Not many of the group finished this months book, this seemed to be because they didn't enjoy the writing style. They felt that the writing was very depressing, that it was all dragging on with no real reason so it came across as boring. The main character, Jake, did come across as very depressed, and considers his own mortality over and over again in the first half of the book.
Those that did manage to finish really loved the style of writing. They liked the fact that it was the complete opposite of so many of the urban fantasy novels out there. That the writing was hard to read made it feel like you had achieved something, giving a sense of satisfaction. They felt that the imagery and the descriptions were so vivid that you had to stop every so often to catch your breath.
Many people in the group mentioned that they prefered the writing style after the first half as various characters were lost to the story and others were introduced. It seemed to change the way that Jake felt, which then affected the style of the book.
There were definite changes in the writing style when Jake was a human compared to when he was a wolf. The wolf seemed to see things in a much cruder way with a lot more descriptions of death, sex, interspersed with a lot of swear words. We felt that this language was deliberate, that Glen was trying to jar the reader to remind them that a werewolf is an evil presence, and that Jake is clearly unhappy when in his wolf form. Even the descriptions of sex scenes were very different when you compared the human ones with the wolf ones, the wolf ones were much more animalistic not as soft or loving.
We had a short discussion about whether Jake was freer as a man or as a wolf. He seemed to be freer as a wolf, but he was compelled to carry out acts like killing humans, so maybe he wasn't that free after all. However, if he remained a wolf then he wouldn't feel the guilt that he has as a human who has just murdered someone, so maybe he is freer as a wolf.
We also wondered whether the fact that he is a wolf is incidental to the main story, that of trying to find meaning in life. We as humans try to do this on a regular basis, especially when faced with something life-altering like becoming a werewolf, or discovering you have cancer.
Those that finished the book felt that this book did have the feeling of being a first book, merely a prologue to the next in the trilogy. Having said that, those that enjoyed the book really would like to read the next one, just to see how everything pans out.
Overall we gave this book 6.5 out of 10.
Those that did manage to finish really loved the style of writing. They liked the fact that it was the complete opposite of so many of the urban fantasy novels out there. That the writing was hard to read made it feel like you had achieved something, giving a sense of satisfaction. They felt that the imagery and the descriptions were so vivid that you had to stop every so often to catch your breath.
Many people in the group mentioned that they prefered the writing style after the first half as various characters were lost to the story and others were introduced. It seemed to change the way that Jake felt, which then affected the style of the book.
There were definite changes in the writing style when Jake was a human compared to when he was a wolf. The wolf seemed to see things in a much cruder way with a lot more descriptions of death, sex, interspersed with a lot of swear words. We felt that this language was deliberate, that Glen was trying to jar the reader to remind them that a werewolf is an evil presence, and that Jake is clearly unhappy when in his wolf form. Even the descriptions of sex scenes were very different when you compared the human ones with the wolf ones, the wolf ones were much more animalistic not as soft or loving.
We had a short discussion about whether Jake was freer as a man or as a wolf. He seemed to be freer as a wolf, but he was compelled to carry out acts like killing humans, so maybe he wasn't that free after all. However, if he remained a wolf then he wouldn't feel the guilt that he has as a human who has just murdered someone, so maybe he is freer as a wolf.
We also wondered whether the fact that he is a wolf is incidental to the main story, that of trying to find meaning in life. We as humans try to do this on a regular basis, especially when faced with something life-altering like becoming a werewolf, or discovering you have cancer.
Those that finished the book felt that this book did have the feeling of being a first book, merely a prologue to the next in the trilogy. Having said that, those that enjoyed the book really would like to read the next one, just to see how everything pans out.
Overall we gave this book 6.5 out of 10.
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