Blacktail

Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote of "Nature, red in tooth and claw", and all of that is in display in this novel. Like that poem, religion is also in evidence here - perhaps a bit too much.

Chapters are really vignettes in the life of Blacktail, whose mother was a wolf. The animals language is shown in English here, but is definitely different, and weirdly in common between all animals. The names of "slave" animals are a direct borrowing from English. Blacktrail travels quite a ways, and while I pictured America, the location isn't as important as the story. This is a suitable read for October, with significant blood and violence.

It is probably not a suitable read for those who abhor cruelty to animals, even done by animals. Cruelty of the two legs comes up later in the story and while it is not as fully described, it is still tough to read.

So why not 5 stars? Religion seeps through this novel, and not just a simple god of the hunt. Females are not seen by Blacktail as mates but as "wife", acting contrary to the hunt is a "sin", and there are definite hints that Blacktail may be the product of immaculate conception. I liked this book quite a lot at the beginning, but as it went on, that rating went downhill for me. At 288 pages, at least it didn't fall too far.

I've heard good things about this author's other book, and look forward to checking it out.