A
Title: Cry Wolf
Author: Patricia Briggs
Publication Info: Ace 2008
ISBN: 0441016154
Genre: Paranormal
I’m embarrassed to admit there was gaping hole in my werewolf romance reading, but I’m so glad I fixed it by reading these books.
Anna is an abused werewolf, changed against her will and subjected to hideous abuse and assault by her former pack. Charles is the son of and executioner for the Marrok, the werewolf who is alpha over all the the packs in North America. When Charles was sent to clean up the mess of Anna’s pack, his arrival set off a series of small explosions in their private world. Charles’ wolf chose Anna as his mate. Anna learned she was an Omega wolf, not a submissive worthless wolf as she’d been told. Anna chose to accompany Charles back to Montana, where he was healing from the battle with her former pack Alpha, and where another adversary is attacking people without much finesse in the Cabinet mountains.
Cry Wolf opens with Anna relentlessly trying to be strong when she’s been told for so long that she is worthless and weak and not worth protecting. Suddenly she’s valuable and everything she knew and learned on her own as a werewolf is only partly true. Charles is as mystified by Anna as she is by him – and both welcomes and fears the out-of-control feeling she creates in him, after centuries as a relatively stable werewolf.
Hunting Ground continues Anna and Charles’ story a few months after the events in Cry Wolf. The Marrok maintains his conviction that he should take the werewolves’ existence public as many other fae have, and a summit is held so that other packs from other countries can address their concerns with his plan. When Charles convinces his father that he and Anna should go instead, they enter a delicate political nightmare that requires more balance and deftness than he and Anna can handle.
Now, I don’t as a rule follow series books, and I am loathe to start a series especially when there’s no finite ending. But the manner in which Briggs reveals the conflicts between Charles and Anna and the individual challenges facing them in each book is more than enough to keep me reading. But beyond the individual books themselves are the themes and redefining of archetype that I cannot get enough of. What I love about these books is that they reexamine the concept of Alpha, both wolf and hero. How difficult must it be to be angry and dominate others all the time, all pounding and chest thumpy all day long. The alpha hero doesn’t get a break – and that instinct-level dominance must be exhausting.
Enter the Omega, who provides balance and harmony, a solution and a way in which to examine the power and limitations of the alpha, both the alpha in the mythology, and in the tradition archetype in romance.
The relationship between Charles and Anna is one thing, and it’s an amazing thing. Theirs is an instant-attachment between strangers. His wolf chose hers. Her wolf is down with that. He is unquestionably drawn to her, and loves her. She is horrified that she needs someone she doesn’t know very well, and is terrified of needing someone who can hurt her. Their story is about love and strength and recovery from trauma and hurt – and it’s a powerful thing to grow slowly over time. It echoes that which draws readers to Eve and Roarke: a continued growth of two wounded, isolated people who find they have one other person so very much like them, so alluring they can’t let go. It turns the instalove on its head, and recasts it as a source of conflict. Their wolves are mated. They have chosen one another in a limited fashion. What next, as they must be together now? How to resolve everything else, both internal and external?
Stroke of goddam genius, I tell you.
The relationship between the Alpha and the Omega gives known wolf mythology a quarter-turn so it looks entirely different, and demands reexamination of traditional gender roles as well, as the Omega is, though not always, a female. Charles is a 200+ year old Native American werewolf with more than ordinary powers and a necessary isolation from everyone else. He can’t make friends. He may have to kill them. Anna was isolated deliberately and abused until she was nearly broken, and now isn’t sure what instincts she should trust: those born out of terror and fear or those that come with her werewolf personality – or should she ignore both sets and try to remember what it was to be human?
The balance of harmony is cast into characters with instinctive and pre-determined roles – Alphas and Omegas are born the way they are, even as humans prior to being changed in to werewolves – and the world built around that concept creates a new set of questions about why and how effective romance relationships work, and how enduring couples through a continuing series maintain their attraction for readers.
I’m so glad I was introduced to this series, though I’ve had to stop myself from rereading more than once. Now, on to the allure of Mercy Thompson.
I loved these books so much, but I must admit that I love the Mercy Thompson books even more . . .
I agree with Lotus here she articulated everything that bothered me after reading Iron Kissed. The use of rape in these series while never spoken about directly is heavily implied and Lotus did a good job listing the examples and just to add one more in Cry Wolf when Sage talks about her past and the reason she transferred to Bran’s pack she too doesn’t come out and say she was raped but the words and tone of voice does imply rather heavily that she was raped by her previous pack and she moved to Bran’s pack to escape that.
For those of you that don’t remember, Sage is the ware Bran sends to protect Ana after the funeral so that Sam can treat Charles’s wounds. Sending Sage was the only way to calm Charles enough for him to get treatment. She also hung out with The Moor who was tweaking Charles tail over Ana and whose dead mate was an Omega to.
SylviaSybil while Adam is more progressive then other wolves by his choice of best friends Warren and mate he is still a ware. Also Adam’s pack isn’t younger in fact some are older then Adam they just aren’t dominate enough to challenge him. Warren for the most part isn’t accepted by his pack and is in fact challenged whenever possible; it is by Adam’s will and his will alone that allows Warren to remain pack. Should Adam ever fall you better believe the first thing that will happen to Warren is that he will be kicked out. Remember Paul? Nor is he alone in his belief remember when Adam made Mercy pack, Warren stayed with her and didn’t show his face because his presence would have made things worse for Adam as he dealt with the fall out of bringing a non wolf into the pack.
Also Adam sent Honey and the other women to play body guard with Mercy not so much because of his progressive tendencies but because he was in the middle of the mating dance and he couldn’t stand sending any males to protect her his wolf wouldn’t allow that and Mercy understood it. He only allowed the females, Warren, and Ben (who at the time she hated) because they were no threat to his claim on her.
So while yes Adam admires Honey’s strength even Adam isn’t perfect but that’s Ok because Mercy is more then able to handle him and get around him. It’s that talent that attracted him to her so he understands his own shortcomings and is trying to overcome them for her and that’s why I love him so much.
But Adam is the exception to the typical werewolf not at all the norm if we go by what different female wares have hinted on here and there.
The YA book Blood and Chocolate also has a similar sounding wolf-pack structure to what you’ve described. It’s also just an all-around good book. It’s one of my favorite comfort reads.
Essentially, what Tina C. said. I’ve resisted the urge to respond thus far, as I don’t feel I have anything intelligent to add to the arguments she already has made — she’s said it all and better than I could have. I do just want to observe that it’s almost like some of us are reading two different series here, because our interpretations of what has been said — and unsaid/implied — are so totally different, perhaps because of different life experiences? I don’t know. What I love about this site, though, is that despite two such disparate views, those on both sides have been able to argue their points (and quite well, I might add; I’ve certainly been given some interesting food for thought) without resorting to name-calling, bashing or the junior-high “Oh yeah, well I’m right and you’re an idiot because you can’t see it” that is so common in these kinds of debates. So kudos to the Smart Bitches for the ability to be clever and sometimes snarky, but not acutally bitchy.
My guess is because we’re working through our shyte human model, trying to figure out our own power structures that are often invisible to us until somebody points them out to us.
I totally second Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klaus. The alpha’s mate is the one who wins the bitches’ match, after the males fight it out for supremacy.
ALL werewolves were traumatized in the process of becoming werewolves. The only born werewolf in Briggs’ world is Charles, every one else was made, and very often through violence.
Briggs’ characters in all her books often go through horrific events. It’s one of the things I appreciate about her writing. Often, in paranormal romance and fantasy, the big bad scary guys are really not all that scary. Vampires are hot, immortal guys with fangs. Werewolves are hot guys who shapechange. Demons are hot, shapechanging, magical guys. I like a lot of stories with those kinds of characters, but they do tend to lack substance.
In Briggs’ worlds, evil people and beings are truly evil, and do evil things. The good guys win, but not without experiencing some truly harrowing events, as befits the evil and power of the bad guys.
I didn’t like the rape scene, but it completely fit the story and the character of the rapist. I’m deeply satisfied to see Mercy and Adam, and the pack, work their way through the aftermath of the rape.
I have to say, when I saw Tina Fey doing Palin for the first time, I hadn’t seen any actual Palin footage. I had no idea until much later that Fey was basically quoting her verbatim. I, too, find the phrase annoying now.
Muneca, in Bone Crossed when Adam admits a new member to the pack without telling anyone in advance, Mercy mentions that his pack is composed of young werewolves who are used to American democracy, not the typical werewolf monarchy. Some of them may be older than him, but not by much. Paul hates Warren, and he’s not the only one, but the feeling is not unanimous. If Adam was killed or overthrown, Warren might stay or he might be booted. I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion.
Alright, I will admit that Honey’s being sent to bodyguard was mostly inspired because of her gender. But why send Honey and not Aurielle or Mary Jo? Because Honey is a good fighter and a dominant wolf, and he needed someone he could trust to watch Mercy’s back.
Most werewolf packs are pretty rough on their females. But they’re not all bad. There’s a throwaway line in Alpha and Omega (in On the Prowl) when Charles says that Leo had to kill all the werewolves in his pack that were strong enough to stand up to him, because all of them fought him over the murders of the females in the pack. And again, I think their society is in a time of change and social upheaval. The fey come out of the closet. The weres follow them out. For the first time in history, entire societies of mundane humans are aware of the supernatural.
Thanks for clearing up my misunderstanding. I actually like when books explore rape and rape culture (for example, Anne Bishop’s Jewels Saga, which shows the way both society and individuals are committing it, both genders can and are raped, and the long term effects of rape on both society and the self.); I, however, don’t like when rape is between H/H and then we are supposed to forgive the hero instead of wanting to send him to jail for the rest of his life, which is what I was told had happened in Mercy’s story.
Very interesting discussion. This is actually sparking my interest in reading the Mercy series and seeing how I see it. (Um, if that made sense.)
Alpha Lyra: It’s also weird in the sense that in about half the werewolf stories I’ve read, female werewolves are rare to nonexistent, much less have their own hierarchy. And I could third Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause, which shows both the separate hierarchies, and that the alphas become mates. (I read this about ten years ago and don’t remember loving it, but IIRC it was an okay book; a different kind of werewolf society, for sure.)
I’m actually unimpressed. But that has more to do with the fact that I was reading Patricia Briggs’ books before Mercy ever hit the shelf (I even have a copy of her very first book that I bought for about $1.50 5-6 years ago). When she wrote the first Mercy book, I was thrilled. (I did werewolves and skinwalkers.) She ended up on the top of my favorite author list. And then was removed with the third book (which if I recall, came out around the same time the novella beginning of Anna’s series did). I’ve nothing against rape in books, I even think it works fine within Anna’s story. But that book changed Mercy’s entire personality. And as far as I’m concerned, there is no such thing as a tough, independent, strong female character who lets violence, even intimate violence, change the core of who she is.
So, essentially, I’m raging because the author’s characters are now identifiable by their rape victim status. And seriously, why the fuck are both her best-selling characters rape victims? ONE wasn’t enough?
Feh. Iron Kissed ruined the Mercy series for me, and now I just can’t enjoy Alpha & Omega.
Well, I have to disagree with alot that’s been said here about wolf interaction.
First, it’s not only the alpha pair who mates. It’s the alpha female who mates. She chooses her mate based on his skill as a hunter and his strength so it appears at first glance as if #1, he’s always the alpha male, and #2, that they are monogomous. Neither is true. From time to time a female has been known to mate with a non alpha male in the pack. She will tease and entice the males into fighting to ensure she chooses wisely. She will then torture the male of her choice, who gives in to all her greatest desires (Makes me wanna be a wolf). Mating in wolf pack life is the female’s choice. The misinformation is perpetrated from old scientific research and needs to be corrected. DNA and appropriate monitoring of wolf packs has proven the monogomy and alpha breeding pairs to be inaccurate. Yet still I visit wolf research which continues to say they are monogomous. They are MOSTLY monogomous, due to the “nature of the beast”. But she can choose any mate she wants from year to year.
It’s true that wolves do not compete among the sexes for equality – there are two distinct lines. Male. Female. What most don’t realize is often the female is also the most aggressive of the two. While both are very protective, females are much more “volatile” when it comes to the frequency of challenges to be the alpha, most likely caused by the desire to breed.
There are some differences based on the BREED of wolf as well. For instance, in the Arctic wolves of Alaska and Canada, the male will give up all his food to ensure the survival of the female and pups. He’ll starve before he takes their food. This is especially true in single family packs rather than the large packs. (1 Male, 1 female and pups being the only ones in the pack) The Alpha male of the red wolf society in NC will never allow another to eat until he’s had his fill. Two different breeds with two totally different leadership styles, most likely based upon the availability of food and hunting styles.
While it’s true, werewolf society, per most authors, is often based more on lore than true wolf society, it is not true of all authors. There are several out there who do use true wolf behavior in their books. I don’t think it’s fair to say that people dont’ have the time to research. It may be they don’t have the inclination, because their world already has come to them and that’s what they are going to use, just as the vamp authors often have a bit of “lore” in their books (allergy to sunlight, etc). The nice thing about shifter authors is they do truly have as many “World rules” they can play with as any other paranormal field, so there is more realm of possibility.
I also find, in most books, the authors (myself included) tend to lean toward writing only about the alpha pairs, or tend to include alpha characteristics in their characters even if they are not alpha. This is not due to a lack of knowledge of true wolf behavior, but a knowledge of their market. Most paranormal romance readers don’t read shifters because they wanna read about lowly Omega wolves. They want to read about power, strength and loyalty of the Alpha. They want to read about the true animal connection that resides in every person, but is pushed down by society.
One author who belies this “tradition” is Terry Spear, who has successfully dealt with non-alpha pairs in her books.
As for the rape issue – rape doesn’t occur in real wolf society. Rape is a very HUMAN crime. The key to writing shifters of any type is the blending of animal and man instincts and behaviors. Animals don’t rape because sex is not a part of their “punishment”.
No 2 authors blend the traits the same. Are they animal only when shifted? Do they retain their animal characteristics in human form? Do their human chracteristics override the animal ones? It’s all up to the author how he or she deals with the merging.
All that being said, I guess it’s time for me to check out Cry wolf. I haven’t read it yet. 😀
Rape is a very HUMAN crime.
Not strictly true. Many animal species commit rape. Chimpanzees and mallard ducks are two notorious examples. You are correct, however, that wolves do not rape.
Oops, I misspoke. Not chimpanzees. Orangutans.
It’s early and I haven’t had my coffee yet…
LOL You may be right. I am not up on my orangutangs, though even my dog refuses to watch apes/monkeys on tv. They are just vicious! He loves all animals, and watches tv almost as much as my husband does, but when a bunch of chimps were fighting one day, he got up, turned his back on the tv, and plopped down as if to say “Mom, change it”.
Luckily I don’t write about ape family – not my cuppa. 😀
Loved her older stuff (esp The Hob’s Bargain and Dragon Bones), but I gotta say I’m on the same page as Lotus when it comes to the Mercy Thompson series and it’s newest spin off (which I haven’t read).
My mother and best friend love them. Though my Mom’s now pissed that I “ruined” them for her by pointing out the rape issue.
Before I read Alpha & Omega I hadn’t read any Briggs’s books. After that I went on a Mercy Thompson glom. I enjoyed A&O better than Mercy, and that makes sense since it is more of a romance than the other. I have one problem with both series and it’s not the rape issue; it’s the way she treats minority characters. In Mercy I was mildly annoyed by the way she refers to Darren’s ethnicity every time she mentions him, but it wasn’t enough to make me stop reading the series, I generally just skipped that. In Strange Brew, it’s the same thing with Alan Choo, and I’m not even going to comment on why the one submissive in the entire pack just happens to be a Chinese male.
Then in Hunting Ground, she had an old black man singing “Mr. Bojangles” and tap dancing. I still love the book, she’s a great writer, and I almost hesitate to mention this because I’m sure that this is not intentional, but that just pushed me right over the edge. So, now I’m at a quandary; I will probably continue reading both series, but it’s almost like watching a horror movie with your hands up over your face. You know something really bad is going to happen, but you can’t stop watching it.
I have read, and greatly enjoyed, everything that Patricia Briggs has written. Her characters are interesting, well-rounded, and realistic.
I totally disagree that the books are all about rape of the female characters as some have implied. They DO have various explorations of what it means to be helpless. To me, Mercy’s rape scene is less about rape, and more about what happens when something terrible occurs which you have no control over. It’s also about how Adam feels. It’s his helpless rage *and* her helpless rage.
A lot of Mercy’s character is based in her great fear of being subsumed and dependent on anyone, which is why she has always avoided Adam. It’s a big issue with them both. So in that book, Briggs proposed the question of what happens when something happens that does leave her unable to be independent? Where do we go from there?
Mercy, in this last book, is affected by her rape and it has changed her. I would find it far more disturbing if it didn’t affect and change her. But she is finding her balance and learning how to refind herself. And she is refusing to be a victim and still refusing to be dominated. I like that, very much.
As for the “fated mates” trope in A&O, I hate it in traditional romances yet had no problem here. Because it’s not like they stare at each other, say “we’re fated!!” and that’s it. It’s more like, “holy crap, my wolf is saying hubba-hubba to your wolf, how do we make them stop?” Neither of them is exactly thrilled with the concept of the whole fatey-matey thing and they struggle to deal with it and to find out if they can like each other and trust each other as humans.
For Briggs fans, if you haven’t yet read Hob’s Bargain or the two Dragon books; Dragon Bones and Dragon Blood (in that order) they are really good. I loved Ward of Hurog, a man who had been so severely abused as a boy by his father that he has learned to cultivate the impression he is mentally retarded, and indeed one of his beatings was so severe as to kill most of his magic. So maybe Brigg’s themes are far less about rape and far more about dealing with and recovering from some terrible life experiences.
But what you’re describing IS the trope. If the “fated mates” don’t resist, you have no book. The books are pretty much always, in my limited experience, about two people forced to be together by *insert irresistible magical/paranormal reason here* (I think the only use of this that ever worked for me was ElfQuest, and that might have been because I was prepubescent at the time). It’s the marriage of convenience/necessity trope turned up to 11.
I really appreciate Briggs as an author work BECAUSE her female characters suffer sexual assault. (hang on, let me explain) It seems to me that while movies, television shows, and yes books, depict a lot of violence against women, almost all of it ends with the heroine getting away before she is Officially Defiled. Which is great, don’t get me wrong, I’m not about celebrating violence against women. But by constantly “saving” the woman at the last minute, we are given the message that being assaulted is so awful we see it, can’t visualize it, can’t talk about it. And getting raped doesn’t happen to heroines, of course, because they are too beautiful/virtuous/athletic, whatever, to ACTUALLY suffer that kind of assault. If heroines always escape The Fate Worse Than Death in popular culture, what message does that send to women who didn’t escape, who are survivors of assault? I understand why popular writers and directors want to offer the Happy Ending, they are ultimately trying to offer happy brain candy to their audiences: “Bad Things happen but not the Worst Thing, so it’s all ok! HEA for everyone!” But this is disingenuous and damaging, I think it really reinforces the shame that exists around sexual assault. I like Briggs’ writing because she goes there: both rape AND recovery. It’s not The Fate Worse Than Death. It’s awful and it’s horrible and it’s traumatic but her characters keep living. They experience assault and then the continue with their lives – trying to work out how to love and live and survive after trauma. (I read her before discovering SBTB and waaay before learning there was such a thing as rape-trope within romances. Also, I realize that rape is dealt with in very gritty, realistic ways in many books and movie and television shows. I’m referring only to my experiences with POPULAR fiction and literature.) To summarize, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I found Briggs offered the most responsible depiction of rape I had ever come across. And, even if I didn’t love Mercy and her sexy wolf-men, I really respect Briggs for that.
I think the way the rape was handled in Iron Kissed was sensitively done. Yes it was difficult to read, but the aftermath was heartbreaking and very poignant. And I agree with the poster who commented about Mercy’s fears of dominance issues with Adam. I am going to mention some spoilers below – so beware!
Another thing to take note is that the Mercy series is Urban Fantasy – and if you think about it there are a quite a few female characters who have been raped in the subgenre. From Kitty Norvill to Jo from the Weather Warden series. Whether thats a trope that is carried on from fantasy, or its something that has evolved in UF… I don’t know.
I think some UF series deal with the subject well while others I felt it was glossed over, or didnt factor in the emotional aftermath really well. In Mercy’s case I think it felt too real and that has affected some readers, and I can understand that. But I really think it has made Mercy’s character much stronger. And in Mercy’s world, it’s real and it’s violent. It deals with monsters who do not always grow fur or fangs.
There are also males who have been abused and raped too. The end scene in Iron Kissed showed there are different types of rape.
I think with the wolf packs in the Mercyverse, its more about sexual poilitics and dominance issues than about rape in wolfpacks. Also in this world its very rare for women to be werewolves, so you have to add that into the equation. Its definitely going to be difficult for women to assert themselves in packs.
Although its interesting with the quirks – regarding females taking their positions with their mates. Although they could be less dominant or more so in the pack hierarchy. And I bet Mercy is going to have a great time with that! 😀
With the Alpha and Omega series – Anna was attacked and raped by a crazy wolf. In any other situation, I very much doubt any wolf could have abused or dominated her. The pack was really unhealthy with its alpha couple and hierarchy.
What Jarant said!
I had trouble getting through Iron Kissed, and I do wish it hadn’t happened in the storyline (but recognize that’s my discomfort/issue), but agree that it’s completely disingenuous to always have a heroine kidnapped/abducted/under the thumb of the bad guy/villain and not have something terrible happen.
You don’t always get away. You can be a 100% careful person and still not get away, much less a balls-to-the-wall heroine who keeps messing around with magic she knows stands a goodly chance of burning her ass.
I saw Mercy’s story as a parallel to GHB rapes. I actually had less trouble with Anna’s story, not because it was any less frightening. but the physical violence was something my brain could process in a way that I could not with the story anything that completely overrides your will.
Coming late to the thread here…
A few comments, with spoilers.
First, to Overquoted—much of Bone Crossed is about Mercy healing from the experience in Iron Kissed. She is *affected* by it, but her core character is not drastically changed in the long term.
Second—I agree with Lotus that there’s a strong presumption that unless she’s damn lucky a female were is likely to be raped. The wolf half can handle it better; this is shown clearly with Anna, whose wolf took over and protected Anna from knowing a lot of what was going on. But it still seems to happen in many (though not all) packs.
Third—One of the things I like about Hunting Ground is the way the wolf halves and the human halves work things out. Right from the first story (and I *adored* Alpha and Omega; didn’t care all that much for Cry Wolf, liked Hunting Ground quite a bit), Charles accepts that Anna’s human half might reject him. It is NOT fated. The wolf halves are down with it, but they do NOT make it inevitable. In Hunting Ground, the human halves have already mated, but both (or all four?) know there’s more work to be done, and they do it. (I also like getting to know Anna’s wolf a bit better.)
I’m thinking that one of the problems here is that a moment happens that seems to signify “This is the new reality;” it makes for a stronger book ending, but the following book then explores it in more depth, and sometimes goes back on whatever was said.
Example—at the end of Iron Kissed, Mercy looks like she’s ready for something she shouldn’t be ready for. At the beginning of Bone Crossed, it’s made clear that the gesture at the end of IK was premature. The gesture made it clear that Mercy had chosen a healthy *direction*, but she wasn’t actually there yet.
Same with Cry Wolf—full mating takes place, but problems are NOT completely resolved; you don’t really see that until Hunting Ground, though.
(Captcha: nearly 33—yeah, right. Tell that to my knees.)
if you like Cry Wolf and Hunting Ground, you will LOVE the Mercy Thompson series by the same author, (first: Moon Called) which are just generally better put together books, as it feels as kif the author was slightly rushed writing these, anmd they turned out rather awkward as a result.
For a totally different take on werewolves, if you want one, there is [Benighted/i] by Kit Whitfield. Werewolves are the majority in her story, which is told from the perspective of a non-werewolf, who struggles as part of an exploited minority that’s both somewhat feared and held in contempt. It’s a werewolf story, but with very little drawn from the commonly known werewolf mythos.
She does something equally strange with mermaids in In Great Waters.
I love this series! These two books are spin-off of the Mercy Thompson series and have a similar yet different feel to it.
I mostly enjoy the Mercy books, and I’m very fond of Mercy herself. But I’m not really thrilled with how she’s set up her wolf society. But I also agree with Alpha Lyra that it would be nice to see more books about werewolfs who have wolf traits (it’s all very well to say the negative traits of most fictional werewolves are from their human side, but almost all the authors I’ve read specifically attribute those behaviors to “the wolf”).
Authors can make up whatever the hell they want to about werewolves. They can do as little research into wolf behavior as they want. But there are plenty of authors who believe in doing research and then taking their flights of fancy from that base, and those are the authors I, personally, want to read. I, personally, as a reader, would really love to read about werewolves who are more than just extra-vicious humans who turn furry (and there are plenty of books about werewolves who are born werewolves and were never human—these books have the same problems).
So, Teresa D’Amario, since you say there are books out there where the werewolves are partially based on actual wolf pack dynamics, I (and Alpha Lyra, I bet) would really love authors or titles if you can think of them. My attempts to find such so far have pretty much failed.
(It’s been a while since I read Kim Harrison, and the werewolves weren’t a big part of the stories with the exception of one lone wolf, but I remember being less irritated by their gender dynamics than usual, although I still wouldn’t call them much like real wolves. Harrison and Carrie Vaughn are the the closest I’ve come to liking werewolf portrayals, but I’m not caught up on either of them.)
Hi Mel,
Thanks for the response. I can tell you four authors specifically, though I know there’s one more out there and I just can’t remember her name today. All three authors are more romance than Urban Fantasy, though I’m sure there are some UF authors who do a lot with this and I’m just not aware of them. I’m the world’s worst judge at UF books.
The first is Terry Spear. She uses a lot of wolf dynamics in hers. She combines the red wolf and the gray wolf as two separate species in her stories. http://terryspear.com/ Terry actually takes things from different perspectives, not always dealing with an alpha of the pack.
And not to “toot my own horn”, another is myself. Part of my goal when writing is to incorporate as much “animal” behavior in my characters as I can. Or should I say, highlight the human behaviors that are so close to our “animal cousins”. I tend to lean toward the lone arctic wolf’s behavior, with a healthy dose of gray thrown in. To date I haven’t incorporated much in the way of red wolf behavior. Odd since I live maybe 100 miles from the red wolves on the east coast.
The third one, I can’t recall her name, though she too has wolf dynamics. I have to admit, there’s an odd sense to it. I wish I could remember the title or author, but the heroine had escaped a doctor who’d been doing alot of medical experiments on her, and lived in the North with a pack of wolves. The hero is sent to find out if she’s rogue and dangerous or just likes to be left alone.
Nalini Singh also has some wolf behavior in hers. But I found, while I love all her work, I enjoy her cat shifters more than her wolves.
I’ll try to find that other author for you. It may come to me through the day. As far as I can remember, that was this author’s first shifter book of any kind.
Interestingly, in all three cases I mention, the world’s are set in contemporary human worlds as a subset – an entire population the humans don’t know exist. And there’s not alot of crossover with vampires or other creatures of the night – just shifters. Only in Singh’s case is that different.
One last one to mention, might be Shelley Laurenston. I just read Pack Challenge and it was my first “Wolf” book of hers. I was pleasantly surprised. While not as dark as the others I mentioned, she manages to incorporate some serious wolf behavior amid the humor. Prior to this week I’d only read her Lion books.
Check those out and let me know what you think. 🙂
I took a quick peek at Amazon, and Pack Challenge is 70% off and $3.60 for Kindle right now, if you’re curious.
wow I can count – all FOUR authors are more romance than UF, not three. LOL. Time for my morning diet pepsi (don’t drink coffee)
Here is another author that I thought took alot from the actual wolf critter dynamic.
Alice Borchardt, has written several books including Silver Wolf. They are set in ancient Greece, pre roman influence i believe. I enjoyed them very much. Side note, this is the sister of Anne Rice.
I completly agree with your grade.
Both books are awesome and I can’t wait to read more of the series.
I’m a big fan of Mercy and the Alpha and Omega series but I have been bothered by the raping of both female leads. Maybe it’s an issue in the authors life that she works out in her books. It’s often difficult to realize that the entire world isn’t screwed up a certain way when you have been a victim of violence – I have had my own issues with that. But maybe I’m reading too much into it and she has lived a happy and safe life. : )
One book that I all but threw across the room in disgust over rape and horrific a werewolf pack is Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn. In that book the nasty and mean alpha just plain rapes every female all that time. Even if it’s not violent, it’s considered his due even if the female doesn’t want him and that makes it rape. I haaaaaated that book in every way, from the spineless cringing female lead to the pack rules and the uninteresting side characters. I even read a little toward the end before returning to the library and saw that the female lead finds her spine but I did not care in the least. One of my most hated books ever!