http://les-lectures-de-ice-queen.blog...Ayant vraiment adoré le premier tome, j’avais hâte de retrouver cet univers. Je me suis donc lancée dans la lecture du second opus juste après celle du premier.Tillu et Kerleu décident finalement de suivre le peuple des Rennes dans sa migration estivale vers le Cataclysme. Un lieu où les bêtes et les hommes peuvent passer l’été sans craindre les nuées de moustiques et les maladies qu’ils apportent. Tillu pense ainsi avoir l’opportunité future de tenter de soustraire son fils à l’influence de Carp le Chaman. Mais il lui échappe petit à petit et elle ne trouve aucun moyen de lutter. Pire encore, le vieil homme a un comportement de plus en plus odieux envers tout le monde. Il manipule et exploite le peuple des rennes sans que personne ne s’en rende compte ni ne s’y oppose. Joboam de son côté, devient de plus en plus influent et Tillu commence à nourrir quelques soupçons le concernant. En plus de cela, une mystérieuse maladie touche le clan, sans que les compétences de Tillu ne parviennent à aider les personnes malades. Elle finira par être accusée, quelqu’un veut la voir quitter le clan avec son étrange garçon. Mais Heckram se révèlera un allié redoutable. Arriveront-il a élucider tous ces mystères et à prouver leur bonne foi à temps ? Kerleu se libérera-t-il enfin des griffes de Carp ?Comparé au premier tome, j’ai trouvé les temps morts – surtout au début du roman – un peu plus longs. Peut-être, car il n’y avait plus d’effet de surprise et que je connaissais déjà bien l’univers. Mais heureusement, cela change, notamment à partir de l’instant où le Peuple des Rennes se met en route pour le Cataclysme.Au fil du récit, j’ai eu quelques soupçons concernant un personnage en particulier et il s’est avéré que j’avais vu juste. Par contre, pas mal d’évènements ont réussi à m’étonner et le dénouement est arrivé d’une manière bien différente de celle que j’attendais. J’ai été très agréablement surprise !En ce qui concerne les protagonistes, j’ai constaté une réelle évolution. Pas seulement Tillu, mais aussi, et surtout Kerleu, Heckram et tout un tas d’autres. Chacun change, que ce soit en bien ou en mal et affirmera sa position au sein du clan. Kerleu est un personnage que j’avais trouvé assez déroutant, qui me mettait même un peu mal à l’aise par moments. Il a réellement changé dans ce tome. Il est encore étrange, certes, mais il grandit à sa façon. Il devient même étonnamment lucide et presque charismatique.La plume de l’auteur est toujours aussi agréable, addictive et magique. Elle nous emporte une fois de plus dans son univers et a la faculté de nous faire vivre une fabuleuse aventure aux côtés de ses personnages. J’ai ressenti un petit pincement au cœur lorsque j’ai refermé ce livre et que j’ai dû dire adieu au peuple des rennes et a son fantastique environnement. C’est là que je me suis rendu compte que je m’étais vraiment attachée à ce monde et certains protagonistes.Enfin, parlons de la fin en elle-même. Elle était juste parfaite ! Un peu sanglante et dramatique, pleine de rebondissements et les protagonistes s’épanouissent tous à leur manière. On ne reste pas sur notre faim, le voile est complètement levé, car on possède désormais toutes les clés, les réponses à nos questions. Personnellement, toutes mes attentes ont été comblées !En résumé, malgré quelques lenteurs eu début du roman, j’ai une fois de plus grandement apprécié mon voyage aux côtés du Peuple des Rennes. Les personnages évoluent comme il le faut, il y a de multiples rebondissements, des meurtres, des trahisons, bref j’ai été tenue en haleine jusqu’au bout et j’ai refermé le livre avec un pincement au cœur ! Je garderai un excellent souvenir de cette saga et vous la conseille fortement !
This was an odd experience for me. The final in a two-book cycle, Wolf's Brother in its entirety felt like a conclusion. And because I'm god-awful at explaining things, let's see if I can do better: Reindeer People and Wolf's Brother combined are like a hill - the first book is the climb up, and the second is like the climb down. I'm used to books having a short introductory period (about 15-20% of the book, depending, or more if it's part of a series), a much more sprawling conflict-n-problems period in the middle, and another small chunk at the end for finality, tying up everything and concluding the book, regardless of whether it's in a series or not. These two books didn't feel like that. Reindeer People felt like that initial set-up period, and Wolf's Brother felt like the final concluding bit. The entirety of the books felt like that. And that essential Middle Bit seemed draped over both of the stories like a semi-transparent veil you have to read through. It was an unusual reading experience. Maybe it's just me, I dunno. In any case, an interesting thing to note was that the villain was known to us this entire time. Throughout both books, almost from the moment they were introduced. The tension in the book wasn't caused from "whodunnit?" but rather "when is all of this neatly-stacked shit going to hit the fan?" It was a little frustrating. I knew who the bad guy was, I knew that everything was going to come to blows about everything, it was just a matter of, essentially, waiting it out. Wolf's Brother was a much slower book for me (despite the tension) because the matter of how Tillu and Kerlew were going to survive was no longer an issue. We didn't have to watch these two struggling with survival and their own personal issues quite as much, due to them settling with the herdfolk. Now, don't get me wrong, I love slow-paced books. Love 'em. But this book felt altogether too short to be as slow as it was. Not that it felt rushed; it just didn't feel as if there was enough content-to-pace stuff going on. If that makes sense? (I'm in the middle of post-pizza stupor. Forgive me.) ((Edit: 'ratio' was the word I was looking for. Well done, Cat.)) Tillu make some decisions and revelations towards the end of the book that seem rather out of character for her. She's wry, paranoid, suspicious to a fault, and constantly on the watch for everything around her and Kerlew that could possibly, maybe be dangerous. Constantly. I think her learning to let go and let Kerlew develop into his own person without her being a helicopter mom was a good thing, but she seemed to just...not do certain things I'd have expected her to do, or just plain act in ways I wouldn't have thought she would do. It's not the worst example I've seen, but it did make me side-eye at my Kobo just a little bit. Otherwise, it's a good conclusion to a quick two-book series that honestly has a wonderful, rich-feeling world. ...I'm not entirely sure what I was doing with this review, but I suppose it's better to write out some thoughts than none at all, right?
What do You think about Wolf's Brother (2001)?
This book picks up where the Reindeer People left off. The politics of survival in a primitive society pits the strong of mind, the strong of muscle, and the unknown powers of the mystic.The two primary characters are multidimensional. The author explores the variations of the connected relationships as they struggle to do what they believe is right and what they wish they could do.This is a straight forward, bare-boned telling of characters stuck in circumstances and trying to find their ways to stay on top. It's an easy, but fun read.
—Kurtbg
...This reread was an interesting experience for me. I can't really remember disliking so many things about this novel. Wolf's Brother is still a decent read but the climax of the novel is so full of melodrama that it's hard to take it serious. Although endings do not appear to be Lindholm's, and most certainly not Hobb's, forte, I felt this one was probably the weakest she has delivered. My reaction to this novel caught me by surprise. The first book in this duology was more or less what I remembered it to be. This one isn't. I guess my taste has developed a bit in the past twelve or so years (or maybe a bit longer, the Dutch edition I read back then was published in 2000) since I last read them. It makes me wonder how some of the other stuff I read back then holds up. Still, if you like prehistoric fiction, you could do a lot worse than these two books. I enjoyed them in a way, just not as much as I did the first time around.Full Random Comments review
—Rob
I am glad Robin Hobb has written under her maiden name, or . . . began writing under her maiden name. I have found, however, that these titles are hard to find. No public library in my home state held either The Reindeer People or Wolf's Brother, but thanks to my ILL service, I've enjoyed the entire story from beginning to end. Again, the ecological and environmental reality of an Ice Age people are well described, as is a northern culture. Carp, like so many of our religious leaders today was more interested in his own self-aggrandizement than in the spiritual well-being of his people. His apprentice, Kerlew, is wonderfully realized. He may have suffered brain damage in his early childhood, but he's different from the rest of the children, and . . . shunned. But as apprentice, he achieves a certain status. And he not only survives his vision quest, but he also finds his spiritual animal totem and . . . Well, it's worth the read to see greed and cruelty rewarded in just measure.
—Loraine
