My 18-year-old son and I are still enjoying reading about Firekeeper together. There is something magic in being able to share in the joy of a well-written novel that cannot be had in reading by myself.Jane Lindskold was at it again with the difficult-to-pronounce words. The worst one was the name of the temple at u-Seeheera: Heeranenahalm and the other two were Fayonejunjal (name of vessel) and jujundisdu (type of leader). We (or rather I) had to pause before pronouncing the words one syllable at a time.This time my favorites have, if not all the parts, most of the attention of the author. "Wolf Captured" is for the main part about Firekeeper, Blind Seer and Derian and their adventures in Liglim.That sounds so benign, doesn’t it? But getting to Liglim meant the capture of the three and their unwilling transport across the ocean. And why were they taken? Well that was thanks to their “beloved” Waln Endbrook - you know the guy that cut off Citrine’s finger. Yes, that guy. There is something fascinating about the mentality of the bully. I’m trying to figure out if Waln is actually a sociopath. According to this page on bullying he probably isn’t but he definitely shares some of the traits.Harjedian mis-calculates in kidnapping our trio. I doubt he realised just how skewed Waln’s description of them was until he actually had them in his irons. Trying to hold captive something as wild as Firekeeper and Blind Seer takes a crazier person than I am, and Harjedian quickly realises his mistake. Which is part of the reason why Rhaniseeta is sent to care for the captives.Rhaniseeta is Harjedian’s younger sister – the one he has taken care of ever since their mother died. When Harjedian showed himself to be a potentially talented diviner his status rose and the two of them were able to share an apartment in the snake temple. The Liglimosh tradition of animal-reverence (Wise beasts – yarimaimalom) makes him realise that his steps when capturing Derian were about as detrimental to getting Derian’s cooperation as anything could have been.The reason Derian was captured was the thought that he was somehow Firekeeper’s keeper or possibly ambassador with the human world. Derian and Firekeeper do nothing to dissuade the Liglimosh from this thinking, but the Liglimosh soon discover that their relationship is way more than that. In "Wolf Captured" Derian ends up playing a much more visible role than we have seen thus far and I like the way Lindskold portrays him. He is well worth a main part.Firekeeper and Blind Seer are wolves (although Firekeeper’s form continues to be human). She wishes desperately that things were not so, and is willing to explore any avenue that might make her truly wolf. Her ability to speak with the yarimaimalom have the Liglimosh suspecting that she is either a maimalodalum (would be serious spoiler to tell) or a yarimaimalom. The Liglimosh captured her for this ability in the hopes that she might teach them, but factions within their culture wonder how wise this would be.In "Wolf Captured" we get to learn about the politics in a new system and their beliefs. We once again see how insane human cultures really are and the steps some of us are willing to take. Intrigue and secrets are a part of the story along with adventure, action and (this time) a touch of romance. Like I said, my son and I had a great time with "Wolf Captured", fantasy creatures that we are.http://humanitysdarkerside.com/2013/0...
3.5 stars actually. Not 4 and I just exactly don't know why I would rate this one lower than the 3 first books of the series. Let's just say that I feel like it.This book was different as it focussed only on Firekeeper, Blind Seer and Derian. No Doc nor Elise nor anyone of Hawk Haven or Bright Bay. Actually, this story takes place in an unknown country called Liglim and situated South and across the ocean where our 3 main protagonists were unwillingly brought.Well, I won't summarize the book. Let's just say that Firekeeper learns a lot more about who she is, about who her real parents are and about who really saved her life when she was a kid (this savior being the reason why she thinks of herself as a wolf).Derian is honored by the Wise Horses. Apart from that,and him going here and there (and doing a bit of kissing), he doesn't play a big role in this book. As for the romance part (was it really a romance ?), I thought it was not believable and I never thought it would work. Thankfully, this part was only a short one anyway.I wonder how the author will solve the Firekeeper/Blind Seer we-love-each-other-but-we-cannot-be-together. This supposed love between a human and a wolf disturbed me quite a lot.Will Firekeeper fully embrace her human heritage now that the "mind-suggestion" she was subjected to as a kid by her savior is starting to fade ? What of Blind Seer then ? Will he be back to his pack and live a wolf's life ? Will that be possible ?Gah. I want to know.A side note here to say that J.Lindskold can create beautiful (and exotic) countries. We already knew Hawk Haven and Bright Bay and the events of the 3rd book took place in New Kelvin. Each time, we have had a descrition of the different countries, their people, their culture but also of their political (and religious) ways. I thought that this was well done.
What do You think about Wolf Captured (2005)?
I am totally in love with this series! I could read it forever.Some nit-picky points though.1) At the end of Dragon of Despair, Firekeeper says she will head home, to talk to her wolf family about >plot point<. I was expecting there to be some mention of this discussion and what she learned somewhere in this book. There wasn't, and I'm not twitchy because I was looking forward to finding out just wtf.2) I dislike the new setting and the new names. I had enough trouble with some of the 'normal' names. Rarr.I do like the fact that something that has been bugging me since the first book has been resolved now, and proves that while each book CAN be read as a stand alone, the series subplots have been planned from the start!
—Alien_duck
She's gotten better at writing politics that don't leave me rereading passages and struggling to remember names. Firekeeper remains as likable as ever. This time she's gotten kidnapped and taken to a place where animals seem to be worshiped, which evolves into a whole mess about the local wildlife, the local rulers, and a little less than a dozen of her own people that are there along with her. My favorite scenes were when Firekeeper was living among the wolves. I hadn't read the previous books in a very long time, so I was worried I wouldn't be able to make sense of it, but it had very little to do with those characters (except for Firekeeper, Blind Seer, and Darian), so it was easy to follow. Recommended, though you'd better be prepared to put aside a large chunk of time to finishing this. It's NOT short.
—Aelvana
The only thing preventing this novel from getting 4 stars from me is the crappy way Lindskold decided to treat Derian at the end. Call me a romantic if you like, but I was very excited about his engagement and felt that it would provide a great new outlook for future installments in the series, preventing them from becoming the same story in a different setting. However, Lindskold has apparently decided that none of her characters are allowed to be happy at any point in the story, at east not fo
—Robert
