Through Wolf's Eyes by Jane Lindskold
Tedric, the king of Hawk Haven, has a bit of a problem. His two children, and heirs, are dead, leaving every relative he has clamouring to be named heir. While the king busies himself with the greedy mob, one member of the mob, Earl Kestrel, has a bright idea. You see, Tedric had a third child, a son named Barden who he had disinherited years ago. Barden, his wife, infant daughter and several followers had left Hawk Haven to attempt to colonize wild lands where giant animals were said to roam. What if, though, Kestrel, some brave soul were to seek out Barden, and return to Tedric his granddaughter, young Lady Blysse. In fact, with well over a decade having passed and the king's other children having died, a reconciliation might be possible. And, naturally, both parties would be eternally beholden to the man who made any such reunion possible. Sure, it's not the crown, but it'd be pretty close to the next best thing.
So odd Earl Kestrel goes to the great beyond, accompanied by...well, a fair number of people, actually, but here are the more important ones: Derrian, the horse master's assistant, Race, a Forrester, Jared, a lesser noble and doctor, and Earl Kestrel's valet. In the wilderness, they find the remains of Barden's settlement, which had been destroyed in a fire over ten years ago, soon after they settled. In the days that followed, Kestrel and his men examined the ruins, hoping for some sign that Barden or his family had survived. Eventually, they got better, in the form of a wild young woman accompanied by a wolf almost as large as a man, and a large falcon. The girl has only three possessions: a cloak made of animal skins, a pouch made of firemaking tools, and Barden's knife.
Kestrel, of course, is utterly delighted, thinking he's found the missing Blysse, and seeks to civilize the girl(not really realizing that the only reason she's there is because the wolves had promised her mother to return her to her own race if any ever appeared.) Soon, they learn that the wolves call her Firekeeper, or so she claims, because she can strike a flint, and Early Kestrel declares her his ward and prepares to present her to the king, reluctantly accepting that the wold, Blind Seer, and the falcon, Elation, come with the girl.
And here is where the typical "beautiful wild child raised by wolves and returned to civilization to learn she's a long lost princess and finds true love" story stops.
Firekeeper is no dumb wild girl. Though she doesn't know how to speak as a human at first, she is shrewd, observant, analytical, quick witted and extremely intelligent. Her personality is very much a blend of human and wolf, and throughout the book she continues to identify herself as a wolf, not a human. The wolves who raised her, according to Firekeeper, are, like all the animals of the wilderness she was raised in, of the Noble race, superior to normal animals, not just in size, but also in intellect. As both Elation and Blind Seer speak to her very clearly, she's either as nutty as they come, or she's right. To Firekeeper, the humans of the court are just a bunch of mad little chickens, running around and clucking their heads off. While they're busy stabbing each other in the back and being convinced that Firekeeper views them as glorious beings well out of her reach, Firekeeper is busy looking at them like they were bugs under a microscope.
The book is very character and plot driven, with a heavy emphasis on politics, and very little on magic. In fact, there is, at least in the first book(it may change in later books in the series) very little magic. There is, of course, the superior race of animals, but beyond that, most magic is limited to people having "talents" that essentially amount to things like being a better doctor theough a natural gift of mild healing, and extremely green thumb, a greater affinity with animals, etc. There's the hint that there may be more, but no confirmation.
A few other important characters are Elise, a close relative of the king's, who is a highly romantic young woman whose romantic ideals backfire on her bigtime, but is more than strong enough to withstand them, Elise's cousin, Sapphire, a beautiful and arrogant warrior who's much more than she seems, in all the best ways, Lady Zorana, and ambitious noblewoman, and Newell, the husband of Tedric's dead daughter, who is more than a little irked to be cut out of the line of succession. Actually, there are a lot of important characters and listing them all off would take far too long, but they're easy to keep track of within the book itself.
I like it. Actually, it's probably closer to love. It avoids many of the "hero/ine raised by animals" cliches, has an extremely capable and intelligent lead, and a very interesting world and story. All the female characters are, to a one, strong, and almost all can more than handle themselves, either in battle and in court. Even Elise, theoretically the token damsel, is no pushover. Even before shedding her romantic ideals, Elise is intelligent and has strong opinions and wants to be more than a pretty decoration...she just has some rose colored glasses that she needs to take off so she can see the world properly.
My one concern is Derian. Now, I like him-he's useful, has a brain, and doesn't waste all his time whining-but within the space of one book and a few months, he goes from a boy who wipes down horses to an advisor of the king and trusted soldier, all because he's the one who Firekeeper latched on to at the beginning, because he was the first one she met. Now, I have no objections to his rising high in society, but that was just a little(ok, a lot) too quickly, and he seems to be regularly given far too much responsibility-that doesn't involve Firekeeper-and sometimes authority this soon soon in the story. I also have this fear, at times, that he may be eventually portrayed as being the perfect match for Firekeeper, something that soesn't suit either one. Friend, guide, and companion? Yes. Anything more? No. Besides, it's obvious that if it weren't for that pesky species issue(though Firekeeper thinks of herself as a wolf, not a human) the perfect match for Firekeeper is Blind Seer. That said, the romance at this point is the (so far) slow moving but well done romance between Jared and Elise, so I'm not very worried about it...it's just niggling at the back of my mind.
So odd Earl Kestrel goes to the great beyond, accompanied by...well, a fair number of people, actually, but here are the more important ones: Derrian, the horse master's assistant, Race, a Forrester, Jared, a lesser noble and doctor, and Earl Kestrel's valet. In the wilderness, they find the remains of Barden's settlement, which had been destroyed in a fire over ten years ago, soon after they settled. In the days that followed, Kestrel and his men examined the ruins, hoping for some sign that Barden or his family had survived. Eventually, they got better, in the form of a wild young woman accompanied by a wolf almost as large as a man, and a large falcon. The girl has only three possessions: a cloak made of animal skins, a pouch made of firemaking tools, and Barden's knife.
Kestrel, of course, is utterly delighted, thinking he's found the missing Blysse, and seeks to civilize the girl(not really realizing that the only reason she's there is because the wolves had promised her mother to return her to her own race if any ever appeared.) Soon, they learn that the wolves call her Firekeeper, or so she claims, because she can strike a flint, and Early Kestrel declares her his ward and prepares to present her to the king, reluctantly accepting that the wold, Blind Seer, and the falcon, Elation, come with the girl.
And here is where the typical "beautiful wild child raised by wolves and returned to civilization to learn she's a long lost princess and finds true love" story stops.
Firekeeper is no dumb wild girl. Though she doesn't know how to speak as a human at first, she is shrewd, observant, analytical, quick witted and extremely intelligent. Her personality is very much a blend of human and wolf, and throughout the book she continues to identify herself as a wolf, not a human. The wolves who raised her, according to Firekeeper, are, like all the animals of the wilderness she was raised in, of the Noble race, superior to normal animals, not just in size, but also in intellect. As both Elation and Blind Seer speak to her very clearly, she's either as nutty as they come, or she's right. To Firekeeper, the humans of the court are just a bunch of mad little chickens, running around and clucking their heads off. While they're busy stabbing each other in the back and being convinced that Firekeeper views them as glorious beings well out of her reach, Firekeeper is busy looking at them like they were bugs under a microscope.
The book is very character and plot driven, with a heavy emphasis on politics, and very little on magic. In fact, there is, at least in the first book(it may change in later books in the series) very little magic. There is, of course, the superior race of animals, but beyond that, most magic is limited to people having "talents" that essentially amount to things like being a better doctor theough a natural gift of mild healing, and extremely green thumb, a greater affinity with animals, etc. There's the hint that there may be more, but no confirmation.
A few other important characters are Elise, a close relative of the king's, who is a highly romantic young woman whose romantic ideals backfire on her bigtime, but is more than strong enough to withstand them, Elise's cousin, Sapphire, a beautiful and arrogant warrior who's much more than she seems, in all the best ways, Lady Zorana, and ambitious noblewoman, and Newell, the husband of Tedric's dead daughter, who is more than a little irked to be cut out of the line of succession. Actually, there are a lot of important characters and listing them all off would take far too long, but they're easy to keep track of within the book itself.
I like it. Actually, it's probably closer to love. It avoids many of the "hero/ine raised by animals" cliches, has an extremely capable and intelligent lead, and a very interesting world and story. All the female characters are, to a one, strong, and almost all can more than handle themselves, either in battle and in court. Even Elise, theoretically the token damsel, is no pushover. Even before shedding her romantic ideals, Elise is intelligent and has strong opinions and wants to be more than a pretty decoration...she just has some rose colored glasses that she needs to take off so she can see the world properly.
My one concern is Derian. Now, I like him-he's useful, has a brain, and doesn't waste all his time whining-but within the space of one book and a few months, he goes from a boy who wipes down horses to an advisor of the king and trusted soldier, all because he's the one who Firekeeper latched on to at the beginning, because he was the first one she met. Now, I have no objections to his rising high in society, but that was just a little(ok, a lot) too quickly, and he seems to be regularly given far too much responsibility-that doesn't involve Firekeeper-and sometimes authority this soon soon in the story. I also have this fear, at times, that he may be eventually portrayed as being the perfect match for Firekeeper, something that soesn't suit either one. Friend, guide, and companion? Yes. Anything more? No. Besides, it's obvious that if it weren't for that pesky species issue(though Firekeeper thinks of herself as a wolf, not a human) the perfect match for Firekeeper is Blind Seer. That said, the romance at this point is the (so far) slow moving but well done romance between Jared and Elise, so I'm not very worried about it...it's just niggling at the back of my mind.