Faelan the Wolf 2: Into the Lockjaws product reviews

My son is quite a lover of animals and books with animals as the main character, when we saw the Faelan the Wolf series, we knew that he would love to read it. After he enjoyed book one so much, I decided that we would grab book two and see how the rest of the adventures go. My son is 10 years old, and a semi-confident reader and he found this book just right for his ability and did not need much help with the words.

As we started reading the story we realized that the situation with Faelan was escalating rather quickly, this story focuses on him getting forced to meet his father Varg who resides up in the Lockjaws. Varg wanted to see his son urgently and Tala was taking him to see him, however Luna and Ralph also ended up coming along on the dangerous adventure. Long story short there ends up being a large fight and Varg and his cohorts end up chasing Faelan and his friends, but Ralph comes to the rescue after escaping and the ninja chicken Avian uses her brain and uses fire to protect the others.

I liked how the main theme in this story is that of friendship, and how friends stick together no matter what. Avian has asked Faelan to help her in her mission of rescuing her mother and all the other chickens, just over one thousand of them, and wants his help to safely get them to their new home where they will be able to freely roam and lay their eggs, not be caged in their prison any longer. Faelan is a good friend and decides to help, and return the favour of helping, he knows it will be an exceptionally dangerous mission.

Faelan does not think that Weylin is capable of being the next wolf leader, and that he does not deserve to take on such an important role, Granny tells Faelan this "By a ring of fire shall the true Leader be known", this is pretty much where the book ends, so we are eagerly awaiting when we can read book three to find out if Avian's mission is a success, and to see if Varg is defeated.

Overall, both my son and I became immersed in this story, and we read it in a day, this story would be suited for children probably from the age of 8 upwards, whether this is reading alone, or the story being read to them.

I contacted Miss Eleven as soon as I brought "Into the Lockjaws" home as I knew she had been waiting more or less patiently for it. We had earlier reviewed Book 1 of the Faelan The Wolf trilogy ("Odd Wolf Out") together, and had both been anticipating the next instalment. As last time, she was the first to read it before passing it back to me. We agreed that we would not discuss the story until we had both read to the end. It was interesting, therefore, that we came up with similar impressions.

The first thing we agreed on was that this book was much better than the last. It flowed better, the pace was faster, and there were some moments of genuine nail-biting excitement as when the wolves were being chased by the farmer, or when they all had to drop down the waterfall. This was probably due in part to the fact that we were already familiar with the characters, and in part because the first book had spent a long time introducing the protagonists who were now hurtling into their main adventures. Avian comes into her own as an unlikely heroine, and Faelan has gained in confidence as he feels accepted at last for who he is. Flora the Skunk does not appear in this book, however, so we are hoping she will reappear in the final instalment. She is an intriguing and very funny character that we would like to see more of.

The next point of agreement was the difficulty in maintaining interest when a story is spread over more than one volume. Some of the loose ends from Book One were resolved, but there are still others that need to be addressed. We would still both really like to see the three volumes sold as a box set so they could be read as one story. Miss Eleven said she would easily read a book in one sitting, and would manage all three over a weekend.

The wolf dynamics are reminiscent of those that occur in a school playground. There are the bullies, the followers, the alternative thinkers, the shy ones, and the needy ones. Then there are the teachers who, like Bardolph and Granny, guide the young ones even though their decisions are not always what the children want to hear. And finally, there are the victims who, like the chickens, are afraid of what might happen to them if they do not keep out of the way of the bullies and their gangs. It takes a real leader to push back against the aggressors and protect the weak. This is a strong message for children in this position: look after the vulnerable, and inspire others to help you if you can't do it alone.

The final point of agreement was the attractive appearance of the Celtic inspired chapter numbering. It adds to the impression that this is a saga rather than a modern novel. Miss Eleven and I are actually agreed on one more thing. We cannot wait for the third and last instalment to see what is going to happen! Yes, we are both hooked.