Pathfinder Tales: Prince of Wolves [Paperback]

Dave Gross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2010 | Series: Pathfinder Tales

For elven Pathfinder Varian Jeggare and his devil-blooded assistant Radovan, things are rarely as they seem. Yet not even the notorious crime-solving duo is prepared for what they find when a search for a missing Pathfinder takes them into the mist-shrouded mountains of gothic Ustalav. Beset on all sides by noble intrigue, mysterious locals, and the deadly creatures of the night, Varian and Radovan must use both sword and spell to track the strange rumors to their source and uncover a secret of unimaginable proportions. But it'll take more than merely solving the mystery to finish this job, for a shadowy figure has taken note of the pair's investigations, and is set on making sure neither man gets out of Ustalav alive... From fan-favorite author Dave Gross comes a new fantastical mystery set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Paizo Publishing, LLC. (February 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1601252870
• ISBN-13: 978-1601252876
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dave Gross has edited magazines ranging from Dragon to Star Wars Insider and Amazing Stories. He is the author of Black Wolf, Lord of Stormweather, and other novels set in the Forgotten Realms.

Lately he also writes the adventures of Radovan and Count Jeggare for Pathfinder Tales, including Prince of Wolves, Master of Devils, and Queen of Thorns. More stories of Radovan and the count appear at paizo.com.

Dave's short fiction has appeared in recent anthologies including Tales of the Far West, Shotguns v. Cthulhu, and The Lion and the Aardvark.

Dave lives with his wife and their small pack of animals in Alberta, Canada.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Evocative, Character-Driven Entry into a Transylvania-like Setting September 10, 2010

By Mythopoet

Format:Paperback

If you know nothing about Paizo or gaming fiction, then I direct your attention to following: I read this immediately after reading Hugh Cook and Fritz Leiber, and while reading Neal Stephenson. Gross (and the editors) more than hold up in the company of good prose fiction. If you're a fan of atmospheric horror and like a fair amount of action and fantasy in the mix, then you've just hit the jackpot. Gross takes a half-elf Sherlock Holmes and his devil-blood body guard (who doesn't want Watson to get some comeuppance for all those years of abuse?), noirs them up, and sets them on a perilous trek of investigation in a land of feature creatures. Who isn't up for a little male-bonding and personal growth in another world's Transylvania-equivalent?

Prince of Wolves gripped me: it's well-written and is full of fun riffs on the genre that don't descend into the stale or the silly, as they so easily can. The friends and foes are painted darkly enough that in the case of most of them, one does not stop guessing which is which. Good uses of twists keep the reader on plot but off-balance. If you're shy of gaming fiction, there is no need for you to be in this case. This deserves to be read by fans of Golarion and folks who can't tell Ustalav from Cheliax.

If you're a gamer, then know that Paizo's Pathfinder Tales series has indeed started out with a BANG! I was already invested in the characters of Count Jeggare and Radovan from the serial fiction in The Council of Thieves, and I was looking forward to how Gross might develop them based on comments traded online, but he surpassed my hopes and his earlier stories. Furthermore, I can't get over how literate this is for gaming fiction--to the point that it was a challenge to some of the fellow fans I talked with. If you are a gamer who has generally been turned off by gaming fiction, then I present you with what may be our holy grail. Please try to sip.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Foot Forward August 21, 2010

By Carl A. Rossi

Format:Paperback

Prince of Wolves, by Dave Gross, makes for an auspicious and excellent start to the Pathfinder Tales series. With this book, there's no doubt that the people at Paizo have put their best foot forward.

The story follows the exploits of half-elven Pathfinder Varian Jaggare and his teifling bodyguard, Radovan, as they leave the comfort of their diabolic homeland behind and explore the wilds of Ustalav looking for a missing friend and fellow pathfinder. There they are forced to make sudden and drastic sacrifices to pursue their goal as they battle the gothic horrors of that land.

The book has everything going for it. Dave Gross paints magnificent scenery, intense drama, and thrilling fight scenes: each, it seems, with a different brush, but with a consistency of palette that leaves the reader knowing that it is a book that will most likely be just as enjoyable re-reading as it was reading it the first time.

The action not only leaves you wondering what will happen next, but worrying for the characters as well. I especially related to Radovan's almost New York Italian attitude towards everything. I had to stop a few times and mentally slap myself for trying to force my own anachronisms on it.

Dave Gross doesn't stop at just putting together a great action/adventure by questing novel. Unlike a lot of novels in the genre, the characters are deep and learn and change from their experiences. The writing shows someone that has lived away from the gaming table at times and understood the deeper and sometimes darker questions about what it means to be human.

While it has a depth that not many novels in game worlds possess, it doesn't take that too far to the extreme. It will never be along the lines of the works that define the genre as a whole, but it does create a high mark for future novels to shoot for. And after all, most people that read these books will be wanting more to be entertained than educated. Prince of Wolves does both, although most will not notice the latter happening.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great start to a new line... August 31, 2010

By Joel Flank

Format:Paperback

Prince of Wolves, by Dave Gross is the first in the Pathfinder Tales series. This is the eagerly awaited fiction line set in the world of Golarion, the house setting of the Pathfinder Role Playing Game, from Paizo. If you're not into role playing games, Paizo is one of the best publishers out there (if you don't believe me, check out the 2010 ENnie awards, which Paizo swept.) Over the past 3 years, they've built their campaign setting, published dozens of top quality adventures, started the Planet Stories line of classic out of print SF/Fantasy stories, and made a top selling RPG based on previous editions of Dungeons and Dragons. Finally, they have a line of original Pathfinder fiction, and they picked a great author to start the line off.

Gross has written several shared world books before, for the Dungeons and Dragons Forgotten Realms setting, and in Prince of Wolves, he has refined his craft.

Thrilling fights and magic? Check.
Engrossing mystery? Check
Rich story that draws you into the present and history of the setting? Check
Interesting and well developed characters? Check
Engaging moral dilemmas? Check

In addition to all of these critical elements to a great story, Gross writes for adults. This isn't dumbed down fantasy to appeal to the lowest common denominator, or sanitized to be kid-friendly (not that it's unfriendly to kids, though). His characters are adults, and they have adult interests and problems. They drink too much. They can be crude/uncomfortable talking about sex or with members of the opposite sex. They have a hard time overcoming their own personal demons. And, he manages to do all of this without sacrificing the exciting action and mystery elements that makes the book feel like a wonderful mix of Indiana Jones (the good ones) and Conan the Barbarian.

Another way that Gross presents twice as much detail about the world is by splitting the point of view throughout the book. Each of the two main characters alternates chapters as the primary point of view character, and describes events in the first person, which gives two very distinct views on the world, and their adventures. It's pretty easy to tell the characters apart, as one is a rough and tumble hellspawn street thug, and the other is a half elven aristocrat, witch gives them very different views of the world around them.

Finally, as a novel set in a game world, Gross does a great job of writing within the rules of the world (how magic, monsters, and other 'rules' work). At the same time, he doesn't go out of his way to point out just which rules he's using. There's a character who's described as a cleric, and witch. All of her powers and abilities in the book could be re-created using those rules from the Pathfinder game, not to mention as an oracle (which I happen to think is a better fit, even though it's not mentioned in the book at all.) However, it's never made clear in the book, or to the characters, exactly which one of those is correct. While it's great to the reader that the book conforms to the game rules, at the same time, it's not even apparentto the other characters in the book that there are game rules that define their lives, and that's the best way to write a successfulbook based on a game.

Strongly recommended.