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27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Unusually lyrical story of werewolves, October 22, 1999
This review is from: The Silver Wolf (Legends of the Wolves, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
I read this book before I realized that Alice was Anne Rice's sister. Therefore, I developed a much less biased opinion than I might have. I think The Silver Wolf's style shares a lot in common with Rice's vampire novels, but this only became obvious to me after I made the connection. However, there's enough difference between these two authors that I think the constant comparisons going on are really unfair to them both. The Silver Wolf explores the werewolf legend from a fresh angle. There is no hint of any compulsive murdering on the part of the werewolves, or bloodlust for human flesh. Indeed, they are portrayed as more human and humane than anyone else in the plot. The imagery is rich and takes on the quality of a dream from time to time. The romantic subplot between Regeanne and Maniel (werewolf main characters)is convincing but I felt that it came too late and was hastily explored. Overall, this was one of my favorite werewolf novels. The criticisms I've heard about it, such as the plot dragging in the first half and being a bit fragmented, are true enough in my opinion, which is why I rated only four stars. PS-the official book review states that Lucilla was Maniel's mother--I don't know where that came from, unless that particular reviewer was just confused by the fragmented storyline and numerous flashback scenes.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dark and moody werewolf tale worth reading, May 8, 2000
This review is from: The Silver Wolf (Legends of the Wolves, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
Regeane is a beautiful young woman with werewolf blood. Because of this, her nasty uncle has kept her captive and beaten and starved her. When she discovers that he plans to sell her to a wealthy barbarian she risks her life and escapes. The remainder of the book concentrates on Regeane's self-discovery and the other, often odd, sometimes depraved people she encounters. She's known she can shapeshift but she also learns that she has visions and can speak to the dead. Eventually she becomes embroiled in a dangerous political situation and meets her soul mate and all ends pretty happily ever after. This book, set in Rome during the Dark Ages, is rough, meaty and often very dark. It's not a book for everyone because the author gets really graphic and vividly describes numerous vile acts including torture and assorted bodily functions. The book also goes off into tangents when the numerous secondary characters take center stage but their stories were interesting even though they rarely advanced the plot. My mind only started to wander during the times when the book got into heavy political details - which aren't my thing. If you can get past all that, and don't mind a highly descriptive book you'll find a very interesting story that is often (at the most unexpected times) very hilarious in a morbid kind of way. I found this story, for the most part, very difficult to put down and am looking forward to the sequel which I hope ties up some loose ends.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hmm..., November 27, 1999
By A Customer
Wolfs normally aren't my thing, and I surprised myself by picking up this book, mostly because she's Anne's sister and I wanted to know if she was as good or bad. Not surprisingly I was cringing through Regeane's first change, thinking "Oh my, how am I ever going to make it through this thing?" Like her sister, Borchardt has a love for bringing to life the surroundings in her novel, getting sometimes carried away and filling the page with very descriptive detail. So much that at points I found myself banging my head against the wall, screaming, "I don't care about how the darn wine sauce tastes or how this stupid ruin is lying in ruins, I want some story development between Regeane and Maeniel! Right from the beginning the story was set-up that Regeane was to be married to Maeniel. So right from the start you are already waiting for this to happen and the two of them to finally meet. But instead you are left with 300+ pages to read through instead, all building up to the marriage. I can't say most of it wasn't enjoyable, but you are so set-up for them finally getting together that the rest becomes annoying. In my opinion Borchardt should have based her story around Regeane living in the pass with Maeniel, partly not knowing of the families secret. In other words, taken 200 pages out of the beginning and added 200 to the end. I was left unsatisfied with all this build-up of 400+ pages and only 5 to resolve it. I also got the feeling that Borchardt was avoiding story development between the two, as if she didn't know what to do with them once she got them together. But in the end though the good outweighs the bad, and Borchardt certainly has talent. Some scenes were simply perfect, and some left me rolling on the floor laughing, such as the wedding feast. Bravo. Now if she could roll that talent into something more satisfying, Rice would have something to look out for.
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