Author: Jane Lindskold
Cover Artist: Julie Bell
Publisher: Tor
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publication Date: 2002
Through Wolf’s Eyes is the first part in Lindskold’s six book Firekeeper series. With the sixth novel published earlier this year, Lindskold has indicated the series is complete (for those of you who don’t want to commit to another unfinished fantasy series). The series as a whole is not ground breaking but it is well written and well researched. I found the books very entertaining.
The story is set in lands that used to be colonies of overseas nations. These nations possessed powerful magic that enabled them to control their overseas possessions. A little over a century ago a disease stuck to magical community and the magicians either died or retreated to their homeland, never to be heard from again. The now abandoned colonies formed several kingdoms in a series of struggles for power. One of these nations is the Kingdom of Hawk Haven which is currently enjoying a lull in the near continuous wars with the neighbouring state of Bright Bay.
That is not to say all is well in Hawk Haven. King Tedric is an old man and the matter of his succession is undecided. Two of the three children of the King died before their time. The third, who would not settle for a minor role in the history of his nation, crossed the Iron Mountains to start a new colony over a decade ago. King Tedric promptly disinherited his son and he hasn’t been seen in over a decade. With the nobles of Hawk Haven pressing for one of their number to be named heir the enterprising Duke Kestrel sets out on an expedition to find out the faith of the prince’s expedition. Travelling in the Duke’s company is Derian Carter, an ambitious youngster hired to care for the horses. Derian is the first of our three main characters.
To the Duke’s disappointment the only living survivor of the prince’s expedition is a fifteen year old girl, who may or may not be the prince’s daughter. With all the adult members perishing in a fire long ago, the girl has been taken in by a pack of wolves. She has lost pretty much all of her humanity, even her ability to speak a human language.The beasts that raised her were not ordinary wolves though. They belong to a race larger and wiser than their smaller cousins on the other side of the mountains. They possess a language of their own, one that Firekeeper, for that is the name they gave the girl, speaks fluently. A trait that will make her invaluable for her pack one day. They encourage Firekeeper to join the Duke and explore her human origins. Accompanied by Blind Seer, a young male wolf, she leaves for Hawk Haven.
In the mean time, the intrigue and manoeuvring among the great houses in Hawk Haven is affecting the life of young Elise Archer, heir to the Archer Barony, as well. As one of the grand-nieces of the king she is a potential heir to the throne but she has plenty of contenders. Among them is Sapphire Shield, the oldest of her generation. To improve their chances Sapphire’s younger brother Jet proposes and engagement between Elise and himself, earning himself the enmity of his sister. All of their plans will have to be reassessed with the arrival of Firekeeper, or Lady Blysse, as Duke Kestrel presents her. With Derian’s tutoring Firekeeper has managed to acquire some social skills and is now considered a rival by those hoping to claim the throne. The situation is complicated even further by a claimant to the throne from their rival Bright Bay.
In the first book of the series Lindskold introduces us to a rather large cast of Hawk Haven nobles. None of them have particularly large families but there’s still an awful lot of them. I actually got lost a few times in the tangle of cousins. Thank the ancestors for the glossary in the back of the book. Once you get a decent grasp of who is who and more importantly, how they are related to each other, an interesting bit of political scheming unfolds.
Firekeeper is the star of the show though. Lindskold put in a lot of effort in making her wolf behaviour as realistic as possible. Real wolf children didn’t socialize quite that easy I think, so she does need the Royal Wolf concept to make it work. This also forms the overarching story carried to the next novels so having read the others I don’t mind terribly. Much of her past remains a history. Allthough, Lindskold drops a few hints in this book. The relationship between wolf and man has been a frequent theme in fantasy (check Robin Hobb’s Farseer trilogy or Perin “Young Bull” Aybara in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time just to name a few). So while not being terribly original, Lindskold handles this theme well. Firekeeper is an interesting mix of wolf and human, with successes in some social areas and total failure in others. The struggle to find a balance between wolf and human is key to the series. If you like it in this book you’ll want to read on.
All in all it is an enjoyable read. I was slightly disappointedly that after covering the entire nobility of Hawk Haven, Lindskold throws in the dynastic troubles of Bright Bay in the finale of the book as well. It is overkill if you ask me. Other than that it is well written fantasy. A solid start of the series.
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