123. A Companion to Wolves by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear (Fantasy) 302 p.
I’m almost caught up with reviewing my December reads, and finally, here’s one I can rave about. Ever since I read her first books, Mélusine, I have been madly in love with the way Sarah Monette writes. Four books later, and she has never disappointed me. I was a little wary about A Companion to Wolves, though, because I haven’t had such a great experience with Elizabeth Bear. I’ve made several attempts to enjoy Carnival, but for some reason reading it has been a slog instead of a pleasure. It’s very frustrating, because she seems to be an excellent writer and I have a feeling that if I could get into it I would like it a lot, but I haven’t been able to. Of course, it’s possible that Carnival just isn’t the book for me, because judging by A Companion to Wolves, Elizabeth Bear is my kind of author.
Njall is the sixteen-year-old son and heir of the jarl of Nithogsfjoll when he is unexpectedly chosen to join a wolfheall, a group of fighting men bonded to trellwolves, whose job it is to defend inhabited towns from trolls. Neither Njall nor his father is happy that his duty is to join the pack, in great part because the homosexuality practised in the wolfheall is seen as weak and degrading by ordinary men. As Njall, now called Isolfr, begins to be accepted and to find his place in the pack, the trolls begin to come south in greater numbers than ever before, threatening both Isolfr’s old family and his new one.
I found the set-up of A Companion to Wolves intriguing, since it has the feel of high fantasy to me (partly because it is steeped in Norse myth), but also has a lot in common with other kinds of fantasy. The bond between man and wolf puts me in mind of Mercedes Lackey’s Heralds and their Companions, while the wolfheall reads something like a werewolf pack—although Monette and Bear’s world is far more realistic than most werewolf stories, and far less gag-worthy than anything Ms. Lackey ever wrote. The wolves feel like wild animals, rather than pets, and the structure of the wolfheall is engrossing, springing naturally from the behaviour of an ordinary wolf-pack. I loved the characters, both humans and wolves, and even the villains of the piece, the trolls, had an interesting and cleverly conceived society.
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The only slight quibble I had was with the feminism-heavy ending, which felt out-of-true with the rest of the book, even though I could see how Isolfr’s character development clearly led him to the decision he made. I think it was the emphasis it was given by being at the very end of the book—to me, the story was mostly about Isolfr, and yes, his gradual awakening to the oppression of women in his society is an important part of his life, but it wasn’t necessarily the most important part of it to me, and I’m not entirely convinced it would be for Isolfr, either. Or maybe I should say, I’m intellectually convinced, but I don’t feel it.
But that’s a very, very minor complaint.
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If you like fantasy, try this book. If you love it even half as much as I do, you’ll be glad you did.
Books read: 123
Pages read: 36,474
