Customer Reviews

Wilderness

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a most amazing book, beginning with the premise that Alice White, a beautiful and talented young lady, turns into a wolf once a month like clockwork. Naturally this complicates her life and forces her into a lonely existence of superficial relationships. That is, until she meets Erik, her college course advisor, and against her better judgment, falls deeply in love with him. He is the first man she has ever loved, but what will he say when she tells him the lycanthropic truth? This is a love story that really gets complicated. And Erik's ex-wife Debra is trying to win him back. And her psychiatrist, who secretly lusts for her, is making things even more difficult.

Well, this was a book I could not put down. It is well written, wise and insightful. Danvers makes the strange premise of the book somehow believable. You begin to wonder--well, what if? After all, don't we all have an animal nature, a dark side that we scarcely know? The only part of the book I found hard to believe was the unprofessional behavior of the psychiatrist.

So, run out to the woods and howl--no, no--buy this book and read it, nooooooow!

Vampires tend to take centre stage in the majority of horror novels I see on my library and bookstore shelves these days,while novels about lycanthropes tend to trail a long way behind in both quality and quantity.I suspect it is all down to sensuality and sex, with vampires being inherently more erotic than werewolves whose destruction of their prey tends to be coarse and unrefined compared to the vampire's seductiveness and refined elegance."Wildernes"is that rarity-a tale of werewolves that is cool in tone and saturated with a delicate sensuality that is quite erotic--Anne Rice without the super saturated langauage she mistakenly feels is classy.

It is in essence a romantic and languidly elegant love story whose heroine,"Alice White"is a werewolf who in her childhood tore out the throat of a would be rapist.Now an adult she works in a travel agency,takes courses at the local University and manages to maintain her emotional distance from the world while enjoying an active sex life.She keeps her transformations into
werewolfdom a secret by a self-imposed solitude at key times.She then meets and falls in love with "Erik Summers"a biologist from the University and confides in him.Understandably he is sceptical ,thinking her in need of therapy.Alice leaves him and vanishes into the wilderness where he pursues her

The wilderness of the title is not simply the wilds of nature but also a reference to the untamed and hostile areas of the human mind and soul When love is involved ,and only when love is involved, can science and the forces which science cannot explain come to live together.This seems to be the message to this complelling book .It is a work low in gore and viscerality and its tone is cerebral and detached avoiding the usual genre cliches

Enjoyable and worth the time of anyone who likes the quiet horror of such as Grant and Wright

I got this from the romance section and even though it is basically a love story it is not typical of romance werewolf stories. Or even typical of romances in general. The hero is a beta hero. The writing was a bit pretentious in places. This was obviously written by a man. Examples are (keeping in mind I am talking about ROMANCES written by women not women writers in general) the heroine as a wolf takes a sh**. (His word, not mine). Never do women include this in romance novels as that just isn't romantic. Also the hero smokes pot. Women who read romance novels don't generally think pot heads are very romantic. That's just 2 examples. The hero and heroine spend very little time together and it is glossed over by the author saying basically 'they spend the week together.' The happy ever after bit at the end was barely there. So not a lot of payoff for sticking with it for 376 pages.

So a fairly good book. NOT a romance.

Legends of werewolves, like those of vampires, have long existed. Twentieth century cinema revived interest in these lycanthropes, with films like Michael Landon's "I Was A Teenage Werewolf," "An American Werewolf In London," and Jack Nicholson's "Wolf," among others. Popular fiction has romanticized and/or demonized these mythical creatures who look and act human but turn into wolves at the full moon. Author Dennis Danvers has given readers a new take on this old tale with his novel, "Wilderness."

Alice White, is an intelligent, exotically attractive woman in her early thirties. She is a loner, and has been since the age of twelve, which is when she first changed into a wolf during the full moon. Unlike fictional accounts of werewolves, Alice's transformation does not endow her with human qualities. She becomes a full-fledged wolf in every way, and never fully remembers her experiences as a wild animal when she changes back into human form. Nor does she recall what it is like to be Alice when she is a wolf, although the wolf is aware of "the girl," who is her other self. Her secret governs her existence. She has made it a point not to form close relationships with friends or lovers, although she yearns for normalcy and an end to her isolation and terrible loneliness. She is not as afraid of discovery as she is of hurting someone, due to a violent incident she was once involved in. So, she barricades herself in her basement at the beginning of each lunar cycle.

College biology professor Erik Summers is Alice's new neighbor and very much attuned to the natural world and animals. Erik and Alice felt an intense mutual attraction since they first met. The attraction is more than just physical. There is a sense of deep affinity between them. With Eric, Alice breaks her cardinal rule about keeping all contact with men to one night stands. As their relationship grows into love, Alice knows she can no longer live a lie and decides to confide in Eric.

Danver's fast-paced, well written narrative explores the concept of a woman coming to grips with her extreme and most unusual dual nature, and her decision about which path she will follow, that of the human or the beast. He also emphasizes Erik's dilemma. Here is a man who loves a woman he believes is his soul-mate, only to be presented with information he finds totally unbelievable. The story is moving, and far removed from the cliche werewolf novel which is so prevalent on the market today. Alice and Erik are well developed and sympathetic characters. This is not a horror novel or a supernatural romance, but a sensitive, original book which deals with human psychology and relationships much more than lycanthropy. I highly recommend it.

"Wilderness" was nominated for both the Locus and Bram Stoker first novel awards.

JANA

Wilderness, originally published in 1991, has recently been rereleased. I presume it's because tales of lycanthropy are all the rage at the moment. Wilderness is an excellent novel and I'm thrilled that it will get the chance to reach new readers -- myself included, as I hadn't heard of it until the new edition popped up on shelves -- and at the same time, I hope it will find its way to readers who will appreciate it for what it is rather than wishing it were something else. I worry that the new cover art will lead readers to expect a novel more in line with the books of Laurell K. Hamilton. If you're looking for the latest lycanthropic smut-and-gore fest, Wilderness is not it.

So what is it? It's a love story, but it's not a "romance novel" and doesn't adhere to all of the conventions of that genre. It's a werewolf story, but it's not horror. It's deeply romantic and intensely psychological. I want to call it contemplative, but that might give the impression that it's long and slow-paced, and Wilderness is neither. When trying to think of another novel to compare it to, the closest I could think of was another 1991 release, Megan Lindholm/Robin Hobb's Cloven Hooves. While Wilderness is less melancholy than Cloven Hooves, both novels explore the idea of the "wild," authentic self vs. the "tame," conventional self. And both writers share a talent for describing the beauties of nature.

We meet Alice White, a 32-year-old woman who happens to be a werewolf. She has been a loner since adolescence, afraid to reveal her true self to anyone and afraid of hurting people during her monthly transformations. I loved her instantly, especially in her approach to college education; she wishes she could follow her passions, take whatever classes she wants whenever she wants to take them, rather than conforming to a set schedule or sequence. Meanwhile, she does tons of reading in mythology and folklore on her own, without anyone ever awarding her a degree in it. Boy, how I could relate to that...

Her love interest is Erik Summers, a biology professor in the thick of a messy divorce. She's not used to getting attached to people, and he's still not quite over his ex, which is why it surprises them both when they rapidly develop a deep bond. These early stages of the relationship move at a quick pace. There's even a literary version of the "Falling in Love Montage" that you might recognize from movies. This might seem a little rushed to some readers, but it works. It helps move the story quickly toward the real meat of the book, the real test of Alice and Erik's love. She decides to tell him about her lycanthropy.

Danvers makes us sympathize with both characters here. We feel for Alice, who wants to be believed and accepted. It's easy for us to condemn Erik. We're reading the book, after all, and we know Alice is really a werewolf. But how would we react if we were in his position, rather than looking in from outside? (If it were me, and Alice showed me her full-moon confinement set-up, I'd probably careen right past "she's crazy" to "she's abusing dogs" and I'd be out of there before you could say "ASPCA.") Suffice it to say that everything gets messed up, and then Erik must undertake a quest to find Alice again and make it right.

Wilderness contains a lot of insight into animal behavior, including human behavior. Danvers never lets us forget that we too are animals, and that our customs and etiquette might look just as strange from the outside as penguin behavior looks to us. He also includes several chapters narrated from the point of view of Alice's wolf-self. These are sensitively written and "feel" like the real thoughts of a wolf. I find myself wondering whether Faith Hunter, who is also excellent at writing from an animal POV, has read and been influenced by Wilderness. (If not, I think she'd like it!) Danvers subverts the idea that the wolf-self is the more dangerous one.

The only element I found annoying was Erik's random ogling of women. He seems unable to pass a pretty woman on the street without it being mentioned in the narrative, and one of my personal quirks is that this gets on my nerves. Yet I know exactly why Danvers did it. It shows that Erik's attraction to Alice isn't just lust or the desire for a rebound fling. He could satisfy those urges elsewhere if that were all he wanted. He wants the connection he has with Alice. Plus, I think that's just the way the male brain -- heck, the human brain -- works.

Wilderness devoured me for two days and evoked the whole gamut of emotions. I recommend it to readers looking for a moving supernatural love story, with themes of trust, acceptance, and forgiveness. This is more in the vein of the "old-school" urban fantasies than the "new" style. It's not a noir story, not much ass gets kicked, and many of the developments take place within the characters' psyches. It's a beautiful example of what it is, though, and I hope it finds its way to the right niche of readers.

Stories about werewolf's have always been great stories. In the case of Wilderness, Alice White is the werewolf. She knkows who she is but does'nt want to be who she is. In hope to help her problems she visits a shrink. The shrink tells her what she is seeking. Her life is in confusion, but when she meets Erick Summers, a college professor her life changes. Danvers exploits the characters throughout the book, showing each characters true feeldings. The detail within the books is fantastic leaving the reader fulfilled. The book has two settings, the city and the Canadian wilderness. The two settings allow Danvers to further develop the situations and characters. Overall the book is compelling, making the reader want to continus page after page

This is a book about an ordinary situation with extraordinary quirks. Alice White is a werewolf. She seeks out someone who can help her and ends up with shrink. Of course he believes her to be delusional but, quite fascinating. Alice tries to keep everyone at arms lenth for fear of what the truth will do to them and her. Along the way, she meets and falls for a wonderful professor, Erik Summers, and hopes that he'll be the one that accepts her for all she is....

Of course that is when things get complicated. This book so honestly depicts relationships that you hardly notice that one of the factors involved is the fact that Alice is a werewolf.

It's really a great book. It is the ONLY book I have read 4 times and refuse to let others borrow in fear I may never get it back.

When a whole category of depressing things happen to men, are those things inevitably even worse for women? That might arguably be the case for Emma Lou Morgan, heroine of Wallace Thurman's 1928 Harlem Renaissance novel, THE BLACKER THE BERRY. The whole novel is about her being (in her mind) too black to be respected by lighter-skinned American Negroes. Emma Lou thought that

"She should have been a boy, then color of skin wouldn't have mattered so much, for ... a black boy could get along, but ... a black girl would never know anything but sorry and disappointment" (Part 1).

I imagine a kind of sistership between two fictional heroines, black Emma Lou and caucasian Alice White. Alice is the misunderstood heroine of the 1991 American novel WILDERNESS and of the 1995 British film of the same name. Eventually Emma Lou learns to live with her blackness. What Alice has to learn to live with seems tougher: involuntarily being a werewolf for one night every full moon. For this has been Alice's fate since age 12. Might this have been easier has Alice been a boy? Certainly, no man would have tried to rape her.

One difference between the two young women: no amount of bleaches and skin treatments can stop Emma Lou from being black. But being taught self-hypnosis by a psychiatrist who disbelieves her empowers 33-year old Alice to change shapes at will. She suddenly has three choices:

-- become a wolf and stay a wolf till she dies;

-- hypnotize the wolf away and stay human forerver;

-- spend times of her own choosing in both worlds.

Now Alice's biggest sorrow is solitude and inability to relate lovingly to males. She was nearly raped at age 13. Spontaneously and on the spot she became a she-wolf and tore out her attacker's throat. She confessed. No one believed her.

Alice now desperately wants companionship with fellow humans. And to her that means, for a start, finding someone who believes her. No belief proves no love. She has just brought herself to tell Erik Summers, the first man whom she has ever fallen in love with, that she changes shape and has killed a human. Alice then rushes to consult Dr Luther Adams, her psychiatrist. She is angry with her lover. Why? "He didn't believe me. Goddammit Luther, he says he loves me. I don't know what that means to you doctor guys, but being believed would seem pretty basic to me" (Ch. 9).

Her skeptical lover does soon enough believe that Alice can change shape. For his ex-wife actually saw an enraged Alice morph into a wolf and Erik, without personally seeing the change, did then behold a wolf leaving his home in Richmond, Virginia only to disappear. Erik consults a brilliant geneticist who assures him that DNA-research and related makes it thinkable that an animal can change into another species. Erik then guesses that Alice's beloved great-aunt Ann is also a werewolf. He drives to Ontario to Ann's house located right up against the huge game preserve called Algonquin Provincial Park. But Alice, wherever she has fled, hates Erik intensely for not believing her simply because she had told him the truth. It will be very hard for Erik to prevent Alice from choosing wolfdom forever.

I will tease you no more with the plot. Both Alice and "her" wolf are dimly aware of each other. And in the normal sociable worlds of both females, being a "lone wolf" is tantamount to isolation and misery. I do not recall Alice White ever feeling extra sorry for herself simply because, if she has to be a werewolf, why couldn't she be a male werewolf? But surely that might be easier than being a she-wolf.

WILDERNESS, like the much earlier THE BLACKER THE BERRY, is a notably better than average read. With the many strikes against her that any human female has, why do some have additional unwished for burdens: an unpopular skin color or shape changing? Read the book and think some curious new thoughts.

-OOO-

I read this book about a year ago and just stumbled across the listing for it and was amazed at seeing 4 or 5 stars for all the reviews. This book was completely misleading. If you are looking for an exciting, fast paced werewolf TAIL (I had to write it that way!) this is NOT the book for you. This book dealt more with a woman's internal conflicts as she deals with her love life and having to change under the full moon. I was bored out of my mind through the whole book. There was nothing even remotely interesting in this book! I didn't even find the romance sections interesting or sexy. If you want a good werewolf novel think twice before buying this book...Try something like Donna Boyd's THE PASSION. This book was just bad.

I found this somewhat lusty tale by Danvers compelling enough to keep me up too late for several days in a row.

The main characters, Alice White and Erik Summers, are very well portrayed and although their predicament is not one that we are likely to find ourselves in, I was hoping that they would work it out and very interested to see how. I was surprised at how much tension Danvers develops within the deceptively simple style of this book.

It does require that we, like Erik, suspend our disbelief for the duration, but I found it well worth while.

A fast but very pleasing excursion into another possible reality.

I recommend it.