Customer Reviews

Wolf Moon

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Kern, a werewolf shapechanger, barely escapes from a harper-hunter and finds himself in a home. Since he turned werewolf, Kern has been on the run, hated and feared by everyone--both human and wolf. Now, he keeps his secret close, pretends to be purely human, and gradually falls in love with Ainsy, the innkeeper. He even makes friends with the inn's dog--by becoming were by night, establishing dominance, and then going for a purely canine hunt.

Just when Kern is starting to think that he can have a normal life, he gets word that the harper, Tuiloch, plans on spending the winter in the neighborhood. And Tuiloch can see through any disguise. Tuiloch doesn't just want to kill Kern, he wants to destroy him, starting by eliminating the trust and love that Kern had created with his new family. And Tuiloch, with his harper magic, can do just that. It isn't long before Kern is on the run again, but this time he has friends to worry about--friends that Tuiloch hypnotically controls, and that Tuiloch doesn't at all mind using in Kern's destruction.

Author Charles de Lint has carved out a niche for himself as a leading writer of contemporary fantasy. WOLF MOON is an early book (set in a medieval-style fantasy world), lacks some of the sensual nature of his more mature writing, and is a fairly linear story. Although it is simpler than de Lint's later works, he does a fine job establishing Kern's problems and making the loss of his new family all the more poignant for the fact that he knew it would have to happen. WOLF MOON is a compelling quick read.

Kern the werewolf is first met running through the woods in wolf form, desperately trying to escape from a sinister harper and the sorcerous monster the harper's music creates. Kern escapes, but is injured, and he winds up in the care of a pretty tavern owner, Fion. From there, the book deals with Kern's ambivalence : He desires friendship with the book's engaging cast of characters, and his feelings for Fion are even deeper. But he knows that shapeshifters are hated and feared...how can he win friendship, much less love, without revealing his secret, which he believes will cause his new friends to hate and fear him, perhaps even try to kill him?

And then the harper shows up in the valley, and proves to be a sorcerer possessed of a maniacal, genocidal hatred of shapeshifters...and a willingness to kill even a shapeshifter's 'normal' friends and family...

The book has some sex 'n' violence, but it's fairly lighthearted, and the hero is about the least selfpitying werewolf in the genre.( A genre which one magazine reviewer described as consisting of," 'Why me?' Growl/kill!") And who can resist a werewolf book in which the lycanthrope makes friends with a terrified, hostile dog who senses his 'differentness' by first establishing dominance over the hound, and then taking the hound out for a deer hunt...two quadrupeds running and playing in the moonlit winter night? Or in which the werewolf hero, again while in wolf form, wonders if he can't convince his farm hand friend to groom his furry pelt along with Stram the hound?

I hope this book comes back in print. If not, werewolf fans would be wise to seek this book out second hand. It's worth a search.

I was disappointed in this early de Lint, and my first idea was to give it a poor rating. However, I realize that my reception of this book is suffering because I'm comparing it to his later work which is probably not fair-- apples and oranges.

De Lint largely writes complex fairy-tale based urban fantasy with a strong dose of dreaming and different levels of reality. Wolf Moon, on the other hand, is a fairly straight up fantasy novel which deals with the idea of shapeshifters in a fairly static fantasy universe. Had it been a book by anyone other than De Lint, I think that I would have found it okay-- standardly entertaining, some moments of spark and promise, pleasingly dark.

So. If you are a de Lint fan because of the later work, there is a good chance that you are not going to be very happy with this book. If you are picking up this book because you want to read something by de Lint, bear in mind that this is not representative and that it probably is not the place to begin with his writing. If you are a fantasy reader who reads across the genre, you are probably going to find it enjoyable enough-- maybe even enjoyable enough to pick up some of the later de Lint books that everyone keeps talking about in these reviews.

I love werewolves, and I eagerly bought this book though wanted to return it when I was finished. This book, though beautifully written, has flat, one-dimensional, underdeveloped characters and majorly underdeveloped relationships. Kern and Ainsy barely knew each other and they rushed into sex just like that. Ainsy started out as a strong female character, sometimes snappish but a sweetheart on the inside, and she ends up a helpless damsel in distress when I expected her to tell off the harper and give him a good slap. The plot was thin, with not enough emotion, and the characters simply go with the flow, never developing their own characteristics. But the prose is excellent and breath-taking; I'd like to read other books from this author, though I'll check them out from a library first. The author has a fantastic way with words.

While it lacks the brilliance and polish of CDL's strongest novels (MEMORY AND DREAM, FORESTS OF THE HEART) and the innocent strength of the best of the early books (RIDDLE OF THE WREN, MOONHEART), WOLF MOON is a fine book with a potentially distinct appeal for long-time de Lint readers who might be looking for a step away from the various Newford story strands. More traditionally fantasy, and with a nice period feel, there's a lot to like here. This volume is targeted mostly at collectors--the first edition was a mass-market original--but kudos to Subterranean Press for bringing it back into print.

As I read this story, I found myself enjoying it the more I got into it. I reread the beginning a few times, as I kept losing interest, but after I got past the first few chapters I found the story a great entertainment. An easy read, it may be, but it's quite a twist from your regular supernatural stories. DeLint has sent the magic from the story into the mind of the reader, and his carefully worded descriptions make this story a great read. When compared to his other works, this little story may be overlooked and thought inferior, but this story is just as important to the DeLint collection as is his bestseller, Moonheart. DeLint has taken a classic tale and twisted its wrist to make it his own. It's totally unpredictable.

Kern Kindregan narrowly escaped the unrelenting clutches of the Harper's feragh. The master and his silver beast knew only one sole purpose and duty: to kill each and every werewolf alive, and they were good at it. Ripped, bloodied, and left for dead, Kern was found by a young maid named Ainsy, who took him to her family's inn, The Inn of The Yellow Tinker. There Ainsy nursed him back to health, and the two of them fell in love.

So far, Kern had told no one of his condition, knowing of people's blind hatred for werewolves. But his almost normal life was soon rudely interrupted with the unwelcome arrival of the Harper Tuiloch once more. He had sent the feragh to attack Ainsy's uncle Tomtim, in order to lure Kern out to him. Kern fell for the lure out of love for Ainsy, and invaded Tuiloch's camp in wolf form. The feragh greeted him with tooth and claw, but Kern managed to drive it away. Too late he realized Tomtim had seen him, and he immediately revealed Kern's secret when they reached the Inn.

That night, Tuiloch came to the Yellow Tinker and, after earning the inn folk's trust, unleashed the feragh on Tolly, the Inn's stableboy. Tuiloch framed Kern and forced him to flee. While Kern was gone, Tuiloch enchanted everyone with his music, and stole Ainsy's heart while she still hated Kern. In the midst of this, Fion, Ainsy's sister, broke free of the Harper's spell and went looking for Kern. She eventually found him and convinced him to return to the Inn and to confront Tuiloch and win Ainsy back. When they returned, the Harper used Ainsy as a shield against Kern in battle. Fion helped out and broke Tuiloch's harp, releasing Ainsy from his spell. The Harper then raised the feragh to finish off Kern. But Ainsy and Fion crashed steel rods down on the feragh's head and neck, killing it. His beast defeated, Tuiloch gave in to Kern's power, but Kern killed him anyway for all the wrongs he had done.

Charles de Lint has really outdone himself in this beautiful and complex spin on the tale of the werewolf. At times, I found it necessary to consult certain myth-based Web sites in order to properly acknowledge characters such as the Harper and the feragh. I found that the Harper was a demon from the old Scottish highlands, who masqueraded as a traveling bard in order to infiltrate the werewolf's territory and kill it. The Harper was also said to be a mage whose magic was woven into the strings of his harp. By the method stated above, the Harper could gain the trust of the werewolf and subdue it enough with his music to raise the feragh, who would then kill the werewolf. Th feragh was also from the Scottish highlands. It was a mythical creature of the night, in that sense kin to the vampire. The feragh was said to have a siver pelt spotted with jet black. It was also said to be nearly invisible under the cloak of night.

Mr. de Lint has woven a tale so enchanting that even someone with everything to do could find the time to sit down and read Wolf Moon. It is chock-full of wild plot twists and realistic characters. Even legendary characters such as the feragh and Kern the werewolf are completely believable. If you are an avid fantasy reader, but only have the time for one novel, make it Wolf Moon, by Charles de Lint.

-C. Edwards

I've never read a book by De Lint, so, unlike other reviewers, I'm not bias because of reading his later works. This one is a normal run of the mill fantasy, based in a far off land and a far off time. It is my understanding that De Lint normally writes urban fatansy, so this obviously is a difference.

What I like about it is the fact that it is not some epic fantasy. He doesn't go on and on about the world and how what the hero does or accomplishes will save man kind or beast kind, or whatever. This is simply a man, with a certain gift--or curse (depending on how you look at it) who simply want's to find his place in life. He's unhappy and lonely. By shear chance he is taken in by a family made up of friends and welcomed as their own. He even finds a love. But these friends may not last forever, because they don't know his deepest secret--that he is a werewolf. Unfortunately, someone comes to the village that does, a hunter, and the hero (said werewolf) has to make a decision. To run or stay and fight for what he has found.

I found De Lint's writing poetic at times and well put together. He said much, with only a few words and his character development was flawless.

This was the first novel of de Lint's that I had ever read, and is still one of my all-time favorourite books. Back when I first read it, when it was initially released, it seemed a much different take on the concept of being a werewolf than most storytellers were doing. Being a wolf-lover in a time when wolves were NOT popular (as they are now), I found it very refreshing. I was ecstatic when I heard this book was being re-released, as my own copy has been read so much that all the pages fell out.

Fans of de Lin't current work who are not over-all fantasy lovers may not like it so well, as you can see by the other reviews, but I believe that is because they are more into his "urban storytelling", which this is rather different from (I've met a number of his fans who've said that other than his works, they do not read fantasy at all). Still, those of his fans who DO like a variety of styles (particularly those who are into high-fantasy) will appreciate it, as will those who love shapeshifter fantasy and are not already familiar with his work.

I really enjoyed this book. It's light and easy to read, yet filled with vivid imagery and characters that you can easily sympathize with. I'm also a sucker for wolf/werewolf stories. Again, I really loved this and I think it's a great book for all ages.