The Readers discussion

I'm so glad you chose this book for the Summer Book Club. It is something that I would never have picked up in a million years without a little push from you and Gav. I enjoyed the writing tremendously and the plot was a real page turner. My only problem was that I kept picturing Aiden Turner as Jake and I know he's a vampire not a werewolf!

Since I see on Glen Duncan's bio that he was a bookseller, maybe you might want to ask him about his weirdest interaction with a customer. I just read your latest blog post and thought it apropo :)

I agree - I would never have picked up this book without it being chosen by Simon and Gav, probably because it had the word "werewolf" in the title!
But I adored it and finished it in a couple of days. I recommended it to my daughter and she's enjoying it too. The language was beautiful - heartbreakingly so at times, and also very funny. I'm hoping to read the sequel soon.
I was wondering if you could ask Glen if he hesitated over the title, which so easily could have put my (slightly older!) generation of readers off? I'd hate people to miss out because they thought this was some kind of Twilight clone!
Thanks!

I did like the book and I too probably would not have read it were it not for the Summer Book Club. There was at least one point in the book that made me laugh out loud, where he channeled Charlotte Bronte a la “Dear Reader, I married him”. I have to say, however, that while I enjoyed reading it, the plot did not pick up for me until the maybe the middle, when there is a pretty dramatic change regarding Marlow's will to live. For the first few chapters I was a bit disheartened, because I thought, “I have already read Interview with a Vampire and don’t really want to read about similar existential musings from the point of view of a werewolf”. But then, Duncan kind of took all that and flipped it, then stomped on it and then for good measure, gave it a last kick, which relieved me. There were a few points in the book where I thought Marlow was a bit thick, for all his supernatural powers and pop cultural awareness. Like, he couldn’t see that coming? Then again, maybe I am just more paranoid, or watch more TV than Marlow.

This isn’t a genre I read a lot of, although I did adore the TV show “Buffy”. I did read the first book in the Twilight series, just to see what the fuss was about and didn’t care for it much, so that says something. Certainly in comparing the two, Twilight was chaste, where The Last Werewolf was decidedly not so.

I guess my question for the author is if he intends to follow this up? I actually would be a little disappointed if he did, given the title and all. And also considering that I really liked Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Lestat was ok, but Queen of the Damned was just a mess. Sometimes authors should just stop at one, because it is enough.

Oh, is there any (supernatural)genre books that he particularly likes or admires?

Questions for the Author:
I understand that Glen Duncan had written other books in the lit-fic genre; but that they didn't sell very well. Now that he has found commercial success with The Last Werewolf, in addition to completing The Last Werewolf trilogy, will he go back to writing more in his original metier? Has Glen Duncan seen a bump up in sales in his backlist? In either Talulla Rising or By Blood We Live, can we expect some Eastern religious themes, philosophies or mysticism (related perhaps to Mr. Duncan's Indian heritage?)

It is really hard to think of a question regrading The Last Werewolf when I've just recently read Talulla Rising but I would love to know what to expect from By Blood We Live; but as he is still promoting Talulla Rising maybe just ask what people can expect from the rest of the series.

Well, I liked, then disliked and almost quit, then liked this book again at the end. Things I liked:
1. description of an old man tired of life and wanting to die - seemed very realistic and fascinating
2. the emotions of needing to kill, being abhorrent to yourself; like what it must be like to be a serial killer
3. the language of the book, very vivid descriptions
4. when Jake finds a reason to live and then the ending; both were quite moving

What I didn't like:
1. The plot wasn't very believable - like why the werewolf chasers did what they did - like a bad cop and robber movie
2. sometimes all the sex just was too much, maybe I'm just a prude...but the sex combined with the B movie plot twists just was too much.
3. I nearly gave up on the book about 3/4 through - it just seemed all too silly. I whined to Simon about wanting to quit it but then got a second wind. I listened to the audio which I'd highly recommend, a fantastic narrator. I just started switching between Half Blood Blues (also great narrator) and Last Werewolf and was able to finish it in smallish chunks.

I really wavered between 2 and 3 stars, but gave it three in the end b/c it was moving at times and the writing was very good. But I doubt I'll read the rest of the series. . . I think I'm officially "done" with vampire/werewolf books. My first and last. . .

oh, and maybe someone has insight into why I was really lukewarm about The Last Werewolf but LOVED Ready Player One. Both books are very much out of my comfort zone/usual genre of lit books.

Becky wrote: "oh, and maybe someone has insight into why I was really lukewarm about The Last Werewolf but LOVED Ready Player One. Both books are very much out of my comfort zone/usual genre of lit books."
Oh Becky, I will have to think about exactly why so when that book comes up for discussion I can elucidate, but I too LOVED Player One! I never would have read it on my own. It was just so much fun to read!

I not even halfway through yet and I have to say, I'm loving it! What a surprise. I expected to slog through this one as I'm not a fan of werewolves but it is great! I already put on hold at the Iibrary. I would never have picked up this book without the nudge from this summer book club! Thanks guys.

I hope it continues to stay good...

Becky wrote: "oh, and maybe someone has insight into why I was really lukewarm about The Last Werewolf but LOVED Ready Player One. Both books are very much out of my comfort zone/usual genre of lit books."

Right there with you Becky. I had heard sooooooooo much buzz about The Last Werewolf before I read it that I think my expectations were definitely too high. And I just didn't love it. I expected to really like the protaganist - and found instead that I didn't really care.

Ready Player One, on the other hand, absolutely sucked me in and kept me reading. I had heard lots of positive buzz about it when it came out too, but I loved it. A lot.

Sometimes I think there's no accounting for what engages and entertains us. It often surprises me.

The hype didn't come from you guys. :) I'm still enjoying it. I can't wait to listen to the podcast!

I agree Tasha!

I see you a bunch of you guys rated it 4 stars...that's what it's looking to be for me too at 81% into the story. :)

Hm, I find this book quite boring. I read half of it and tried to pick it up again after your podcast. But no, don't like the plot, although the writing is good.

I finished this one last night and loved it. 4 stars.

Sonja wrote: "Hm, I find this book quite boring. I read half of it and tried to pick it up again after your podcast. But no, don't like the plot, although the writing is good."
I felt the same way 1/2 - 3/4 of the way through. Kept plugging away and admit that it improved at the end so I'd say finish it.
I enjoyed the podcast on it, you guys did a great job with the three part format and I'm looking forward to next week.
Since I enjoyed the writing but not the content, I'd be interested in reading some of Duncan's earlier books. Does anyone have any information about his other books, either 1st or 2nd hand?

I'm looking forward to the podcast (istening to it this afternoon) now that I've finished the book.

i listened to the podcast and found it quite interesting. i don't plan on reading this book because i make the best attempt to stay away from series. i know, i know. i suppose that's something i don't like in books.

i enjoyed the interview. i would like to read duncan's other work.

I thought the guys had got the podcast format spot on - really interesting and informative - it made me want to pick up Tallulah Rising straight away!
And, Simon - don't be anxious about the content offending more "mature" readers - I'm a girl, probably about your mother's age, and I didn't have a problem with it!

I'm in my 40s and not easily offended!! :D

Interesting re: age and all the sex. . . I'm 39 and wasn't offended. . . maybe a little shocked initially. . . but b/c of "all the rudery" as you Brits say, I don't think I'd recommend this book to my mother-in-law even though she's a huge reader.
Simon, wd you recommend this book to your mother? What about Gran??

I'm one of those people who pick up on the naughty or rude words you refer to quite quickly and they do turn me off ususally. For instance there's a fairly decent US podcast where the hosts swear constantly. I just can't listen so call me a prude. There are some movies that turn me off due to language. And yet I took no offense reading The Last Werewolf. I loved the development of Jake and think the whole is thoughtfully plotted with excellent dialog. Though it is raw and sexy I did not find any of this gratuitous. I'm looking forward to the second installment.

Interesting podcast. Thanks.

I'm slightly behind on my podcasts so I've only just listened to this one. I thought the format was terrific and Glen Duncan as well! I had a preconceived notion of what he would be like and I was totally wrong. He seemed warm, modest, with a good sense of humor. I'm looking forward to reading the next two books even more now!

Why does everyone think anything vaguely supernatural is a "Twilight clone"? There are thousands of urban fantasy novels out there of varying quality tackling a wide range of subjects in different styles. I get really annoyed about this. I read all genres, the writing style, characters and plot are important. If they are up to snuff it really shouldn't matter what genre it is.

I didn't love The Last Werewolf. It was good enough but not one I would go round recommending to friends. I read it a year ago and am a bit vague on the details now, which is a mark of a book just being average. I felt it was a bit of a masculine, action thriller rather than an interesting character study on the pysche of the last of his kind. I'm not a prude either and have read some quite erotic books in my time but just wanted to speed through the emotionless sex scenes.

I like wolfy werewolves personally. The Last Werewolf isn't really a "werewolf story" for me, it's a monster story. If I was comparing it to others in the sub-genre I would be sorely disappointed but I picked it up as a literary novel instead...and it probably met my expectations of someone writing in a genre that they don't really care about.

I will try and get a chance to listen to the podcast tomorrow.

I love the podcast format! This was one of my favorite reads from last year:

"Sink your teeth into this one! Not for the faint of heart or tender eared/eyed ones. But for me it was the perfect October/November book.

Audible reader is excellent, by the way."

I always have at least one audible book going, and this performance/reading was part of the reason I enjoyed the book so much. I will repeat the listen next October.

Great podcast guys!! I loved it. I loved hearing glen talk about his experience writing the story and can I just say: I can't wait for the next two in the series!! I learned so much from this podcast. Thanks :)

Becky wrote: "Well, I liked, then disliked and almost quit, then liked this book again at the end. Things I liked:
1. description of an old man tired of life and wanting to die - seemed very realistic and fascin..."

I had a very similar reading experience, first liking, then disliking, and then liking the book again.

I also seemed to like the same things as Becky. Especially the description of an old man tired of life and wanting to die and Jake's moral pondering. I liked the language for it's vividness, the language didn't feel too rude, it fitted the context. And I suppose there's often rude language in Finnish literature, so I'm used to it.

I too find the plot and a few characters not very believable.

But in the end I quite liked the book. Glen Duncan certainly did manage to surprise me with all the plot twists. And I just loved the fact that Jacob was very much into single malts. I might be tempted to become a werewolf if it meant that I could afford to drink forty-five-year-old Macallan on a regular basis!