Once We Were Like Wolves - M. Todd Gallowglas

    2011; 300 pages.  Book 2 (out of 4) in the “Tears of Rage” series.  New Author? : No, but it’s been a while.  Genres: Dark Fantasy; Epic Fantasy.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

    Congratulations, Julianna Taraen!  The gods (well, just one god, actually) has just named you the new Lord Morigahn.  You’re now the leader of a warrior caste that call themselves “The Morigahnti”, and they’re quite a powerful fighting force.

 

    Interestingly, the previous Lord Morigahns have all been males.  I suppose the term “Lord” implies that.  I wonder why Grandfather Shadow, the deity that appointed you, chose to break with tradition.  I also wonder if the Morigahnti will give you time to grow into your new position, and whether they’ll accept a woman as their leader.

 

    Anyway, best of luck, Julianna.  Start learning how to lead, how to command, and how to delegate authority.  Also get started learning to use the magical spells that were imbued in you when Grandfather Shadow selected you.

 

    Oh yeah, there’s a bunch of rival warriors—Adepts led by Inquisitors—who are sworn enemies of the Morigahnti and headed towards your quaint little community of Shadybrook.  Each and every one of them would love to have the honor of chopping off your head.

 

What’s To Like...

    Once We Were Like Wolves is the second book in the (completed) 4-book series called the Tears of Rage.  I read the first book way back in 2013, and it is reviewed here.  “Tears of Rage”, refers to a set of magical runes etched on the blade of a magical sword.  “Once We Were Like Wolves” is a Morigahn greeting that a fellow Morigahnti warrior will properly respond to with “Our time can come again.”

 

    We follow events transpiring on both the Celestial and the Mortal planes. There are Lesser Gods and Greater Gods, and I liked that they seemed patterned after Greek and Roman deities.  That means they might be immortal, but they certainly aren’t paragons of perfection.

 

    There’s tons of action and intrigue to keep the reader turning the pages, but the main plotline is Julianna growing into the role of Lord Morigahn and her developing relationship with her sworn protector, Faelin.  The assault of Shadybrook rapidly breaks up into smaller clashes, which means there are quite a few characters to follow.  You might want to take notes of which warriors serve whom.

 

    I especially liked that both the good guys and the bad guys were well-developed characters.  I get tired of the baddies being relegated to being insectoid or robotic; here they’re humans just like the good guys.  There are a bunch of fascinating creatures, including nightbats and stormcrows both of which are useful.  But you do best to avoid crossing paths with the daemyn hounds.

 

    The story stops at as logical spot.  Shadybrook is successfully defended; Julianna has learned how to cast miracles; and she has started to gain the respect of the Morigahnti.  But on both the Celestial and the Mortal plane, the good-vs-evil struggle is just getting started.  The final chapter in the book is a segue into Book 3, Arms of the Storm.   Ith resides on my Kindle.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.2*/5, based on 61 ratings and 34 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.98*/5, based on 131 ratings and 18 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    At one point, just to get Damiam doing something other than grin at him while he ate, Faelin said, “So, gun running?” in between bites.

    Daiman nodded.  “Seemed like the thing to do.  The Kingdom’s been hunting me ever since my father’s execution.  When I figured out where his shop was, I sort of took over his business.  Not because of any self-righteous call to free Koma, but rather mostly because the Kingdom is going to catch me and execute me for my father’s crimes, I figured I might as well earn it.”  (loc. 1770)

 

    “Who do I address?” the Inquisitor asked.  “And what business do you have traveling on such a night and hour like this.”

    Damian would have to choose his words with care.  “The people of Shadybrook call me Zephyr, High Blood, ever since they’ve known me.  I’m traveling this late because of a possible squabble that I don’t feel interested in getting drawn into.  I’m the kind of man who likes to keep myself to myself, and I’ll endure more than a little wind and rain to stay out of trouble.”

    “Well spoken, man who the people of Shadybrook call Zephyr,” the Inquisitor said.  “Not a word of it specific enough to be completely a truth or completely a lie.”  (loc. 2347)

 

Kindle Details…

    Once We Were Like Wolves sells for $4.99 right now at Amazon.  The other three books in the (completed) series are in the $3.99-$5.99 price range.  M. Todd Gallowglas has more than a dozen other fiction e-books, ranging in length from short stories to full-length novels, and in the $0.99-$5.99 range, plus several non-fiction books on writing for $7.99 apiece.

 

“That’s the problem with tradition.  It doesn’t like innovation.”  (loc. 5165)

    There’s only a smattering of cussing in the text; just 14 instances in the first half of the book, all but one of which was a damn.  In places where profanity is called for, M. Todd Gallowglas often uses topical phrases, such as “What in Shadow’s name!” and “Gods and Goddesses!”  I’m a big fan of that.

 

    The main problem with Once We Were Like Wolves is the editing.  To be blunt, it was atrocious.  I counted 19 typos in the first half of the book; then things went downhill from there.  The second half contained at least 80 errors, which was highly distracting.  One example:  the name of one of the characters is spelled four different ways: Jenice, Jenise, Janise, and Janice.  Sheesh.

 

    Hopefully those typos were fixed in subsequent versions, in which case you’ll be entertained by a gritty, exciting tale with well-developed characters and convincing worldbuilding on three levels: celestial, mortal, and infernal.  Just learn from my mistake and don’t wait thirteen years between reading Book 1 and Book 2.

 

    8 Stars.  One last thing.  On Amazon, the titles for Books 1 and 3 have been changed from what’s listed on my Kindle.  "First Chosen” and “Arms of the Storm” are now “An Imbalance of Shadows” and “As Fugitive as the Wind”.  At Goodreads they still use the original titles.  I presume the text is identical in books of both titles.  But maybe it wass a matter of ownership to the titles.