Customer Reviews

Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart (Wolf, Book 2)

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

 

 

This book is a continuation of the story of Firekeeper and friends that started in Through Wolf's Eyes. However the story in this volume is very complete (in fact I thought it the last until I read otherwise), so you don't need to worry about being left with a cliffhanger. It should be preceded by the first book though.

The story concerns three stolen magical artifacts that were in Bright Bay. On a basic level the book is a quest to regain them. On another level it's a book about the humans on the quest (Doc, Derian, Elise, and Firekeeper) continuing to mature. I loved the book on both levels, maybe because these four characters and Blind Seer are my favorites in the series.

This book has less political intrigue than the first since much of it takes place outside the courts, so it has a more adventure-like feel. It's also nice to get a chance to see a bit more of the countryside, and a new city that I found intriguing. There's also a neat interlude with a conclave of the Royal Beasts, which has some good storytelling in it.

All in all, an excellent sequel.

Often sequels aren't as good as the first in a series, but Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart is just as much of a page turner as Through Wolf's Eyes. It can be read as a standalone novel -- enough information is given so that new readers can figure out who is who -- but because it begins a few months after Through Wolf's Eyes ends, it is hard to write a detailed review without spoiling both books.

Head/Heart is, technically, a quest story; a group of people are tasked to go somewhere and do something. What makes this book stand out is how that basic concept becomes a the foundation to a tightly woven web of political intrigue spanning four kingdoms.

We meet again all the main players from the first book - Firekeeper, the woman raised by wolves; Derian, the man with the unenviable task of civilizing her; Elise Archer, trying to find her place as a future baroness; Melina Shield, the woman who will sacrifice anything for personal power; her daughter Sapphire, who seeks power of her own; a multitude of Kings and Queens, and more. We are also introduced to several new characters and a new society that was only hinted at previously.

This might be set in a fantasy medieval world and it might star a half-feral woman, but I guarantee you that this book has all the plots, counter-plots, alliances, betrayals, and fast-paced action as any adventure movie or spy novel. I wasn't able to put it down.

I first heard of the author Jane Lindskold when I came across her first novel in this universe, Through Wolves Eyes, at a science fiction convention last year.

I fell in love with her main characters, Firekeeper, a human girl raised as a wolf, and her pack mate, the wolf Blind Seer. I was ecstatic when I found out that a sequel was in the works. I just finished Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart, and it was even better than the first book in the series.

The author does a wonderful job with her human and animal characters, and weaves a story that you can't put down until it's finished. I am always sad to have such a wonderful book end, and I anxiously await the next book in this series.

If you like Fantasy, and are an animal lover, this book and the first are for you!

I really loved book 1, so it was with great anticipation that I picked up book 2. But, if I hadn't already developed a relationship with the main characters, I would have never have bothered finishing this one.

While the author's descriptions of the world and the character interaction are supurb, there just wasn't much STORY in this book.

It was filled with planning and traveling where, in my view, nothing of significance happens. Few new discoveries. Very little character growth and development. I kept asking why anyone should care to follow this part of the characters' lives. yawn.

There was plenty of potential, but it was never quite reached. For example, I was really looking forward to Firekeeper's meeting with the Royal Mothers. But, it ended up being routine. The "revelations" shared there were not near as deep and insightful as it tried to be.

For the most part, the characters were the same at the end of the book as they were at the beginning, with only a few minor "ahah" moments.

*** slight spoiler ***
And, in a shocking lack of continuity, the charcters are motivated to bargain with a bad guy's life in return for an object that they are supposed to know isn't genuine -- since they swapped the genuine with a fake in book 1. Yet, they agree to spare the man's life because of how important it is to get this object back. Very dissappointing.

I'm glad I plodded through it, though. The ending (other than the continuity issue) was pretty good. I'll be continuing with the series, but, I doubt anyone who were to skip book 2 and jump right to book 3 would find they missed anything important.

Man I just got done reading this book..I loved the first one and I really enjoyed this one. The main reason I read the first one was cuz I have an undying love for wolves. And once I began reading I forgot that and just fell in love with Firekeeper, Blind Seer and all their friends. I don't care what others have said to try and make it look bad. I love this book as well as the first one..and say with a strong heart that its worth the read. I got my dad hooked on the seires as well as my brother..and now that I finished this one he can read it. I'm really excited about seeing what happens next. And I hope that one day some one makes a movie of all four books. That would be really really awesome. Perviding they keep true to the books. If you pick up this or the first book READ IT! Give it a try...you just might fall in love with the story just as I did.

When Queen Gustin abdicated the throne she fled with three magical artifacts that she plans to use to regain her power. However, others, some much nastier than Gustin want the relics as well. For instance, self-centered sorceress Melina Shields is forging an alliance to gain the artifacts that will restore, at least in her mind, her "natural place" of power following the recent tarnishing of her image.

While intrigue swirls around these items and competitors, Firekeeper continues to adapt to living among humans after being raised by wolves, though she finds the difference between the two packs as insignificant. Firekeeper is surprised when she and her companions (Doc, her humanizing transition teacher Derian, and future baroness Elise) begin a quest to obtain the magical artifacts before they are used as weapons of destruction by malevolent beings.

Though a sequel (see THROUGH WOLF'S EYES), WOLF'S HEAD, WOLF'S HEART is a stand alone quest tale that readers will want to journey on because it is loaded with action, fast-paced scenes, but also contains a strong coming of age character study to freshen and strengthen the plot. The cast is further developed from where they stood in the debut novel. Though unnecessary to enjoy this story, it is easier to understand their motives if the audience reads that book first. Fans of fantasy quest novels will appreciate Jane Lindskold's second Wolf's book while rereading the first novel and desiring future stories in this beguiling realm.

Harriet Klausner

I haven't the faintest idea why my review wasn't posted.... so I'll post it again!



I am enjoying this book but another thing I'm enjoying is counting how many errors there are in this book- it's obvious that no human looked at it before selling it. It's difficult for me to believe there are so many mistakes.

When I mean a lot, I don't just mean once in a while- every other "page" there are two or three. It's obvious someone just scanned the book let the OCR software be the editor/proofreader and then uploaded it to the Kindle store.

As if that wasn't enough, the first page of each chapter after the next part begins- so say, Part VI, Chapter 22- the first page is doubled and sometimes the words are cut off.

I've counted more than 178 mistakes so far (marking them, too, now reading less with the goal of enjoying the story and more out of disbelief of so many mistakes, it's a game to me now) and i'm not even 50% through the story!

Here are just some of the mistakes;

"He's staying with the Earl Kestrel's party in some nord least tower."

"..chancing on some good hint ting grounds."

"Duke Gyrfalon, her own eider brother is here."

"'I feel,' Firekeeper reforted, a trace sulkily, 'ridiculous'".

"And now for the crowning gfory."

I could go on for pages. The word the is often replaced for some inane reason with die, / = I....

An error or two is to be expected and if it had only happened once or twice (most preferably, not at all more) I could have suffered it. But then to price this eight year old book at this price with these many errors... forget about it.

If you're going to charge me more, Macmillian, make it worth the quality. This is appalling.

Wolf-raised Firekeeper has her hands full with her obligations to the royal (human) family and to the royal animals. The evil Queen Gustin/Valora has stolen magical items and intends to use their forbidden powers to reclaim her thrown. Evil Lady Melinda Shield may have the ability to unlock those magical powers--but do her ambitions allow her to share control with another? Somehow, Firekeeper, along with assorted young noble friends, must protect the royal family from the Queen's assasination attempt, recover the magical artifacts, and resolve the budding conflict between animal and human.

WOLF'S HEAD, WOLF'S HEART is a huge novel--the hardback edition is over 600 pages of small print--but the action doesn't really begin for the first couple of hundred pages. Author Jane Lindskold manages a balance between action and the romantic entanglements of her young characters. Interestingly, the male characters play the secondary role that female characters play in many traditional fantasy novels. In contrast, Lindskold's primary protagonists are all females.

Lindskold does a good job rendering Queen Valora's ambassador, Baron Waln (Walnut) Endbrook sympathetically, despite his amoral character and occasionally evil behavior. Lindskold is a talented enough author to know that humanizing the antagonists can help strengthen the novel. Unfortunately, WOLF'S HEAD, WOLF'S HEART needs a lot of help. From the botched assassination (Firekeeper asks why such a public and doomed assassination was attempted but no one ever answers this question) to the overblown concerns over the assault on a lighthouse (are we really supposed to believe that a dozen pirates trapped in a lighthouse are a threat to two kingdoms), Firekeeper's friends are too powerful (and just in time, new friends appear whenever things look dicey) and her enemies too pathetic to add much suspense.

Typical of new sagas, this second installment disappoints. While it is interesting to see Firekeepr becomming more of age without destroying her endearing naivette,as well as a greater integration of her "Royal Friends",the story is stretched and probably should be read just prior to the next title.
I found myself riffling through the book so as to get to the end and not get bogged down in superfluous dialogue.
The interesting backdrop to this installment of the saga is the new society they enter into. You might equate this society to a Mingh Dynasty society with all it's mysteries but the author does not explore these mysteries, merely uses the obvious as backdrop.
Not a bad book on it's own but does not hold it's own on the heels of "Through Wolfs Eyes".

Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart is a worthy addition to my book shelf. I loved the first book called Through Wolf's Eyes, and this one is easily as good.

Buy it now.

Mark E. Cooper
Author of The Warrior Within (ISBN: 0954512200)