Tag Archives: Firekeeper and Blind Seer

Adventure, Fantasy, Reading together, Young Adult

Lindskold, Jane: Wolf’s Blood (Firekeeper Sage VI) (2007)

2013-10-24 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

I really am an airhead. I managed to press publish before anything had been written. Sorry if that confused you all. Here is the “real” version of my review.

I hadn’t bought this last installment of the Firekeeper Saga until my son asked me to. We had read the previous five novels together and he really wanted to know how it was all going to end. Reading together is an experience more people should be able to enjoy. As I have said before, this is one of the major advantages to having a child with dyslexia.

Jane Lindskold made Wolf’s Blood as much fun to read out loud as she had made the other five. Her language is intelligent and her vocabulary varied. Again I found myself forgetting to follow the plot as I got so caught up in the intense experience of tasting Lindskold’s prose. That didn’t really matter because I had cheated and read through the novel on my own before reading it to my son.

One thing I have wondered is how the Firekeeper Saga can appeal to both an eighteen-year old and a 48-year-old at the same time. What is it about these characters that the two of us find so fascinating?

Firekeeper and Blindseer

Part of it most definitely has to do with Firekeeper and Blind Seer. The whole idea of our wolf-girl trying to find her place in human society and making sense of us all works for us. That Firekeeper often finds herself flummoxed by human society is understandable. All of our various religions and political views are confusing and usually you have to be an insider to understand all of the unwritten codes that rule us. She is an alien and will remain an alien for the rest of her life. But Firekeeper is an alien with a foot in human society and with people who love her and Blind Seer to bits.

I’ve been trying to figure out how Firekeeper was changed by querinalo. In Wolf Hunting we see that something did happen to her. My personal belief is that she became even more firmly a wolf in her heart and head because of her chant during her fever. Blind Seer probably did not change much as he beat the crap out of the source of the illness, but his view of himself changed drastically. Having come from a people who hated magic fiercely would make his adjustment to the “new” him a challenge.

Derian

Derian’s change was a bit more visible. This portrait of Derian with Eshinarvash by FortunesFavor shows how he has become a bit more horselike. His ears and forelock are especially telling. Derian struggles terribly to accept his new looks. His greatest fear is how his family will perceive him now that he “looks like a horse”. I would freak out myself if I woke up after an illness and discovered my face and outer extremities had metamorphosed into a blend of human and animal.

Derian also, quite understandably, worries about what women will think of him. Looking past our exteriors seems to be a challenge for a lot of us (myself included). It’s so easy to get hung up in insignificant details all the while forgetting about the significant ones (like personality and temperament). As the saying goes, where there is life there is hope. For Derian this is true (as you will see for yourself when you read Wolf’s Blood).

Perspective

Lindskold presents things from various points of view. Being on the spectrum makes this doubly important to me. I have learned much reading authors like Lindskold. She, too, has been part of a teaching staff who have all helped me understand people. Perspective changes good guys to bad and vice versa. If there is one thing I have learned in this life of mine, it is that perspective matters.

“Enemies”

War is a strange thing. King Bryessidan and his compatriots’ desire to take over the gates makes perfect sense. They had convinced themselves that they were being slighted and hindered in their “noble” purpose. Therefore they were justified in planning and executing an attack against the Nexus Islands. Seen from the Nexans’ side that is an erroneous argument, but to the winner goes the writing of history.

I also found myself understanding Virim. What he did was a terrible thing, but he never intended for querinalo to be so bad. But when it was he took advantage of it and found it difficult to let go of the apparent advantages to its system.

The ending was good. I knew this would be the result, but it needed saying and happening.

Jane Lindskold has been a pleasure to read with my son. The Firekeeper Saga kept him asking for more. Being the fantasy nut that I am, it is a pleasure whenever my sons enjoy the same literature I have enjoyed.

Reviews:

Series: Wolf (Book 6)
Mass Market Paperback: 736 pages
Publisher: Tor Fantasy (January 2, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765353741
ISBN-13: 978-0765353740

My review of:

Adventure, Fantasy, Reading together, Young Adult

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

2013-08-23 humanitysdarkerside 4 Comments

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.

Reviews:

Hardcover: 528 pages
Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (November 4, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 076530936X
ISBN-13: 978-0765309365

Mass Market Paperback: 722 pages
Publisher: Tor Books; Reprint edition (Oct 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765348233
ISBN-13: 978-0765348234

My reviews of Through Wolf’s Eyes, Wolf’s Head, Wolf’s Heart and The Dragon of Despair

Adventure, Fantasy, Reading together

Lindskold, Jane: Wolf’s Head, Wolf’s Heart (Firekeeper Saga II) (2002)

2013-08-12 humanitysdarkerside 6 Comments

WolfsHeadWolfsHeart-hc — Hard cover for: Wolf’s Head, Wolf’s Heart
Cover artist: Julie Bell

WolfsHeadWolfsHeart-pb — Cover artist: Julie Bell

As you can tell I had a difficult time choosing between hardcover and paperback cover art, so I added them both.

Having begun reading to my son about Firekeeper we kept on going. Believe it or not, but quite a bit of snuggle time goes into around 600 pages worth of story. 600 pages is a lot of words. Sometimes I think the two of us get so caught up in how words and sentences connect that we forget to pay as much attention as we ought to. In my world that is only possible when the writing is tight and attention is paid to how writing is similar to music. Sometimes we have to laugh when I have trouble figuring out how to pronounce a name or two. What we do then is have a discussion on pronunciation and come to an agreement.

On to content. The Firekeeper Saga is about politics and relationships and coming of age if it is about anything. Sure there is action and fighting, but this is not what the series is about. I love action fantasy and science fiction and I love stories like the Firekeeper saga.

Wolf’s Head, Wolf’s Heart is still about Firekeeper and Blind Seer’s emerging role as ambassadors between humans and Royal kind. On that journey some of Firekeeper’s illusions about the superiority of the Royal kind are torn down. Blind Seer seems more of the adult than Firekeeper in this regard and is in fact one of the people who challenges Firekeeper’s previous beliefs.

Derian is another favorite of this tale. I imagine Lindskold has made certain that I be aware of him. Derian is Carter made Counselor, a role he had never imagined and feels overwhelmed by. He is easily Firekeeper’s favorite human friend and a very faithful one.

Waln Endbrook is a really good bad guy. He is the ultimate bully – afraid of letting go of power and ready to step on anyone who gets in his way – especially if they are weaker than he is. One of the more fascinating parts of Waln’s character was the mental acrobatics he was willing employ in order to avoid blaming himself for anything. It was always something the other person had done or said that brought about trouble. I hate meeting these people in real life because they scare the shit out of me. But I have also learned, the hard way, the necessity of seeming strong around them.

Elise and Doc are the “hopeless romance” carriers of the series. Poor guys. So in love and yet bound by the strictures of society from having any kind of romantic attachment. Politics sure do stink at times.

We are also introduced to Firekeeper’s adorable adopted brother Edlin Norwood. Hugh Laurie in Bertie Wooster exemplifies just how I imagine Edlin speaks.

Reviews:

Published: August 24, 2002
File Size: 1100 KB
Print Length: 620 pages
Language: English
ASIN: B003G93YE6
ISBN-10: 031287426X
ISBN-13: 978-0312874261

My review of Through Wolf’s Eyes

Adventure, Fantasy, Reading together

Lindskold, Jane: Through Wolf’s Eyes (The Firekeeper Saga) (2001)

2013-06-13 humanitysdarkerside 6 Comments

My daughter and I have now started on the Firekeeper Saga. We had to try a few novels I have on my shelves before she found one that sounded right to her. Through Wolf’s Eyes by Jane Lindskold caught her ear. The deed is now done and I had to begin reading Wolf’s Head, Wolf’s Heart right away.

As you probably understand, my daughter has given her wholehearted approval of the series thus far.

Rumours and stories of children raised by wolves have not been uncommon. In most of them the person found is wild and untamable. Firekeeper is certainly wild when she is discovered by Earl Norwood and his group of merry men. Not quite human, not quite wolf.

In the real world I imagine a child would not have survived living with wolves. To them we are prey and no wonder. But in Jane Lindskold’s world there are Royal Beasts. Royal Beasts are a step up from their cousins (the wolves we know). Several qualities differentiate the two. Royal Beasts are larger, more intelligent and even havea bit of magic. Nor is Firekeeper your regular human. She is able to understand the language of beasts, any beast. Her ability with human talk, however, has been lost to her – due to causes that become apparent as the series continues.

In this novel we get to see human society from the outside, Through Wolf’s Eyes. Human societies make little sense to me. There are strange rules and restrictions (written and unwritten). Sometimes it seems as if some person just said “let’s try this” one day and then that was the new tradition. To one who does not even consider herself a human, human society would seem even stranger. Yet Firekeeper slowly understands that similarities exist between her Royal Wolves and humans.

Lindskold writes pretty well. I felt at times that Through Wolf’s Eyes became a bit wordy and felt my daughter’s attention waver. Then Lindskold would get through the rough patch and off we went again. We struggled with Alistair’s recitation of monarchies – especially when it was impossible to spot a good reason for this. Although the novel is step shy of flowing it still reads well aloud.

Perhaps the reader should not be too young. The complexity of the novel is the only reason I say this. If you like political maneuvering, sub-plots and lots of threads to keep straight, this is the book for you.