Wilding [Paperback]

Melanie Tem (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2000

A family of female werewolves, united by their primitive rituals, runs through the streets of Denver in desperate pursuit of their youngest member, a uninitiated, half-human runaway whose reckless life threatens the survival of the group.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Melanie Tem may well be the literary successor to Shirley Jackson and be destined to become the new queen of high-quality, psychologically disturbing horror fiction."—Dan Simmons, author of SUMMER OF NIGHT. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: E-Rights/E-Reads Ltd (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585865664
• ISBN-13: 978-1585865666
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,268,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Aoooooo...werewolves of Denver., October 17, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wilding (Mass Market Paperback)

The story of an ancient line of female werewolves in an urban setting. Deborah, fifteen, filled with self-loathing and already pregnant, unwilling to be initiated into the family, runs away to make it on her own. Her adventure is juxtaposed with scenes of life within the werewolf society as they deal with events that may signal the end of their line.

As in her first novel, PRODIGAL, Tem shows her mastery at getting inside her characters' heads - all the more impressive considering these aren't even human. She believably portrays how the werewolves might observe the human world, the confusion of the city streets, through all their senses. Yet this novel seems to be too much a simple character study, and I couldn't help but feel there was a lot more story waiting to be told. There is an ending, but I was left wondering exactly how I got there. The characters don't change much, and the final events strike the reader as inevitable from the start.

A near miss from a writer whom I will nonetheless still be keeping an eye on.

3.0 out of 5 stars More of a family saga than a werewolf novel, December 26, 2010

By 

Little Miss Zombie (Oakville, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wilding (Paperback)

Wilding is a saga about a family of female werewolves, focusing on the family living in present-day Colorado. The clan has been split in two: the city family, living in a quartet of brick houses built by their ancestors, with matriarch Mary, her daughter Ruth, Ruth's daughter Lydia and Lydia's pregnant teen daughter Deborah; and the country family, living in a cave in the mountains, controlled by Mary's sister Hannah, and her several daughters (there are no sons because if a boy is born, they kill him, no husbands because they are only used to make babies and then killed). Deborah runs away when the family decides she isn't ready for the initiation, prompting them to search for her.

The plot focuses more on the dysfunctional family and subplots (Deborah living on the streets with a homeless man, Ruth and her cousin Marguerite attempting to take over the family, Lydia's new friendship/lesbian relationship with a co-worker) than it does on the werewolf aspect. It felt as if the werewolf plot was incidental and a few kills were described in passing.

The story of each woman is told in alternating chapters, making it a quick read when you want to find out what happens to a particular character and have to read through three chapters to return to her. And the mountain clan is barely mentioned. It would be more interesting if the main characters featured a few from the city and a few from the country, instead of all of them being from the city.

The description of Colorado and the houses, caves, mountains and werewolves, is very well-written, making me feel like I'm there and witnessing a person turn into a wolf. But at times the story gets bogged down with description. For instance, Tem will be writing about a major event - like Mary finding Deborah - and stop in the middle to write pages of description about a memory Mary has about that particular place. It becomes very distracting and irritating.

The characters are interesting, but being werewolves, they seem like they have no emotions. Most of the minor characters are so nice to them, but it's like they can't comprehend the kindness and lash out at them instead, making it difficult to like the characters. But I guess I'm just used to the werewolves being the villains instead of the protagonists.

Wilding is okay as a family saga, not-so-great as a werewolf novel. But I enjoy family sagas, so I didn't hate it. If you want to read a good werewolf novel, try The Howling by Gary Brandner, The Wolfen by Whitley Strieber or Ravenous by Ray Garton.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Mish Mash Mess, June 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Wilding (Paperback)

This book was so scatterbrained that unless you ARE the author you will not understand much of the jumble of words typed in this book. Mostly it is a Man-Hater Book ! I thought it was going to be about werewolves not wierd old old old women.