THROUGH WOLF'S EYES
Tor, Aug 2001, 27.95, 594 pp.
ISBN: 0312874278
Many years have passed since Prince Bardon and his followers journeyed from the relative safety of Hawk Haven to establish a colony. The group traveled to the wilderness beyond the nearby mountains. However, no one ever heard from the Prince again.
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In the present, controversy over regal succession rules so Earl Kestrel leads an expedition to find the Prince or learn what happened to him. The search excursion fails to find the Prince, but a teenage woman calling herself Firekeeper enters their camp carrying Bardon's dagger. The Earl realizes she is most likely the Prince's daughter and places her under his protection. Apparently, Firekeeper, now called Lady Blysse by her fellow humans, lived with a special breed of wolves. On the trek back, a distinguished falcon and one of the intelligent wolves accompany Blysse to her new home. In the human royal court, everyone competes to gain Blysse's favor with most thinking she is an ignorant primitive. Her time with the wolves trained her quite well for dealing with a pack of nobles, but her preference remains turning into a real wolf.
THROUGH WOLF'S EYES is a powerful gender bending Jungle Book that works because the kingdom, the magically embellished animals, the nobles, and the heroine feel real. The charcaters make the plot seem plausible. On top of a strong fantasy adventure, readers gain a political infighting subplot that anchors the prime theme to a reality base. The weakness of Jane Lindskold's fascinating novel is that this almost six hundred page complex story line compels the reader into one finishing it in one sitting.
Harriet Klausner
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner
