Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
Helsinki : WSOY, 2009.
Description
Discovering her identity as the last of an ancient bloodline charged with preventing humanity from losing touch with nature, young wolf Kaala traces the shared evolution between canines and people and learns how wolves and dogs rendered humans the planet's dominant species. Reprint.
User reviews
LibraryThing member awriterspen
"A wonderful tale that captures the spirit of the wolf"
Having read Clan of the Cave Bear and the subsequent books in the Earth’s Children Series, I was eager to read this book that has been compared to Clan of the Cave Bear. This is the first book in a trilogy Dorothy Hearst is writing called The
In Promise of the Wolves by Dorothy Hearst, Kaala, a young pup is born of outside blood, and to complicate things further, she bears the mark of the moon. She struggles with her desire to gain pack approval, while dealing with her strong calling to be with and protect humans. Dorothy Hearst captures the voice and spirit of the wolf well throughout hunts, disagreements, fights, and the joy of being a wolf. There are so many fascinating characters in this book. Tlitoo, a raven, interacts with the wolves spouting cheeky poetry in a humorous and wise manner. The Great Wolves Jandra and Frandu mysteriously appear, disappear, protect, and keep secrets from Kaala and the other wolf packs. A spirit wolf magically appears and helps Kaala at her most desperate hours.
What makes this book so interesting and is that it tells the tale of the relationship between wolves and humans 14,000 years ago from the wolf point of view. There have been other books written from the human point of view the feature wolves, but this book is unique. Ms. Hearst has created a distinct work that I’m sure will develop a strong following. It was a joy to read.
I recommend this book to anyone ages 12 and up who is interested in wolves and prehistoric North America. This book would make an incredible Disney movie. If you love wolves, or if you wonder what a Disney movie would be like if wolves were the central character, then I think you will enjoy this book.
Having read Clan of the Cave Bear and the subsequent books in the Earth’s Children Series, I was eager to read this book that has been compared to Clan of the Cave Bear. This is the first book in a trilogy Dorothy Hearst is writing called The
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Wolf Chronicles. It is also her first novel.In Promise of the Wolves by Dorothy Hearst, Kaala, a young pup is born of outside blood, and to complicate things further, she bears the mark of the moon. She struggles with her desire to gain pack approval, while dealing with her strong calling to be with and protect humans. Dorothy Hearst captures the voice and spirit of the wolf well throughout hunts, disagreements, fights, and the joy of being a wolf. There are so many fascinating characters in this book. Tlitoo, a raven, interacts with the wolves spouting cheeky poetry in a humorous and wise manner. The Great Wolves Jandra and Frandu mysteriously appear, disappear, protect, and keep secrets from Kaala and the other wolf packs. A spirit wolf magically appears and helps Kaala at her most desperate hours.
What makes this book so interesting and is that it tells the tale of the relationship between wolves and humans 14,000 years ago from the wolf point of view. There have been other books written from the human point of view the feature wolves, but this book is unique. Ms. Hearst has created a distinct work that I’m sure will develop a strong following. It was a joy to read.
I recommend this book to anyone ages 12 and up who is interested in wolves and prehistoric North America. This book would make an incredible Disney movie. If you love wolves, or if you wonder what a Disney movie would be like if wolves were the central character, then I think you will enjoy this book.
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LibraryThing member amf0001
I wanted to like this book more than I did. It's narrator is a wolf pup in prehistoric times, marked with an ominous moon crescent. At the time, wolves and man keep separate because once when wolves helped man, man learned to hunt in packs and become a far more effective killer and wolves got
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nothing in return. The problem with having such a young, naive narrator is that they don't have much to add to the mix. And the overall descriptions of the forest and life weren't enough to make up for the simplicity of the characterizations and repetitiveness of the plot. There were few surprises and a tiny bit of mysticism. This is not clan of the cave bear with wolves, this feels more like a book for 5th graders. I was disappointed. C+ Show Less
LibraryThing member paeonia
This book suffers from all the weaknesses of a first person narrative. The narrator, a young wolf, knows far more than it is logically possible to know, and events are awkwardly constructed to allow her to gain more information.
The close observation of wolf behaviour is very interesting; on the
The story line is predictable, and suffers from the added weight of a prequel, supernatural forces and characters who may or may not be wolf "gods".
In short, this was a good story idea that with closer editing and a stronger focus might have succeeded better.
The close observation of wolf behaviour is very interesting; on the
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other hand the wolves talk to each other. The naturalistic detail does not mesh comfortably with the quite human conversations.The story line is predictable, and suffers from the added weight of a prequel, supernatural forces and characters who may or may not be wolf "gods".
In short, this was a good story idea that with closer editing and a stronger focus might have succeeded better.
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LibraryThing member edundatscheck
Promises of the Wolves is an endearing tale of a misfit wolf because of her parentage. Kaala struggles to be accepted and become "pack". But the pack leader is too afraid of what may become of the wolves if she is allowed to become a full member. The Great Wolves have prevented Ruuqo the pack
Told from the point of view of the young wolf Kaala, gives some insight into the follies of humans and wolves alike. While the story moves quickly enough, the climax temds to be somewhat anti-climatic. Considering this is the authors first novel, some leeway can be granted, but I would have liked to see a more defined ending.
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leader from killing Kaala out right. THe Great wolves hold secrets that the others do not know about and it is their secrecy tht might ultimately cause the destruction of wolves and humans as well. Told from the point of view of the young wolf Kaala, gives some insight into the follies of humans and wolves alike. While the story moves quickly enough, the climax temds to be somewhat anti-climatic. Considering this is the authors first novel, some leeway can be granted, but I would have liked to see a more defined ending.
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LibraryThing member hailelib
Told from the point of view of the young wolf Kaala of one of the Wide Valley packs. The story takes place 14,000 years ago and is an imagining of how wolves might have come to cooperate with humans. A touch of fantasy and the supernatural is involved but there is also a lot of detail about how
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wolves live. I really enjoyed this book and feel it is an excellent debut novel. As Jean Auel said on the cover, lovers of Watership Down may well want to give this book a try. Show Less
LibraryThing member ccookie
Just finished Promise of the Wolves which I absolutely loved. It reminded me so much of Clan of the Cave Bear by Auel and I happened to be re-reading this at the same time. Similar scenarios in both book: not belonging, always feeling not good enough, brutal beatings etc etc and then triumph in the
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end and yet sadness and sorrow permeate both worlds.I usually don't care for talking animals but in this case it worked for me. I raced through this book in the last 10 days or so which is a fast read for me. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the Earth's Children series. You won't be disappointed. Now I have to get the sequel from the library.Edit | More
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LibraryThing member zjakkelien
An excellent book. I love wolves to begin with, and am therefore attracted to any fantasy book that has wolf in the title. Not everyone can carry it off, though. Dorothy Hearst can. I think the strength of this book are her characters. Kaala and Ázzuen in particular are easy to love. Her second
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strength is the bond between the characters. At first the bonds exist only between the wolves. It is heartening to see Kaala and Ázzuen become like siblings. Marra also joins their group, but most of the time she's a bit of a nonentity. Filler, you might say. Later on, the humans get into the mix. The bond between the wolves and the humans almost makes me jealous. Who wouldn't want such a partnership? Combine all of that with mystery and danger, and you end up with Promise of wolves. I'm looking forward to the next book! Show Less
LibraryThing member JenneB
You know, I didn't actually hate this. When I got it in the mail to review, I kind of went "oh god, not some damn book about talking animals," but it was really pretty interesting. Definitely an easy read*, and clearly sets up a sequel, but a lot better than I expected.
If you're going to read one
Oh and also, it has a blurb from [author:Temple Grandin], so she must have gotten the wolf pack behavior stuff right.
*Also, for my teen librarian friends out there, this would be a great crossover book for YA readers. In fact, I'm not sure why they didn't just publish it as a YA novel in the first place.
If you're going to read one
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anthropomorphic-wolf novel this year, it should probably be [book:A Companion to Wolves] by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear, but if you have it in you to read another one, this wouldn't be a complete waste of time.Oh and also, it has a blurb from [author:Temple Grandin], so she must have gotten the wolf pack behavior stuff right.
*Also, for my teen librarian friends out there, this would be a great crossover book for YA readers. In fact, I'm not sure why they didn't just publish it as a YA novel in the first place.
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LibraryThing member -sunny-
Had I read this 10, 8, even a few years ago, I might have rated it higher...then again, since I'm sure I'd found Tamora Pierce, at least, quite some time ago, maybe not. Not bad, but nothing special in the realm of human-animal magical communication/friendship/whatever, not all that original or
Oh, and though it features cheetahs rather than wolves, Tomorrow's Sphinx, by Clare Bell, is another YA book of a similar breed, and well worth the reading (as are her other books).
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well-written, but again not terribly-written and while it shares many common elements of this sort of book, it at least isn't too much like any one book in particular, as far as I can tell. Probably good for younger readers though, and for teens I'd sooner recommend Tamora Pierce's Immortals series (of which Wild Magic and Wolf-Speaker would have most in common with this series). Or, actually, a closer match is Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, which is better-written, more inventive, and has an altogether more complete world, plot, and cast of characters. Paver's books also feature a human-wolf pair, a prehistoric world, magic, etc--but, as I've said, better. I know this is a review for Hearst's book, but I don't plan to read the next in the series, and anyway, whether you keep on with this series or not, you'd best take a look at Palmer's series if you haven't yet. Oh, and though it features cheetahs rather than wolves, Tomorrow's Sphinx, by Clare Bell, is another YA book of a similar breed, and well worth the reading (as are her other books).
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LibraryThing member -sunny-
Had I read this 10, 8, even a few years ago, I might have rated it higher...then again, since I'm sure I'd found Tamora Pierce, at least, quite some time ago, maybe not. Not bad, but nothing special in the realm of human-animal magical communication/friendship/whatever, not all that original or
Oh, and though it features cheetahs rather than wolves, Tomorrow's Sphinx, by Clare Bell, is another YA book of a similar breed, and well worth the reading (as are her other books).
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well-written, but again not terribly-written and while it shares many common elements of this sort of book, it at least isn't too much like any one book in particular, as far as I can tell. Probably good for younger readers though, and for teens I'd sooner recommend Tamora Pierce's Immortals series (of which Wild Magic and Wolf-Speaker would have most in common with this series). Or, actually, a closer match is Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, which is better-written, more inventive, and has an altogether more complete world, plot, and cast of characters. Paver's books also feature a human-wolf pair, a prehistoric world, magic, etc--but, as I've said, better. I know this is a review for Hearst's book, but I don't plan to read the next in the series, and anyway, whether you keep on with this series or not, you'd best take a look at Palmer's series if you haven't yet. Oh, and though it features cheetahs rather than wolves, Tomorrow's Sphinx, by Clare Bell, is another YA book of a similar breed, and well worth the reading (as are her other books).
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LibraryThing member cemagoc
As someone who isn't of the millions of dog-lovers in the world, I had less of an affection for this book and more of an understanding of it. To love this book I think you must be more than just indifferent to dogs.
I could not find my suspension of disbelief for how intelligent these wolves are; I
I could not find my suspension of disbelief for how intelligent these wolves are; I
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don't think animals' minds process in the same way as ours do and cannot appreciate when a human makes it seem so. If this writer, who has a lovely story and good ideas, were to make the narration and actions closer to how a wolf might think, I could get behind it. As it stands in the canon of YA fantasy works, I am less than impressed and feel there are many issues that should have been resolved and ideas that might have been more carefully planned and developed. Show Less
LibraryThing member LupLun
If you've seen this book marketed as a werewolf book, it ain't. It's a fantasy novel that takes place 14,000 years ago, before the neolithic revolution. Is there a genre for prehistoric fantasy? There ought to be, because I can think of two or three works using a similar conceit. You could also
Read the full review at Lupines and Lunatics
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argue that Promise of the Wolves is a furry story, since most of the main characters are essentially talking wolves. So I'm a bit out of my element here, but not enough that I can't recognize a worthwhile tale being told.Read the full review at Lupines and Lunatics
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Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2008
Physical description
335 p.; 22.6 cm
ISBN
9789510347720