Review: A Howl of a Good Story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 1, 2012
I was a bit dubious as I began reading Howl of the Wolf.  I don't read a lot of recent science fiction or fantasy, and I was having trouble seeing the 25th century world through the eyes of a sentient wolf-like creature living in a different solar system.  I was completely hooked by the time I read the second paragraph, and I didn't even bat an eye when I found myself another thousand years farther into the future.  Immersed in the story, I forgot all about the unreality of its situation.Diane Rapp spins a good tale with a fascinating cast of well-developed characters.  Her use of the wolf pack as an external vantage point was clever, as was the occasional intervention of the wolves in the timeless struggle between the protagonist and the antagonist.The conflicts that arise when a small group of technologically advanced people are integrated into a much larger, well-established feudal society provides an interesting stage upon which to play out the conflicts between good and evil.  Skillfully interweaving the sentient wolves in a role supporting the triumph of right adds spice to an already tangy story.The differences in the way the wolves and the humans passed on their cultural heritage to succeeding generations was engaging, as well.  Seeing two radically different but apparently successful approaches to accruing and dispersing lessons learned from the past made the interactions between the wolves and the humans over a thousand years or so (and, for that matter, between the humans and the humans) all the more interesting.The pacing of the story is excellent; I read it straight through without wanting to stop, and was disappointed when I came to the end.  Fortunately for me, the story resumes in The Havenshire Resistance.  I'm ready to read it, but first, I wanted to say, "Nice work, Ms. Rapp."