Tuesday, August 4, 2009

119 - The Promise of Wolves; Dorothy Hearst

















What is "The Promise of the Wolf"?
  • Never consort with humans
  • Never kill a human unprovoked
  • Never allow a mixed-blood wolf to live
Set some 14,000 years ago, and told from the wolves point of view, Kaala, is a young wolf who struggles from birth.

Born of mixed-breed, her father unknown, according to the wolf covenant she should not be allowed to live. Her life is spared by the "greatwolves", because Kaala has a crescent moon on her chest. According to legend, the crescent moon marking could bring good luck (or bad luck) to her pack, but this will not be known until she is full grown.

Kaala struggles to be accepted by even her own kind, after her mother is banished from the pack. Kaala has another strike against her as well; she becomes almost fascinated by humans, after she saves a human girl from drowning---"Never consort with humans".

The Promise of Wolves was an ambitious debut novel; the first of a planned trilogy: The Wolf Chronicles. The author did her homework as far as researching wolves behavior both inside and outside of the pack. The relationships between the wolves, as well as between the human characters, and wolf characters and other living creatures was touching. The book also sent an important message: Kaala was spared because she had a purpose: a job to do--that job was to watch over the humans, so that they would not destroy the world by losing touch with nature.

Honestly, I was not sure that this book would be something I would enjoy, but I was wrong. I read it slowly, the writing was beautiful, and it really gave me a lot to think about.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

RATING - 4.5/5; Completed - 8/4/09; My Stacks
(Thank you Simon & Schuster)

8 comments:

  1. Interesting that the story is written from the view point of the wolf. I don't think I have ever read a book that is written from an animal's viewpoint. I always said I would read Watership Down, but never did.
    This does sound like a beautiful book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm like you - wondering if this is something I would enjoy. The premise does sound interesting and the cover is great.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad you liked this one as it is in my next 5 books to read!

    ReplyDelete
  4. My daughter loves all books about wolves, so I think this book would be perfect for her. I am going to grab a copy of this as soon as I can for her. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am so happy you blogged about this trilogy. I really want to read it now. It sounds fascinating and your thoughts convinced me. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hmm, I'll keep this one in mind.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Really interesting riff, I presume, on Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. Sounds really good!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is so interesting. I'm seeing quite a number of books about wolves lately. I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed this one. =)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to visit and double thanks for any comments. If you ask a question in your comments, I will try to reply to it here, or by email if your settings allow me to do so. Thanks again for visiting.