Murcheston: The Wolf's Tale

by David Holland

Book Overview

Shrouded within the dark corners of imagination, the werewolf holds a supreme place in fable and folklore-the nightbeast, stalking its prey under the light of a full moon. Such is the popular... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812579283
• ISBN13: 9780812579284
• Release Date: February 2001
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Werewolf Novel, done with class

Recently I embarked on a search for the ultimate werewolf novel. There are quite a few really bad ones, some pretty decent ones ("Wilderness", "Saint Peter's Wolf" and "Thor" come to mind), and a few truly excellent ones ("Moon Dance" for example). "Murcheston:The Wolf's Tale" stands head and shoulders above them all. Holland has succeeded in crafting a novel that stands comfortably alongside Frankenstein and Dracula as a horror classic. Literate, thoughtful and also exciting, Murcheston is a triumph of class and style over the run-of-the-mill slice and dice shockers I have had to wade through. Where others have relied on excessive gore and/or sex to carry the ball Holland builds a strong story around a brilliantly developed central character and a riveting narrative. Sure, there is plenty of bloodshed but the gore is in service of the story, not the entire reason for the story. Holland has higher goals in mind here, as Stoker and Shelly did and that is what sets this one apart. So if you are searching for the ultimate werewolf novel take my word for it; This one is THE STANDARD which others will aspire to.

PROOF THAT HORROR CAN BE ART

David Holland's "Murcheston: The Wolf's Tale," is a refreshing rejection of the splatterpunk school of contemporary horror. Rather than churning out just another hack'n' slash gorefest, Holland goes for a refined, richly atmospheric morality tale--which, consequently, is what traditional horror is all about, not graphic decapitations and streaming blood. Perhaps Holland's novel could be alternately known as "Interview with the Werewolf," as in essence that is what much of the novel is. Through his diary, we're with him all the way as the Lord Darnley records his transformation from draconian but all-too-human aristocrat to monster wolf. The ensuing insight into the nature of evil, human and inhuman, and by contrast the opposing nature of good, is starkly illuminating and particularly pertinent to our own society. If the Victorian world in which Holland set his tale was one teetering on the brink of a moral abyss, what of our own, wherein morality is often defined in terms perhaps a bit too Darnley-like: you are your own judge, and no man--no God--can ever condemn you. Despite the supernatural basis of his story, Holland eschews many of the overly fantastic and traditional trappings of his genre, and so avoids some of the cliches that sink so many fantasy tales. His characters, human and otherwise, are well-developed and easy to identify with. Holland's style is scholarly but realistic and holds the reader in thrall to the end. A wonderful cauldron of misty mountains, spiraling emotions, moon-haunted skylines, and stealthy death, "Murcheston" is one of the very, very few horror novels that deserves to be called "literature." If you are a frustrated horror fan who longs for something more than the usual fare, "Murcheston" has my highest possible recommendation.

Philosophical Horror

Some of the other customer-reviewers here have made some valid points about some of the reasons why Murcheston may not be the classic werewolf book to rest aside Dracula and Frankenstein, but they have also missed one of the singular pleasures in the book:Murcheston is a compelling philosophical debate between ideas of individual strength and social obligation. Our aristocrat-turned-lycanthrope was always something of iconoclast, but with the transition to his new state he becomes an articulate advocate of man-as-animal, of might-makes-right, of survival-of-the-strongest. Much of the book is told in the form of Lord Darnley's journal; and so we have his voice deriding the threadbare traditions of religion and also the hollow values and norms of society. Quite deftly, however, Holland makes the arguments of Darnley's opponents come alive through Darnley's own voice, and provides a very absorbing and persuasive debate.Holland took the study in a psychological direction, imagining the impact on the individual of the philosophy lived to the fullest, under the influence of this great power and uncontrollable disease of lycanthropy. As such, Lord Darnley convincingly became less human in the course of his own journals, and throughout the larger work.The psychological study was interesting, but to my mind less interesting than a fuller exploration of the philosophical distinction might have been.Perhaps appropriate for the time(*) Darnley's arguments for the rule of strength, and the natural, animal nature of the human state were primarily explorations of Darwin's idea of natural selection in combination with a Nazi/Nietsche übermensch mentality, and while I was happy to see the counterarguments presented in a surprising and original manner, I was a little disappointed to see Darnley's case undercut by his own madness. There is a real debate here, and it does little good to present something widely thought of as evil and then expose the obvious flaws.A more interesting approach might be to take the more contemporary if-it-feels-right-it-is-right rejection of traditional morality, equate feeling right with animal instinct, and then contrast this very contemporary mentality that is *not* thought of as evil with some of the same arguments for the higher nature of being human that Holland has made. This would be a more meaningful debate for our age, and one that does not have a clear outcome. In short, Holland tells a good story. His characters are fascinating studies in psychology; there is a pleasantly surprising philosophical debate carried on within the text; and it is a worthwhile book to pick up on a dark and stormy night. Holland is onto something when he correlates the lycanthrope with the debate between the spiritual and animal sides of humanity, but in this book he does not explore that debate in a manner terribly relevant to our time. Given his affinity for Victoriana, that was probably not his intention.--* He doesn't state it, but given that Vi

Excellent werewolf novel

Edgar Lenoir, the thirteenth Duke of Danby, is wealthy, powerful, and takes his responsibilities seriously. However, everything changes following a hunting rip in the Carpathian Mountains when Edgar kills a wolf, which is not quite the pure blood lupine it appears to be. Before killing the beast, the animal claws Edgar, which leaves him sick. He recovers to return to his home in Victorian England. On the first full moon since he returned to England, Edgar turns into a werewolf, frolicking on his estate with a sense of freedom he never felt before. He cherishes his so-called affliction, embracing lycanthropy to the point that his human soul begins to shrivel. Unable to deal any longer with the human cattle, Edgar withdraws from society. His isolation ends when he wanders into London only to receive protection from his best friend Charles Meredith and the man's wife Elizabeth, the only woman Edgar ever loved. However, his transformation horrifies them, but not as much as Edgar's plans for the city. MURCHESTON: THE WOLF'S TALE is a gothic-like novel complete with foggy nights, an isolated manor, and a damsel in danger and distress. The story line is written in the Victorian style, which adds to the overall impact of the tale. Tom Holland writes a werewolf tale that will set the standard for future such books to be measured against as he makes werewolves seem genuine and Edgar's joyful dissent into hell feel very real. This novel will be for years to come the definite fictional work on lycanthropy.

Outstanding new book

"Murcheston: The Wolf's Tale" is a wonderfully written novel that follows the tale of the Duke of Darnley infliction of lycanthropy. After Darnley, a self-absorbed aristocrat discovers himself to be a werewolf he begins a journal in the hope of sharing his discover with the world. He embarks on a relentless search for answers believing the one's that he finds to be untrue and bias. His journal quickly becomes a rationalization for the crimes he has committed to mankind; however there is never any regret. Holland does a wonderful job of allowing us to peer into the mind of Darnley as his mental state spins into oblivion. This book is a must read and will become a classic.