Promise of the Wolves

✍ Scribed by Dorothy Hearst

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster;Pocket
• Year: 2008;2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 174 KB
• Category: Fiction

✦ Synopsis

PROMISE OF THE WOLVES begins 14,000 years ago in what is now southern Europe, and follows the adventures of Kaala, a spirited young she-wolf who is destined to bring wolf and human clans together. Born of a forbidden mixed blood litter and narrowly escaping the fate of her executed brother and sisters, the orphaned Kaala is allowed to join the Swift River wolf pack where she must fight to prove herself and survive against the odds. But when Kaala rescues a human child from drowning, she risks expulsion from her pack and banishment from her home in the Wide Valley. Unwittingly, she has set in train a series of events which threatens the very survival of her species.

From Publishers Weekly

The debut of former Jossey-Bass senior editor Hayes is a crackling foray into a dangerous past, the first of a projected trilogy. On Wide Valley plain 14,000 years ago, wolf Kaala is born into the Swift River packa half-breed outcast with Outsider blood. As she grows into adulthood, the spirited pup continues to come into conflict with pack leader Ruuqo. She also sneaks off to be with humans, who are encroaching on wolf territory and who often drive the wolves from their kills. Fraternization is strictly forbidden, but as Kaala's mother has foreseen in dreams, it may also be the key to saving every wolf and human in the valley. Hayes's remarkable fluency when writing in Kaala's voice is immediately absorbing. The mythologies of the societies she invents are underdeveloped, but the relationships between the human characters and the wolf characters are keenly felt, and the conflicts sharply imagined. Hayes's keen interpretations of wolf behavior, senses and sensibilities will enchant paranormal fans and animal lovers alike. (June)
Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High SchoolThe first in a proposed trilogy, this story set in a wilderness 14,000 years ago is told from the wolves' viewpoint. Kaala is a young female whose relationship with her pack is strained by the portentous crescent moon mark on her chest and her affinity for humans. Her bond with them is formed when she rescues a young girl from drowning. Through repeated conversations with Greatwolves, spiritwolves, and Ancients, the young wolf comes to realize that she is the latest in a line of mixed bloods who have the opportunity and challenge of forming an alliance with humans in order to remind them of the interconnectivity of life and to prevent them from destroying their world. The road Kaala travels to ultimate understanding is a tortured one that, at times, borders on the tiresome, but this is a minor drawback in a book whose strength is in the depiction of life in and among wolf packs. Clearly, Hearst has done prodigious research, and her story is infused with a great depth of understanding. Her depiction of the animals' lives, from raising pups to hunting strategies to the protocol of both inter- and intra-pack associations, makes her lupine cast both captivating and believable. A favorite character, however, may be the raven Tlitoo, who plays the part of a Sancho Panza sidekick and provides some comic relief. With its engaging blend of animal science and mythology, and a strong environmental message, Promise will appeal to a variety of teens.Dori DeSpain, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Library : General
Universes : Wolf Chronicles [01]
Formats : EPUB
ISBN : 9781416569992