Night of the Wolf (Voyager) Book

Like Alice Borchardt's debut werewolf fantasy The Silver Wolf, Night of the Wolf comes with rave recommendations from Anne Rice--perhaps not entirely unbiased, since Rice and Borchardt are sisters. The story begins in ancient Gaul amid druid-led Celts now brutally subdued by Julius Caesar. Shape-shifting man-wolf Mananiel, leader of a wolf pack, discovers human love in powerfully sensual scenes that emphasise the wolf's piercing animal awareness, especially of smells. When something bad happens to his lady, Mananiel becomes a vengeful manhunter until the Caledonian woman warrior Dryas imposes a terrible, magical bondage on him. Imperial Rome is the ultimate source of their troubles, Rome and Caesar ... so the action shifts there, with much sophistication, banter, decadence, political intrigue, and rapid-action arena scenes with Dryas unwillingly fighting deadly beasts to amuse Caesar, Cleopatra, Antony and others, while Mananiel finds a most unexpected lover. Meanwhile we have mystical glimpses of a realm outside time, a wood beyond the world which each major character briefly visits. In a prophecy unrecorded by history, the Goddess herself speaks through Dryas to tell Caesar his options in this year of 44 BC, and there's considerable irony in his choice. Night of the Wolf is enjoyable both as dark fantasy and as a historical novel: Borchardt deserves to outsell her more famous sister. --David LangfordRead More