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The end result is a series where each installment truly stands out and stands its individual ground as a wildly different sort of text, without ever losing the coherence and engagement of the project as a whole. Instead of becoming one-note, it develops rich undertones and offers equal time to starkly varied narrative perspectives and voices.

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An Apprentice to Elves , by contrast, is about a girl becoming a woman in the same hard lands as her father, except her goals and experiences are her own. Alfgyfa, raised up as an apprentice among the matriarchal culture of the alfar, is part of a new generation who seem inclined to challenge the gendered social expectations of their forefathers. This is, I would say, a book about cultural exchange, rapid generational shifts in politics and life experiences, and finding chosen families.

Alfgyfa falls for Idocrase, after all, who is himself an alfar and a scholar; Tin, who is a Smith and Mother, wants to bring her people back together with their estranged relatives after five hundred years of feuding. The Rheans seek to dominate the local culture of the Iskryne, while the Iskryners aim to refuse them all purchase. Then there are the other voices of the novel, which belong to two people above all. The other is Fargrimr, a sworn-son whose prowess in leadership and organization—despite his insistence that he should have been a fisherman—is one of the reasons the Northerners succeed in their desperate bid to save their homeland from invasion.

Also, sworn-sons are people who, though assigned female at birth, live as men. The use of the historically-inspired second world setting allows Bear and Monette to explore both a gripping plot—the fight against the seemingly indestructible force of the Rhean army—and a dense world of cultures that all influence each other and drive the development of new science, new magic, new ways of being. Monette's other books, and I appreciate the clarification about the Spectrum Award. I actually wasn't aware of that I read this book in one sitting today.

Your review pretty much mirrored my own thoughts on the story. I would actually read a 2nd story in this universe, but only if the multitude of people in it were pared down to a minimum. RD, thanks for sharing! Glad you liked the book: I guess we'll have to wait and see if there's a follow-up I loved the first book of Melusine but was perturbed as the likable, strong and streetwise main character turned more and more into a helpless masochist during the remainder of the series. Same thing happens in Companion with Wolves - somewhat strong young man ends up blushing his way to the end with mild protests against the gangbanging he is subjected to.

Disturbing trend of self-victimization in both. And it seems that as the sexual preoccupations of the characters increase in both the series and Companion, their actual characterization suffers, the plot drags out, and the story becomes a sad drone. In the Cities of Coin and Spi An Interview with R.

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Monday, October 15, There were hints of things that I would like to have seen explored in much more depth—the worlds of the trolls and the svartalfr—but they were very much at the periphery of a rather stock faux-medieval world. The introduction didn't help; the authors stated that their use of 'Norse' words and names and my god, were there ever a lot of names, and there are canonical name changes, which made it even more difficult were an amalgam designed to create a period feel, and it showed.

If not, I wouldn't really recommend it. Jul 02, notyourmonkey rated it really liked it Shelves: It's like the Lessa books from the Pern series, except with wolves instead of dragons, with all the creepy aspects of soul-bonded mating fully fleshed out, and with all the women removed! That sounds harsh, but honestly I enjoyed the read. Yes, I have a few quibbles - really dodgy gender politics that are brushed aside for most of the book, the tragically beautiful yet remote hero ine , the feeling like the plot is merely a background to world description - but I had a thoroughly good time while r It's like the Lessa books from the Pern series, except with wolves instead of dragons, with all the creepy aspects of soul-bonded mating fully fleshed out, and with all the women removed!

Yes, I have a few quibbles - really dodgy gender politics that are brushed aside for most of the book, the tragically beautiful yet remote hero ine , the feeling like the plot is merely a background to world description - but I had a thoroughly good time while reading the book, both in spite of and because of some of the weirdness. I can handle the weirdness when I'm pretty sure that it's done deliberately by the authors, even when the weird is not fully acknowledged by the characters in the book.

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I'm just a sucker for a good animal soul bond story, and this one's pretty good. Jan 07, Jason Bradley rated it it was amazing Shelves: This story was so complex and just dripping with history and mythology. I would call this intelligent fantasy. The story is woven so powerfully, so uniquely that I hung on every word. I savored it because it is rare to find a story so richly told. May 19, Lightreads rated it really liked it Shelves: Time does fade all things, including deeply enraging internet behavior.

And this book is far less indulgent than the last few things of hers I read. So as advertised, then. This book does the extremely difficult thing of critiquing and problematizing companion animal fantasies, particularly the sex, while also being a really satisfying companion animal fantasy. You know what I mean. Who will be his wolfy consorts? View all 7 comments. Jan 16, Rachel Neumeier rated it really liked it. I only recently found out this book exists, when I went looking for Sarah Monette's backlist. Then, from the description and reviews, I had significant doubts about A Companion to Wolves, but with these two authors?

I had to try it. I think of that as the My Pretty Pony trope, and it takes a lot to make me accept it these days. Telepathic animal companions I only recently found out this book exists, when I went looking for Sarah Monette's backlist. Telepathic animal companions are so rarely real animal companions, instead being written as twee pets with no personality and an infinite desire to please their human master. What else sounded iffy: I'm not into erotica of any kind. What made me try the book anyway: I could hardly believe they'd write a bad book, regardless of the reviews that are all over the place.

How the actual story turned out: I wound up taking two whole days in which I should have been revising my own manuscripts to read the first book and then immediately the second. Okay, to be honest, the names were indeed problematic. Ulfbjorn, Ulffred, Ulfgeirr, Ulfmaer, Ulfrikr, really? What would have been helpful? That sort of thing would have helped A LOT to keep the many confusingly named characters straight. As it was, I constantly flipped back and forth in the paper copy of the first book to figure out who a character was.

By the second book I had at least the important characters more or less straight, though. Other than the names, the words were fine. I like having terms like wolfsprechend in the story, because hey, cool word. Mind you, a glossary would indeed be a good idea, but for me the specialized terms did not pose the same problem that the names did.

They are clear enough from context, distinctive enough, and few enough in number that they add to the story rather than otherwise. But in fact, this emphasis deflects attention from what the authors were actually doing with the story, which was a whole lot more interesting and subtle than I think some commenters realize. Bonding with wolves changes both the wolves and the men. High-drive or high-emotion moments are shared more intensely between bonded wolves and men.

This leads to various complications, as you might imagine. This is the part that leaps out at a lot of readers, judging from the comments. Three or four times during the first book, Isolfr compares his situation to that of a young woman in an arranged marriage.

Once he explicitly compares himself to his younger sister Kathlin, who is in fact shortly due to be sent off to a much older man in an arranged marriage. More than that, Isolfr, because he has bonded with a queen wolf, knows that eventually he will take on the socially important and respected role of the wolfsprechend. Wolf bitches that dominate the dog wolves. Svartalfar females who are socially superior to the males of their species. Right at the end of the story, Isolfr makes a decision regarding his own daughter that shows how profoundly he has begun to question the role of women in his own culture.

Let me add that this whole theme of subverting gender roles in the Iskryner Norse culture looks likely to continue through the whole trilogy, probably gaining steam in the third book. It is certainly an important them in the second book, The Tempering of Men, where we meet a woman who is a sworn-son an honorary male , and Otter, a Brython British woman who is currently a slave of the Rheans Romans who serves to give not only the reader but the Iskryner characters an independent view of Iskryner culture.

But it sets up an interesting situation — several interesting situations — which will plainly get resolved in the third book. So the first book is self-contained, but the second is definitely not. I'm definitely looking forward to the third, which is coming out this fall. Sep 24, Amanda rated it it was ok Shelves: There comes a time in your life when you find yourself telling a friend, "You know that wolfbonding book I'm reading?

Not gonna lie, I was also hoping for happy pack cuddling at some point, but obviously Sarah Monette never writes 2. Not gonna lie, I was also hoping for happy pack cuddling at some point, but obviously Sarah Monette never writes happy things. Apparently this is supposed to be something like the grittier wolf version of Anne McCaffrey's Pern series, which makes a lot of sense, in retrospect. But I figure if you were going to write a book that challenges gender and sexuality paradigms, you might as well include actual female characters and issues to complete the circuit.

I mean, Tin and the svartalfs' idea of gender was awesome. Tin was the single engaging thing throughout the novel, but she lacked the follow-through that could have made the book less all-over-the-place.

I'm not even sure this properly counts as LGBTQ fiction since Isolfr isn't even gay, he's just coerced into a homoerotic lifestyle. Any consent he gives seems dubious at best , which is I'm getting the feeling that one of the reasons why the wolf hierarchy is matriarchal is so that the top bitch's human a. It's probably not the only reason, as trolls and svartalfs seem to be matriarchal as well, but there's just something about the way it was written that's rubbing me wrong. Much less rape-ful than I was expecting! I know, not a strong recommendation, but via the informal SF grapevine, I had heard that this book was essentially Pern with the rape taken seriously, and while this is true, it takes place in the context of a society that recognizes rape when it happens and disapproves of it.

That said, I cannot say that it might not be triggerful. A major theme of the book is consent, and the varying degrees to which it can be free. As someone else said, this book is hor Much less rape-ful than I was expecting! As someone else said, this book is horrible for names. About half of the characters have the phoneme "ulf" or an allomorph somewhere in their name, many of them at the beginning, many of the characters change their name at some point during the book, and there are tonnes of characters to keep track of.

Adding insult to injury, for me, the authors acknowledge in a note at the beginning that they have chosen to use Norse names, more or less rubbing in the fact that they could have used names I might have been able to tell apart, but chose not to. Having said that, I love this book. It made me cry, it gave me heroes, and it gave me wolves who were wolflike, so I can't ask for much more.

Feb 20, Grey rated it did not like it Shelves: I read this fantasy because of my friends' positive reviews and because I thought the concept of humans bonding with wolves in order to fight the trolls was interesting. However, I found the book very difficult to read for several reasons. One, it had a boat load of Viking names that were nearly impossible to follow. Also, most importantly, I was very disturbed by the violence and rapes in the book. In addition, as a wolf lover, I know that wolves mate and pair up for life.

They might live with I read this fantasy because of my friends' positive reviews and because I thought the concept of humans bonding with wolves in order to fight the trolls was interesting.

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The first novel was a fresh, engaging, and often-grim take on companion animal fantasy while the second explored the aftermath of a war—but this third and final volume approaches issues of cultural conflict and the battle that has finally come to bear against Rhean conquest and colonization. What would have been helpful? The wolfhealls are small, and the lords give them less respect than in former years. There are far too many characters, and Monette and Bear don't write compelling battles. All comments must meet the community standards outlined in Tor.

They might live with the pack, but an alpha female does not mate with a whole pack of males, only the alpha male. I understand this might be fantasy universe, but it found it incredibly unsettling that an author would write about a young man being forced to be virtually gang banged while his wolf mates with a five or more wolves. I would love to read a gay fantasy where the sex was loving and not something that bordered on brutal bestiality. I would not recommend this book for the weak-hearted. Nov 04, Juushika rated it really liked it Shelves: In a frigid northern land suffused with Norse-like mythology, men live and fight in concert with wolves to hold back the threat of troll invasion.

Njall is a young nobleman, raised separate from this war--until his intense bond with his sister wolf draws him into its heart. A Companion to Wolves is a world of its own, and thus difficult to summarize and supremely immersive: It throws up some hurdles--primarily a long list of similar-sounding names--but succeeds as a book to get lost in.

But it's escapism with weight and purpose: These problematic topics are handled with more grace than not. The sexism isn't just historical grittiness, but impetus to character growth and an argument against gender-based limitations--which can be simplistic, but works on the whole. The central role of sex and rape within the book is a trickier subject: Like the accomplished voice, it's beneficial density. The book is id-driven but intelligent, captivating but stubbornly unvarnished. There are weaknesses in both writing and content--problematic justification of rape, a too-special protagonist who overshadows a fascinating world--but despite my quibbles I loved every word.

I read A Companion to Wolves in a dizzying day, seduced and totally enraptured. At its best, telepathic animal companions are this: I loved this book, and yearn to own and reread it. There are caveats, but I recommend it with enthusiasm. When I read, I try to read myself into the main character. See through their eyes, want what they want.

A Companion to Wolves

I don't think I can do that with this one. It is just too distressing death, and family repudiation, and consent issues , and too far different from my life. I do not hunt trolls. BUT I can follow along like the main character is a friend. A friend with a life I don't want, but I want to know what's going on. All of this to say I eagerly await the next books in fear and tre When I read, I try to read myself into the main character.

All of this to say I eagerly await the next books in fear and trembling. I picked this up because I loved The Goblin Emperor so much. And I have the same complaint with that book that I have with this one. I am neither a lazy nor a bad reader. But your character names are really difficult: It annoys me to have to search each character name when it comes up so I can be reminded of who it I picked this up because I loved The Goblin Emperor so much.

It annoys me to have to search each character name when it comes up so I can be reminded of who it is. Made worse by the sheer number of characters in this book, most of them male. I'm not the only reader to feel this way either, I noticed. Okay, now that the annoyance is out of the way!

I actually liked this book more than I thought I would, and it wasn't what I was expecting. But instead, the book was about detailed fantasy world building, politics, a war against trolls, and what life's like when you're bonded to a wolf. The setting was fascinating and a lot deeper than I expected. And there was practically zero romance. Though there was sex. As others have noted, it's pretty violent. But it was definitely thought provoking: Would I feel differently about this society if the characters bonded to female wolves were female?

If so, am I a hypocrite? It's also interesting that the main character is straight, yet has to come to terms with "forced" relationships with men He also has to deal with his own "female" role and sexuality. Such a pleasant surprise in this male-centric novel. I can't wait to read the next two books in this series.

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The writing was excellent; Sarah Monette is becoming one of my favorites, and I'm going to check out more of Bear's books as well. I absolutely love this book. This is one of those books that makes me want to go back and erase most of my previous 5 star ratings, becasue they don't measure up. It is an original world with a fascinating culture.

Love that it's one of those stories that can touch your heart and your head. As the Publisher's Weekly review says on the back cover, "a brutal and beautiful novel about the meaning of honor". Do you remember "The Neveren I absolutely love this book. Do you remember "The Neverending Story" and the discussion of safe books? I read a lot of safe books. You know who will survive. And, with romances, you know it will be an HEA. This isn't a safe book. You don't know till the last page if the characters you love the most will survive the war. Why does it take a fantasy world to be the most real?

Medieval culture based on the ancient Norse where villages and towns are protected by a community of men who have psychically bonded with wolves. Most of the men gain their wolves as boys late teens. The wolf cubs choose their brothers. The human-wolf bond is so deep that when the female wolves go into heat, their male brothers do as well. And the men and wolves couple as pairs. Man to man, wolf to wolf.

Slight warning for hard to pronounce names. But they grow on you as the story progresses. Feb 11, Wealhtheow rated it liked it Recommends it for: Njall is the teenage son of a jarl when he is inducted into the world of the wolfcarls--warriors who have psychically bonded with trellwolves in order to fight the encroaching trolls. The transition is hard for Njall, because wolfcarls are completely devoted to the fight.

They do not own land, they do not marry or raid for glory--and when their wolves mate with other wolves, their wolfcarls mate with each other. Njall has to adapt from being in control of his own life, choices and sexuality, to Njall is the teenage son of a jarl when he is inducted into the world of the wolfcarls--warriors who have psychically bonded with trellwolves in order to fight the encroaching trolls. Njall has to adapt from being in control of his own life, choices and sexuality, to being an object of lust and subject to the needs of the wolfthret.

It takes him the entire book to come to terms with this, and I appreciated that he stumbled several times while trying to maintain both his honor and his sanity. I was less impressed with the wolfthret and the generations-long war with the trolls. There are far too many characters, and Monette and Bear don't write compelling battles.

The trolls crush the wolves and humans throughout, razing their villages and forcing them to retreat at every turn, but I never really got the feeling of approaching doom.

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A Companion to Wolves is the story of a young nobleman, Isolfr, who is chosen to become a wolfcarl -- a warrior who is bonded to a fighting wolf. Isolfr is deeply. Editorial Reviews. From Publishers Weekly. Starred Review. Rising fantasy stars Monette (Mélusine) and Bear (Whiskey & Water) subvert the telepathic animal.

The writing and plot are a bit uneven; I wish the authors had focused a little more, either on the ramifications of becoming part of the wolfthret or on the war.