4¾ Out of 5 A brave hero, a band of gladiators, an imposter king, a vengeful knight, a world full of Werelords and Wereladies, Wereworld is a place like no other, a world more fantastical and magical than any I’ve read about for a long time…Drew Ferran, rightful heir to the Westland throne, is a prisoner. The Goatlord Kesslar has the young Werewolf in his possession, taking him to the land of the Lizardlords. There, Drew will be forced to fight as a gladiator, and make unlikely alliances in order to escape alive, from a place no one has broken away from before…Hector the Wereboar, Vega the Sharklord and Werestag Manfred are fleeing from the Catlords, aboard the notorious pirate ship Maelstrom. But as the spirits haunting Hector grow stronger, he is left wondering whether the true enemy is closer than they thought… I honestly don’t know what I was expecting when I started this – especially as I haven’t read any of the other books in the series. A cross between Narnia and Teen Wolf perhaps? I don’t know. Most definitely not the fantastical, action-packed, magical, pure awesome book that was Shadow of the Hawk. From the word go, I was sucked in. I fell totally and completely in love with the world. I just could not put it down, in a constant adrenaline rush from start to finish. I know I have to get my hands on the previous two books in this series: I want back into Lyssia! ASAP!Drew Ferran, the last Grey Wolf of Lyssia, was smart, fast and strong, willing to do anything to survive. I found him proud, kind, good, loyal and giving, with a good heart. Drew was just really noble: a real king. His thinking was inspiration and he always spoke his mind. And while he wasn’t afraid to use violence, he preferred to talk things out. Drew was a king of old, honourable, brave, defiant and passionate. And I fell in love with him from the word go!Baron Hector, Boarlord of Redmire, was haunted by “Vincent-vile”, the spirit of his dead twin. He really missed Drew, and he had a good heart. But the black spot on his hand, that grew every time he “dabbles in communing” with spirits, showed that something was wrong... And the Vincent-vile was just horrible, always saying cruel things. All he wanted to do was help Drew, but he was truly out of his depth…Count Vega, a Sharklord, the Pirate Prince. To start with, I felt Vega was heartless, that he killed too easily. But soon after, I started swaying, changed by his snarky humour and the care he showed towards his crew and the Weres on it. And, before long, I had decided that I loved him. Ok, so he’s a pirate – a Were pirate at that. But he has a good heart. He was really rather sweet, in a piratey way. He soon turned into an unlikely favourite of mine, one I was always happy to see.Trent Ferran, Drew’s brother, who was in the Lionguard, hunting Drew. He wanted his brother dead more than anyone… Of course, as I loved Drew, I instantly hated Trent for hunting Drew down. But as I saw his reasoning, and what he was like, I grudgingly admitted he wasn’t too bad. He was quite honourable and very determined. I think he will come into himself in Book Four, and I’m looking forward to that. All the other characters were equally well padded and thought out. One of the ones I hated most was Count Kesslar, a Goatlord and slaver. He was a selfish, greedy coward, who I loathed from the moment I met him. On the other hand, I loved Duke Manfred, the Werestag of Stormdale: he was really level headed, proper and kind, always seeing the good instead of the bad. The character who creeped me out the most was, without a doubt, Slotha, the Walrus of Tuskun. She was (to quote from the book): a “notoriously ill tempered, violent woman”. And her city? Eek, it came me the creeps, and so did she. She really was horribly vicious, and the fact she was a Werewalrus made her even scarier. (If you want to find out more about Slotha, check out Curtis’ guest post on when it comes up tomorrow.)May I just say, I am in love with this world. The various Werelords, all the different ‘species’. The change, the characters: everything was so vivid. I love the twist Jobling has put on the lycanthropy mythology: silver, shifting… It was all just so cool! I loved learning all about the Therianthropes, and meeting the various other characters. I was over the moon to see Sirens as well – again, I adore the twist! But: it got better: Weremammoths. So cool, right?! I loved this book, the action, the fantasy, the characters. And by the end, I was left going crazy for more. The action had a huge part in that: it started from the word go, sucking me straight in. And even though I hadn’t read any of the previous books, I felt… invested. And I understood everything, all the backstories. And, blimey, the action was non-stop! There were the most amazing battle scenes, that really got the old adrenaline flowing. I loved the action – and I’m not normally one who likes violence. All reluctant readers could really get into Shadow of the Hawk in my opinion – it’s like a film: I could see everything in my head as I read. And that was thanks to the writing: it was just amazing. It had me totally hooked. It was lyrical, powerful, descriptive. I could see everything – every character, every setting, every battle. And I loved that we got to see into all of the characters’ heads, got to see all the action. There was never a dull moment. Throughout the whole book, I wasn’t bored from a millisecond. This series, this book, this world is so utterly addictive it’s untrue. I loved every moment, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the other books!I loved this book, the action, the fantasy, the characters. By the end, I wanted more, more, more! In other words: I. NEED. THE. NEXT. BOOK. NOW!
This is the third installment of the engrossing and exciting Wereworld series by British author Curtis Jobling. He can't write these books fast enough for me! No sooner have I finished one then I'm eager for the next to find out what's going to happen next to all the characters. Something major nearly always happens at the end of each book as well which leaves me biting my nails and unable to sleep until I know the next publication date. The story picks up with Drew enslaved by the Goatlord Kessler and on his way to Scoria where he's forced to fight as a gladiator for the Lizardlords. He is determined however to gain his freedom and return to Lyssia to claim his kingdom back once and for all and knowing Drew, I have no doubt that he'll do so in the end. He has an inextinguishable spirit and true grit and no matter what stands in his way he never gives up and he always overcomes the obstacles put in his path. He's endured a lot since discovering his true heritage and he's suffered both pain and despair but I love his loyalty and his single-minded pursuit of what's right.In a separate plot strand, the story follows the Boarlord Hector, who is onboard the ship the Maelstrom. Hector has been my absolute favourite character in the series from the word go. He's also probably been the one character who has changed the most throughout the story and for this reason (and without giving anything away), I'm starting to worry that redemption may now be out of his reach. His regular communing with the dead has affected him greatly and he may never return to the Hector I knew and loved. I would love to see him meet up with Drew again because if anyone can reach out to him and put him back on the right path then it's his best friend. There are some great new characters introduced in 'Shadow of the Hawk', including the Hawklords and one of my favourite things about these books is getting to discover all the new Werelords and their unusual talents, as well as all the unusual places they end up. I also enjoyed seeing Drew's brother Trent again who wants to track him down but eventually begins to discover the real truth about him. Curtis Jobling definitely delivers after the success of the first two books. There's action, adventure and excitement in abundance and I was glued to the pages throughout. This book, as is the whole series, is stonkingly good! If you haven't come across the Wereworld series yet then I implore you to rush out and grab the first book now. Once you've started you won't be able to stop reading this epic fantasy adventure which will sweep you away into a whole new world.
What do You think about Shadow Of The Hawk (2012)?
I thought Shadow of the Hawk was just as great as the other 2 books, but I did not like how anything that could go wrong did.the ending really wanted me to get the next book and Finish the series as soon as possible.Drew Ferran, having been taken captive at the end of the previous book, is sent to the Scoria by Count Kesslar after a failed escape attempt and an encounter with a crocodile. The Lizardlord, Ignus, buys him after finding his identity as a Wolflord and Drew is branded as a gladiator. He quickly makes enemies among his fellow therianthrope captives and even those friendly to him warn that they could just as easily turn on him in order to survive. However, Drew knows that he will eventually escape and return to his homeland of Lyssia.I'd give Shadow of the Hawk a 3.5 out of five because I personally didn't like everything about the plot.
—Karson Jones
I enjoyed the first two books in the Wereworld series, but book three was so filled with violence that I could hold it up and let the blood drip from it and the body parts fall onto my lap. Virtually every chapter is a battle scene of one kind or another - from gladiators in a Colosseum to the sacking and burning of innocents in villages to a bloodthirsty "werecat" in need of some sport to just your run-of-the-mill battles. The few chapters without battles contained descriptions of communing with the dead and dark magic. It was altogether too dark for my taste - especially in a middlegrade novel.I gave it two stars (instead of one) because I still like the story-line and found little treasures of truth hidden within the blood and gore. Whether or not I'll read the 4th book in hope of finding a conclusion is yet to be determined.
—Lori Galaske
I understand where you are coming from my mom was the same way. Although being a teenage boy I loved the greusomeness and fight scenes. And I didn't think it needed romance like Twilight did. But that is just my opinion.
—Nicola
