Amber Hinton's Reviews > Wolfsangel

I've always found fantasy to be a bit of a "hit or miss" genre. You can either pick up a complete dud or a gem. Wolfsangel is one of the brightest of those gems. It is a gripping fantasy with one huge labyrinth of a plot. I had heard the book described as "unpredictable" before I read it, and truly; it was. Every time I thought I'd sussed the book out it would about turn and go down another route altogether. Lachlan does not do this in an erratic, unskilled way at all. In fact, the plot twists are executed perfectly. They give just the right level of surprise and curiosity without leaving you utterly perplexed.

One of the things I really love about the book is the insight into Norse mythology you get. It highlights the key reason (or so I think) faith eventually moved away from systems such as these - the God's are too brutal, too human. We can learn a little from this book about how Gods such as Odin would have been worshipped. The book seems [i]real[/i] - you can believe in the characters. The way they speak, their customs and thoughts. Each character is rounded and multi-dimensional. They cease to be just words on the page and begin to exist in your mind. When they die, you grieve a little for them. You feel angry at the nasty people and relate to the protagonists.

The book is a story about a werewolf, but it's a very unique take on the legend. There's no full moon, silver bullets or screaming blondes in this story (that I can recall anyway) The wolf develops over the course of the book, and you can never quite be sure who it's going to be. What is obvious in this book is wrong - when reading do not trust your instincts. Instead, let Lachlan take you on the journey in his own way.

It's a very enjoyable way in fact. The book is not too intense. I didn't hide from the world for a week like I'm often known to do. It's a book you can finish in your own time. At the foundations of Wolfsangel there is fantasy, there's not doubt about that; but the fantasy is beautifully entwined with horror, romance, humour and adventure. It's like a perfectly cooked genre-pie (godness, my similies are something awful.) This diversity and completeness is something I really relish. All too often I finish a book wishing there was a bit more of this, that and the other in it. However with Wolfsangel I got just the right dose of what I wanted.

To conclude, I'm now a big Lachlan fan. I know my local Waterstones currently stocks the sequel, Fenrir (I nearly bought it instead of Wolfsangel, not realising it was a sequel) and although I think the book works perfectly on its own, Fenrir is definately going to be my next read.

I would like to thank M.D. Lachlan, for penning a work of fantasic literature. I'd reccommend Wolfsangel to all of my friends who read, which sadly is none of them.