A clever, dynamic, and remarkable take on werewolf lore.
March’s novella, presented as an early 20th-century periodical, illuminates the origins of the wolf-men and werewomen living among humans.
It is the conceit of this work of fiction that, in 1906, publishers Octavius & Sons, Inc. released, in periodical form, the first installment in a planned series on lycanthropy. Only the first issue was printed, as the publishing company closed its doors shortly thereafter. The author sustains this premise by asserting that she herself is a Lupine (werewolf)—and the very writer of that Octavius & Sons magazine—who has amassed a collection of folklore and fables that shed light on the ancient history of her kind (“Her award-winning works ‘The Anatomist’ and ‘Talons Out! A Play in Ten Acts’ have achieved widespread acclaim. Now, she brings the ancient lore of her mysterious species to a wider audience”). Lupines have existed almost as long as humans; both, she asserts, are the creations of Mother Luna. Many of the writings in this novella revolve around the Lupines’ migration: Devastating war forces them out of their “once mighty Dominion,” and they voyage west for years until they find peace and solitude, at least for a time. March includes fables and fairy stories as well, including “The Curious Tale of Little Red Raging Hood,” a blatant but gleeful play on the popular fairy tale. The collection’s highlight, and its longest story, is “The Monster, the Mayor and the Merchant,” which acts as a cautionary tale for all. A colossal bear makes its way into the city of Lünaborg and terrifies residents, despite its gentle nature. Handling this so-called monster-bear sends Lünaborg’s mayor and a newly arrived merchant into unexpected directions.
The book is skillfully styled, in terms of prose and structure, to resemble a publication more than a century old. The humor is pleasantly understated, as is the thinly veiled love/hate relationship between March and the book’s (Lupine dialect) translator, J. H. Archibald. In one of his notes, Archibald questions to what extent March’s storytelling strays from tradition, and she sardonically responds: “I just scribble whatever nonsense my werewoman’s fancies happen to surface and append it to this crude folklore.” As this book is succinct, these stories often feel like mere snippets of considerably longer works; indeed, Archibald references one of the Lupines’ “sprawling” sacred texts. While that may leave readers wanting more, there’s still plenty of material on the werewolves’ tribulations. They come across as relatable, as they have suffered murderous bigotry and must resist their very nature, including a seemingly insatiable appetite for flesh of the human variety. Perhaps the most discernible theme is the fear of the unknown; the startled reaction to the bear in Lünaborg stems solely from its size, and the mayor stokes citizens’ unease by claiming it’s a “foreign,” unpatriotic bear as local merchants exploit the giant beast’s notoriety. Illustrations invigorate the pages throughout, but Vulfolaic’s artwork in “Little Red Raging Hood” shines brightest: Black-and-white renderings of the cast and the ominous woods come alive with splashes or stark backdrops of brilliant red.
A clever, dynamic, and remarkable take on werewolf lore.Pub Date: June 12, 2023
ISBN: 9798218226923
Page Count: 155
Publisher: Varsity Aesthetics
Review Posted Online: Aug. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.
Cormac McCarthy's The Road meets Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in this frightful medieval epic about an orphan girl with visionary powers in plague-devastated France.
The year is 1348. The conflict between France and England is nothing compared to the all-out war building between good angels and fallen ones for control of heaven (though a scene in which soldiers are massacred by a rainbow of arrows is pretty horrific). Among mortals, only the girl, Delphine, knows of the cataclysm to come. Angels speak to her, issuing warnings—and a command to run. A pack of thieves is about to carry her off and rape her when she is saved by a disgraced knight, Thomas, with whom she teams on a march across the parched landscape. Survivors desperate for food have made donkey a delicacy and don't mind eating human flesh. The few healthy people left lock themselves in, not wanting to risk contact with strangers, no matter how dire the strangers' needs. To venture out at night is suicidal: Horrific forces swirl about, ravaging living forms. Lethal black clouds, tentacled water creatures and assorted monsters are comfortable in the daylight hours as well. The knight and a third fellow journeyer, a priest, have difficulty believing Delphine's visions are real, but with oblivion lurking in every shadow, they don't have any choice but to trust her. The question becomes, can she trust herself? Buehlman, who drew upon his love of Fitzgerald and Hemingway in his acclaimed Southern horror novel, Those Across the River (2011), slips effortlessly into a different kind of literary sensibility, one that doesn't scrimp on earthy humor and lyrical writing in the face of unspeakable horrors. The power of suggestion is the author's strong suit, along with first-rate storytelling talent.
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-937007-86-7
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Ace/Berkley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
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