Faelan the Wolf 1: Odd Wolf Out product reviews

I was busy when I first got this book to review, so I passed it on to Miss Eleven to read first. She adores animals so was looking forward to reading about a wolf and other creatures who lived together in a wood. The map at the start caught her attention straight away because of the Celtic inspiration behind the border graphics. Her mother grew up in the Irish Republic and was interested too; she also admired the individual graphics surrounding the chapter numbering. This Western European influence continued with the story proper; they both thought that it was probably set somewhere in that part of the world because of the various creatures that were mentioned, and also because most of the animals' own names were firmly rooted in Celtic and other European traditions. Neither of them actually knew what a mouflon was, but they found that this creature too is associated with the old world.

Had we not known that this is the first book in a trilogy, both Miss Eleven and I would have wondered why the story ended so abruptly. Although it ends on a hopeful note and the promise that Faelan is going to emerge a winner, there are several threads that are unresolved. Having to wait for Book 2 of Faelan the Wolf to find out what happens is annoying when you are an impatient eleven-year-old who is used to instant gratification! She was enjoying the story right up to the last couple of pages, but then she got a surprise because it appeared to stop dead.

Both Miss Eleven and I liked the way that Faelan is presented as a true individual, in complete contrast to the rest of his pack. From his choice of lifestyle to his love of music and growing his own vegetables, Faelan has none of the attributes of a hunter who is constantly fighting for his next meal. Even his close friends - a skunk and a chicken - have nothing in common with the predatory wolf pack. They survive through native wit and cunning rather than aggression. Neither of them has any fear of Faelan because they can sense his gentleness and trust him not to hurt them. Of course, if Faelan were to be a wolf like any other, there would have been no story in the first place!

Miss Eleven did make one comment that I agree with. She said she would prefer to have received the book as a boxed set with all three volumes included. That way, she would have been prepared for the story to continue into a second and third book, and would not have been taken by surprise at the lack of resolution. It would also have been easier for us to write a full review based on the complete story as all the plots would presumably have come together in the end. Nevertheless, it is an interesting start and I look forward to reading the other two volumes as they become available.

Odd Wolf Out isn't a new concept, predators/bad guys, with one being different from the rest and therefore shunned, is what we find here with Faelan the Wolf. He is an orphan who lives on the edge of his tribe in a makeshift home he has built from things that have drifted by and items discarded by the humans. His best friend is a skunk and we quickly learn (though needlessly reminded several times) that Faelan doesn't like the typical wolf events. Give the synopsis for the book, I was anticipating a bit more, especially in regards to Avian the chicken (who we don't meet until we are halfway through the book, I anticipated meeting her earlier).

I ended up skimming most of the book, it is very slow paced despite the urgency of some of the matters that arise. The pack leader seems to be on his deathbed for the majority of the book and this is mentioned far too often for how long he lives. Flora, the skunk, swaps the first letters of just two words each sentence, which I found more irritating than anything else. Another wolf looses a precious item and not only does no one else notice this, but again, it takes far too long to move this plot point along, despite it being a big plot point (along with Avian). I really did find that everything took far too long to progress and too much was put in one book (Avian, the missing item and the identity of Faelan's father) so nothing really got the attention that it should have.

My youngest, who was interested in this book, has started it but it just hasn't grabbed their attention enough though they are happy to hold on to it and maybe read more another day. I for one have no interest in anymore in this series.