A Companion to Wolves

Much better than I had expected going in. Great storyline and characters - even though I had trouble differentiating between the numerous men with dubiously Scandinavian names. My favorite characters ended up being the wolves themselves, because they were some of the most developed and varied.

The writing is very straight forward and to the point, with little excess description or dragging on. I appreciated this especially during the month-long march sections of the story, and the epic battle scenes.

The wolf mating portions of the novel were well written and realistic, they're definitly manly men who, for the most part, are doing it more for the sake of their wolves than anything. It at times made me wince in sympathy, but it was never distastful - just straight forward and in keeping with their society.
Next book could maybe feature a non-hetero guy who actually enjoys the implications that being bonded to a female wolf has? Just saying.

I liked the development with the troll storyline, and only wished that the history between the trolls and the svartalfar was further expanded. Id enjoy a sequel possibly a couple decades later, in the ‘away' place that the surviving troll mentioned.

Could have used some kind glossary to keep track of the various places and people, as well as a general map.

A Companion to Wolves is a stand alone collaboration by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear. Sarah Monette's “The Doctrine of Labyrinth” series is currently my favorite book discovery of this year, and Elizabeth Bear's dark mythological tale of faerie, Blood and Iron, was also excellent so I was very much looking forward to this book. Although I did not enjoy it quite as much as either of these separate works, this tale steeped in Norse mythology still had me riveted and turning the pages.

Complete Review:
http://fantasycafe.blogspot.com/2008/07/review-of-companion-to-wolves.html