Wolfblade

Wolfblade
Jennifer Fallon
Orbit Books

711 pages
2004

I apologise for the unconscionable delay in reviewing and posting pieces of any effort to this site -- I have been reading more than ever before in my life, but unfortunately it's all really boring stuff that I had no choice but to read! Wolfblade is a book I've had on my shelf for a little while now, and after that marathon of yawn-fest-material, I needed something epic and meaty, long enough to get lost in, and fun enough to not want to be found...

Wolfblade is the first book in the Wolfblade Trilogy -- itself a prequel to the well-received Demon Child Trilogy. I have little knowledge of that trilogy, and it really isn't necessary to enjoy this book, but apparently in Fallon's native Australia this book was released as book four in the series, not the first in a trilogy of prequels...

Marla, sister to the High Prince, is expected to be little more than a brood mare. She is to be sold off to the king of a neighbouring country to bring a closer alliance -- and lots of money -- between their two countries. Marla isn't too keen on that idea, but she doesn't really have much to do with the choice, either. Except, when she chooses her first slave, she chooses the dwarf Elezaar, an extremely clever diplomat, and her future is changed forever...

As characters go, Marla was a bit too petulant, and slightly annoying, for a portion of the book, too much a naïf, but as the book progressed she matured -- and I have also have a suspicion that the Marla of the future (or past...) trilogy isn't very much like this at all, and is used to emphasise how far on she will come, with the help of Elezaar and others.

There's a fair bit of magic in the story, from a race called the Harshini (who are capable of speaking to the gods, and do not practice violence -- not good in a human world that wants to set fire to them on bonfires) to actual wizards themselves, who are now very rare. The amazingly powerful prodigy in this case is Wrayan Lightfinger, a former street pick-pocket, who has long been apprenticed to the master, Kagan who pretty much runs the country ... and doesn't have a magical bone in his body...

I was surprised by how entertaining and funny Wolfblade was -- dialogue in particular between Wrayan and his master was often quite witty, as were the scenes with Brak (a Harshini/human half-breed, capable of immense magic and violence, from both parents respectively).

Being an epic fantasy type of novel, Wolfblade has its fair share of blood and violence and inter-family strife -- one particular part of the novel, where a character is getting slightly over-paranoid and then goes on a familial killing spree, was almost farcical (in a mostly good way, honestly there is one): it was predictable -- and for me, strange person that I am, ever so slightly funny -- but no less disturbing for that fact. There are also typical mistakes where oops, we've gone and killed your family member! events occur, but for all of that -- and I only mock books I like -- I was really pleasantly surprised by Wolfblade and spent over 700 pages being severely entertained. Coming to the series slightly late means that I can go straight away to the next five books!

For more information:

Amazon UK
Amazon US