The Hounds of Ash: and other Tales of Fool Wolf [Paperback]

Greg Keyes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 2008

Thrust into perilous action by his father's spirit and his village's shaman, Fool Wolf, the laziest of heroes, must face his battles or face the wrath of his ancestors. In this collection of seven short stories, Fool Wolf is thrown on the mercy of those gods whom he both worships and loathes. He is forced to defend himself against the very destiny that he is to fulfill. The mysteries of his ancestors are brought to light as he traverses the vast empire of his people's land in search of answers.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Greg Keyes is the New York Times' best-selling author of The Charnel Prince, as well as The Waterborn, The Blackgod and The Age of Reason tetrology, among many others. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, he obtained several anthropology degrees before becoming a fulltime writer. He now lives in Savannah, Georgia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy; 1 edition (April 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1894063090
• ISBN-13: 978-1894063098
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #672,483 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Where was the copy editor?, July 1, 2008

By 

Nhossos of Thala (Chattanooga, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hounds of Ash: and other Tales of Fool Wolf (Paperback)

I have mixed feelings about this book by Greg Keyes, an author I love. The Hounds of Ash and Other Tales of Fool Wolf is a book collecting a few short stories starring the aforementioned character. The stories are entertaining, and Fool Wolf is a cool character. The dialogue is usually witty, and the stories make you smile. The only problem is that the book is plagued by dozens of typos. As a matter of fact, there were more typos in this book alone than in all the books I've read over the last four years put together. It was obvious that whoever "edited" the book didn't actually read it, but ran the spellcheck instead. That is the only way all those mistakes can be explained: "two" instead of "to", "Full" instead of "Fool" (part of the main character's name, for crying out loud!), and a million other typos like those. Also, there are missing periods, commas, and quotation marks, which make the book hard to read and enjoy. Good stories marred by an atrocious editing. Shame on Edge Books!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good stories, poor editing, August 12, 2008

By 

J. Gerretse (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Hounds of Ash: and other Tales of Fool Wolf (Paperback)

I was first introduced to the writing of Greg Keyes through these short stories, back when they originally appeared in Dragon Magazine. They led me to buy his first two novels--"The Waterborn" and "The Blackgod"--and I was surprised and pleased to find out that the world of Fool Wolf and the world of these two novels were one and the same.

Excited that his Fool Wolf stories had been collected into a single volume, I snatched it up and read it quickly--only to discover his publisher had wrecked the stories. The stories weren't any different from their original printings, mind you, but the dozens upon dozens of typos persist from the first few pages all the way to the end. Words missing letters. Words capitalized for no reason. Lines in the middle of paragraphs that aren't justified like all the lines around them. These quirks are a major distraction.

Overall, I rated the book 3 stars because of these typos. Greg Keyes is a great writer, and this collection of shorts tells stories that take place after "The Blackgod" has ended--so to a fan of his first two novels, there's a certain pleasant familiarity in the reading. But the typos detract from the stories being told and make the entire collection look amateurish.

If you can live with a book that fails to meet professional editorial standards and you're a fan of Greg Keyes, then feel comfortable that you'll get some satisfaction out of this collection of short stories. But if you're unfamiliar with Greg Keyes or need to read perfect manuscripts, then go with "The Waterborn" and "The Blackgod." You'll get much more satisfaction out of those.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Oh, dear, June 16, 2008

By 

Martha Johnson (Concord, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Hounds of Ash: and other Tales of Fool Wolf (Paperback)

I had high hopes for this one. I've thoroughly enjoyed Keyes' series (The Briar King, Blood Knight, Born Queen, etc) and really thought I'd love this, too. I didn't. The stories were interesting, but so many spelling and grammatical errors slipped through it totally destroyed my enjoyment of the stories.