Customer Reviews

The Wolf of Winter

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ok, I'll admit it, I'm hooked on Paula Volsky. I'm also hooked on Richard III, which is one of the many reasons I love this book. Think Richard III in Russia with Necromancy. And once you've done that, realize that Volsky makes it work. It's an amazing read. Do you sympathize with Varis? Yes. Do you loathe him? Yes. Do you want him to win? Yes, kind of. Do you want him to be defeated? Not really... but he deserves it. Don't let the other reviews fool you, either. The ending is perfect. It may not be the reader's ideal ending, but it is the perfect result of the excesses of blood and power that the amazingly sympathetic yet bloody Varis deals in. No sequel or rewrite needed; Volsky hits it perfectly.

"The Wolf of Winter" begins with Varis, a youngest of three brothers in the royal family, suffering from much mockery for his physical handicaps. Fleeing to a remote hideaway in the mountains, he soon gets tempted by the dark magic of necromancy. Without any doubt, this opening section is the high point of the novel. Varis does not want to be a necromancer. He knows that use of the magic, and of the various drugs needed to achieve spectral power, eventually drives users insane. He knows, but he can't stop. He becomes addicted to drugs, to magic, and to the power that it brings. The portrait of addiction here is strikingly realistic, and indeed for those expecting just a standard swords of sorcery outing this may catch you by surprise. As others have said, it makes Varis a unique villain. We get caught between our loathing for his actions and our sympathy for the way that fate seemed to trap him. These first few chapters are so deep and conflicted, it makes you wonder whether Volsky had some experience with addiction in a friend or family member that led her to create this character.

Regretably, the rest of the book doesn't maintain the same high level. First of all, the reader must suffer a long, boring midsection that keeps Varis offstage while instead focusing on the Prince and Princess in exile. And in contrast to the excellent characterization at the start, many of the minor characters are mere stick figures. For instance, the academics at Frule at are little more than a tedious punch line.

In the end, Volsky seems afraid to push this story to its full potential. At one point she briefly mentions that after coming to power, Varis actually passed a number of reforms that improved life dramatically for the ordinary people of his kingdom. This raises the question, should we support a ruler who murdered and schemed his way to the throne if he proves a good ruler? Raises the question, but never answers it. The entire subject is merely dropped in favor of a pyrotechnic ending.

Like all of Paula Volsky's books she has taken a classic tale/historical event and added magic etc..
This retelling of Richard the III is fantastic full of disgust, pity and mesmerism!
Varis is as facinating as his historical counterpart and the tale is very engrossing.
The only reason I gave it 4 stars is it isn't quite as good as Illusion, not nearly as detailed or totaly hypnotizing.
But is well worth buying and on the list of all her other books this is definitly number 2 after Illusion, followed closly by her most recent novel The Grand Ellipse. Her other books are good but aren't nearly as good as these 3...

Truly a very fun book. The overlooked son of a king is really quite a pathtic little creature...weak, slight of frame, uncoordinated and not at all athletic. What does he have going for him that his robust and stronger brothers do not? A keen mind, an iron will and ambition, something his peers in the pseudo Czech setting of this novel fail to notice to their detriment and doom. Granted, the skinny kid goes a bit overboard in his pursuit for vindication, but you can't help but like the guy in a dark, sinister and scheming part of your soul. The mixture of necromancy and heavy drug useage is interesting and makes plausible reading. The romantic involvement, contrary to being Varis' Waterloo as one might conclude at the end of the book, actually results in the salvation of his very terrible and tainted soul. It's a classic analogy of man's descent into darkness, only to be redeemed by the love of another. In this case, the price Varis pays is that highly keen mind which served him so well in his pursuit of power and revenge.

The Wolf of Winter begins in classic Volsky form: high society, interesting characters, shocking scenes, wonderful wordplay and, of course, an (almost) fully realized sense of World. However, Ms. Volsky must have been writing under an imminent deadline for her to have ever conceived of presenting such an ending! The ardent fan will grant Ms. Volsky the awkward splitting of the novel into two parts, and the jump in time, the creulty of Vanion and the gruesomeness of necromancy--but no one can grant the Huckleberry Finnish conclusion, which sums up the defeat of an undefeatable hero/foe, the sudden termination of the interesting if incestuous relationship between uncle and neice, and the inconclusive, non-enlightening last two scenes of a wind-swept woman on a battlement and a gibbering idiot in a cave. Ms. Volsky, PLEASE do not let fame numb your craft!--Emily C. A. Snyder

This is the second novel I have read by Paula Volsky (the first being Illusions). This story is made up of two narratives which eventually merge into one. One is the story of an outcast prince, Varis, who through the use of magical powers gained by necromancy, takes over a kingdom and sets out to abolish any potential rivals one by one. The other is the story of Shalindra, Varis's niece and sister to Varis's main rival and the rightful ruler of the kingdom. The thing that really grabs you and pulls you into the story is the sympathetic character of Varis. Varis is an underdog who has been unfairly treated and this makes you want to see him succeed and get revenge on those who have wronged him, even though his methods are evil.

I enjoyed the story, though, in retrospect, there was something about it that seemed a little hollow to me. Upon reflection I realized that the story seems to lack a strong transcendant moral or spiritual element which for me detracts from its overall value unlike, say, Lord of the Rings. There doesn't seem to be any real heros here and often there doesn't seem to be a lot of noticable difference between the two factions in the story. This is probably because the story is more heavily rooted in historical narrative than in mythical narrative. That said, Volsky is an excellent writer, excelling in detailed description, sympathetic characters, and a good plot hook that immediately grabs your interest and keeps you reading.

I keep watching and waiting for a sequel to this book to suddenly appear. Considering the length of time I've been waiting, I should have given up long ago...but I just can't quite bring myself to do it. My feelings about the villain Varis are so dualistic. I loathe him, I pity him, I want Shalindra to conquer him, and I want her to become spellbound by him...just like I did. Volsky captures the core of what great villains are...in real life and in fantasy. Rarely, are they the flat, one-dimensional, purely repulsive characters we see in bad literature. More often, they have done evil things, have the potential to do more evil things, and are strangely charismatic anyway. Volsky captures that beautifully and then lets it fall flat in an unsatisfying end. Ms. Volsky, tell us you were just yanking our collective chain, that you were saving up for the sequel to give us the real ending to The Wolf of Winter.

Many fantasy novels present concepts of magic, and _The Wolf of Winter_ is noteworthy for the originality of its scheme (drug-enhanced necromancy). Its settings are also refreshing. But what is really distinctive about this book is that it tells a powerful story. It is the closest thing to a great tragedy that I have found in the fantasy canon. Prince Waris sticks in my mind and bothers me like Macbeth.

for people who've yet to read it,
with responses to other reveiws:


it takes place mostly in a nation marked by the severity and length of it winter. the main characters are all of the royal family, though one of spend time in a forced role/identity elsewhere. as mentioned in other reviews the antagonist is complex, sympathetic, and both logical and generally well-meaning-- aside from activities (mostly necromantic) to secure and keep the throne. the storyline revolves around surving (for the protagonist and her brother, Cerrov), the time spent as prisoner to a library (protagonist), and the ascendancy to/ maintance of the throne (antagonist, Cerrov).

drawbacks:
if you prefer to know the definition of every word you read, you may have to look up alot of words (mostly latinates from greek, or french). I don't think her use of esoteric vocabulary is quite as extensive here as in some of her other books.
There is too much similarity in the thinking styles of her characters.... Repetious is too harsh a word, and it may not be very noticeable if you don't decide to read 4 of her books in a row. In defense, this 'thinking style' is her own creation, and it is something that i noticed in the original Dune series, but it really does little to diminish my enjoyment of these books.
One of the other reviews (the one who read it at the gym) said something that I took to mean th he prefered books that were more action packed. This isn't a book isn't in the 'action/thriller' catagory. If you looking for an adventure style fantasy, this isn't it.

general style:
Her books tend more revolove around the interactions of who, when, and where, and she not only develops rich characters, but similarly develops a richness of time and place... as though they too, were important characters. The interactions can be (for the character, or groups) slow and nuturing, ennervating, character-building, or the high drama that marks the storyline...
As far as its lack of transcending moral purpose, i think that the trancendential morality the marks Lord of the Ring (where the form rnabled it to work) is generally geared towards a childishly simple moral/social paradigm that has value for being comforting, but is a plague (upon both literature and society) if people really buy into into it. It has a quality much more real, and highlights a question much more relevant to thinking about moral judgement, instead of just calling it like 'heads or tails.'

On the ending (reveals as little as i could.... but still...):
The complexity seemed lost on some of the reveiwers. There is the implication that er... surving necromancer may or may not use necromancy again, and may even, one day, go for the throne (unlikly, but who knows what time can bring?).

I did think the ending a little abrupt, and think that is she added an epilogue (online or for the next printing) I'd like to see it. (I've created my own, if anyone's intersted).

sorry this was so lengthy.
(also for the record I love Volsky as a general rule, atleast everything post-Illusion (haven't read but one before it), though I found the Grande Ellispe a little disappointing)

Mixed feelings? Oh yeah. On one hand, I hate this book because it's so bloody revolting and sick. Its not the first time I've read a book with carnage, and not the worst either... but somehow this time it really got to me. And then the necromancer Uncle Varis falling in love with his niece Shalindra, who wasn't even half his age supposedly...well, somehow that idea never caught on either. On the other hand however, the book was well written, and you really feel for the characters, especially Varis. You feel sorry for him, you despise him, you want to kill him, your heart breaks with him, and you understand him strangely. And of course, this book introduced to me quite thouroughly what necromancy was. Which actually turns out to be a good thing because there so many other books and movies in which necromancy exists, but none that quite gives you the necessary introduction of what necromancy is actually about.

Overall, the book haunted my mind after I finished it, though the question remains whether it was because the ending was so memorably good, or because the ending was just plain bull.