My hat’s off to Mr. Clement-Davies for creating a potentially mind-blowing story, but coming just short of bringing it into the light.

[TurquoiseStone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to give this book two stars instead of one because as a novel about wolves it is something. That being said, aside from the fact the that characters were wolves, The Sight didn't have anything going for it.

First of all the dialogue had issues. I am definitely not a fan of the characters using each-others names in each line of speech, especially when only two characters are talking!

Also Clement-Davies did not do enough research about wolves. Every time he had one of the wolves 'soaked in sweat' I wanted to throw the book across the room! Wolves can't sweat, instead, like dogs they pant to release excess body heat. The only sweating they can do is through the pads on their paws.

The overall style of the book made reading very cumbersome and slow. I found myself focusing more on the way the book was written instead of what it was trying to say. I came across multiple typos, including one of Morgra's name being spelled Mogra and the line 'Larka's eyes opened as she stared back.', What was the author's intent here? That her eyes widened? Actually, I got the feeling that The Sight was originally written in a different language than English and translated, which would explain the jumbled writing style, but no.

As for the plot, I can't help but compare 'The Sight' to 'Watership Down' and I find Clement-Davies book extremely lacking. There's so much he could have done. I would have far more enjoyed the story of the every wolf trying to survive. Not the chosen one, not the chosen family pack, just a average run of the mill wolf. It didn't have to be grand and spectacular. The wolves' legends were also copy paste from Christianity with an extra deity and extremely distracting. of course the author chose it that way so that he could ram home his belief in evolution.

Why in all these books about animals must the end moral be against man? One of those, only-you-can-prevent-the-down-fall-of-planet-earth, lessons. We hear that in every single book. I am tried of it! Having characters lament global warming doesn't make me want to recycle and reuse. It makes me want to throw the book across the room!

I wish there were more animal centric stories that didn't involve man. Just cut him out all together, or give him a very minor part -That doesn't make the balance of the earth hang in his hands- I read books with animal characters to read about animals, not humans, not global warming, just animals.

[Jane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did Not Finish


Sometimes after reading a book this is you, "OMG, what were they talking about? The book was freaking AWESOME!!!" And other times you're like, "Wow, I really wish I had listened to those hate comments." <--- That's me. Bad writing, fake wolf behavior, confusing, just to name a few problems.

Let me get two things straight first, I LOVE wolves, and I LOVE fantasy. So why wouldn't I LOVE this book? Let me tell you why I didn't with many examples.


Fake Wolf Behavior:

As Bran padded inside, he pushed accidentally against Huttser, who turned and snarled at him. Bran jumped sideways, creeping back to the edge of the wall in submission and showing his throat to the Dragga.

Showing his throat? Seriously? Shouldn't it say he rolled onto his back, which is the highest position of submission? No? Okay, how about he pushed his ears back, another sign of submission? No? Alright then... wolves do not show their throat in submission. Another example below.

Wolves rarely look at each other directly in the eye for fear they might raise the other's anger.

First off, wolves are all about eye contact! That is one of the main ways they communicate. Yes, sometimes eye contact can be used to give a warning glare, but it's not usual among pack mates. The author did not do his research at all.


The Confusing Parts:

Throughout the book the wolves use words from their own language, such as Dragga and Drappa. At first I'm thinking this is pretty cool, then we get introduced to Sikla, Varg, Putnar, and Herla. That's a lot of words to remember what they all mean. But no problem, right? Surely the author will explain them a lot so we can catch on. Yeah, no. We get a single explanation for each word, and then we're expected to remember it forever. Awesome.


The Cringe Parts:

"They're so very little, Huttser."
"I know, Palla."
The parents fell silent for both knew the harsh laws of survival and how much danger faces young cubs in the world.
"Well, we shall have to feed you up, Palla," said Huttser tenderly at last, "so your milk is as rich as sunlight."
"We'll bury the others outside the den, Huttser, beneath the birch tree."

Am I the only one who was annoyed by the constant use of names within the speech? At first it was cheesy, now it's just annoying.


Did I Mention That The Sight Is A Freaking History Book?

Huttser was right, for this was the time before the coming of Stephen the Great, the Hungarian king and fabled defender of Christendom, when a new threat had arisen like a specter in the East. Even now Ottoman Turks, who came from the southern lands and adhered to nothing of the Christians' beliefs, pressed hard at the haunches of eastern Europe and belief fought belief, as power wrestled power.

Someone please tell me how this is relevant to the storyline. PLEASE.


The Writing:

Let's be fair, the author obviously did a good amount of world building. It shows quite plainly from the wolf language to the wolf belief system. The editing was good too, as far as punctuation and grammar goes. As for the actual writing, you might be able to see how bad it is from my examples.

I don't think I made it far enough into the book to get a really good idea of the storyline, but I think it's mainly about this wolf that is hunting the pack. She is called Morgra and is suppose to have a power called the Sight, although some wolves don't believe in the power. The plot I found very interesting, and I was often wondering about Morgra. The author did a great job at creating suspense, only for the reasons above was the book ruined for me.


End Notes:

I really can't understand how this book ever got to an average of 4 stars. Nonetheless, I will probably come back to this book to see if my opinion of it changed. I doubt it will, but I am willing to give it another shot.

[Ashley Marie]

This has been on my currently-reading for too long without me picking it up or showing the slightest interest in getting back to it. I really enjoyed it the first time I read it but it's time for this copy to move along to a new home. Melodramatic and overly wordy. My brain wants me to keep FELL mainly bc of the glorious cover, but having not finished this I think I may pass that along as well. So sorry to Steph and Julie for keeping you guys waiting <3

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buddy-read with Ashley & Stephanie! I remember really-really loving Fire Bringer, which is what led to reading this book (plus WOLVES, I love wolves). I thinnnnnk Clement-Davies' earlier book was better, but my memories are so hazy that it's hard to tell whether it's just nostalgia colouring my view.

Ultimately, I'm going with 3 stars for this: it could go up for some aspects, could go down for others, so I'm resting firmly middle-of-the-line.

Clement-Davies' worldbuilding is really the best part of the whole book. I really enjoy his vision of wolf society and their belief systems; the world of The Sight is steeped in Christian theology, Norse and Greek mythology, Transylvanian/Balkan history, fairytales, and Dracula(!). Even a nod towards Arthurian myth, too, because "Morgra" is reminiscent of Morgan le Fay/Morgana, complete with her black raven familiar and dark magic (she channelled serious Disney Villainess vibes in pretty much every single one of her scenes). And I'm spoiling the moment, but one of my "oh gosh, this is wonderful" reactions was when one wolf told a tale that you eventually recognise as Cain/Abel, seen through the lens of a reversed Red Riding Hood.

But... Unfortunately, at almost 500 pages, this book is just too long and wordy for what it is. The language is relatively complicated, but imo it could/should have been a much faster, punchier, edited-down read, especially since the plot itself is pretty surface-level and straightforward. I just kept thinking how much I want to see this as a kids' animated movie instead (along the lines of Balto or something. just wreck me now!), especially since the cheesy plot might work better in animated form rather than text.

I wish I'd read this back when it came out, because then it probably would have been my EVERYTHING. Today, though, it hasn't aged all that well, mostly because everything is SO MELODRAMATIC. The villainess practically cackles "I'll get you, my pretty!" as lightning cracks overhead (I laughed out loud at that scene because it was 2 much).

I've also grown much, much less tolerant of Chosen One narratives and prophecies, because they feel like predictably ticking off the boxes, events unfolding the way they were always meant to unfold, and it strips characters of their agency. Instead, my favourite thing is characters railing against their fates and prophecies and thus inadvertently shooting themselves in the foot and bringing about their own downfall (holla, Oedipus). I do really appreciate that the Chosen One was the female wolf, though, and that she was our heroine, when it so easily could have been her brother Fell or friend Kar.

It was an enjoyable enough read, but felt like it went veeeery slowly for my usual pace. I wouldn't actively recommend it to people, but I didn't dislike it either, so it really just falls right down the middle (the worldbuilding still being the main redeeming factor). I'll probably still pick up the sequel at some point, but not immediately!

Random points:
- Putting on the obligatory disclaimer: the concept of alpha and beta wolves is a wrong and outdated myth! We should all stop propagating it in our fiction!

- It's not actually a werewolf book, but the legends of the Man Varg are rampant enough that I'm shelving it as such anyway.

- They namedropped Rannoch from Fire Bringer! And I think he may have cameoed towards the end there??? (I mean, I'm assuming it was him, but I honestly can't remember if he survived the events of his book.)

Spoilery notes about the ending:
- I really like that last page and got feelsy about the final lines, and how it all circled back again and echoed theology some more.

- I liked the environmental message while it was happening (an important thing for kid readers to hear about!), but... what was actually the point of the plot in this entire book? If the wolves are already forgetting Larka's vision, then why did all this happen? How are the wolves going to help bring about a breed of psychic environmentalist humans (???)? Is it all on Bran? In that case, was this all technically a prelude to a strapping male human Chosen One saving the world? They stopped Morgra, sure, but that just doesn't feel Significant Enough as an achievement for me, idk.

- I honestly cannot decide how I feel about Larka's death. On the one hand: hooray for authors being brave enough to kill their main characters and stick with it! (I had a fleeting moment of being SO AFRAID that Clement-Davies would, to be crass, pussy out and find a way out of it, like too many authors have done with Foretold Deaths. I am sick and tired of Chosen Ones dying and then coming back.) On the other hand, I'm not especially enamoured with stories where our female protagonist has to sacrifice herself for everyone else because she's too good, too pure for this world. On the other other hand, she's their Jesus figure, so it's par for the course? Ugh, I dunno.

- The ~twist~ about Wolfbane was the most blatantly telegraphed, obvious reveal that I feel like could only take middle grade readers by surprise. (Then again, I was primed by knowing that the second book in the series is called Fell...

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man...what can I say about this book.
Last read this nearly a decade ago. 3.5 stars. The story is good but it's greatly flawed. It's far too long, it reads as a rehash of Davies first book, Fire Bringer and the deaths are just awful. I understand keeping things realistic but Davies just takes it a step too far. This book filled me with hopelessness. Fire bringer came full circle and left me feeling contented but The Sight just left me sad and confused.

Also all the lore and stories of Gods etc just didn't work for me in this book, they weren't slipped seamlessly into the telling but disrupted the story every time they popped up. So much repetition in this book had my eyes glazing over more than once.

For all that you do fall in love with the characters, you become invested in their wellbeing (at your own risk...). The story is interesting and well fleshed out. Some parts of the book are beautiful and interesting.

I'm not rushing into the sequel of this book - Fell. I need a couple of books in between to lift my spirits!

[Beth Bacon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have two huge issues with this book. First, the plot relies way too much on the protagonists happening to overhear the villans' minions discussing plans. When your characters are wolves in the wilds of Transylvania, you could maybe get away with this once. But it just kept happening. They're wolves. They would have smelled each other.

Second, and more importantly, the religious message was heavy handed and just wrong. The wolves have a religion that is clearly derived (and grossly distorted) from Christianity, with several other religions thrown in. That enough was enough to make me dislike the book, but then the hero has an "awakening" experience, realizes that it's all a lie, and preaches for several pages about just needing to love yourself. It was heavy-handed humanist propaganda at the end of the book.

[Katie O'Farrell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this book as gift from a friend. I read half of it about 6 years ago and just picked it back up.

I was not a fan of the authors style and felt the book could have easily been condensed to half its length while not compromising the story.

The undertones of environmentalism and anti religion attitudes I found annoying as well as the assumption that people are bad and just destroy the world. Ultimately I found the book to be nihilistic and the story just not strong enough to counter balance it.

The research on wolf behaviour was also quit weak though I recognize it is fantasy.

Beautiful cover and some nice moments in the book. My one star report is my personal analyses of the content but if this book is your style it could be a fun read.

[Numa Parrott · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was interesting at first, but then it became severely depressing and more than a little confusing. I never even finished it but I deffinetly wouldn't recomend it!

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a she-cub is whelped with a coat that is white, / And a human child stolen to suckle the Sight.....

This is probably the most difficult review I've had to ever put together for any book, and that's because I'm trying to mesh my childhood enchantment at this book with more critical analysis. I've come back and edited this draft a few times now.

I'm going to skip telling the plot, if only because a hundred reviews have done so before me. Needless to say, it's a drama between talking wolves, with an evil she-wolf whose plans involve taking over the wolf military and ruling the wolves with an iron fist (paw), while chasing her sister's pack to the ends of the earth. She has a fledgling magical power, known as the stuff of myth and legend in wolf culture, and she is looking for another just like her as was foretold. Together, they can unwind reality itself....unless a sacrifice is paid.

The thing is, The Sight is many things to many people. For some, it's a classic. For others, it profoundly misses the mark.

However, I found this Gothic tale - that's what it is, full of European settings, castles, dark religion, temples, blood, ravens, empires, prophecies and, well, wolves - to be marvellous. A cursed family, fleeing the inevitability of fate amidst a beautiful setting -what a beginning! It's completely hat-stand mad. The key to reading this book is to just leap in, and suspend your disbelief.

Perhaps that is the reason why it doesn't quite ring true for some readers - because ultimately it's hoist by its own petard. If it had been published next to Dracula, or had been some old text by an author that we barely know anything about, the melodrama would be accepted. The novel appears to have fallen foul of the recent literary fatigue for certain themes and ideas, and that, for the record, isn't its fault. It's a casualty of the current literary thinking and the trends that dominate the book market. I'm not saying it's a part of the Western canon (though, to be honest, the canon is complete and utter bollocks), but I'm saying that this is a book that probably would've been received better a few decades ago when people were first exploring fantasy instead of the Noughties, when the fantasy genre started to bloat. This novel is also a lot like Clement-Davies' last offering, The Fire Bringer, which is not nearly so good.

With blood at the altar the vision shall come / When the eye of the moon is round as the sun.....

The novel isn't the only thing that is sort of out of time. And that's because everyone in this novel is out of time - or, rather, so engrained in their own as to make even reading it out of its setting seem bizarre and unnatural. I'd kill to be able to read this in the Carpathian Mountains. It's steeped, almost marinated, in traditionalism. Everything is reminiscent of what we have seen before, not in the sense of rehashing old things but more in the idea of revelling in repetition, in ritual, in the established way of things (this is, again, something that goes against the current literary trends). The wolves are a proud race with their own concept of honour, the idea of something ancient to be adhered to. There's a glory to, and a longing for, the old times within every character; there exists a melancholy that can't quite be shifted, a feeling further emphasised by the dramatic irony that, of course, the time of the wolves is coming to an end. Soon, the world will change. This isn't the only source of dramatic irony: the tradition that is so adhered to, the one that the characters prize so much, is, in the end, the very thing that leads to the family's doom. It’s cyclical, and more to the point, it traps the reader in the same cycle of remembering and forgetting as its main characters. It is not a spoiler to say the lera, the wild animals, forget. We do too. There is nothing new under the sun.

Its ideas about prophecy, about magical talking wolves, about this mystical world where mysterious powers intertwine....it does seem to have aged into some sort of cringy, hackneyed attempt at a plot, and you can see that through other, more brutal reviews of the title; a lot of reviewers see this edge. But I find this book works well when you envelop yourself in its mysticism. It's wintry, it's brutal, and under its odd expressions and furry protagonists is a story that is actually quietly profound.

In the citadel raised by the lords of before, / The stone twins await-both the power and the law....

This whole novel is incredibly allegorical in tone. It's fatalistic, and some may say gloomy, but tragedies remain a source of entertainment - probably because we can explore sad things 'safely' but also, probably, because there's something inherently soothing about a closed circle, about a fate you can't escape. What is going to happen happens, and in that, you can find peace. There's no worrying about what's going to happen. The course is set; the words are written; the friendly jaws of the trap kiss each incision into your skin. It's partially a bildungsroman, partially a meditation on family, and partially....something older. It's incredibly cinematic in its scope.

The thing is, it might be easy for some people to dismiss The Sight based on its young fanbase. But not only was I part of that fanbase once upon a time, and it helped me a lot when I was younger and gave me something else to concentrate when times were tough for me - which is valid - but I've said it before, and I'll say it again: just because kids like something doesn't mean it's automatically bad. If anything, I'd say the reason kids seem to love it is because they haven't encountered the same literary influences as adults have. It wades into subject matter that kids haven't quite touched on yet, so it seamlessly fits in with what they read later. As an adult, however, it appears like much of the same. It's a weird kaleidoscopic book where no one sees quite the same picture.

And who shall divine, in the dead of the night, / The lies from the truth, the darkness from light?

Some people have mentioned the lack of accuracy when it comes to wolf behaviour, and probably chiefly the fact that there's the pack 'sikla', or omega (the research that introduced the alpha, beta and omega systems in wolf packs was based on artificial wolves in an unrealistic environment - they're family sets in real life). However, come on - this is entertainment. You can suspend disbelief. I don't think Clement-Davies (god bless his parents for their unoriginality) was trying to write something accurate here. Even my childhood self as an absolute animal fanatic was willing to put my otherwise picky nature aside to enjoy the fiction. It's like the romance genre in that talking animal books are always going to be a niche interest. However, if you go into this novel knowing that, you will get on with it better.

The only reason I don't give it a full five stars is that I'm not blind to its faults. Others have mentioned the sexism of this book, and to be honest although it didn't give me too much grief at the time - I saw it more ritualistic than anything - I can see their point of view. The fact that the female main antagonist is sterile is seen as a perversion, and that definitely hasn't aged well. It also relies heavily on Judeo-Christian themes, which may be hit-and-miss for some people. This is also certainly not a straight realist animal novel: this is fantasy.

However, if you took the tropes apart, I think more people would like this book. You've got a brother and a sister pair, one doomed to darkness, the other light; a power couple forced to fight one another, the 'resistance', persecution, a creepy soothsayer, a quite honestly very cool prophecy poem, doomed lovers, the idea of mystical elements; animal companions; brutality amongst beauty; I could go on. The imagery and symbolism of this book is half the fun. The planets, history, an epic battle, a holy citadel; what more could you want? The Sight is very richly textured. Clement-Davies gives us a lavish feast for the senses in this novel. It is rich in embroidery, in ornate trappings that all add to the doomed majesty of its characters. This book revels in incorporating all of the primal elements of a fairy tale in a new way, and I wish that half of the readers who enjoy modern fairy tales, and all of the really popular 'reimaginings' that are currently on the market try The Sight first. And again, remember the young fanbase - leave it to the kids. They recognise a fairy tale when they read one.

I'm persuading myself to read this again now.

Tl;dr - the takeaway is that this book has divided opinion, and will probably continue to do so. I, however, loved it and will continue to love it. Perhaps now is the right time for The Sight to make a return, as it itself did, as it will do, and, I am convinced, as it will, perhaps with a better response.

Like the cry of the scavenger, torn through the air / A courage is needed as deep as despair...

[bella (alexander's version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

That ending was kind of sad ☹️

Plot: 5/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing style: 2.5/5
Characters: 4.5/5

This book was actually pretty good. But I just couldn't get into it idk why. It's right up my alley with:

Wolf POV ✔️
Death after death ✔️
Villains ✔️
Good character names ✔️

Overall not very many critiques. My original rating was just 3 stars but now it's 4 bc reviewing my thoughts on the book, there's not very many bad things. I think my subconscious felt the writing style was hard to read.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t read this book in forever, but I remember some of it quite well! Hope one day to read it again! The cover was the first thing that caught my attention and the length of it seemed daunting, but I got it anyway and boy was I glad that I did! So detailed and full of vision! Was a little slow at the beginning, but grew to dive deeper into it after that and couldn’t wait to get to the end! Great read! 🐾
And a love for wolves only encouraged me on to try it!

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

   The last time I read this book, I was in high school (about 10 years ago (!) ), and I remember really enjoying it – a story about a wolf family, with magic and a prophecy to guide the way. And that there was a cameo from Clement-Davies other book, Fire Bringer. The rest of the details I was fuzzy at best on. This time, it is a buddy-read with Julie and Ashley!

   I will say, this book reads a lot longer than it should – there is a lot of depth to the story, with many different elements tied in to create a certain atmosphere – elements and reflections of Christianity, of Roman mythology, of Carpathian/Romanian mythology, even allusions to a certain fanged creature of the dark. There are definitely parallels drawn, too, between not only the wolf mythology of Tor and Fenris with their daughter Sita’s sacrifice for the wolves to Jesus in Christianity (right down to small details, such as “[Sita] said that they should send her their children, for she knew that children can really see the truth and she loved children above all things” – page 74), but this parallel is extended even further into the active characters of this story, namely, Larka. I found the parallels very obvious, though you were not quite hit over the head with them despite the repetition (especially with how very closely Sita’s story reflects the life and death of Jesus… still can’t quite get over how her story is basically a copy of Jesus’ story).

   Another theme which played out just as loud as, if not louder than, the Sita/Jesus/character parallels was a theme of fear, and the evolution of the perception/reception of fear. Some examples of that evolution:

   “Fear is an instinct, like hunger or anger. We need it to help us survive, and it is nothing to be ashamed of. It tells us whether we should fight or flee.”—page 162

   “I love the wilderness, Slavka,” [Huttser] growled, “but it is hard too.”
    “Yes, Huttser,” she agreed, “as we must be hard. There must be no place for weakness or fear, for fear destroys thought. We must be strong, strong as the wilderness itself. […]” – page 260

   [Larka said,] “We must live free from fear, Jarla. Nothing can grow in fear, but hate.” – page 281

   There were more instances/moments talking and referring to fear and its benefits and detriments in life, but the above were some of the ones which stuck out the most for me. I found the evolution and changes in how the characters perceived fear interesting, because just as we do in real life, there would be back and forths about the benefits and the detriments of how much one lets fear affect one’s life, and there was a certain fluidity with the resultant effects of these shifting views.

   As I mentioned earlier, this book was also a lot longer than it really needed to be to tell its story. There were several contributing factors to this – the extended parallels between Larka’s story and wolf/human lore/religion, the nature of a vague prophecy and how it ends up being followed or rather how it ends up happening regardless of how invested the characters are in helping it to come true. Part of it was also what I found a strange balance of when scenes are told to the reader versus shown to the reader – there were some instances where events were roughly summarized which I think would have been better detailed, and other instances where we were given a play-by-play of some event which seemed less important and worthy of such detail. One example of this is It was the rebels who had captured them on the ice that night […] At first Huttser had asked for free passage through the mountains, but Slavka had laughed at him and told him that the free wolves were either for or against Morgra. That there was no middle way. – page 255 – there is a lot of potential in this interaction, which will set the stage for how future interactions between Huttser/Palla and Slavka play out. But we only get the summary of their first encounter, and thus miss out on seeing that crucial first interaction with all of its nuances, with Huttser/Palla hiding who they are from Slavka while still having to play at her game in order to survive.

   Contributing to the length of the book, though in a good way, were some of the descriptions of the natural world scattered throughout. From the very first page of the book, we get a crystal clear idea of how this world appears, and the beauty of it all. And these descriptions continue to be scattered throughout the book:

    At last they came to the far edge of the trees, and the river lay before them. It was at its widest point here. They saw a perfect sheet of white stretching ahead and glistening brilliantly in the moonlight. Along the banks, willow and vine trees had bowed their heads over the frozen edge of the water, and their trailing branches were shawled with snow. Below them, the last residues of autumn grasses—strangling leaves and tilting bulrushes—had been seized into a static beauty by winter’s grip, glittering with tiny icicles and bulbs of frozen dew that flashed like stars. – page 167-168

   Clement-Davies definitely does an excellent job painting the world of The Sight, and infuses life and color and energy into even the coldest, darkest of scenes.

   Instead of rambling on about more aspects of the story, some of which are addressed in the quotes/commentary section below anyways, I will say that it was a nice read, though a simple, rather straight-forward story cloaked in complex images and allusions. I’ll read the sequel, though I hope it will better address one thing in particular that sort of bothered me about Larka – how she just accepted her role, rather slipped into it, with ease despite her misgivings and initial desire to have nothing to do with it – it was rather a case of the prophecy left her no choice, and she decided to accept that she had no choice and just go along with it after several trials even though she could have still railed against her “destiny” more actively. I hope that the sequel will delve more into the MC’s head and thoughts, so we get a clearer picture of the evolution of their decisions and preferences than we did with Larka.

Quotes/commentary/questions:

    [Brassa explained,] “She’s ready, Huttser, and she must do this alone. The law allows no Varg into the den during birthing. Don’t worry. Palla will summon you when she’s ready.” – page 25 – I found it kind of strange that it would be required she give birth alone, without even the elderly/experienced Brassa by her side to help…

    [Khaz’s secret that] Khaz’s cubs had been stirring inside her. The cubs that at first she had fought the river to protect, until she remembered that they would never have a father to love and nurture them. – page 122 – I found it kind of strange that Kipcha would just…give up like this without Khaz to father their cubs; I mean, her and Khaz and Brassa and Bran all contributed to raising Larka and Fell, so why wouldn’t the pack take over care of Kipcha’s cubs as well? Does this go back to how only the Dragga and Drappa of the pack are supposed to have cubs in this particular wolf family-structure present in this book?

    “And do not dreams tell us truths and secrets of the world before we recognize things with our waking thoughts?” – page 217

    “[…] The body can grow sick with guilt and shame and secrets. Or even by taking on too much responsibility.” – page 245

   “But here,” said Karma almost sadly, her growls reaching deeper and deeper, “Slavka will not let us talk of such things, or even tell our own stories. Not of Zostar, nor Tor, nor the Sight. She says we must believe nothing of faith, old or new, but only in fighting and survival. She thinks they are the same as freedom.”
    […] “But don’t you agree?” asked Palla quietly.
    “What freedom is it to believe in nothing?” snorted Karma.
    “But, Karma,” whispered Keeka, looking even more confused, “Palla believes in Tor and Fenris. While you believe in Zostar. They can’t both be true. That stands to reason.”
    “They may just be stories,” nodded Karma, “ways of naming and talking about the world. But my kind believe that in stories often great truths lie concealed, unconscious truths, if we only know how to interpret them.”
[truth a word for that which is not a lie – What about the slavery of knowing too much?] – page 266

    “[…] Enjoy your form, Larka, for you have a right to be what you are, as much right as anything else.” – page 293

   Page 295 – when Larka is far away and sees danger coming towards her new “pack,” she complains that the Sight is useless because she can’t use it to help/help warn them. But couldn’t she slip into Skart, even briefly, so that she could relay him the message?

   Everywhere, the rebels lay: at the edge of the trees, contorted into unnatural shapes, some still stirring as the life left them, others alive only in the energy that decay would return to the earth. – page 328

   Kar had lost the living pool of company in which to view his own reflection. He no longer knew himself or what he was becoming. – page 360 – Seems a little strange how this came about, but okay…

   Larka nodded slowly. “You must try and forget,” she whispered, “and forgive. That is the only way to be free, Gart. Or at least forget the hate your memories bring. We must learn to heal our memories.” – page 394

   Standing alone above the tree line, on a rocky outcrop, was a single red deer. – page 402 -- …Rannoch?!?! How could that even be possible, unless it is a vision for Larka maybe?

    […] in that moment, he had known that to kill the body was not the most terrible thing there was, but to kill and maim the soul with hate and lies, to kill the mind and heart that must be free. – page 435

   Because love takes responsibility, and in all experience, too, there is a pact between the seer and the seen, the listener and the storyteller, the judge and the judged. – page 448

   “I did not escape the legend, Kar. For it was its own kind of trap, as Man’s freedom will be if he doesn’t learn. But life is not a legend or a story. Reality is far more precious than a story. And to love one another we must begin to see each other properly. Besides, Kar, at times, the greatest courage of all is to live.” – page 459


Typos:
“The cave was low ceilinged, so that Huttser… -- page 13 – Opening quote unnecessary, as no one is speaking.

…share the secrets she was learning about the sight. – page 184 – “sight” should be capitalized, as it refers to the Sight.

…just as Larka had once done in the den Larka snarled at the sight. – page 220 – Could be just a printing error, but there should be a period after “den”.

… the [three] wolves panting breath steaming and smoking around the baby… -- page 277 I think it should be “wolves’ “?

…fondly at her parents “I must leave you now […]” – page 368 – Missing a period after “parents”

…nuzzling the little Sikla toward him… -- page 463 – But previously, she had been referred to as a drappa…

[Pandora Elinor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book as a child. I'm not sure how old I was but it really captured my imagination. Now that I've reread it I can see why: first of all the themes and setting are amazing. Wolves in Transylvania, wild forests and mountains, snow and ice. A prophecy, a young white she-wolf with the Sight. Awesome!

And the author definitely has a gift for creating stunning, awe-inspiring imagery. It really fires up the imagination. The deserted citadel, the black wolf and the white wolf, the wheeling eagle... The prophecy feels tangible and inescapable as well all through the book, as I read I was hooked on finding out how it would unfold and come to pass. The worldbuilding and mythology are complex and clearly the author put a lot of thought into them.

So before I get to my criticisms I do want to make it clear that this book does get some things right, and for those reasons alone it's already an interesting, worthwhile read. But I feel I need to point out where it fails for me, because these things could also bother other people. So this will probably sound really negative, even though in reality I'm of two minds over this book. I really enjoyed some aspects, it's just that others were problematic for me.

First of all, a couple minor details: the characterisation isn't very layered. There is a large cast of characters but most are very one-dimensional, making it hard to feel attached to any of them. This book takes an even more extreme approach to character safety than A Song of Ice and Fire, yet I didn't feel as sad as I should have because I just didn't identify with many characters.
I would say the only ones I really liked and had an emotional connection with were Larka, who is a lovely character, brave when it counts but flawed and likeable, and Kar, who is just a darling.
One character we were supposed to like, Huttser, was even actively unlikeable to me. He was a macho jerk throwing his weight around.

The dialogue wasn't the best. At times it felt stilted and unnatural, or was really too obviously a way to get some exposition in. The characters kept telling each other stories, and while I get that the author was trying to build a mythology for his world, some of them were rather unnecessary and felt overindulgent.

There is a lot of head-hopping. I am probably more patient than most about this, but even to me it got a little jarring sometimes. But mostly I could get over it. However one thing that annoyed me, I don't know why, is when in the midst of the head hopping some really clumsy foreshadowing would happen. Let me give an example : say two characters have just had an emotionally charged conversation, they turn tail and leave. The narration will then say something like "But even as they left, they didn't know eyes were glinting from behind the leaves, watching them". This happens all. the. damn. time and it got irritating. If you want to use foreshadowing, find a way of weaving it naturally into the story. Don't keep pointing out what your characters don't know, it makes them seem stupid and doesn't help us feel connected to them.

Lastly there was clearly an attempt to weave human history in the region, and even human history in general, into the story. I don't feel like the author quite pulled this off. As he was trying to write in the wolf worldview, he would try to simplify all of this into concepts that wolves could maybe understand, except that was a failure and only succeeded in making this history seem dumbed down, sometimes overly general and sometimes weirdly overly specific, as well as oriented and heavy handed about his message. You could tell he was trying to make this into timeless wisdom and... it just didn't work for me.

Now let's get to the major problems, for me. First, my pet peeve, animal behaviour. While some of the mistakes could be attributed to out-of-date references, this book is just far too inaccurate about wolf behaviour and pack dynamics. Writing anthropomorphic fantasy must be really difficult and I am willing to allow for minor inaccuracies, as long as the spirit of the animal, the fundamental differences from human worldview, are respected. I didn't really feel that was the case here. Wolves gathering in packs of male fighters, or gathering in a huge army-like pack and training for war... No. That's just impossible to imagine when you know anything about this species' behaviour. The composition of the pack of heroes we are introduced to was also all wrong, as far as my understanding of wolves go. There were also some huge mistakes that had me scratching my head. Wolves don't sweat until their fur is soaked. They don't cry tears. Etc. A lot of this could have been corrected with a little research. I don't feel there was enough of an effort to enter into the potential mindset of a wolf. There was good, imaginative worldbuilding. There just wasn't enough effort to make it match up with reality.

Next, and perhaps most egregious of all to me: the sexism. Funny how I hadn't noticed any of this as a child, but during this reread I had to check the publication date at one stage because I just couldn't believe a modern book could be this bad. 2001. I felt like it could have been 40 years older. It's doubly disappointing to me because none of this actually exists in the wild between wolves. There really wasn't any need for any of it. This is 100% the author inserting his worldview and his prejudice about males and females into the story. The author thinks the alpha male is the ultimate leader of the pack, and when it comes down to it, his mate must obey him. (This stupid idea is a large part of why Huttser comes across as such an ass. I don't even think the author realises how much of a jerk he's made poor Huttser, in order to conform to his idea of an alpha male). It's his right to take the cubs on their first hunt, as his mate reminds him when she cedes the role to him. Males will hunt for the pack while all 3 females stay behind to look after a measly 2 cubs. Because those are their roles. Anyone with a little knowledge about wolves will know how absurd this is. Both baddies in the story are females, and in both cases became big baddies because of a perversion, a wrongness, in their performance of motherhood, the ultimate feminine role. Morgra is sterile. It is repeatedly thrown in her face that she cannot experience a mother's love for her cubs. She is bitter and filled with hate. Slavka preferred to kill her own cubs than to let human hunters and their dogs kill them. This has turned her "hard" and now she pursues an unnatural militaristic idea of survival. There are no true male baddies, somehow. Lastly, even as a child I was a little bothered that Larka, who has had a more powerful and active role than other good females are allowed in the story, has to die at the end. Only the males who have shared her extraordinary fate are also allowed to continue on with a normal life. She cannot have both power and knowledge, and also live to become a mother and raise cubs. She must die, a virgin sacrifice. Somehow doesn't sit well with me.
Anyway, I'm not good at articulating exactly how and why but some very antiquated attitudes permeate the story and kind of ruin it for me. I can sometimes enjoy some works despite some sexism in them. But I think in this case it's particularly jarring because it really is human projection and not something that actually exists among wolves.

Lastly, this story is so unrelentingly dark and hopeless. It pays lip service to love and hope but we really don't get to see much of those. It's a lot of death, of sadness and fear. (GRRM stares at this book's death toll in envy!) Somehow I was more ok with this as a kid. Maybe because now I've seen how hard life can be, I don't really want more of that in my stories and I prefer to read books where there is more balance between pain and joy. I can read dark things, but there needs to be a bit of humour and happiness too to keep me going. The end is... unsatisfying. It feels meaningless. I don't understand WHY this had to happen, why it was inevitable, why the price had to be paid. It won't have made any difference.

The sexism and the bleak, dark tone are two main reasons I wouldn't recommend this for a kid. However if you are passionate about wolves, or like atmospheric stories about dark prophecies, it's worth a read.

[Isabeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

i'm walking backward into my own myth...

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second time I've tried to read this book after having bought it at like 13, but alas, it was not to be as I've decided to drop this book again at 50% completion.

Firstly, I found the overtly Christian undertones really off-putting. Davies basically copies stories straight from the Bible and substitutes in wolf characters, including a wolf Jesus, a wolf God, a wolf Adam and Eve and a even Wolf Satan. Now, I understand writers hope to give their readers a message in their works, but I like my subliminal messages to be a little more subtle than having literal direct-quotes force fed to me, and I like them to include a hearty dose of Atheism.
The frequent Sunday-school-esque scenes where the children asked questions about the God and Jesus wolf and discussed "free will"were pure agony and felt patronising to me, hence why I think this book was aimed at a younger, more influenceable target audience.

With that in mind, there is a frightening glamorisation of suicidal thoughts, and sexist and classist implications. I think Davies used the fact that his characters were wolves to pretend they, and therefore his writing, were outside human morals and rules. Like, of course he gets physical with her and constantly snaps to put her in her place, he's the Alpha.

The plot progression occurred one of two ways.
1) The characters' completely needless stupidity.
For example, when crossing a river covered in very thin ice, after having been explicitly warned to look out for the "fifth element" ice(?)

"Safety," whispered Palla. "Safety at last."
But as Fell brought up the rear, and the wolves grew more confident, he found himself looking up into the night sky again. His attention began to wander as he gazed at the stars. The Wolf Trail, the pathway between heaven and earth, he kept thinking, and as he did so, he started to drift away to the right.

You have to pay attention for all of five minutes to NOT DIE!

2) Overhearing strangers that show up out of no-where.
In the 223 pages I read, they learned what to do next this way four, different, times.
Four times! He clearly kept hitting dead ends since he went and killed off all the decision making characters with their own idiocy to generate some drama!
Also, lets not forget, this is a book about wild animals, yet somehow our heroes hide within earshot of wolves, with noses and somehow go undetected every time?

I think the final straw for me was when he used a cop-out 'technique' I find more infuriating than any other, which is when no proper explanation is given when a character asks "Why didn't you say something before?"
A prime example of this is in Breaking Dawn when Edward says that Jacob being a 'shape shifter', not a werewolf all along NEVER CAME UP!?!?!?

Basically, it goes a little something like this:

"Then why didn't he talk to me before?" asked Larka, suddenly feeling bitterness again for all that had happened to her. "if he'd helped us before perhaps Kar--"
"Don't be ungrateful," Snapped Skart. "I saved your life, didn't I? Before you were far too young, Larka. Your eye wasn't open yet and I didn't want to frighten you away. Though if I'd realized quite how much you know already, perhaps I might have come even sooner. But anyway, I needed to wait."
"Wait for what?" said Larka sullenly.
"Wait for you to ask for help, of course."

Oh, of course. I watched you struggle all along as everyone around you died and never let you know I was even here, but of course all you had to do was ask.

[Bailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book that I didn't finish, unfortunately. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever read, but it just felt a little lifeless. I really don't mind 'animals + prophecy' tropes, but this was feeling a bit too predictable and heavy-handed with its plotting and characters, and the dialogue was killing me the whole time. Every time characters would speak to each other, it would feel unnatural and often exposition-heavy, and there was may too much use of character names in actual speech. It felt something like:
"I'm scared, Larka."
"Me too, Kar."
"But Larka, you're always so brave."
"Oh Kar, I'm not brave at all."
I just... no. Just no.
Also it was bugging me that characters were getting killed off left and right (though I skimmed through the end to see if I missed anything good and apparently they didn't actually die? or something? I don't know). Anyway, I've tried a couple of different times to get through this book, and I just can't do it. It kinda has the feeling of the sort of youtube animations kids used to make for fun using their original characters that no one ever finished. While I like what this book was trying to do, I feel like it just didn't quite get there.

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full Review:
http://ibeeeg.blogspot.com/2009/05/si...

This is a wonderfully written story. It is intricate in that the story's tales are woven throughout...the tales of superstition, myths, beliefs, truths, discovery, loss, love and sadness.

The Sight is broken down into three parts. The first part was rough...it was a hard, dry, slow read. I think it was because so many of the wolves generational stories of superstition, myths and beliefs were told. These stories are very important to the larger story of The Sight but regardless, it was rough going. EM encouraged me to keep reading. I did because she so loves this book and has thrust the book into my face many times to read. I kept reading because it was important to EM and because she said that part 2 becomes far better and the reading goes quicker. She was so right.
Keep yourself reading through part 1 because part 2 and part 3 are so worth the read.

[Jim Tseng · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to read this book because I remembered reading Fire Bringer in about 7th or 8th grade and I really enjoyed the entire gist of the plot and the decent pacing of the novel. As I read The Sight though, I felt it drag on and on. I did not enjoy the characterization of the wolves themselves; each wolf seemed flat as characters. The abundance of heavy handed religion and pseudo-spirituality really grated on my nerves as I read through the book as well. Several parts of the wolf's culture seemed to have come directly from Christianity in completely unsubtle ways and the resolution of the plot really disappointed me. I realize that the author might be attempting to convey a message of living as nature and finding one's path, but the ending really seemed a jumble of rather one dimensional truisms.

[MH · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about a young wolf named Larka who possesses a power called The Sight that allows her to do things such as see the future, talk to the dead, and control other animals’ minds. I had not realised when I started reading it that it was about animals with mystical powers – I prefer realistic animal stories, so I was a bit disappointed. There are a number of spelling and continuity errors, and the author seems to know little about wolves. From the way he describes them using their paws and having retractable claws, he seems to think they are some sort of cat! The book is also pretty heavy-handed with its religious message, sometimes using literal Bible quotes. Younger children might enjoy the story, as it has its exciting moments, and they may not notice all the mistakes, but if you know anything about wolves it is probably best avoided.

[Critter · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book just wasn’t for me. The pacing was way too slow. There were chunks of text explaining the history of the area, but not advancing the plot. The abundance of the wolves’ terminology quickly became confusing because if you miss the definition it the words make little sense. The wolf behavior is very off and nonsensical as human characteristics were added to the wolf behavior. I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I was ultimately confused, and the characters didn’t feel very developed. The setting was the most developed part of the book, but a lot of the setting was explained in info dumps.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘The Sight’ is a story of magic and ancient prophecies, of men and beasts, of evil and those resisting it, of spirits and beliefs. But above all of that, it’s a story of one small tight-knit wolf pack. Larka and her brother Fell are born to Palla and Huttser, the alpha pair of a small pack of wolves, but from the very beginning, their lives are in danger. Vicious she-wolf Morgra that possesses the mysterious Sight had united the packs of Balkar and strives for a dominion above all – and she has her own plans for the two wolf pups. However, Larka also holds the power of the Sight – and she and Fell have a destiny of their own.

I have a lot of mixed emotions about this book. It’s a multi-layered story that touches on many topics and explores the characters to their very limits, and while I adored some aspects of it, some of them left me annoyed or frustrated. To start with the upsides, the family dynamics in the story were absolutely marvelous. Larka is the main hero of ‘The Sight’, but her journey would’ve been impossible without her family, and even though there is a smidgen of romance in the story, it takes a backseat next to the family bonds. In the center of it there is a trio of young wolves – Larka, her brother Fell, and their adopted brother Kar. Like that of all siblings, their relationship is not always an easy one, as Fell is often jealous of the attention Larka gets because of her Sight, which prompts him to become reckless and hot-headed, and Kar often feels overshadowed by his strong-willed friends. But ever since they were pups, they made a promise to take care of each other, and even though life tore them apart, they still manage to find a way back to each other, through hardships both physical and mental.

In fact, it’s Kar who quickly became my favourite, even though he doesn’t have as much page time as Larka or Fell. Compared to the siblings, Kar is physically the weakest - not as strong as Fell or as heroic as Larka, and he is submissive by nature, but he is also sensible and smart and loyal, and his ability to keep his head makes him more likeable to me than Fell's temper and snappiness and Larka's mood swings and tendency to blame herself. And even though Kar isn’t the bravest wolf around, he stands fast with his friends when it matters the most, saving Larka's life at least three times throughout the story. There is only a hint of romance between him and Larka, but what we get is the sweetest, because the bond between them born from puphood friendship is so strong.

However, it’s Palla and Huttser who completely won me over as characters and as a couple. It’s unusual to see the hero’s parents given this much attention in the story, yet they not only play an important role in Larka’s life and take part in the ultimate battle against Morgra, but also develop their own plotline, and they really grew on me throughout the book. Palla and Huttser are not a perfect couple, and they fight bitterly and suffer a nasty break-up after losing their whole pack and one of their children, but eventually, their bonds and loyalty to each other turn out to be so strong that they still defend each other no matter what. To me, a truly awe-inspiring moment came when Slavka’s rebels forced Palla and Huttser to fight each other, claiming that the loser will be killed quickly, but the winner would be tortured – and both Palla and Huttser fought with ferocity, driven by love and desire to spare their mate the suffering of long death.

Unfortunately, I can’t say that the rest of Palla and Huttser’s pack were developed with the same care – mostly because they don’t survive for long. We had Khaz and Kipcha as a strong beta couple, old nursemaid Brassa harbouring her own secrets, and cowardly omega Bran who turned out to be braver than everyone thought him to be. All of them had potential, but they ultimately were killed off before they could play any major role in the story. I understand the necessity of their fate being dictated by the plot, but that makes me feel as if these characters were wasted.

The plot of the story is truly captivating, though I have certain issues with the pacing. Even though it escalates quickly after the beginning, and there are plenty of deaths so no character is truly safe, there are also long and drawn-out chapters devoted to building up Larka’s relationships or her training with the Sight that honestly felt like a bore. However, once the action starts in the earnest and pace picks up, the story absorbs you completely. The mystical elements of it were certainly the best part, and I find that the prophecies and legends interwoven into the plot lend it a delightfully eerie atmosphere. Spiritual world blends with the world of living through the powers of the Sight, and seeing them manifest is always awe-inspiring. With Larka exploring her abilities, we learn more and more about the Sight as she travels on the wings of birds and sees future and past in the water – but when Morgra uses the Sight and calls on the Searchers, we actually witness for the first time what I thought would be impossible even with the power of the Sight, calling spectres of the dead to fight the living. The massacre at Kosov, while ruthless, was a turning point in the story, and the fact that Larka had to go into the lands of dead to call them off was truly thrilling. And yet even though supernatural is an integral part of the wolves’ world, sometimes it’s questioned and even challenged, and I appreciate that David Clement-Davies allows a variety of interpretations when it comes to the mystic elements. For example, I still don’t have a clear answer as to what exactly happened with Fell when he was supposedly possessed by Wolfbane. Both Larka and Morgra say that Wolfbane is just a name in a story, so it's most likely that Fell was brainwashed by Morgra, fed on her lies and hate and pain, and all of that combined with trauma till he couldn't remember anything of his old life... But then, Tsarr did see a ghostly grey wolf near Fell - so does it actually mean that Fell was truly possessed?

For me the story really shined not only due to the plot, but also because of the villains Larka and her family had to face. Morgra was especially fascinating to me as a character. She’s not entirely unsympathetic, as she was denied her place in the pack and cast out for something that was only partly her fault, but eventually, it was Morgra’s choice to use her Sight for her own gain and to become feared once she realized that she’s not going to be loved. Morgra is using superstition and fear of myths to manipulate the Balkar and scare them into obedience, but it’s unclear whether she believes in the legends herself or not. She dismisses the myth of Wolfbane, yet continues to use his name when it benefits her, and I rather like this development. The same prophecy that dictates Larka’s fate also determines Morgra’s destiny, but she twists its words and finds a way around it. Sometimes Morgra may seem to be over-the-top cliche villain who is destined to be evil, but her PoV shows her to be a truly manipulative and crafty mastermind, and that's why I love reading her chapters.

But what I find especially interesting is that even those who oppose Morgra are not automatically portrayed as heroic and righteous. Slavka is a strong-willed she-wolf leading the rebellion against Morgra who managed to unite the free wolves into the Greater Pack. Her goal to fight Morgra and create a better future for the others is just, but in doing so she employs methods that are beyond harsh. Slavka executes strict ‘if you’re not with us, you are against us’ policy as she forces wolves to join the Greater Pack against their will, forbids religion and all spiritual practices and executes any who dares oppose her with cruelty that can make Morgra jealous – just ask Palla and Huttser. I’m not sure if Slavka wished it or not, but she cultivated such a strong cult of the leader in her pack that she established order that’s almost as bad as Morgra’s. At least Slavka was able to realize her wrongs in the end and amend them, and that’s the difference between her and Morgra.

Tsarr and Skart are also among those who fight against Morgra, though the means they chose to do so are vastly different from Slavka’s: while Slavka relies on planning and strength in numbers, denying anything supernatural, Tsarr also possesses the Sight, and so he and his companion Skart take it upon themselves to educate Larka about her gift and direct her on the path destined for her. The characters of Tsarr and Skart left me conflicted, because even though they were never portrayed in negative light like Slavka, I didn’t exactly trust them. It’s true that they didn’t have any interior motives regarding Larka, but they were so focused on fulfilling the prophecy that they ignored anything that they viewed as negligible. At one point, it’s revealed that Skart had been watching after Larka’s pack for a long time, but never showed himself or interfered, justifying it by the fact that Larka wasn’t ready to be taught yet. However, just a little help and a warning could have saved Bran and prevented Kar and Fell from being separated from their family, sparing the whole pack a lot of pain and suffering. And the fact that Skart chose not to act when the calamities befalling Larka’s family weren’t affecting the prophecy makes it very difficult for me to actually like him or Tsarr.

Sadly, wolf mythology in ‘The Sight’ turned out to be a real disappointment for me. David Clement-Davies had obviously worked hard on the world-building, coming up with the terminology the wolves use and the laws and customs by which the packs operate, and I have no complaints about it. However, I have complaints about the way it was delivered to the readers – namely, info dumps. I actually love getting information about the world’s history and lore, so normally I don't mind info dumps and don't get it when people complain about them; however, in ‘The Sight’ they were done really clumsily, either as random facts put into the middle of unrelated scenes or as the characters asking each other things they are supposed to know already. And the mythology itself didn’t impress me, either, as it drew heavily on Bible and Christian scripture. Usually, I don’t mind some allegories to existing religions, as similar themes can be found in many different mythologies and folklores all over the globe. However, in ‘The Sight’ we get legends and fables that copy the Bible to a detail, except being modified to fit into the wolves’ world, including the fall of Lucifer, the curse of Cain and Jesus's sacrifice. I like books that make me think, but in this case I felt that David Clement-Davies either dived too deep into philosophy that had nothing to do with the story or that he didn’t have enough imagination to create his own lore.

There were other issues that stopped me from fully enjoying the story, though they were not deal-breakers. For example, I was annoyed that the ravens were portrayed negatively, being associated with evil Wolfbane and well as serving as Morgra’s spies – and while it’s interesting to see the trend of wolf packs being allies with ravens broken in this manner, I’m still slightly peeved that 'scavengers' are portrayed as wicked again. But what made me more than a little angry is the way ‘The Sight’ painted humans as inheritably evil. At first, I assumed that the very perspective of wolves who view all humans as cruel and evil was subjective, and that the conflict between them lies in the simple fact that while wolves think it their right to take down whatever prey they can, humans also have valid reasons to hunt down predators who steal from their herds… except that later in Larka’s vision it’s the whole human civilization and the constant advance of its cities on nature that are revealed to be the ultimate threat that’s going to destroy the wild world. Maybe the message on environmental problems is an important one, but I don’t enjoy being beaten over the head with it. In this context, Larka ‘adopting’ the human child, Bran, was a concept that had a lot of potential, but eventually, Bran simply tagged along with the wolves, playing a role in fulfilling the prophecy but not changing the way wolves actually see humans. It also irked me how the narration kept constantly switching between referring to the human child as 'it' and 'him', sometimes even in the span of two paragraphs. At first I sought a hidden meaning to this, thinking that maybe such a technique is used to reflect the views of different characters, like if Morgra and Slavka referred to Bran as 'it' while Larka used 'him', but the narration did it completely randomly!

Overall, while ‘The Sight’ had a cast of three-dimensional characters and expertly handled some difficult moral themes, too many things dampened my enjoyment of the story, resulting in it receiving only 3 stars – which is quite a low rating by my standards.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I read this in high school. I accidentally picked up the sequel, Fell, first, but it made me get into reading for pleasure. I hated reading as a kid, but when I found these books it ignited my love for reading. Because of that, I hold these books on a pedestal. However, I recently did try to reread them, and let me tell you, now that I'm older the Christianity wolf religion was blatantly obvious. And because of that, I couldn't continue rereading. One day I will hopefully be able to read it again, but as someone that no longer is Christian, I find it a little unsettling to read something that is so blatantly Christian based. I still love these books despite this, but I would be lying if I said it is tolerable to me as an adult.

If you can get past that and look at it as completely fantasy with elements of similar religions, it truly is a great book. I plan on attempting to reread it again soon, but just figured I'd warn those considering trying to read this. I'd say it's a solid 3.5/5, with the religion aspect knocking it down a star and a half.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg this was probably one of my best reads yet! This was super fun to read once you get a general understanding of the different words they use. You don't get alot of books with an ending where the main character dies, and tbh I'm not mad about it. Larka died as a legend and the whole prophecy is just amazing. The whole concept is just out of this world. David did a wonderful job writing this. This book was my escape, when I was reading this I was right there witnessing it all. If you love fantasy then is definitely right up your alley. I can't even begin to understand David's imagination while writing this, the book felt like a whole new world.

I cried when Kar "died" and honestly I just felt like I was there and experiencing the pain and the fear along with the wolves. I think that Kar deserves so much and Slavka is redeeming herself. Huttser and Palla have new cubs named after the family they lost and it feels like a new beginning. Fell on the other hand is like a while different story, I don't think he is going to heal, he became wolfbane and that's really hard on him, the one wolf that brought him back died in front if him and he can't get over it. He ultimately left the pack deciding that he needed to be free to hunt and to be a wolf. I don't blame him but I think he needs to let go and look at Larkas death in a way that paints her as a hero who set the wolves free.

[Angela Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended and learn to me by a friend and it took me a long time to pick it up. One of those books that I started and just could not get past the first chapter for whatever reason. Determined to be able to return my friend’s books I preserved and in hindsight I am glad. What a poignant story!

It’s so many things in one - superstitions, anthropomorphic, animal instincts, human instincts, lore and tradition, evil and good, truth and lies, hope, family.

It was truly very interesting and it’s obviously a lot of research went into this book - from the wolves and their instincts and packs and actions to tying in Transylvanian history to the moral of this story.

I will say this is NOT where I saw the book going. I did guess who Wolfbane was but I didn’t anticipate Larka’s death, the family reuniting, or the warning against war and pollution.