Wolfsbane (Aralorn) [Mass Market Paperback]

Patricia Briggs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2, 2010 | Series: Aralorn

Shapeshifting mercenary Aralorn leads a dangerous existence. Now she must return home for her noble father, the Lyon of Lambshold, has passed away. But when Aralorn and her companion Wolf arrive, they find he's not dead, but ensorcelled by the ae'Magi, using him as a conduit to destroy Aralorn and Wolf. She must overcome this mysterious mist or fall to the blackest of magic.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Patricia Briggs is the author of the New York Times bestselling Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series. She lives in Washington state with her husband, children, and a small herd of horses. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Ace; Original edition (November 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441019544
• ISBN-13: 978-0441019540
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Patricia Briggs is the author of the New York Times bestselling Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series. She lives in Washington state with her husband, children, and a small herd of horses.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars At last!, November 4, 2010

By 

Litocracy "reviewer" (San Francisco, ca) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Wolfsbane (Aralorn) (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm a fan of Patricia Brigg's other work, and especially of these characters. I must have read the original "Masques" about a dozen times in junior high, so I was thrilled when I heard the sequel would be released after so many years. Overall, I found this installment satisfying.

The novel opens with the main character, Aralorn, heading home to her family estate to attend her father's funeral. Wolf joins her at the family castle, and the two soon discover that her father is not in fact dead, but under the influence of a powerful spell that will kill him before long. The book follows Aralorn and Wolf and a small host of friends and family as they work to discover who is responsible for the attack and undo the spell. Their continued romance forms the major subplot of the book, occasionally superseding the mystery, so that it's almost a toss up whether this is a fantasy-mystery novel with some elements of romance, or a romance novel with some elements of fantasy and mystery.

In this sequel, Briggs brings her the two lovers closer together, highlighting the underlying similarity between the two by revealing Aralorn's sense of isolation from her large family, and giving Wolf some opportunity for redemption.

In certain ways, this novel offers a bit of a reality check. In the first book Aralorn and Wolf are coming to terms with how they feel about each other in the midst of a larger struggle against a powerful evil magician. In this book, they've already won the big fight. Now they're actually together--and it's not so easy carrying on a relationship with someone who is the equivalent of a wanted felon, inherently self destructive, and periodically leaves without explanation.

But, it's not so bad either. The couple is charming, sarcastic, witty and sweet. Their interactions are by far my favorite part of the whole book.

There are some undoubtedly corney moments ("Don't you die on me...") that just have to be got through. It's hard to care too terribly much about any of the side characters, even those the author obviously intended her readers to care about. Briggs has also added some details which help knit together the rest of the loosely interconnected books in what the publisher has apparently decided to call the "Sianim Series," but which add nothing at all to this story.

But, nit picky flaws aside, I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and recommend it.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Liked it, November 6, 2010

By 

E. Ries (Europe) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wolfsbane (Aralorn) (Kindle Edition)

"Wolfsbane" is a sequel to "Masques" and takes up right where Masques left off. It is lighter in tone than much of Patricia Briggs' other work - less darkness, evil and suffering, which I actually enjoyed quite a bit. It's also not very long - just a nice short little novel with a succinct storyline with elements of fantasy, mystery and romance and not too many characters.

In the beginning, Aralorn is coming back home to Lambshold for the first time in 10 years in order to attend her father's funeral. Lambshold is filled with her many many relatives (she has 13 siblings), but thankfully, only some of them are actually described and mentioned by name, otherwise it would have been far too much for the brevity of the book. When she touches her father's cheek, however, she discovers that he is not truly dead, but has been ensorcelled with black magic. Finding out who is responsible for this and saving her father is the fantasy/mystery side of the plot.

The sub-plot is a romance which is not based on the usual question "will they find together" (because they already are) but more on "will Aralorn's love be able to heal Wolf's battered soul (and save his life)?". As we know from Masques, Wolf was raised by the most horribly abusive dad imaginable and is wrecked by guilt over the terrible things his father made him do. Aralorn's gentleness, warmth and sense of humor are helping him immensely, but will they be enough to overcome his self-destructiveness?

My only real complaint was some of the characterization. For example the priestess of the Goddess of death: yes, it's a nice departure from the same-old, same-old to make her a friendly, chatty down-to-earth kind of girl, but then I would have really liked to have seen how that fits with being a priestess of the Goddess of death - why did she become one, is there another side of her character that we haven't seen yet, or how else does this fit together? Same with Wolf: he is described as hating himself so much that his own magic attacks him (fulfilling his subconscious death wish) but none of this darkness enters his dialogues with Aralorn. He is always really sweet to Aralorn - but would someone who hates themselves so much really be that sweet all the time? But maybe I have overlooked something subtle and his characterization is more consistent than I could see. I did like the characters, but having read the Mercy Thompson series, I know that Patricia Briggs can create much more thoughtfully constructed characters than here (but as I said, maybe I missed something).

I did enjoy this book (especially the friendly banter) but it's more of a light snack instead of a full meal. If you are looking for an epic tapestry, for complex storylines with many unexpected twists and turns or many nuanced, realistic characters, then maybe you'd do better to look elsewhere. But: it's a really good and enjoyable light snack, and if you liked Masques then you'll like this one as well.

I hope this was helpful!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Plot lacks thrills, but romance is sweet, December 17, 2010

By 

Kat at Fantasy Literature - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wolfsbane (Aralorn) (Mass Market Paperback)

Wolfsbane, the sequel to Patricia Briggs' debut novel Masques, was written later in her career and just published last month. It continues the story of the shapeshifters Aralorn and Wolf, whose relationship has developed significantly since the beginning of Masques. Aralorn has been called home after a ten-year absence because her father has died. When she and her "pet" Wolf arrive, they find some evil magic at work and a mystery to solve.

As you'd expect, Briggs' writing is better this time. She has a smooth style that I find pleasant to read (or in this case, listen to, since I read this on audio, again read by Katherine Kellgren). I enjoyed spending more time with Aralorn and Wolf and agree with Ms. Briggs who, in the humble introduction to the book, said she wrote Wolfsbane because these characters deserve further attention. They're smart, witty, and good, and their relationship is believable.

Though Wolfsbane may be a better crafted book, I didn't find its plot to be as compelling as the plot of Masques. This may be partly because it felt very much like a sequel -- the characters and the world are no longer something new to explore, so enjoyment of the novel must come from either spectacular style or truly engaging plot and Wolfsbane, though it's a pleasant read, has neither. There was a lot of talking through ideas and coming to conclusions by discussion or spying rather than by active investigation, so I was bored in spots (but not for long because Wolfsbane is short and quick-paced).

The evil magic that Aralorn and Wolf must overcome directly affects their relationship, and this is the true focus of Wolfsbane. For this reason, I think readers of romances will probably enjoy Wolfsbane more than I did. The plot lacks thrills, but the romance is sweet and satisfying.