These two books follow straight on from each other, and it does work to read them back to back. Foxhunt has been out for a while Wolfpack is coming out this January. I figured it made sense to review the two in one go.
This story is set in a future that has come back from the brink and where humanity is trying to make better choices. That makes for very hopeful reading. There a mix of people going back to older ways of doing things, alongside imaginative future tech and lots of solar power. There's also a lot to think about around how people organise themselves - this mostly goes on in the background but it's a source of richness within the books. The world building is deftly done and engaging and I would cheerfully spend a lot more time reading stories set in this future. The main character is trans, there are a lot of trans and nonbinary characters and everyone introduces themselves with their pronouns, which is wonderful. I don't think I've ever previously read anything that was so entirely queer and it made me very happy.
There are definite threads for Pagans in these novels. The author clearly knows their mythology, and draws on it in all sorts of interesting ways. There is also reverence for the earth and for the Green threading through it all, which I found really resonant.
If it sounds like your sort of thing, get in there!
Foxhunt
For me the heart of this story is how the main character - Orfeus - grows as a person and learns about herself. At the start of the book, Orfeus presents as cocky and sassy and seems fairly self-assured. However, as the story progresses, it becomes obvious that Orfeus isn't close to many people and really has no idea who to trust or how to relate to most people. There's a huge learning curve for the character around understanding other people and forming more substantial relationships. It's really interesting watching a main character who has very little idea what they've got into and who makes terrible choices about how to react. I found that refreshing, and opens the story up in ways that a more competent character could not have done.
Overall this is a charming romp of a book right up until it takes a very uneasy turn towards the end. The story plays out well.
Wolfpack
The second novel introduces more perspectives and we see this future reality through more eyes - which I really liked. Wolfpack builds on the ideas from the first book, expands the cast and develops the characters we're already familiar with. It's a stronger novel, and much more emotionally intense than Foxhunt. I came very close to crying over this story on multiple occasions. There are themes of community, relationship, trust, and hope. The way all of that plays out gave me a lot of feelings and the emotional journeys of the characters are really powerful. It's a story about how we move on together, how we heal together, how we look after each other and this is such good and needful stuff to be talking about. And it's good to encounter those themes with characters who wear cool masks and have nifty flying bikes and surprise owls.
Find out more on the author's website - https://www.remwigmore.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment