Through Wolf's Eyes

by Jane Lindskold

Book Overview

Firekeeper only vaguely remembers a time when she didn't live with her "family," a pack of "royal wolves"-bigger, stronger, and smarter than normal wolves. Now her pack leaders are sending her back to live among the humans, as they promised her mother years ago. Some of the humans think she may be the lost heir to their throne. This could be good-and it could be very, very dangerous. In the months to come, learning to behave like a human will turn...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812575482
• ISBN13: 9780812575484
• Release Date: June 2002
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 608 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

fantastic beginning to a new series,

enjoyed reading all six books in the series, fast enough paced to keep you interested, grips you with detail and character insight. nice alternate world. would be a fun series for mid teens and older readers. now, after ive read the first 6, i find there is a seventh book, needless to say i added it to my wish list. looking forward to seeing what Firekeeper is up to

This series

of books were excellent reads. Could not ask for a better place to buy books.

A great story, with lovable characters

I read the whole series years ago through my public library and bought all six books as my first purchase on this site. Im currently in the middle of book 2, and am thrilled. The series is full of fantasy and strong characterizations, and firekeeper and blind seer are enthralling. Politics and magic intertwine, leaving you with a "stay up to finisn" feel.

Interesting and true to itself

I picked this book up as a lark not really knowing what to expect, but liking the title I thought I'd give it a try. I really was not disapointed. The book seems on the surface like many other fantasy novels. A girl is raised by wolves an must conform the human world etc, etc. However, however the book is much more than that Firekeeper is an interesting and dynamic character and Blind Seer just as thought out and remains true to his own character. Its interesting that book has so many characters, but I never really found myself overwhelmed or thinging that people were flat. In fact, many of the characters evolve in completely unexpected, but believable ways. You may finding yourself loving a character you once hated. The whole world is equally rich and full. Overall, I loved this book and speeded through it. The rest of the series is equally enjoyable and I would hightly recommend it to everyone who enjoys great characters and a fast fun plot.

Fantasy Heaven!

Through Wolf's Eyes is probably the most exciting fantasy I've ever read. King Tedric of Hawk Haven had disowned his son Prince Barden twelve years ago. Defying his father Prince Barden and a group of settlers set off into the wilds of a never before explored place. Contact had been lost between the settlers soon thereafter. Later, with all of his children and grandchildren dead, King Tedric must name an heir to the throne of Hawk Haven. Earl Kestrel, eager to get something out of the situation himself, sets out to find out what happened to Prince Barden. His search leads him to the ruins of a settlement where Barden and his group obviously died in a tragic fire. Then one night, a strange girl wanders in to the Earl's camp. At her waist hangs Barden's dagger. Raised by wolves, this young woman has lost all knowledge of speech and human ways. Since she is the right age to be Barden's daughter, Earl Kestrel names her Lady Blysse. Called by the wolves Firekeeper, she soon learns human speech enough to communicate with them. Derian, the young man that Firekeeper trusts more than others, is given the duty of teaching her human ways. Most of the nobles in court are against her, seeing her as a threat to their claims to the throne. In this intriguing fantasy, Firekeeper must learn to adapt to human ways while wishing she could become a wolf in body as well as in heart.

An Unexpected Treasure

When I first saw this book, I thought it was going to be a kind of feminist medieval rewrite of Kipling's Jungle Book. Instead, I found it one of the most tightly plotted, gripping works of suspense and political intrigue that I've ever had the pleasure to read.The wolf's eyes refer to the viewpoint of an orphaned girl raised by mysterious intelligent wolves, and the book begins when she makes her first contact with humans in a decade. This is interesting enough, but the book really gets fascinating when "Firekeeper" is brought back to civilization and thrust into the turmoil surrounding the succession to the local kingdom's throne.This is the true heart of the book - the dynastic jockeying for a throne with no clear heir, in a kingdom caught in a cold war that could heat up at any moment. The many alliances and intrigues that swirl around Firekeeper (hailed by some as the king's grandchild, reviled by others as a pretender) are compelling and realistic. Don't start reading until a weekend - you won't be able to put it down.

BUY THIS GREAT STORY!

Jane Lindskold's THROUGH WOLF'S EYES may well be her best tale yet. Reminding me as much of Clavell's SHOGUN as Zelazny's NINE PRINCES IN AMBER or Turtledove's BETWEEN THE RIVERS, this almost-600-page novel kept me eagerly reading until the last page, and now I'm rabid for a sequel and purchasing copies for my friends! Twelve years ago, King Tedric disowned his third child, Prince Barden, when the prince defied his father and led a small expedition beyond the Iron Mountains to live outside the King's micromanaging grasp. The kingdom lost contact with the colony, and Prince Barden's name was blotted from the books. Now, however, the two interceding heirs have died, the King is unwell, and infighting reigns at court. Earl Kestrel mounts a rescue party to bring back Prince Barden's daughter, Lady Blysse, of the right age and bloodline to press a claim for the throne - under Kestrel tutelage, of course. The party finds the colony burned to the ground, but discovers a sole survivor, a young woman of the right age to be Blysse, who has been raised by (of all things) wolves as a member of the pack. (Through Lindskold's masterful use of backstory we learn that these were Royal Wolves, and that the pack adopted the girl at the behest of mysterious Others). This woman, who calls herself Firekeeper, has no recollection of speech: the sounds humans make mean less to her than the "chirps of the day birds settling in to sleep." Wolves and wild animals speak to Firekeeper, and she to them. When Firekeeper eventually realizes that humans talk mostly with their mouths, she finds the concept "limiting. How could you tell someone to keep away from your food when your own mouth was full?" Earl Kestrel adopts Firekeeper into his household, and names her "Lady Blysse." With the assistance of Derian, an able young carter forced on the Kestrel party as partial payment for the horses leased from his family by the earl, Firekeeper gradually learns human languages and customs. Accompanied by Blind Seer, a wolf from her pack and a falcon she has befriended, she is thrust into the complex competition for the succession to the throne (which Lindskold subtly compares to the continual dominance struggle in a wolf pack), which encompasses court, national, and eventually international intrigue. (Never one to follow a formula, rather than have her human/wolf fall in love with Derian, Lindskold intimates that Firekeeper is actually sweet on Blind Seer: a big part of her curiosity about humans stems from her desire to see whether any have the power to magically transform her into a real wolf.)The feral child's adaptation to humanity is fascinating. Firekeeper's gradual education allows the author to guide the reader through the rich history and culture that she has created for this series (according to her website, a second book, WOLF'S HEAD, WOLF'S HEART is forthcoming from TOR in May, 2002 - I can't wait). Lindskold keeps the reader riveted with Firekeeper's discovery, reminiscent

Exciting fantasy

Many years have passed since Prince Bardon and his followers journeyed from the relative safety of Hawk Haven to establish a colony. The group traveled to the wilderness beyond the nearby mountains. However, no one ever heard from the Prince again. In the present, controversy over regal succession rules so Earl Kestrel leads an expedition to find the Prince or learn what happened to him. The search excursion fails to find the Prince, but a teenage woman calling herself Firekeeper enters their camp carrying Bardon's dagger. The Earl realizes she is most likely the Prince's daughter and places her under his protection. Apparently, Firekeeper, now called Lady Blysse by her fellow humans, lived with a special breed of wolves. On the trek back, a distinguished falcon and one of the intelligent wolves accompany Blysse to her new home. In the human royal court, everyone competes to gain Blysse's favor with most thinking she is an ignorant primitive. Her time with the wolves trained her quite well for dealing with a pack of nobles, but her preference remains turning into a real wolf. THROUGH WOLF'S EYES is a powerful gender bending Jungle Book that works because the kingdom, the magically embellished animals, the nobles, and the heroine feel real. The charcaters make the plot seem plausible. On top of a strong fantasy adventure, readers gain a political infighting subplot that anchors the prime theme to a reality base. The weakness of Jane Lindskold's fascinating novel is that this almost six hundred page complex story line compels the reader into one finishing it in one sitting.Harriet Klausner