*it was a calm day in equestria the element of harmony going through their days with joy and honest and over the crystal empire high in the sky lies the castle of wolf book where a sonic.exe name hog, a reincarnation of the deadly yami marik, a half corrupted steven universe, a old skeksis scientist, and two half human half skeksis/urru, rest as a retired deity of a supreme kai name zamasu walks inside and took a deep breath but suddenly the castle shook* FINALLY AT LONG LAST LUCK IS COMING UP MY WAY AHAHAHAHAHAHAH *as he zooms around the castle with untold speed and laughing waking many up from his joy and giddy form*

The Good Dog, by Avi, 2001

Synopsis:

Larka and Fell are born into a beautiful yet dangerous world, full of fresh snow and new life but also darkness and starvation. However, the most dangerous threat yet comes not from nature, but from their own kind: as their estranged aunt calls upon the forces of the darkest evil in her quest for revenge, the little family will be torn asunder and tested to their limits.

At the center of it all is young Larka, a snow-white wolf with an ancient gift. Will she accept her power, and use it to turn the tides of evil? Or succumb to tragedy and despair? Only the passing of time will tell.

General Thoughts:

I have to say, I really enjoyed The Sight. It’s one of those ubiquitous books found in every middle school library, and a lot of my friends have fond (if vague) memories of it. The Sight definitely runs in the same vein as Warriors (or, if you were a weirdo like me, Guardians of Ga’hoole. It also has the feel of an epic- I feel like I’ve gone on a very long journey with these characters, and despite having never read this book in my life, reaching the end gave me a sense of nostalgia.

Liked:

-The characters for sure. They all seemed very realistic and diverse, and reacted to the horrors they experienced in a very natural way.

-The large cast: I’ve read a lot of books in my day and the vast majority of the time, having a large cast does more harm than good. Maybe it’s just my ADHD, but more than about four characters and I have a hard time remembering who’s who. However The Sight managed to pull it off really well, and I feel this is likely due to the diversity of personalities among the characters.

-The lore: The Sight had fantastic worldbuilding. I love that the myths and legends played such a vital role in both the plot and the culture. I also loved that not every wolf followed the same mythology- that was honestly really cool on the part of the author, and made the world feel a lot bigger.

-Darkness: I had a feeling this book was going to be dark but holy crap. When Fell died, I actually flipped ahead to see if he came back at some point. I also enjoyed the sense of forboding brought on by the first of the deaths in the pack (Khaz? I think?). 

Disliked:

-Dialogue tags: Listen. I get that they’re wolves. I get that they’re have a lot of big emotions. But if I have to read ‘growled, cried, or snarled’ one more time I am going to feed myself and this book to a bear.

-The ending: Larka deserved SO much better. It also annoyed me that despite a heavily hinted-at romance between her and Kar from the very beginning of the story, they still killed her off. I mean, I /kind of/ understand why she had to die, but as a purveyor of happy endings, I wish Larka had gotten the hero’s end that she deserved.

-The ending pt. 2: @ Dave: Did you run out of names? Did your northern european name generator break? Did the turks break into your house and stand at your throat with their scimitars while you frantically churned out the epilogue? I need answers, Dave.

Tl;dr Dave pulled a J.K. Rowling and named not one, but ALL of Huttser and Palla’s new pups after their dead pack members. Naming one after Larka I could understand. But all of them? Shame on you, Dave.

-Sexism: This was really only an issue at the beginning, but I was slightly put off by the insistence that she-wolves are dainty, soft, and motherly. The main character ended up being both female and a BAMF though, so I guess I’ll let it slide.

Writer’s Notes

As I mentioned, the biggest thing I gleaned from this book was how NOT to use dialogue tags. On a more positive note, I feel there’s a lot to learn about having a large cast and keeping track of worldbuilding.

Overall Rating:

Eisenwolf: The name given to wolves of exceptional imperious power who don the ancient eisenpelz suits found in the Dead Cities. They have been outlawed under the Lupan Laws, though loopholes exist and few packs, if any, have destroyed their collection of eisenpelz.

IMPERIUM LUPI

A decade has passed since the last Howler War and the City of Lupa stands peaceful again under the choking…

The Wild Canids: Their Systematics, Behavioral Ecology, and Evolution, edited by M. W. Fox, 1975