The Black Wolves of Boston by Wen Spencer
21 February 2017
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: The Black Wolves of Boston, Wen Spencer
The Black Wolves of Boston is the first book in what I hope will be a series. I enjoyed this, it was different than I expected, in fact much more deep in terms of the set up. Basically, this is urban fantasy, there are werewolves, vampires, Virtues and Wickers but none of them are quite as I’ve read about them before. Definitely a thinking piece with plenty to ponder over. In fact, to be honest, if I had a clearer reading schedule I might be tempted to read this again just because there is such a lot of material to think about.
At the start of the story we meet Joshua. Not more than 24 hours earlier Joshua’s life was torn apart, literally torn apart. Out at a prom committee event the entire group that Joshua was with were massacred in some sort of frenzied attack and Joshua was left wounded. He’s not wounded for long though, attacked by not any old animal but a werewolf, Joshua seems to be recovering at a positively indecent rate and pretty soon has to make a dash out of town before any one figures out what he is – or more to the point before he hurts anyone himself. Hence, we meet Joshua as he desperately charges round a park in Boston trying to catch supper and not only failing miserably but knocking himself on a tree in the process.
It’s at this point that Silas Decker and Eloise enter the scene. Decker is a vampire – again with a slightly different legend than what we’re probably used to. Decker has been around for many, many years and at the point at which we meet him his life has definitely lost it’s lustre. Living alone in a large delapidated house Silas is something of a hoarder and can barely get into most of the rooms of his home due to the clutter. He’s lonely. He lacks meaning. And look, now he’s found a new puppy in the park! Awww. Of course, the puppy in the park, or Joshua, although in need of some guidance as to his new status, may also be in need of some much needed help – it’s almost like we have Scooby and Shaggy! It seems that somebody is seeking our newly created Wolf. Elise is a virtue. She hunts evil and has an angelic sort of connection that helps her in this respect. I’m not going to try and explain this in too much detail. She believes. It helps. Eloise and Decker have a tentative, well, more partnership than friendship. Decker comes in useful in a tight spot – being already dead and Eloise has access to all sorts of resources at her main home or HQ – a bit like a mission impossible agent.
At the same time we begin to learn something of the Wolves and this does make for some deep reading. The wolf packs, headed by the Wolf King have a detailed history and I won’t give it away here. The whole set up of the packs and their territories has been thought of in depth for the purpose of this story and whilst this might in some places make for a little more history at the expense of pace, it does also give a really good foundation for future books and is really worth it I felt. Seth, the Prince of Boston, and his cousin Jack are having a spot of bother in a story that runs parallel to Joshua’s tale. It seems that there is an attack underway on the Wolves and with the King being currently away on other pressing family matters this could be more serious than anyone first suspects.
This is a very satisfying read. It has elements of fun to the story, even hints of romance, that help to temper the darker aspects a little and help to prevent the read becoming too severe and bloodthirsty.
On top of that I think the characters have been really well drawn and are easily to like. We already have friendships building between the characters that seem to be leading to a bigger sense of family.
In terms of criticisms. I wouldn’t say this is particularly fast paced in terms of the plot line but I found it an easy and well written story and I was always keen to get back to the story after I’d had to stop for whatever reason.
I would certainly like to think that there would be more books from the Black Wolves of Boston and our unlikely band of characters. I’d like to see some of the relationships deepen and the family become more emotionally involved and I think there’s so much scope here with the groundwork already laid.
I hope for more.
I received a copy courtesy of the publisher through Edelweiss for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
I love you, I love you not.
Every Tuesday over at the The Broke and Bookish we all get to look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) examples to demonstrate that particular topic. This week’s topic is:
Ten Books I Loved More Than I Thought I Would (or books that you didn’t like as much as you Thought)
I really enjoyed all the books below – much more than I expected. Brief explanation of my original qualms against each book.
- Unwind, Neal Shusterman – I simply didn’t like the sound of this but then it just really grabbed me.
- Witch Light, Susan Fletcher – this started out slow and I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy the author’s style of writing. A few pages later I couldn’t get enough of it.
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman – foolishly, the cover for this always put me off – I don’t know why. Fortunately I got over myself – I love this book.
- The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt – who knew that I would love western style stories!
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – I figured this might be too sci fi for me but I absolutely loved it.
- All the Truth that’s in me by Julie Berry – I think this was simply a book that wouldn’t have been on my radar – a good friend recommended this and I loved it.
- The Girl with all the Gifts by M J Carey – another book that I’m glad I picked up. I think the hype surrounding this one put me off a little. In this case the hypes well deserved.
- The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore. The cover. Sorry, but it just didn’t do it for me. The book really did though!
- Flex by Ferrett Steinmetz – another book that I figured my go ‘whooshing’ over my head. As it happened this was fantastic.
- Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu – ditto the above. I can’t recommend this series enough.
The Valiant (The Valiant #1) by Lesley Livingston
The Valiant was one of my weekend reads and a book that I couldn’t put down. I have a bit of a hit and miss record with YA. Quite often I find that the story lacks the attention to detail that I enjoy and that I feel helps to build the world and on top of that love triangles and instalove more often than not are the flavour of the day. Fear not in terms of either of those quibbles when picking up this book. Livingston has bought to us a gripping story about a young woman who, against her own will, becomes a gladiator. This is well written, uncluttered and fast paced. The characters are well drawn, particularly the leading lady and on top of all of that it brings the opportunity to read a highly entertaining narrative set in a period of time that I really enjoy reading about.
The story begins with an introduction to Fallon as she trains out in the country with her childhood friend Mael. Mael and Fallon’s relationship has grown over the years and both of them have feelings of love for each other. Fallon, however, is determined to follow in the footsteps of her sister Sorcha. Sorcha was killed in battle, fighting the Romans. Fallon longs to be part of her father’s war band and on the day of her 17th birthday she believes her wishes will finally come true. Unfortunately for Fallon things go deeply amiss and although I won’t spoil for you the whys and wherefores Fallon finds herself captured by slavers and shipped off to Rome to be sold to the highest bidder. One minute Fallon thought her dreams were a hair’s breath away and the next she was snatched from her world and everything she knows.
So, Fallon is sold to a school for gladiators – nothing could offend her honour more. Worse than that – the school is directly owned by Julius Caesar, a man who Fallon despises and blames for the death of her sister. Fallon finds herself trying to survive in a school which, in spite of the veneer of sisterhood, has fierce rivalries bubbling just beneath the surface. Through no fault of her own Fallon finds herself on the receiving end of some rather harsh attention from the other females of the school and although you might expect her biggest challenge to be surviving in the gladiator’s arena it some becomes apparent that Fallon will first of all need to survive the training! On top of that Fallon has attracted the attention of one of the Roman soldiers and much to her dismay she finds herself becoming attracted to him in return – I will stress, that this romance is not an integral part of the book, it isn’t the main focus of the story and is really well paced! (Just thought I’d chuck that out there).
Why did I love this. I think that the author has managed to find the perfect balance in so many respects. Her writing gives you a flavour of the Roman empire without being over burdened with flowery prose or heavy descriptions. She throws in characters that we know about already such as Julius Caesar and Cleopatra but shines a slightly different light on their characters. Her main character Fallon, is very easy to like. She’s also incredibly foolish and gullible sometimes but nobody’s perfect after all! Fallon struggles with her training, she has some ability as a fighter but is in no way perfect. What she does have as a character is ‘heart’. She’s been raised as the daughter of one of the Celtic Kings and as such she has a certain demeanour that refuses to be brow beaten. She simply has spark and I really enjoyed that about her. Livingston also has a way with words when it comes to the fight scenes. They’re easy to imagine and frankly exciting to read. She knows when to draw a line and not labour the point and I just really enjoyed that she sometimes had to make Fallon rely on her wits as well as her fighting prowess.
I really enjoy reading novels set in this period and on top of that the idea of female gladiators just really appealed to me. I confess that I went into this story expecting to a certain degree to love it – but – I wasn’t expecting it to take me by storm and give me a protagonist, a bunch of surrounding characters, a setting and a plot that surpassed my expectations and that I fell easily in love with.
Perfect pace, unpredictable plot, polished writing and plenty of action. I loved it – can you tell?? Sign me up for No.2!
In terms of criticisms. None. Okay, this is not a fantasy book. Dragons do not sweep across the horizon and there is no magic. I guess the only fantastical element could be the inclusion of female gladiators – although there does appear to be some evidence that they did in fact exist! But mythical creatures and the lack thereof aside I have no hesitation in recommending this. It was absolutely compelling.
I received a copy courtesy of the publisher through Edelweiss for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
Weekly Wrap Up: 19/2/17
Well, this week my reading has taken an upward turn, which is good of course, after last week. What can you do – book hangovers! But, this week. This week people. Such a lot of good reads. Good. Reads.
Last week’s reads:
- The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams
- Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey
- The Valiant by Lesley Livingston
- The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire (readalong week 2)
Woah – do all those covers look good together or what!!!
Currently reading:
- Blood Upon the Sand by Bradley P Beaulieu
- Windsinger by AFE Smith
- Game of Shadows by Erika Lewis
And, finally, my cover compare this week: normally I compare two of the same covers this week however, there seems to be a lot of blue(ish) covers going on so I’m going to pick my favourite from the covers above:
My favourite cover is this one:
I really like this cover – the font and the colours.
How was your week? What you currently reading?
The Winter Long (October Daye #8) by Seanan McGuire. Readalong week 2
18 February 2017
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Readalong week 2, Seanan McGuire, The Winter Long, Toby Daye #8
Today is week two of a three week readalong of Seanan McGuire’s The Winter Long (October Daye #8). Today I am hosting the questions – and they’re a big mess which totally reflects my brain after reading the last chapters. The Goodreads page link is here. Feel free to join in or just jump into the discussion in the comments and be aware that spoilers will be lurking below for not only this book but for the previous books in the series. If you haven’t started reading the Toby Daye series and you like urban fantasy then I strongly recommend this series to you.
Wow, what is going on around here! I think this week I’m more puzzled than ever not to mention the emotion! I’m all over the place. The questions are incoherent I’m afraid:
Firstly, The Luidaeg said that Toby’s mother had told her to beware The Lady of the Lake, but to be more afraid of Morgana. So we know a little more about the Lady of the Lake (I think) – but who is Morgana. So much seems to be wrapped up in the fairytales or myths and legends we have already heard of. What do you make of it all?
All these elements of fairytales and folklore that are creeping into the story really fascinate me. Clearly the Lady of the Lake is all wrapped up in the Arthurian tales – I thought Morgana was Arthurs half sister and adversary in the old tales. The Lady of the Lake is sometimes known as Viviene amongst many other versions of the name. Then we have this whole Snow White issue with Winterrose being Snow White – so not exactly the nice version of our fairytales though. She makes use of the part of the story where Snow white sleeps to recover (or in the tale sleeps with an apple lodged in her throat) – I wonder who is going to play the role of Arthur – or the Wicked Queen. Actually, I love that McGuire is twisting these tales for the purpose of her fae to infer that our stories have all been invoked by the fae living amongst us – just slightly different versions that those that we are familiar with. I love this aspect of the story where McGuire builds up the legend of the fae living amongst us.
The Luidaeg – oh my giddy aunt. How could this have happened! The Luidaeg is the one who every one is afraid of – how can this have happened! Is her attacker so very powerful, is it because of the geas? How do you think the Luidaeg will react to Toby saving her life (well, bringing her back from the dead) and the Court of the Cats giving her a safe haven?
OMFG Noooooooo! I could weep!! What is going on here. Who could do this to the Luidaeg. I confess I don’t understand it at all. I mean, obviously at the moment we don’t know who attacked the Luidaeg although it would be easy to infer certain characters. And then Toby to the rescue – give that woman a cape! I wonder what the Luidaeg will make of all her new allies – so, she’s obviously got more friends than her prickly demeanour really portrays. I wonder how she’ll feel about all this warm cuddliness surrounding her – she’ll probably eat somebody’s head or something! I’m hoping that she’s going to turn all badass – I want to see the Luidaeg in motion – put Winterrose back in her place!
So, as things have moved on it appears that maybe Simon, in a very odd ‘I will turn you into a tree’ fashion maybe did think he was helping Toby. When he was told the Luidaeg was dead he said that he was too late. It all points to the fact that maybe he was trying to help – do you think that is the case?
I really can’t figure him out – clearly he is still working for Winterrose isn’t he?? Is he scared of her too? Why has she got everyone under her power somehow. In some ways he comes across as crazy but maybe trying to help – like giving Toby the flower clues. But then at the back of my mind I think was he helping or not – it seems that he keeps leading Toby straight to Winterrose! And, to get back to the point in the first question – turning Toby into a tree – does that remind anybody of Apollo and Daphne – sorry just thought I’d chuck that in there!
Eira Rosynhwry, Evening Winterrose – (and can I say I NEVER saw that coming) what is she up to??
I really didn’t see that coming. It now makes me feel like I have to go back to the first books and read them again with this knowledge. So, Winterrose is behind it all – she’s First Born – and why oh why would she want Toby dead? Is this all about Armandine – is there a man between the two of them, why did they hate each other – did Armandine take her sister’s favourite dress and never return it? I have no ideas. But then, after Toby recovered from her fishy period Winterrose was her friend – or at least helped her, helped her back into the land of the fae even by cursing her. I’m confused!
Finally, the First Born – of which Evening Winterrose is one – what sort of impact is this going to have on their children? Will it turn fae against fae? Why would one of the firstborn be hiding in plain sight?
I can’t figure out what Winterrose’s long game is. What does she want? Was she involved with the Queen of the Mists then – why would she want Rayseline and Luna to be kidnapped? It feels like there’s a lot of bad blood between the First Born and memories are long.
How do you think Toby is going to walk away from this situation – people conflicted, Sylvester seeming to be in a trance! What next?
Why is everyone under a trance, well everyone except Etienne?? And is this going to cause some sort of rift between the fae – the children of the First Born – depending on who their First Born just so happens to be.
As you can see, I have questions upon questions and very little by way of answers. Everybody – chuck me a bone now, come on, put me out of your misery!
Books and travelling with Lynn 