nimeneth's review against another edition
Dnf'd early. The spark of interest just wasnt there for me, and the constant repetition of facts was getting old.
b303tilly's review against another edition
5.0
Fuck me...she's still writing the next one? ugh. So good.
musty_dothat's review against another edition
2.0
The world of Black Wolves is rich and imaginative; the prose and characters are great, but the novel is overly convoluted and long. The introductory section is the length of a novel in itself, despite contributing little to the overall plot, and the multiple threads in the novel are left half-finished and confused. It feels like the book is trying to set up a world for a whole series, but in trying to present all the threads of plot, I feel it fails to do any of them justice. It is a shame, as the world has a lot of promise, but I feel it would have worked better as multiple novels in a shared universe: a prequel in the time of Anjihosh, and then the individual tales of Dannarah, Kellas, and Sarai.
readerpants's review against another edition
5.0
Well, that was epic! I gave myself a snow day and read the whole thing in one sitting, which is notable because it was VERY LONG.
I have to admit that I've tried a few other titles of hers in the past and wasn't terribly into them. But I think Black Wolves lives up to the hype. Fantastic characters, especially fantastic lady characters. A sharp interrogation of power, in terms of class, gender, and sexuality. Meaty, thoroughly drawn, and diverse worldbuilding. Oh, and queers, really well-done! And no sexual violence -- or even threat of sexual violence, I think, though after 700 pps I'm a little foggy on the details -- against women, although sex and violence are certainly part of the storyline and a male character is (shockingly) raped by another male character. (Lots to say about that part - need to think it through.)
I'd recommend it for the GRRM fans, I think, and others who like their fantasy epic, extremely detailed, political, and long. I'm looking forward to #2 in the series, though I have to say, I have no idea how I'll keep the convoluted plots in my head that long and I'm not eager to reread the whole thing. Hopefully there will be some very detailed reviews I can read closer to the pub date of #2 to remind me of all the details!
I have to admit that I've tried a few other titles of hers in the past and wasn't terribly into them. But I think Black Wolves lives up to the hype. Fantastic characters, especially fantastic lady characters. A sharp interrogation of power, in terms of class, gender, and sexuality. Meaty, thoroughly drawn, and diverse worldbuilding. Oh, and queers, really well-done! And no sexual violence -- or even threat of sexual violence, I think, though after 700 pps I'm a little foggy on the details -- against women, although sex and violence are certainly part of the storyline and a male character is (shockingly) raped by another male character. (Lots to say about that part - need to think it through.)
I'd recommend it for the GRRM fans, I think, and others who like their fantasy epic, extremely detailed, political, and long. I'm looking forward to #2 in the series, though I have to say, I have no idea how I'll keep the convoluted plots in my head that long and I'm not eager to reread the whole thing. Hopefully there will be some very detailed reviews I can read closer to the pub date of #2 to remind me of all the details!
lanko's review against another edition
3.0
Black Wolves does something pretty bold in the beginning.
In the first ~90 pages we get Atani, Dannarah, Anjihosh and Kellas as our main characters. They're well-fleshed, dynamic, interesting and compelling. Other secondary characters appear and provoke intrigues, revelations and other actions that promise a lot of tension and conflict later.
Atani and Dannarah are great siblings, complementing each other very well. Kellas is also great, the spy/assassin member/secret leader of the deadly Black Wolves. Anjihosh is pretty grey when you look closely. Then comes queen Zayrah, the king's mother and politics, demons get involved, Mai, Arisit. The initial buildup is very good.
Then after getting attached to these characters and a really difficult choice is presented... Fourty-four years later...
Yes, that's right. It's a time skip of almost half a century.
And you learn that Atani, a great character, simply died twenty-two years ago, murdered by his own general. Dannarah is more than 60 years old. Kellas is more than 70. The Black Wolves were disbanded. The whole world is different, customs changed and there's a whole new cast of characters for you to start again.
Atani was intriguing. Dannarah was a 17 year old betrothed to a prince of another country. She didn't want to go, she wanted to do so many other things. Atani also didn't want her to go. Now we learn she actually escaped that fate by becoming a reeve. A reeve are riders of giant eagles. They are scouts and aerial warriors of the kingdom. Kellas is retired and threatened back to service.
I struggled through the next ~100 pages. I don't think it was only the massive changes, but also the way things were portrayed. There is a lot of exposition explaining things. And not much well-disguised infodumps, including characters speaking like encyclopedias during various tea meetings.
Then things started to move pretty nicely. Mostly Dannarah and Kellas carried until Sarai/Gil warmed up to a really nice plotline. Lifka started interesting but quickly faded into the background. The other interesting thing is the very rare flashbacks of Atani, whose murder and mystery were probably far more intriguing than the main plot.
There are lots of other secondary characters. And this causes a lot of exposition, because there really isn't page time for all of them. Tavahosh and Jehosh are more present and discernible, followed a little behind by Queen Chorranah.
There a lot of others (specially more sons, daughters, kin and etc) but they either simply end up fading or being introduced too late. The only thing you can make about them is what other characters explicitly tell you about their traits and behavior, which means you're always being told how to see/feel them.
There's a lot of factions and lots of people with secret agendas. Maybe a little too many of those. Jehosh, Tavahosh, Farihosh, Chorranah, Dia, the daughter of the neighboring Empire later, their agents' plots and the main characters.
This book already clocks around 800 pages and I think that for such large scope it wasn't nearly enough to properly shown it all.
Even Dannarah and Kellas start to fade a little near the end.
It felt like the book tried to do too much at once, even for 800 pages. And then that means for it to be more engaging, it would have to be even longer.
This means that even for a 800-page book, the story is overpopulated.
I think this affected the prose and the writing as well, as I highlighted very few passages (maybe 5) throughout 800 pages.
I think that the first ~90 pages were so gripping because they were showing me Kellas, Ajinhoshi, Dannarah and Atani extremelly well, but after the time skip and so much plot going on in an already long book, it had to switch for pure necessity to much more telling.
When characters were arguing it was still really nice and fluid to read, but when this wasn't happening and the narrative and descriptions settled in, it started to really suffer with pacing.
Also, the initial theme and intrigue of demons also disappears after the beginning to only return at the end of the book.
On the other hand it accomplishes other things really well. One thing a lot of people search for is for female empowerment and Black Wolves delivers on that.
Both queens (the king can have multiple wives) are the major players in the plots of the realm, much more than the king.
Dannarah continues to be a reeve and is also a Marshal who tricks princes and gets her way most of the time.
Sarai is the most curious one in this regard. While a lot of the other women usually fight against the traditional condition, Sarai fights to actually keep it, in a way. For example, Dannarah in the beginning doesn't want to marry politically. In the end, it works her way. Sarai, on the other hand, is sent to Gil (who also didn't want to marry anyone). Turns out they work together fairly well and come to like each other genuinely. Then he gets disgraced and everyone plots to divorce Sarai and even cause a miscarriage on her. Sarai passes the entire book fighting to actually keep her status as married to Gil. She's one who found freedom, in both body and mind, in marriage, and decides to stay in it out of her own choice instead of a pawn in others' plots.
There's very little violence in this book. I think there's only one mention of a battle (in a flashback near the end). There are no duels, gruesome assassinations or wars, sadly not even with the reeves and their mighty eagles. There's one or other dark moment, but considering the length, too few.
I think it's also a theme of the book. The cases of injustice, abuse and violence are all based on abuse of power. People getting arrested for very minor things, taxation, customs, racism, hierarchies. It's all about the power.
If you need battles and the like, you'll be a little disappointed. But if you want intrigue and power plays, you'll enjoy it if the other things I mentioned don't get in your way.
Finally, I have to say that Atani and his storyline (and how he died and why) is what made me really curious to keep going. It's very short, but definitely surprised me and probably won't disappoint you as well.
That's kinda of saying something about Atani. He only appears in the "prologue" and is dead for 90% of the book, only appearing through three of four rare and short flashbacks. For a comparison, he's a much better Rhaegar Targaryen.
While that says he's pretty great, maybe it also says something about the main plot and characters.
Which all comes down to the 44 year time skip.
I think I would've enjoyed Black Wolves much more if the initial story was the one told.
I wanted to see Atani grow (he also manages to get his two wives to be friendly to each other, another interesting plotline that is only mentioned briefly) and his death would've been much more shocking.
I wanted to see Dannarah's frustration at her fate and then becoming a reeve and working her way up to be one of the best. And her love/infatuation case with Kellas.
In the same line, I wanted to see more of Kellas' jobs and relationship with Dannarah and Mai. There's a part where Ajinhoshi discovers something about Kellas and Atani has to intervene. I wanted to see that scene, but it's only summarized.
And of course, the facets of good father to abusive/uncaring spouse of Ajinhoshi.
I think this plotline would've covered the book very well, and I would have been shown them instead of told. Or maybe it was the time skip that was too long.
Anyway, at that point the characters were really gripping, the story was flowing well and being pretty tight and surrounded with nuanced and explicit conflict and tension, present and future.
At the very least this story really left me wanting for much more. And it's probable it will be explored in later installments, but again, most likely through flashbacks.
It has some noticeable flaws, but overall it was an enjoyable ride, specially if you don't have trouble adjusting to the massive time skip.
In the first ~90 pages we get Atani, Dannarah, Anjihosh and Kellas as our main characters. They're well-fleshed, dynamic, interesting and compelling. Other secondary characters appear and provoke intrigues, revelations and other actions that promise a lot of tension and conflict later.
Atani and Dannarah are great siblings, complementing each other very well. Kellas is also great, the spy/assassin member/secret leader of the deadly Black Wolves. Anjihosh is pretty grey when you look closely. Then comes queen Zayrah, the king's mother and politics, demons get involved, Mai, Arisit. The initial buildup is very good.
Then after getting attached to these characters and a really difficult choice is presented... Fourty-four years later...
Yes, that's right. It's a time skip of almost half a century.
And you learn that Atani, a great character, simply died twenty-two years ago, murdered by his own general. Dannarah is more than 60 years old. Kellas is more than 70. The Black Wolves were disbanded. The whole world is different, customs changed and there's a whole new cast of characters for you to start again.
Atani was intriguing. Dannarah was a 17 year old betrothed to a prince of another country. She didn't want to go, she wanted to do so many other things. Atani also didn't want her to go. Now we learn she actually escaped that fate by becoming a reeve. A reeve are riders of giant eagles. They are scouts and aerial warriors of the kingdom. Kellas is retired and threatened back to service.
I struggled through the next ~100 pages. I don't think it was only the massive changes, but also the way things were portrayed. There is a lot of exposition explaining things. And not much well-disguised infodumps, including characters speaking like encyclopedias during various tea meetings.
Then things started to move pretty nicely. Mostly Dannarah and Kellas carried until Sarai/Gil warmed up to a really nice plotline. Lifka started interesting but quickly faded into the background. The other interesting thing is the very rare flashbacks of Atani, whose murder and mystery were probably far more intriguing than the main plot.
There are lots of other secondary characters. And this causes a lot of exposition, because there really isn't page time for all of them. Tavahosh and Jehosh are more present and discernible, followed a little behind by Queen Chorranah.
There a lot of others (specially more sons, daughters, kin and etc) but they either simply end up fading or being introduced too late. The only thing you can make about them is what other characters explicitly tell you about their traits and behavior, which means you're always being told how to see/feel them.
There's a lot of factions and lots of people with secret agendas. Maybe a little too many of those. Jehosh, Tavahosh, Farihosh, Chorranah, Dia, the daughter of the neighboring Empire later, their agents' plots and the main characters.
This book already clocks around 800 pages and I think that for such large scope it wasn't nearly enough to properly shown it all.
Even Dannarah and Kellas start to fade a little near the end.
It felt like the book tried to do too much at once, even for 800 pages. And then that means for it to be more engaging, it would have to be even longer.
This means that even for a 800-page book, the story is overpopulated.
I think this affected the prose and the writing as well, as I highlighted very few passages (maybe 5) throughout 800 pages.
I think that the first ~90 pages were so gripping because they were showing me Kellas, Ajinhoshi, Dannarah and Atani extremelly well, but after the time skip and so much plot going on in an already long book, it had to switch for pure necessity to much more telling.
When characters were arguing it was still really nice and fluid to read, but when this wasn't happening and the narrative and descriptions settled in, it started to really suffer with pacing.
Also, the initial theme and intrigue of demons also disappears after the beginning to only return at the end of the book.
On the other hand it accomplishes other things really well. One thing a lot of people search for is for female empowerment and Black Wolves delivers on that.
Both queens (the king can have multiple wives) are the major players in the plots of the realm, much more than the king.
Dannarah continues to be a reeve and is also a Marshal who tricks princes and gets her way most of the time.
Sarai is the most curious one in this regard. While a lot of the other women usually fight against the traditional condition, Sarai fights to actually keep it, in a way. For example, Dannarah in the beginning doesn't want to marry politically. In the end, it works her way. Sarai, on the other hand, is sent to Gil (who also didn't want to marry anyone). Turns out they work together fairly well and come to like each other genuinely. Then he gets disgraced and everyone plots to divorce Sarai and even cause a miscarriage on her. Sarai passes the entire book fighting to actually keep her status as married to Gil. She's one who found freedom, in both body and mind, in marriage, and decides to stay in it out of her own choice instead of a pawn in others' plots.
There's very little violence in this book. I think there's only one mention of a battle (in a flashback near the end). There are no duels, gruesome assassinations or wars, sadly not even with the reeves and their mighty eagles. There's one or other dark moment, but considering the length, too few.
I think it's also a theme of the book. The cases of injustice, abuse and violence are all based on abuse of power. People getting arrested for very minor things, taxation, customs, racism, hierarchies. It's all about the power.
If you need battles and the like, you'll be a little disappointed. But if you want intrigue and power plays, you'll enjoy it if the other things I mentioned don't get in your way.
Finally, I have to say that Atani and his storyline (and how he died and why) is what made me really curious to keep going. It's very short, but definitely surprised me and probably won't disappoint you as well.
That's kinda of saying something about Atani. He only appears in the "prologue" and is dead for 90% of the book, only appearing through three of four rare and short flashbacks. For a comparison, he's a much better Rhaegar Targaryen.
While that says he's pretty great, maybe it also says something about the main plot and characters.
Which all comes down to the 44 year time skip.
I think I would've enjoyed Black Wolves much more if the initial story was the one told.
I wanted to see Atani grow (he also manages to get his two wives to be friendly to each other, another interesting plotline that is only mentioned briefly) and his death would've been much more shocking.
I wanted to see Dannarah's frustration at her fate and then becoming a reeve and working her way up to be one of the best. And her love/infatuation case with Kellas.
In the same line, I wanted to see more of Kellas' jobs and relationship with Dannarah and Mai. There's a part where Ajinhoshi discovers something about Kellas and Atani has to intervene. I wanted to see that scene, but it's only summarized.
And of course, the facets of good father to abusive/uncaring spouse of Ajinhoshi.
I think this plotline would've covered the book very well, and I would have been shown them instead of told. Or maybe it was the time skip that was too long.
Anyway, at that point the characters were really gripping, the story was flowing well and being pretty tight and surrounded with nuanced and explicit conflict and tension, present and future.
At the very least this story really left me wanting for much more. And it's probable it will be explored in later installments, but again, most likely through flashbacks.
It has some noticeable flaws, but overall it was an enjoyable ride, specially if you don't have trouble adjusting to the massive time skip.
buuboobaby's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars
This doesn't end so much as it grinds to a halt when events were getting really, REALLY interesting. Just when I thought I understood some of the characters, they do something completely unexpected. Frustrated that we didn't get to see much of Mai, because she has a lot more to do with what's going on then originally expected. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series; this was hard to put down.
This doesn't end so much as it grinds to a halt when events were getting really, REALLY interesting. Just when I thought I understood some of the characters, they do something completely unexpected. Frustrated that we didn't get to see much of Mai, because she has a lot more to do with what's going on then originally expected. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series; this was hard to put down.
mhall's review against another edition
4.0
Giant eagles, women's rights, the role of religion in a fantasy society, long and involved and I liked it immensely.
etoiline's review against another edition
3.0
Intricate but long
Huge book with really interesting world-building and developed characters, but has some points where it drags. Many characters to lose track of, but stick it out till the end and you'll be rewarded with a faster pace and lots of plot developments. Sort of abrupt ending but it's book one of a trilogy so there will be more.
Huge book with really interesting world-building and developed characters, but has some points where it drags. Many characters to lose track of, but stick it out till the end and you'll be rewarded with a faster pace and lots of plot developments. Sort of abrupt ending but it's book one of a trilogy so there will be more.
urs's review against another edition
5.0
The characters feel gorgeously real and insufferably human in this sprawling diverse landscape of a novel. I loved it.
Follow the intertwining stories of Captain Kellas and Marshall Dannarah,
backed up by a varied set of supporting characters.
There is court intrigue, rebellion, religious strife,
secrets on secrets on secrets, and eagles.
What starts for Dannarah with the task of tracking down a gang of escaped criminals, with all the clues making very
little sense, turns into a reconnection with all the familial turmoil in her past. As Dannarah and Kellas return from their seperate self-imposed exiles each step reveals more of the corruption flourishing in the court and land.
Is this book for you?
if you are an epic fantasy lover this is a must,
if you have grown weary (as I did) with ye olde boyfarmer hero's journey this is so delightfully far removed you may find yourself with an achingly huge smile on your face (like I did).
if you are (rightfully so) critical of the over-saturation of "whiteness" in fantasy, Imperial Asia-inspired is this books setting (my guess) with a rainbow of people
if you are in the mood from seeing epic fantasy tackle socialpolitical themes in a sophisticated way
if you aren't a big reader of brick-sized novels this book is no slog, a steady river-cruise of a book, with measured onward pace, and interspersed with small stop offs to soak a particularly rich bit of scenery (eagles!)
Things to get picky about:
Fed information in dialogue, it has slight telling-not-showing issues. None so obtrusive that it jarred for me; there is a lot of world to shuffle into your head and an author only has so many ways to paint a vivid picture.
High number of characters, including bit parts. For some this may be too much, I personally found it a positive thing, helping filling out this world and story.
I could see some people maybe disagreeing with the abstracted blending of Asian cultures happening here, but I don't feel it in any way casts it in an "exotic" light. It is not my place to say whether the result of drawing on those inspirations is done well or respectfully.
As a whole I thoroughly enjoyed the world, its characters and the sheer skill of storytelling Kate Elliott displayed in this book. Now I have to occupy myself with her backlist until book 2 is out in 2020.
Follow the intertwining stories of Captain Kellas and Marshall Dannarah,
backed up by a varied set of supporting characters.
There is court intrigue, rebellion, religious strife,
secrets on secrets on secrets, and eagles.
What starts for Dannarah with the task of tracking down a gang of escaped criminals, with all the clues making very
little sense, turns into a reconnection with all the familial turmoil in her past. As Dannarah and Kellas return from their seperate self-imposed exiles each step reveals more of the corruption flourishing in the court and land.
Is this book for you?
if you are an epic fantasy lover this is a must,
if you have grown weary (as I did) with ye olde boyfarmer hero's journey this is so delightfully far removed you may find yourself with an achingly huge smile on your face (like I did).
if you are (rightfully so) critical of the over-saturation of "whiteness" in fantasy, Imperial Asia-inspired is this books setting (my guess) with a rainbow of people
if you are in the mood from seeing epic fantasy tackle socialpolitical themes in a sophisticated way
if you aren't a big reader of brick-sized novels this book is no slog, a steady river-cruise of a book, with measured onward pace, and interspersed with small stop offs to soak a particularly rich bit of scenery (eagles!)
Things to get picky about:
Fed information in dialogue, it has slight telling-not-showing issues. None so obtrusive that it jarred for me; there is a lot of world to shuffle into your head and an author only has so many ways to paint a vivid picture.
High number of characters, including bit parts. For some this may be too much, I personally found it a positive thing, helping filling out this world and story.
I could see some people maybe disagreeing with the abstracted blending of Asian cultures happening here, but I don't feel it in any way casts it in an "exotic" light. It is not my place to say whether the result of drawing on those inspirations is done well or respectfully.
As a whole I thoroughly enjoyed the world, its characters and the sheer skill of storytelling Kate Elliott displayed in this book. Now I have to occupy myself with her backlist until book 2 is out in 2020.
caroleen's review
4.0
Black Wolves is a strong debut to the new series.
The world is easy to sink into and even easier to appreciate because it's so unique. The fantasy wrapped up in many aspects of a country on the brink of civil war (or so it seems) makes for a layered and engrossing plot.
I particularly liked:
--the characters. It's a large cast, but it isn't a problem for Elliott. Each is well drawn and believable.
--the many cultures represented and the unique and fascinating details of each
--Reeves! People who pair up with huge Eagles and ride them through the sky. <3
--girls/women who don't stand quietly by and wait for help; instead, they fight and risk and love like equals
--the pitting of good rulers against bad against somewhere in the middle; the conviction with which some rulers believe they are doing the right thing (the tension!)
--the many twists I didn't expect
I can't wait to see where the story goes.
The world is easy to sink into and even easier to appreciate because it's so unique. The fantasy wrapped up in many aspects of a country on the brink of civil war (or so it seems) makes for a layered and engrossing plot.
I particularly liked:
--the characters. It's a large cast, but it isn't a problem for Elliott. Each is well drawn and believable.
--the many cultures represented and the unique and fascinating details of each
--Reeves! People who pair up with huge Eagles and ride them through the sky. <3
--girls/women who don't stand quietly by and wait for help; instead, they fight and risk and love like equals
--the pitting of good rulers against bad against somewhere in the middle; the conviction with which some rulers believe they are doing the right thing (the tension!)
--the many twists I didn't expect
I can't wait to see where the story goes.