The Silver Wolf (Legends of the Wolves, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Alice Borchardt (Author) "THE SUN WAS GOING DOWN..." (more)
Key Phrases: silver wolf, cloth seller, wolf lunged, Sister Angelica, Count Otho, Abbess Emilia (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Regeane is a fatherless royal relation who happens to be a werewolf. Her guardian, Gundabald, and his venal son Hugo plan to recoup their fortunes by marrying Regeane to a wealthy bridegroom, even though she might inadvertently make him into a bedtime snack. Gundabald forces her into apparent compliance by threatening to reveal her secret to the Church, which would burn her at the stake. As the bridegroom, Maeniel, journeys to Rome to claim her, Regeane discovers allies in her quest to defeat Gundabald's machinations, including some very strong, funny, and levelheaded women. Unfortunately for Regeane, she also has more powerful enemies than Gundabald.

Alice Borchardt brings 8th-century Rome vividly to life. Her language is earthy and sensuously descriptive: "The wolf visited Regeane's eyes and ears. The girl staggered slightly with the shock. The light in the square became intense. Smells an overwhelming experience: wet stone, damp air, musty clothing, perspirations shading from ancient sticky filth to fresh acrid adrenal alarm."

Borchardt is Anne Rice's sister, but she writes a very different sort of tale. Ghosts, the dead, and supernatural forces are here, but so is laugh-out-loud humor and a happy ending. --Nona Vero --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
Borchardt spices her usual recipe for breathy historical romance (Devoted, etc.) with a generous pinch of the supernatural. Regeane is a secretive shapeshifter living in Rome at the end of the Empire's decline. Distantly related to Charlemagne, she becomes a pawn between the French and Italy's scrappy Lombards when she is betrothed to Maeniel, guardian of a passage through the Alps who is sympathetic to the French king. Intrigues and counterplots abound as Maeniel speeds his way to retrieve his reluctant bride and Regeane lends her supernatural powers to curing the leprous Antonius, whom the Lombards hope to use to discredit his father, Pope Hadrian, and turn the Roman citizens against Charlemagne's advancing Catholic army. In Regeane, whose woman and wolf selves often spar contentiously with one another, Borchardt finds the perfect metaphor for the once opulent Roman civilization, now hostage to its bestial appetites. She elaborates the decadent excesses of the time with gleefully vivid descriptions of gluttonous banquets, grotesque leper colonies and violent lusts sated both on the battlefield and in the bridal bed. Readers who like their fantasy dusted with gritty realism and who can forgive anachronistic modern dialogue in a period melodrama will find themselves indulged with more than a few twists to this werewolf tale. (July) FYI: The galley to Silver Wolf carries a note to "Dear Reader" from Borchardt's sister, Anne Rice, stating that "it is with immense joy that I introduce to you a daring and vibrant new voice on the female literary frontier"?although the novel is Borchardt's third.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (May 29, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345423615
• ISBN-13: 978-0345423610
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (106 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #325,895 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unusually lyrical story of werewolves, October 22, 1999

By	A. Ryan "Merribelle" (Westminster, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I read this book before I realized that Alice was Anne Rice's sister. Therefore, I developed a much less biased opinion than I might have. I think The Silver Wolf's style shares a lot in common with Rice's vampire novels, but this only became obvious to me after I made the connection. However, there's enough difference between these two authors that I think the constant comparisons going on are really unfair to them both. The Silver Wolf explores the werewolf legend from a fresh angle. There is no hint of any compulsive murdering on the part of the werewolves, or bloodlust for human flesh. Indeed, they are portrayed as more human and humane than anyone else in the plot. The imagery is rich and takes on the quality of a dream from time to time. The romantic subplot between Regeanne and Maniel (werewolf main characters)is convincing but I felt that it came too late and was hastily explored.

Overall, this was one of my favorite werewolf novels. The criticisms I've heard about it, such as the plot dragging in the first half and being a bit fragmented, are true enough in my opinion, which is why I rated only four stars.

PS-the official book review states that Lucilla was Maniel's mother--I don't know where that came from, unless that particular reviewer was just confused by the fragmented storyline and numerous flashback scenes.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Silver Wolf is a real dog, August 30, 2000

By	K. Carpenter "Mettle" (St. Petersburg, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm not going to totally trash this book only because I did finish it. I'm giving it two stars because it is something only remotely close to readable and engaging. Cold comfort, but that's the truth. It matters very little, though, because Alice Borchardt only manages to pull you through the story to frustrate you at every turn.

Borchardt knows how to keep the action going and she doesn't beat you over the head with her historical research nearly as badly as some other gothic novelists are wont to do - specifically, her little sister, Anne Rice, springs to mind. But this still isn't a very good book if you read critically and have a low tolerance for gaping holes in a story.

I would challenge anyone who would rave about _The Silver Wolf_ to think about the character, Silve.

Silve is established as a solid secondary character (and probably the most believable of all the characters), but Borchardt simply forgot about her or just couldn't find anything for her to do for most of the book, so we lost her until the Borchardt realized that she needed her again to progress her weak plot. That's shoddy storytelling and it's only one - just one- example of it in _The Silver Wolf_.

Additionally, each character in the book - primary and secondary alike - is a two-dimensional, cliched, romance novel archetype. Granted, this book is marked on the back cover to be shelved in the Romance section of the bookstore (although Borchardt is found in the Literature section at my local Borders -- how generous of them!), so maybe I expected too much. But writing is writing, as far as I'm concerned. Even a romance novel shouldn't have all the loose ends you'll find in here.

I'll admit that Borchardt paints a pretty picture. I loved her descriptions of ancient Rome. But scenery doesn't get you through the long dark night of this book and she never manages to write anything even resembling seamless story to keep you company while you ride by the aqueducts. Maybe Borchardt should have collaborated with someone who could have helped her with the story - no, not Rice. Or maybe she should have gotten a better editor - again, not Rice's.

If you demand more of what you read, then don't bother with this book.

Oh, P.S. --- Borchardt should be chastised for her wanton overuse of one particular type of punctuation. Take a quick flip through the pages of _The Silver Wolf_. I challenge you to find ten consecutive pages without at least one ellipse on at least one page! For those who don't know, an ellipse is the dot-dot-dot (...) (usually used to indicate a pause, etc.) that a good novelist knows to use very sparingly. ...

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dark and moody werewolf tale worth reading, May 8, 2000

By	DogsDeserveCompassion (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Regeane is a beautiful young woman with werewolf blood. Because of this, her nasty uncle has kept her captive and beaten and starved her. When she discovers that he plans to sell her to a wealthy barbarian she risks her life and escapes. The remainder of the book concentrates on Regeane's self-discovery and the other, often odd, sometimes depraved people she encounters. She's known she can shapeshift but she also learns that she has visions and can speak to the dead. Eventually she becomes embroiled in a dangerous political situation and meets her soul mate and all ends pretty happily ever after.

This book, set in Rome during the Dark Ages, is rough, meaty and often very dark. It's not a book for everyone because the author gets really graphic and vividly describes numerous vile acts including torture and assorted bodily functions. The book also goes off into tangents when the numerous secondary characters take center stage but their stories were interesting even though they rarely advanced the plot. My mind only started to wander during the times when the book got into heavy political details - which aren't my thing.

If you can get past all that, and don't mind a highly descriptive book you'll find a very interesting story that is often (at the most unexpected times) very hilarious in a morbid kind of way. I found this story, for the most part, very difficult to put down and am looking forward to the sequel which I hope ties up some loose ends.