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.
