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Black Wolves (The Black Wolves Trilogy Book 1) by [Kate Elliott]

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Kate Elliott

Black Wolves (The Black Wolves Trilogy Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Kate Elliott (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.4 347 ratings

Book 1 of 1: The Black Wolves Trilogy

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An exiled captain returns to help the son of the king who died under his protection in this rich and multi-layered first book in an action-packed new series.

Twenty two years have passed since Kellas, once Captain of the legendary Black Wolves, lost his King and with him his honor. With the King murdered and the Black Wolves disbanded, Kellas lives as an exile far from the palace he once guarded with his life.

Until Marshal Dannarah, sister to the dead King, comes to him with a plea-rejoin the palace guard and save her nephew, King Jehosh, before he meets his father's fate.

Combining the best of Shogun and Vikings, Black Wolves is an unmissable treat for epic fantasy lovers everywhere.

Book 1 of 1

The Black Wolves Trilogy
Print length

817 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Orbit
Publication date

November 3, 2015
File size

5081 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Characters, their relationships and motivations are intricately woven, and the sympathy one feels for each is a testament to how well they are written...The reader will gasp in surprise and amazement at each revelation." ―RT Book Reviews (Top Pick!) on Black Wolves

"Sophisticated, multifaceted worldbuilding sparked by original flourishes, populated by characters we quickly come to care about ... a stellar performance."―Kirkus on The Black Wolves

"Black Wolves is a sweeping tale of loyalty and betrayal, ambition and intrigue, impelled by the mysteries that lie at its heart."―Jacqueline Carey on Black Wolves

"Intricate, fascinating worldbuilding, twisty political intrigue, vivid characters to love and hate -- this is Kate Elliott at the top of her epic fantasy game."―Karen Miller on Black Wolves

"On a vast, colorful canvas, Kate Elliott has drawn dozens of characters who act and react with poetry and grit. Lush and textured, by turns moving, exciting, playful, and contemplative, Black Wolves is a masterpiece that soars with an epic soul."―Ken Liu on Black Wolves

"Delightfully complex."―Library Journal on Black Wolves

"The concept got me shivering. . . .the characters, the mysteries, the background history, the cultural complexity, were all so intriguing I couldn't stop reading."―Elizabeth Moon on Cold Magic

"Elliott pulls out all the stops in a wildly imaginative narrative that will ring happy bells for fans of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy."―Publishers Weekly on Cold Magic

"Elliott has concocted something very special and original here, with elements to tweak sci-fi and fantasy fans of nearly any stripe."―New York Journal of Books on Cold Magic

About the Author

Kate Elliott is the author of more than a dozen novels, including the Novels of the Jaran and, most recently, the Crossroads fantasy series. King's Dragon, the first novel in the Crown of Stars series, was a Nebula Award finalist; The Golden Key (with Melanie Rawn and Jennifer Roberson) was a World Fantasy Award finalist. Born in Oregon, she lives in Hawaii.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00IRIR91A
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orbit (November 3, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 3, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 5081 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 817 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #653,858 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #3,024 in Historical Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- #3,431 in Fantasy Adventure Fiction
- #9,899 in Epic Fantasy (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 347 ratings

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Kate Elliott

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Kate Elliott lives in Hawaii, USA. In addition to the Crossroads series and the Crown of Stars series, she is co-author of THE GOLDEN KEY.

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Political Intrigue, Religous Zealots, Subtle Magic and a Strong Showing from the Female Cast.

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2018

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The Black Wolves blends a variety of cultures with political intrigues and a touch of magic in this world.

***“Dannarah, never forget that a king wields many weapons, and some of them are men. The soldiers I command are sometimes kinsmen but most, however valuable, are expendable in the service of victory. Do not deploy them lightly, or incompetently. Do not waste them, because the best ones take far more time to train than they do to die. But never mistake them for something they are not. Do you understand me?” ***

There were many times I thought I knew where the story was going just to be abruptly surprised when the direction swiftly changed and went a new direction altogether.

There are plenty of villains roaming around and the good guys aren’t just good, they are complex and depending on what side of the battle you are one might be described a little villainous as well. I did have a few favorite characters in Sarai, the bastard daughter of a clan that seems very middle eastern culturally speaking. She is strong since she has been an outcast in her clan all of her life. I love how smart and cunning she is. Lifka is also a strong female character, she should be a slave but was taken in by a family and raised as their own. Now bonded to an Eagle and enemy of the prince she will have to fight to save her family and keep her own skin.

There are a dozen great story arcs happing in the middle of the main arc and so the pacing of the story takes awhile to get going. One reason is that this starts with a set of characters and we read 7-8 chapters with them before time jumping 44 years into the future. I was really invested in the main characters in the beginning and when we return to the story not all of them are alive and things have really changed. It did take awhile for everything to pick back up again after that, but it did.

The worldbuiding is interesting, once upon a time the creatures now called Demons were called Guardians and acted as Judges seeking justice in the land. But time has changed and now they are considered evil and hunted to be killed. There is a subtle magic here. It is not overt but there are bonds between Eagles and people that allow them to have a partnership. There are also places called Demon Coils that are scattered across the land and seem to play a part in the roles of the Guardians and other who a considered demon touched. I liked this part of the world the most.

***“To become one of the nine Guardians, those whom your father also called demons, you must die in the pursuit of justice. Then the land restores you in the form of a Guardian with cloak and horse so you can continue to seek justice as a judge in the land.” ***

Even with a few of the pacing issues I really got into the story and with how it ended I’ll be excited to see what happens to all the characters in the next book of the series. The good news was there are a lot of strong women characters to root for and a few men that I really liked as well. But the characters I hated I really hated, they were so awful that I just wanted someone to kill them soon. While I got my wish on a few of them there are still plenty left for the next book out in 2020. I’ll be back to this world then.

3 people found this helpful

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E. Smiley

Promising, fun beginning to a new epic fantasy series

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2015

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Kate Elliott never fails me. She consistently writes fun, thoughtful, original fantasy, featuring diverse and interesting characters of both genders, and set in complex, textured worlds. This book is no exception. It must be said, however, that the beginnings of her series are consistently and painfully dull; I was about 200 pages into this one before it convinced me.

Black Wolves is the first novel in a new epic fantasy series set in the world of the Hundred, which also featured in the Crossroads Trilogy. While I recommend reading that trilogy, because it is good, that is not necessary to understand this one. This book begins about 16 years after the end of Traitors’ Gate, but after 80 pages it jumps ahead another 44 years, and then the real story begins. As another reviewer aptly described it, this is modern epic fantasy, in the best sense: a story told on a large scale, but driven by characters rather than tropes.

Note: this review will contain spoilers for the first half of the book, because as I said, the first 200 pages aren’t really worth talking about.

Like most epic fantasy, this features several point-of-view characters, though it still feels focused, as the connections among characters quickly become clear. Dannarah is a blunt, opinionated reeve marshal (i.e. a leader who flies about on a giant eagle); she is of the royal family but has her own ideas about where the country should go, and at age 60, she’s not taking any nonsense. Kellas is a disgraced but skillful guard captain and longtime associate of Dannarah’s, and comes out of retirement to deal with a precarious situation at the palace. And Sarai is a cloistered but knowledgeable young woman who jumps at the chance of an arranged marriage to escape her outcast status at home. There are also a couple of secondary POVs: Gil, the bored and mischievous young nobleman whom Sarai marries, and Lifka, a young reeve of exotic origin.

Once it gets going, the book has an engaging plot and is a quick read; there is a lot going on here, with a large cast of characters, a complex political story and plenty of unexpected plot twists. There’s a bit of magic (but not too much) and a bit of romance (but again, not too much – Gil and Sarai’s scenes never failed to put a smile on my face, though they’re a long shot from the melodramatic pronouncements that usually accompany fictional romance). There are villains, but this isn’t shaping up as your standard good-vs.-evil fantasy; instead of asking who is the rightful king, the book questions whether there ought to be a king at all. As always, progressive ideas inform Elliott’s writing; these books are set in a land influenced by Asian and Polynesian rather than European cultures, and the book treats its diverse cast of characters with respect. They are an interesting and well-developed bunch, and even those not in positions of power manage to take control of their situations in fresh and believable ways.

In other words, this is just the sort of fantasy I want to read and wish more authors would write. Beyond the slow start, I have few criticisms: there is some overly expositional dialogue early on, and the book ends with little resolution. I want to know what happens next! Fortunately, Elliott writes at a good pace, so there shouldn’t be too long to wait.

5 people found this helpful

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M. Parker

Kate Elliot Doesn't Disappoint

Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2016

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Very good book. Another reviewer said this is their least favorite world of Kate Elliot's. Surprising, because this is MY favorite world. Kate Elliot is a masterful writer and a master at world building. Lots of characters, yes, but their is character development, well done, too. You can read other reviewers' synopsis but this takes place approximatelyly 40 years after the end of The Crossroads Trilogy. I highly recommend reading that series first, because then you will have an investment in this world and you will want to know "how it all turns out." There is magic, of course, but woven into the story, almost as background. The characters, after all, accept it all and it is just part of their lives.

I give it less than five stars because there are a lot of flashbacks to fill in the missing years, and I found it a bit annoying now and then.

But this book, and all Kate Elliot's books, for that matter, deserve a read. I get really ticked off that self-published authors, some who can barely write, sometimes get more reviews than a published author who can grip you with their writing. All because their Kindle books are free or cheap. I am not sure Amazon is doing literature any favors but mixing them all up and leading people to believe that the drivel some self-published authors write are "good reads."

This is a good read.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

MRMLEM

Not up to Kate Elliott's normal standards

Reviewed in Canada on October 17, 2018

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Nothing but bad news. Started interesting but the jump ahead in time the story became just a litany of bad news with no redeeming moments.

Sam

I love intelligent, political fantasy

Reviewed in Australia on August 27, 2016

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Out late last year but I only just got to it, Black Wolves is the start of a new trilogy. Beginning in a kingdom in its early stages, the story quickly jumps forward several decades and 2 generations, and explores the politics of colonisation, conflicting cultures, power structures and family. I love intelligent, political fantasy, and this fits the bill. When you combine it with original settings, challenges to assumptions often ingrained in fantasy (eg the reverence with which hereditary rulership is generally treated) and a network of scout-sheriffs flying with GIANT EAGLES you’re sure to satisfy me.

The viewpoint characters range in age, gender and experience: an old spy/soldier brought out of retirement; the king’s aunt, head of the Marshals (aforementioned eagle flying contingent, who are something like grown-up Valdemar Heralds), and three young people of wildly different backgrounds who are forced to adapt to – or just survive – lifestyle upheaval. The plot is clever and complex, the world immersive (does anyone worldbuild better than this?) and the characters and their motivations deeply thought through and executed. It’s particularly notable how much agency the female characters have in Elliot’s worlds. Women in this world are demonstrably driving change – that is, women (including but not limited to the three main female POV characters) have unapologetic power and agency (including sexual agency) even though all are in very different social structures (some quite segregated). I’m seeing this more and more in modern SFF, and it is great. But here’s an author who’s been doing it for decades, often without much acknowledgment.

Kate Elliot is severely underrated, though I didn’t realise how much until relatively recently, because to me she had always been one of the giants – she writes big, fat, epic-in-every-sense fantasy, it was part of every SFF selection at every bookshop, and I always rated her enormously. But I’ve been amazed since taking a more active part in fandom over the last few years how rarely she is included in recommended reading lists, or shows up in awards, or is given the credit I think she’s due. Why, people? She is the biz.

2 people found this helpful

Cocktails and Canines

Rich tapestry of characters, mini plots - often romantic or funny - within an overall deep and sinister thread

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 18, 2017

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Elliot weaves a rich tale where multiple often secondary characters each spring to life with a role to play and individual personalities. This book has darker overtones to the earlier series with a threatening plot to overcome as the series progresses. There are plenty of humorous, romantic or light moments to balance the looming threat. Left me hungry for more!

One person found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Strong storyline

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 25, 2016

Verified Purchase

If you enjoy a good plot with believable characters, plenty of twists you'll like this.
The author pulls you straight into the story, with brilliant descriptions of people and places. Different people, clans, kings, slaves, magic all combine to enhance the plot.

One person found this helpful

ah

... fan of Kate Elliott and this book is as brilliant as all her other work

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2016

Verified Purchase

I'm a long time fan of Kate Elliott and this book is as brilliant as all her other work. A great continuation of the Crossroads world. I loved the characters, found them very realistic, and can't wait to find out what happens next. The political manoeuvring and exploration of change was fascinating. Definitely recommended

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