The Wolf's Call

In 2015 a funny thing happened. Somehow I stumbled upon a little book named Blood Song by Anthony Ryan, a British author I hadn’t heard much about. Picking the book up I didn’t expect much out of it, believing it to be standard fantasy fare, hero is called, hero finds big sword, discovers he’s the chosen one gathers a band of brothers, kills the villain and saves the world. Ra Ra. However, with Blood Song, I couldn’t have been more wrong. I didn’t just love Blood Song, I adored it, rereading it as soon as I finished. What drew me to the book wasn’t the world-building, (though solid) or in particular the plot ( which could be termed a standard coming of age novel) no it was the characters all of which were extremely well written. However, one character stood above the rest, that being the main character Vaelin Al Sorna, one of my favorite characters ever to grace the written page. Unfortunately, the other two books in the series, Tower Lord and Queen of Fire couldn’t live up to the high bar set by Blood Song but with Ryan’s latest entry into the world created in his first novel, A Wolf’s Call, I have to say the author has rediscovered his mojo.The primary problem with Tower Lord and Queen of Fire can be summed up into one simple phrase, not enough Vaelin Al Sorna. Sure, Vaelin was a POV character in both novels, but until the climax, he was given very little to do in Tower Lord, his treatment going further downhill in Queen of Fire, a novel where he at best played a peripheral role. Blood song’s strength was that it was undeniably Vaelin’s story, the world-building, the characterization, the battle sequences all tailored to molding him into a fully fleshed character. That was all lost in the follow-ups, the plot dispersed for better or for worse across a myriad of POV characters to mixed effect, some more interesting and fleshed out than others. Paradoxically, by opening up his world, Ryan unintentionally watered down my favorite part of his saga, Vaelin.Well, I’m happy to report that’s all gone. Whether this was the plan or not, Ryan heard the criticism from the last two entries in his series and fixed the primary issue with this last two works. He got back to basics and gave us Vaelin Al Sorna. No longer are there any competing POV characters blundering from one uninteresting problem after another, gone are the pages upon pages of mystical and nonsensical mumbo jumbo that weighed down Vaelin’s POV in the previous works. Sure, this is a fantasy novel so there will be a touch of magic in it, I mean that is part of the fun, but Vaelin’s story this time around is no longer weighed down by the lore that turned one of my favorite characters into a bore.This is a story that mostly gets back to basics and boy is it good, the plot brushing over the events of the last two novels and focusing instead on two lingering plot points from Blood Song, the fate of Vaelin’s long lost love Sister Sherin and the Stonemason Ahm Lim. That these two never showed up again in Tower Lord and Queen of Fire surprised many including myself but that is all water under the bridge now. What follows is a tale of desire and regret, forgiveness and betrayal, a tale full of visceral combat with twists upending the reader’s expectations about what could and should happen. The last battle, in particular, is epic in every sense of the word and Ryan shows his writing chops, expertly playing on the readers’ expectations to deliver a climax that defies the expectations of longtime fans of the series. I literally thought one thing was going to happen only to have the opposite occur again and again. Well played sir.At the onset of the novel, Vaelin having returned from the ‘Liberation War’ in Queen of Fire is back in the North, firmly ensconced as the Tower Lord of the Northern Reaches of the Unified Realm. Though scarred by the war, Vaelin and his companions go about the thankless task of policing the Northern Reaches of the Realm while also ensuring the gold mines in the region are operating at peak efficiency for the benefit of the Queen. In the midst of ruling the realm, we run into quite a few old faces from the previous novels, all irrevocably changed by the war and the losses suffered therein. This is in keeping with a general theme in the entirety of Ryan’s work, the ugly and nasty nature of warfare, tearing apart the romanticism normally associated with war and instead highlighting the damage conflict inflicts on both the victors and the vanquished. All is seemingly ok until Vaelin receives word from a prisoner that his former love Sister Sherin is not only alive but is in danger in the west. Feeling a kinship and a responsibility for his former flame whom he sent away, Vaelin drops everything he is doing, gathers a motley crew of fellow adventurers and sets off on a journey to the Far West to save his former love.Ryan does a fairly decent job with the Worldbuilding in this novel, crafting a world centered around the challenges of a sedentary society in conflict with a people of the Steppe. The Merchant Kingdoms of the far west are based on China, the Ancient Middle Kingdom, whereas the Iron Horde the Stalhast are based on any number of Nomadic Steppe Peoples, be t the Xiongnu, Yuezhi, Turks or the dreaded Mongols. I found the change of setting refreshing, invigorating in fact and I always enjoy when fantasy authors drift out of the stuffy confines of medieval Europe to explore medieval China. In fact, if one summed up this novel as Vaelin goes to China in search of his lost love, that wouldn’t be entirely incorrect.That being said, the world-building though good is not perfect as the plot, being what it requires a fair bit of wandering as Ryan gets all his pieces in play. Unfortunately, this all proved to be a bit of a bore, but the story moves along quickly enough that it isn’t a major problem. Likewise, Ryan introduces several interesting concepts and characters only to criminally under use them as the story goes on. This, unfortunately, was a byproduct of the author’s laser-like focus on Vaelin, sacrificing the depth of his world for readers like me. I get it, but unfortunately, as a result, many of the characters and ideas presented in the novel are not as fully fleshed out as they could have been giving the impression at times that Ryan almost forgot about them, sprinkling them in every now and them just for good measure. For sure, Ryan introduces a lot of interesting characters, Chien, Shao Tsai, Kerran, etc but many of them disappear for lengths of time and we don’t really get to know them. For instance, in the final battle scene, I had to remind myself a few times who certain characters were and why they were even there in the first place which is not a good thing. Overall though, I found the world-building a strength, but I would be remiss if I didn’t say that the characterization outside of Vaelin and a few characters could have been stronger.The Villain of the story is also a plus in the work and I enjoyed learning more about him and the world he came from. If Blood Song was a coming of age story for our hero Vaelin, Wolf’s Call could be termed a coming of age story for its primary villain, Kehlbrand, a cunning, intelligent, megalomaniacal antagonist who drives the plot forward. Everything that occurs in this work is a result of his actions and our heroes reacting to him. Many may find Kehlbrand a sadistic brute, but I found him fascinating, a cautionary tale of what happens when the dream of a better way turns rotten. Perhaps Kehlbrand was always doomed to villainy given his early penchant for pride and narcissism, (he does craft a religion centered on himself after all), but a subtle argument throughout the work is whether it was power that ultimately corrupted Kehlbrand, or did his power simply give him an avenue to reveal his true nature. Who knows? Yet it is this question and Kehlbrand’s petty rivalry with Vaelin, the “Thief of Names”, that drives the narrative forward as Kehlbrand twists an entire people into his tool for destruction.Yet the star of the novel is our hero Vaelin Al Sorna. In the words of that wise philosopher, Wolverine, Vaelin is simply the best at what he does and what he does is not pretty. What draws me to Vaelin is his abject acceptance of who he is and what he has brought to the world. There is a line in the novel that is fairly self-aware, a line where Nortah, Vaelin’s sole surviving brother from his childhood order, comments that Destruction is their sole gift to the world. Vaelin in a self-aware moment overlooks the destruction and comments, yes, but salvation also. In short, this is a man who is simultaneously haunted by his bloody past yet he knows that his martial skill is the only gift he has to protect everyone and everything he cares for. This self-awareness is at the center of his conflict with his former love Sherin who despise Vaelin’s trade but gains a small acceptance of its necessity.The Wolf’s Call is a great return to form for Anthony Ryan. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I cannot wait until the next book in the series. If the Tower Lord and Queen of Fire turned you off from this series, you can feel confident to take the plunge once again. Yes, The Wolf’s Call is that good. Enjoy!

This book was essentially Tower Lord and Queen of Fire if they were solely told from Vaelin's point of view. By that I mean it didn't capture the magic of Blood Song and was mired in the same issues that plagued TL and QoF (Vaelin and Friends meander from boring problem to problem culminating in the siege battle climax)...BUT it was told from ONLY Vaelin's pov! Meaning, I missed the hell out of Vaelin in TL and QoF so while the overall plot and story of Wolf's Call was a little meh, reading everything from Vaelin's pov was like a breath of fresh air and I'm just happy to have him back. Ultimately, I would probably give Wolf's Call a 3.5 but because of what happens on the very last page(thank god) I'm rounding up to 4.Ryan's writing is top notch as usual and the way he writes battle scenes is great.

Dragged too long in setting up each situation. Overburdened with multiple character backgrounds. Vaelin ends up again traveling everywhere. I just don’t get the anger in Sherin, she acts more like a spoilt brat than anything else.

I thought this was a great addition to Vaelin’s story. If you enjoyed Tower Lord and Queen of Fire than you will most likely love this book. Now having said that, it is probably most alike to Blood Song than any other in the series because it only focuses on Vaelin as the main character but no book in the series can be similar to Blood Song because Vaelin can only grow up once. Where book 1 spans about 15 years, books 2,3 and 4 all take place in a few months time. This book is very different from what I expected but that is in no way a bad thing. As always, there is loads of bloody action and violence. It is very interesting to see where many of the characters are at both emotionally and physically after the events of Queen of Fire. It is much shorter than the other books in the series but I don’t consider this a bad thing because Anthony Ryan doesn’t waste time. There is never any use of verbose and the plot never slows its fast pace. The Raven’s Shadow trilogy is my second favorite fantasy series that I have ever read and I couldn’t have been happier with The Wolf’s Call. This is quite a relief because I had been counting down the days for months for the release date and each day my expectations rose higher, expectations this book met and exceeded. Thank you Anthony Ryan for the incredible adventures. I cannot wait for part two.

More like Blood Song than the other books.

The Wolf’s Call was a great way to get back in the world of Vaelin Al Sorna. Ravens Shadow is one of my favorite series, so when I heard the story would be continuing I was immediately hooked.What I loved: Vaelin: he’s always had a ton of depth and growth as a character, and this was a great way to continue his story and development. The plot flowed well and had plenty of fun twists and turns to keep me turning the page.What I hated: not necessarily hated, but there were a lot of new characters thrown at you very quick. It’s also been a few years since I read Ravens Shadow and I had a hard time remembering some of the other characters from that series that were brought back in to this one. If your a fan of the original series, I would suggest reading it again before jumping in.Rating: 4/5 stars. I want to give it more, because I really did enjoy it, but for me it advanced really far in to the plot and felt a little forced to be more than one book. We’ll see after the next one comes out how the story continues, but I can’t wait to keep reading.Recommendation: read it. If your a fan of Ravens Shadow, it’s a no brainer to continue the story. If you haven’t read any Anthony Ryan before, it’s still a great story and you should be able to follow along, though there will be some minor mentions and details that might confuse you.

I feel this edition has revived and rejuvenated the previous series. I really enjoyed this book and see it as a return to form for Anthony Ryan. If you read Queen of Fire and felt it a poor ending this book goes some way to moving past that and looking at some unanswered questions and plot issues.

The series returns to good form with Vaelin taking centre stage as the sole POV character - I almost grew to dislike Vaelin by the end of Queen of Fire with Frentis and Reva overshadowing him but Ryan has obviously taken peoples’ grievances against the last book into account and this new entry feels much more like Blood Song in its nature. Vaelin is back to being a reluctant badass, the sole focus of the book being on his personal journey with the story being better for it. The ally was also a massive letdown for me in Queen of Fire and Ryan has sought to rectify this with a very interesting and equally, if not more deadlier threat to Vaelin in the form of Khelbrand! He manages to bring Kehlbrand in with a neat tie in to a previously unresolved prophecy so it’s good to see past loose ended questions also being addressed in this new series. Vaelin is back! Ryan is back! Heck, even Sherin is back and better than ever in getting under our hero’s skin! The wolf calls puts Ryan back in the top tiers of heroic fantasy and I can’t wait for the next instalment! Haven’t you heard? There’s always another war!

If you loved Book 1 (Blood Song) of Raven's Shadow, then you will absolutely love this book! A return to form for Anthony Ryan who had suffered significant criticism for Tower Lord and Queen of Fire. Instead, the first book in the new trilogy, The Wolf's Call, returns the story focus and first-person narrative directly back to the legend, Vaelin Al Sorna, former brother of the Sixth Order and all-round hero of the Realm.Please note that it's really only necessary to have read Blood Song and Tower Lord to enjoy the new book. You do not need to read Queen of Fire.The writing reminded me strongly of Blood Song and really develops Vaelin's story ten years after the conclusion of the Realm war with the Alpiran Empire. We see many of our favourite characters return and the introduction of some compelling and super-interesting new characters, as well as a journey into the mystical West where a new (but slightly familar) terrifying threat is emerging. We also see the long-awaited return of a fan favorite, SISTER SHERIN!Buy this book and enjoy! This is the start of a very exciting new trilogy and I hope Anthony Ryan continues using the same techniques that made Blood Song loved by so many - which he has succeeded doing here.

Well, firstly, I should make clear that I really enjoyed this book, so the headline isn't a complaint. But, honestly, this isn't a 'first in a new series' book! The 'Raven's Shadow' trilogy took us on a journey with Vaelin al Sorna, the Tower Lord and this book picks up exactly where the last in that trilogy left off; with the same characters. So this is, really, 'book 4' rather than 'book 1'. Of course, a newcomer to Mr Ryan could pick up this book and read it as a stand-alone novel but the back story that's packed into the previous trilogy is quite important to understanding the characters and their motivation.The plot itself is pretty much the same as the earlier novels; an eclectic group of heroes using their powers to battle across a continent against overwhelming odds. Some die. Some live. Some are revealed as traitors. As always, it's the action that takes centre stage and that is, unfailingly, great.Some series have each book ending as a 'chapter', with one part of the story reaching conclusion and setting the scene for the next portion of the story. Not here. This book ends very abruptly on what is deliberately intended to be cliff-hanger. As a kid (and I'm pretty old now), I remember the matinees in which that week's film ended with Batman going over a cliff to certain doom and you had to wait until next Saturday to find out if he really was dead (they always cheated). Well, that's what we have here.So I'll be back to find out when Mr Ryan gets around to publishing the next in this series. Whether that's the 4th or the 2nd!

Won’t add any spoilers here other than to say if you liked the first Raven’s shadow book (which some might argue is his best to date), you’ll love this. It starts off a bit slow but this helps to reintroduce a few characters old and new. One of the best books I’ve read this year. Buy it.