Just finished reading The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice.  This is the first Anne Rice novel that I have picked up.  I was quite keen to pick up her Interview with a Vampire novels but as this was newly released I thought I’d give it a go first.  Obviously, therefore, I have no way of comparing this to previous novels and can’t say whether it is better or not or whether it maintains the same style.  What I will say though, and it’s a surprise given the amount of paranormal books currently on the market, is that Ms Rice manages to give the werewolf mythology a new twist which I thought was quite an achievement.

I’m not going to go overboard on the plot because I don’t want to give away spoilers so I’ll just give a bit of an introduction.  The story opens with Reuben (the main protagonist).  Reuben comes from a fairly affluent family.  His mother is a successful surgeon, his father a writer/poet and his brother is a priest.  Reuben is the youngest (and most handsome) and has such as been ‘babied’ a little.  He takes after his father in his more romantic and poetic nature and loves to write and philosophise.  He has fallen into a journalistic role working on a fairly small-town newspaper where his distinctive voice has earned him already a steady audience and he is determined to prove himself as more than a pretty face.  Reuben has been asked to interview Margent and the start of the story brings the two of them together touring a magnificent country home which Margent has recently inherited. Margent, in spite of her deep emotional attachments, is keen to sell the place as basically it is very remote and situated atop cliffs overlooking the sea with a private redwood forest to the rear.  I thought the first few chapters of this were great.  The writing is quite simply lovely to read, descriptions of the grounds, the house, the forest and even the former inhabitant, Margent’s long lost uncle who was something of an explorer who went missing over 20 years previously.  The house is really quite amazing and the poetic and philosophical side of Reuben instantly falls for the place, for Margent and even for her long lost uncle.  I couldn’t help being transported back to Manderley reading this element of the story.  The writing put me very much in mind of Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca – although maybe not quite as brooding.  I will mention though that there is no dramatic action up to this point.  It’s a beautiful read but not pacey or action packed so if you’re looking for a bit more of a slasher story then you need to bear this in mind and practice some patience (or don’t pick up if you don’t have patience to practice!)

That being said the story does then change.  Reuben is attacked and I’m not going to go into too much more about the plot other than to say following this attack Reuben starts to change (and clearly he becomes a wolf man – there, I’ve said it! But as it’s called The Wolf Gift I don’t think I’m giving too much away about this story).

Following this there is a lot more action involved as Reuben comes to terms with the changes he’s experiencing.  There are a number of scenes where Reuben’s inner beast takes over which involve fairly bloodthirsty attacks.  There’s also something of a love story going on and on top of that there is a little bit of mystery thrown in.  I wouldn’t call this a YA book, maybe it would cross over for the older market but there are a few scenes of violence and a bit of sexual content also (although this couldn’t be called either a bloodbath or a bodice ripper, just saying).

What I liked about this book was the different take.  I suppose for me this book does for werewolves what Kostova’s Historian did for Vampires – makes them a bit more grown up and sophisticated.  There are lots of references to famous names and places and you can’t chuck a stick without someone philosophising about something.  I also liked the different take on the beast itself.  Reuben learns to control his inner beast and isn’t at it’s mercy – it blows the ‘full moon’ theory out of the water as well and even though it has it’s share of dramatic scenes this is more of an intelligent read along.

In terms of criticisms – I think I did wane a little in the middle of the story.  I found the love story element a bit rushed.  I thought that the characters seemed a bit old fashioned and could do with dragging into this century – or at least a century that’s a bit closer than whatever century they’re in – for example, what the hell is Reuben doing wearing a turtle neck sweater – he’s, like 25 – so, that would be no.  And, finally, there’s quite a lot of info dumping towards the end which is being passed off as dialogue – I never end up thinking that that works out very well.  It makes the conversation really clunky and basically nobody talks like that!  Oh, and I think it lost a bit of an opportunity to be REALLY spooky – remote house, forest setting, dark nights, branches tapping on the glass, feeling eyes watching you – I think it should have been more creepy and brooding.

So having had a little rant I can now go back to admitting that I did enjoy this.  I appreciated the writing style, I liked the almost fairytale element at one point in the tale (basically the introduction of the love interest – and, again, no spoilers, but I’m thinking ‘Little Red Riding Hood’), I also really enjoyed that you could stop reading at this point.  There are a couple of outstanding issues but I think this novel is fairly complete and could work as a stand alone.  I don’t know for sure but I imagine this will be a series – it certainly seems to be set up perfectly now for future adventures.

I didn’t adore it but I definitely enjoyed it and I will continue if another book is published.  And, it didn’t change my mind about reading the Vampire Chronicles.

I’m submitting this story for my Once Upon a Time challenge (this is a challenge that isn’t a challenge) that is currently being hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings.  Stop on by using this link – it is packed with goodies about fairytales, folklore, myth and fantasy.

The Wolf Gift