Lindskold, Jane: Wolf Captured (Firekeeper Saga) (2004)

My 18-year-old son and I are still enjoying reading about Firekeeper together. There is something magic in being able to share in the joy of a well-written novel that cannot be had in reading by myself.

Jane Lindskold was at it again with the difficult-to-pronounce words. The worst one was the name of the temple at u-Seeheera: Heeranenahalm and the other two were Fayonejunjal (name of vessel) and jujundisdu (type of leader). We (or rather I) had to pause before pronouncing the words one syllable at a time.

This time my favorites have, if not all the parts, most of the attention of the author. Wolf Captured is for the main part about Firekeeper, Blind Seer and Derian and their adventures in Liglim.

That sounds so benign, doesn’t it? But getting to Liglim meant the capture of the three and their unwilling transport across the ocean. And why were they taken? Well that was thanks to their “beloved” Waln Endbrook – you know the guy that cut off Citrine’s finger. Yes, that guy. There is something fascinating about the mentality of the bully. I’m trying to figure out if Waln is actually a sociopath. According to this page on bullying he probably isn’t but he definitely shares some of the traits.

Harjedian mis-calculates in kidnapping our trio. I doubt he realised just how skewed Waln’s description of them was until he actually had them in his irons. Trying to hold captive something as wild as Firekeeper and Blind Seer takes a crazier person than I am, and Harjedian quickly realises his mistake. Which is part of the reason why Rhaniseeta is sent to care for the captives.

Rhaniseeta is Harjedian’s younger sister – the one he has taken care of ever since their mother died. When Harjedian showed himself to be a potentially talented diviner his status rose and the two of them were able to share an apartment in the snake temple. The Liglimosh tradition of animal-reverence (Wise beasts – yarimaimalom) makes him realise that his steps when capturing Derian were about as detrimental to getting Derian’s cooperation as anything could have been.

The reason Derian was captured was the thought that he was somehow Firekeeper’s keeper or possibly ambassador with the human world. Derian and Firekeeper do nothing to dissuade the Liglimosh from this thinking, but the Liglimosh soon discover that their relationship is way more than that. In Wolf Captured Derian ends up playing a much more visible role than we have seen thus far and I like the way Lindskold portrays him. He is well worth a main part.

Firekeeper and Blind Seer are wolves (although Firekeeper’s form continues to be human). She wishes desperately that things were not so, and is willing to explore any avenue that might make her truly wolf. Her ability to speak with the yarimaimalom have the Liglimosh suspecting that she is either a maimalodalum (would be serious spoiler to tell) or a yarimaimalom. The Liglimosh captured her for this ability in the hopes that she might teach them, but factions within their culture wonder how wise this would be.

In Wolf Captured we get to learn about the politics in a new system and their beliefs. We once again see how insane human cultures really are and the steps some of us are willing to take. Intrigue and secrets are a part of the story along with adventure, action and (this time) a touch of romance. Like I said, my son and I had a great time with Wolf Captured, fantasy creatures that we are.

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