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Wolfborn

by Sue Bursztynski (Goodreads Author)

3.32 of 5 stars 3.32 · rating details · 74 ratings · 28 reviews

Break the curse or howl forever.

Etienne, son of a lord in the kingdom of Armorique, goes to train as a knight with Geraint of Lucanne. Geraint is brave and kind, a good teacher and master - but he has a secret that he has kept from his family. He is bisclavret, a born werewolf. When Geraint is betrayed, Etienne must ally with the local wise-woman and her daughter, themselv...more

Paperback, 287 pages

Published December 1st 2010 by Woolshed Press

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Feb 10, 2013 KnowsProse rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal, fantasy, werewolves

I have to admit that I was a little leery of Wolfborn at first. Werewolves aren’t outside of my reading comfort zone by any means, but there’s always that fear when you reach for a new paranormal YA book that it’s going to have a secret subtitle. Like, “Bella & Edward the Sequel!!” or “Team Jacob Wins in This One!” I didn’t hate Twilight with the obsessive passion that keeps some people going years after the series has ended, but I really didn’t love it either; and seeing it endlessly rehash...more

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Oct 23, 2011 Lan (The Write Obsession) rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's been a long time since I've read a book by a female author written from a male perspective. My brain is telling me the last one was The Outsiders by S.E Hinton but that can't be right, and if it is, it means I'm old because that was in high school. Anyway, the reason I mention the female author/male character dynamic is because I often find it puts me off an entire book if it's not done well. Thankfully, Wolfborn doesn't fall into that category. Etienne's voice was both believable and likea...more

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Jan 22, 2013 Tsana Dolichva rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wolfborn by Sue Bursztynski is a standalone YA werewolf novel. Or I could just as easily call it a straight fantasy novel that happens to have werewolves in it. The fantasy world is loosely based on dark-ages Europe — after the Romans left — with the mythology a remix of a few Celtic and Gaulish ideas, including faeries.

The main character, Etienne, is sent out to be fostered with one of his father's allies when he's in his teens — later than usual because as an only son he was needed at home. Wh...more Wolfborn by Sue Bursztynski is a standalone YA werewolf novel. Or I could just as easily call it a straight fantasy novel that happens to have werewolves in it. The fantasy world is loosely based on dark-ages Europe — after the Romans left — with the mythology a remix of a few Celtic and Gaulish ideas, including faeries.

The main character, Etienne, is sent out to be fostered with one of his father's allies when he's in his teens — later than usual because as an only son he was needed at home. While serving with Lord Geraint, Etienne learns that Geraint is what Etienne himself has long feared: a werewolf born. However, Geraint is a good and fair master and quickly earns Etienne's loyalty.

There are two types of werewolves in the Wolfborn universe, however: born werewolves, called bisclavret, who are descendant from creatures created by one of the gods, and the other kind, who made a deal with the Dark One to gain the power of shape-changing. Needless to say, the latter tend to be more evil.

For a short book, there several different aspects of mythology packed in — werewolves, faeries, gods — but not, I think, too many. It's hard to judge since I am relatively familiar with Celtic mythology, but I thought the different ideas were sufficiently fleshed out and tied in well to the story.

I found it interesting that Etienne's journey was not a heroic quest or some other common fantasy trope. Instead, it was about him going from fearing werewolves to accepting them (well, the bisclavret ones, anyway) as a normal part of his world's nature. Oh, also, the blurb suggests it's a romantic story but it's not really. It's based on a romantic story (wriiten by Marie de France in the twelfth century, as the afterword tells me), but the focus is shifted in this retelling.

The book reads like Etienne is telling the story well after the fact, when he's older. There are some moments when he comments retrospectively on the events taking place. This reminded me a little bit of Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice where Fitz is more or less recounting his life story. There was some similarity in setting and themes too, although Etienne is a page, not an assassin, and Wolfborn is much, much shorter. I enjoyed that aspect, but to me it didn't feel quite like a YA book for that reason. Although it's the length of a YA book, however, and the main character is in the correct age bracket, I think it would work well as a bridging step between other YA fantasy books and "grown up" fantasy books like Hobb's or the multitude of others, some of which I've reviewed. Mind you, I was reading Robin Hobb while I was in my teens (before, ahem, YA was it's own category), so i don't see why teenagers wouldn't enjoy Wolfborn.

The book is quite short, coming in at less than 300 pages, and I think in parts it suffered a little for it. There were some aspects of the story which I think could have been fleshed out a little more. For example, there were a few scenes where I thought the characters could maybe have spent a bit more time talking about their predicament on the page, instead of summarising. It's not that thinks weren't thought through, but a little bit more on-the-page world building would not have gone amiss either, in my opinion. In the end, the story spanned about three years (although the last year was sort of an extended epilogue, so perhaps doesn't count) which is a lot of time to squeeze into so few pages. It wasn't hurried, though, and some "and then nothing much happened for x weeks" bits were rightfully skipped, but I still would have liked to stay with the characters longer.

I recommend Wolfborn to fans of Celtic-style settings in fantasy with a werewolf twist. I think it would be enjoyed by both readers of adult fantasy after a quick read and readers of YA fantasy. As I said, it'd make a good gateway dr— book for YA readers to transition into "grown up" fantasy books.

4 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog.(less)

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Apr 21, 2013 Hazel West rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: unique-books, want-to-buy

Thoughts on the Overall Book: I'm not usually a frequenter of paranormal, but this one caught my eye and I'm really glad I gave it a go, because it's just the kind of paranormal novel I love to read. When I do read paranormal it's usually ghosts, faeries and occasionally werewolves, and this one had faeries and werewolves, so that made it all the more awesome. And the fact that it was taken from a medieval story and Celtic myth made it all the more intriguing.

Cover--Yea or Nay: Yes, it's very s...more Thoughts on the Overall Book: I'm not usually a frequenter of paranormal, but this one caught my eye and I'm really glad I gave it a go, because it's just the kind of paranormal novel I love to read. When I do read paranormal it's usually ghosts, faeries and occasionally werewolves, and this one had faeries and werewolves, so that made it all the more awesome. And the fact that it was taken from a medieval story and Celtic myth made it all the more intriguing.

Cover--Yea or Nay: Yes, it's very simple and pretty and I love the wolf on it.

Characters: Etienne (a name I love by the way) is a great protagonist and narrator. He's an honest, good-hearted and brave young man and a character the reader is able to connect with easily. I also liked how he could have been worried all the time because of his bisclavret (werewolf) family history, making it possible he could turn into one at his age, but he didn't let it bother him or get in the way. I really loved Armand too, he was a great comrade in arms character, and I wish we had gotten to see more of him. Geraint was also a good character even though he was quite a victim of circumstance. A lot of times characters like that can get washed out or annoying, but Geraint didn't. I also liked Jeanne and Sylvie, in fact, all the women in this story (apart from Eglantine, of course) were strong characters without attitudes which I liked. The villain Dupre, wasn't in the story a lot physically, but you still got to know him and also know he really was evil and scary too.

The Romance: There is a romance between Etienne and Jeanne, but it doesn't interrupt the plot and is in the easy way of two people who know they love each other. There's a little bit of drama concerning them at the end, but nothing horrible. In short, I really liked them as a couple.

Writing Style: I don't know if Sue Bursztynski has read any of Rosemary Sutcliff's books, but her writing style reminds me of Rosemary's. It's not quite as beautiful, but it's still good writing, and the way she crafted the story line as well as portrayed the relationships between the characters, especially Etienne and Armand and Etienne and Jeanne was really reminiscent of Rosemary's. I loved how she took the idea for this story from an old medieval tale, making this almost a re-telling. I really want to read the original now. I also loved the addition of Celtic folklore in this story. This is historical fantasy, so it's not necessarily "our world" but she paints a picture that is quite like Saxon Britain with even mentions of the "Rom" (Romans in our wolrd) having occupied their country centuries before. It gave her place an easy history for readers to follow. She changed some things around with the Celtic folklore too, with mentions of feasts like Beltane and Samhain. There was also a part where Etienne and Armand end up in the "Otherworld" with is the realm of the Fae, and there's several times where the Wold Hunt appears as well as "Kernun" who is supposed to be Cernunnos--though the portrayal of him in this book is not nearly as frightening as some I've read. Overall, it made the read all that more intriguing, and I liked this take on werewolf legends.

Problems/What bothered me: I didn't have any problems, but I can see where some readers might run into issues with this book, so I'll address that here. If a reader is not acquainted with the actual Celtic legends that this is based on, it might be a little confusing, because the author doesn't go into a lot of detail about any of it. You can google all this stuff though, and it will be fine. For readers who do know all the Celtic legends, this will only make the read more interesting as it did for me.

Conclusion: 4 stars, I really enjoyed this, and I hoped the author will write more books like this because there are so few paranormal authors that I actually enjoy reading.

Recommended Audience: Guy and girl read, 15 and up. There's a lot of violence mentioned, but nothing is ever shown in any detail. Fans of Rosemary Sutcliff who don't mind reading something different would like this, I think. Also those who enjoyed Katy Moran's "Bloodline" books would like this too. I thought it kind of had the same feel to those as well.
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Mar 07, 2013 Hollie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-in-books, for-review

I was incredibly excited to dive into Wolfborn. It didn’t seem to be your typical werewolf story, and effortlessly blended fantasy, paranormal and historical fiction into one highly enjoyable read.

Etienne was an excellent main character. At first, I worried I wouldn’t be able to connect to him, but I found him to be a brilliant character who made very few (if any) rash decisions. He took his duty very seriously, and his loyalty to Sire Geraint was admirable. I can imagine that most people in his...more I was incredibly excited to dive into Wolfborn. It didn’t seem to be your typical werewolf story, and effortlessly blended fantasy, paranormal and historical fiction into one highly enjoyable read.

Etienne was an excellent main character. At first, I worried I wouldn’t be able to connect to him, but I found him to be a brilliant character who made very few (if any) rash decisions. He took his duty very seriously, and his loyalty to Sire Geraint was admirable. I can imagine that most people in his situation wouldn’t have been as loyal as Etienne was, admittedly, Etienne had a reason to be loyal to his Lord, but I can imagine that even if he had come from a different heritage, his loyalty would have remained. He also connected with Jeanne, the wise-woman’s daughter with a connection to Sire Geraint, and I loved seeing the dynamics of their relationship, particularly towards the end of the book. What Etienne does at the end of Wolfborn shows how his character grew from being a boy into a man without losing the voice that he started Wolfborn with.

The characters in Wolfborn were all diverse and well fleshed out. Sire Geraint was Lord of Lucanne, and extremely loved by his people. One of my favourite scenes in Wolfborn was between Etienne, Armand and Geraint where he teaches Etienne how to fight better. Whilst he was a Lord, he didn’t abuse the power he had been given, and I think that was what made me like him so much. Sylvie and Jeanne were two characters cleverly woven with Geraint’s story, and whilst their connection to Geraint was a little predictable, it really worked well with the entire plot. And the Baron was the villain that every good fantasy needed, and he was definitely evil and had to be defeated!

I think my favourite think about Wolfborn was the way the werewolves were presented. These weren’t the typical werewolves I’ve read about in the past, which I definitely appreciated. Their roots were deeply set in folklore, and the novel itself it based on Lai Le Bisclavret, which I will definitely be checking out myself in the future. The story of Wolfborn is still very much Sue Bursztynski’s, and it was a very good story indeed! She has a great knack of being able to bring each of her characters to life, from Etienne and Geraint to Joyeuse, Geraint’s loyal hound.

Wolfborn was an entertaining historical fantasy that I would recommend to both fantasy and paranormal fans alike. There’s something to please everyone in this book, and it most definitely was a winner for me!(less)

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Jul 13, 2012 Edwina Harvey rated it 5 of 5 stars

This YA fantasy is the story of Geraint, a noble lord of the Kingdom of Armorique, told through th eyes of his new page,Ettienne, who notices his Lord has a habit of sneaking away into the night.

Ettienne discovers that Geraint is Bisclavret - one who is born to be a werewolf. These shape-shifters are more or less tolerated by normal folk as long as they dont kill the livestock. But when the local Lord is a werewolf, he wants to keep such knowledge private, and when he goes missing, his people ar...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Audrey rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, fairy-folktale-retellings

This was just so-so for me. The concept and bones of the story were good -- I recognized a lot of the source material. It's in the execution where this falls short for me. There's way too much reliance on dialogue, and the voices don't ring true (author's style doesn't match subject matter/time period). There's also a really jarring part where, for the space of a few pages, we completely jump into another character's point of view. The break could've been effective, but it's not in this instance...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Beth rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, ya-fiction, skimmed-it

The mellow historical mood drew me into this book, but I'm sorry to say the story did not live up to my expectations. The romance was forced, the fantasy-mystery elements were solved too soon, and 2/3 into the story the Faerie got involved. I kept waiting for the main character to have a tragic transformation into a werewolf, but I don't think it happened. Lots of info-dumps, but no real moments of character growth.

The real question is why did i bother to finish this? (answer: I really love were...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: australian, owned, young-adult, to-review, favorites

4.25-4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this. Loved the fey and the werewolves and came to really care about the characters.

It's set in a fascinating secondary world (much of which is based off Brittany) and despite the medieval setting incorporates progressive gender roles and features strong, smart and competent characters of both sexes.

I think I'd also like a longer, slightly darker and more complex adult take on this story as well. (Sue, please write that for me :P) However, it works well as is and...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Sherre Leach rated it 4 of 5 stars

Based upon a twelfth century story, Wolfborn is one unlike any other I had ever read. Though it is about werewolves, a common topic in today's stories, it's not your ordinary werewolf read, and due to it's folklore beginnings, the reader must wonder how much of the tale could possibly be true.

We follow Etienne, a young boy who's training to be a knight under his master Geraint. Soon though, he realizes somethings not quite normal about Geraint and his mysterious voyages into the forest at night....more Based upon a twelfth century story, Wolfborn is one unlike any other I had ever read. Though it is about werewolves, a common topic in today's stories, it's not your ordinary werewolf read, and due to it's folklore beginnings, the reader must wonder how much of the tale could possibly be true.

We follow Etienne, a young boy who's training to be a knight under his master Geraint. Soon though, he realizes somethings not quite normal about Geraint and his mysterious voyages into the forest at night. He later learns that Geraint is a bisclavret, a born werewolf. He also learns that there are other werewolves, those not born with the curse who have pledged themselves to the Dark One. He learns that a war is brewing between his master and one of the dark werewolves, and after a sequence of events and some poorly placed clothes, Etienne must fight to help his master back to his humanity. You see, in this tale, werewolves can't turn back to human without their human clothes, and the longer they stay in werewolf form, the easier it is for them to never turn back human. It's for this reason, and for the future of Lucanne that Etienne must help return Geraint to his humanity, possibly at the expense of his own.

Beneath the bigger werewolf story was a love story between Etienne and Jeanne, a bisclavret. It wasn't a huge part of the book that swamped the readers into a big deep love but it did add a bit of something extra to the story, something that made Etienne's decisions a bit easier and more imperative.

I really enjoyed reading Wolfborn. It was a nice change to the typical werewolf story and I liked reading a book told from a males perspective but still written by a woman. Initially, the story didn't hold my attention much, but I'm not sure if that was because I was reading it while facing the loss of a family member, or because it was just too much of a change from the normal books I read. Regardless, the more I read, the more it grew on me. The ending was a bit too romantic to fit with the rest of the story in my opinion, but I still see the point of adding it. It also wasnt as fast paced and intense as I would have hoped, but I still enjoyed it. This book focuses on the ideas of losing/gaining humanity, mating for life, and honor and duty. If you like books that focus on those things, then I suggest you give Wolfborn a try. I give it 3 1/2 stars.(less)

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Jan 11, 2011 Samantha-Ellen Bound rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's great to see an Australian author having a decent go at a popular genre (paranormal romance, werewolves etc) and even shaking it up - drawing on her own myths and folktales to create a werewolf lore that isn't just a rehash of what we've read and seen before. Myth, reality and adventure blend well and there is some great medieval-type scene-setting. Not such a fan of Etienne's and Jeanne's romance, but otherwise I found Wolfborn quite an exciting little world to spend a few days in. Rich de...more

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Jan 17, 2011 Kim rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this book. I kept reading, waiting for it to captivate me...but I never got sucked in. The idea/premise of the book has so much promise (even a pretty cover)- but I was left disappointed. Even the romance between Etienne and Jeanne didn't draw me in. It was just an ok book for me.

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Mar 31, 2011 Marj rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

Based on an historical story, Wolfborn takes a different journey into the werewolf genre. This is a 3 1/2 star book for me. I really wanted to love it, but missed an intimacy I usually associate with 1st person narratives.
A good yarn for established readers.

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Apr 17, 2011 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, adventure, paranormal, tweens

This book is based on the lais of Marie de France about the bisclavret or were-wolf. It's set in an alternate world, not unlike early Medieval Europe.

It's a fantasy-romance-adventure, and a nice read for younger readers, I would think.

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May 07, 2011 Beck Tomkinson rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed it enough to not stop reading until it was finished in one sitting.
I enjoyed the break from the normal tales of werewolves! I will recommend my friends read this!

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Jul 25, 2011 Book Bazaar added it

Wolfborn takes it's central story from a twelfth century book of tales including one about the bisclavret, werewolves. This novel has engaging characters and is one that I will be recommending to teen readers who like a little historical background to their paranormal reads :)

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Sep 21, 2011 Annabel Kehoe rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It took a while to get to the point but it ended up being a really great story with vivid characters!

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Feb 11, 2013 Belinda rated it 1 of 5 stars

Overwritten to the point of dull. Should've had a good editor or not been published.

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Feb 19, 2011 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-supernatural, young-adult

A nice break from the typical high school setting were-paranormal romances out there. My longer review here:

http://www.foreveryoungadult.com/2011...

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Dec 02, 2011 Claire rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: other

Really good! :)

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Jun 25, 2011 Ren rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, paranormal

A little confusing at times, but still an enjoyable read.

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Jul 29, 2011 Virna rated it 4 of 5 stars

I like this book ,the story is good and easy to read

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Oct 14, 2011 Tamara rated it 1 of 5 stars

I couldn't, and probably will never, finish reading this book. After reaching about the 8th page I had to stop. It was just... written so terribly. The once or twice a character had the chance to speak they did so for a whole page each (Seriously). If this isn't extreme info-dumping then I don't know what! The only thing that makes me happy about this book is that I was lucky enough to buy it for less than half price at a book sale.

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Dec 05, 2010 Romy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, australian, werewolves, books-i-read-in-2010

I loved getting lost in the whole medieval world Sue created, overall a really suspenseful and entertaining read. Full review to come soon ...

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Nov 07, 2011 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: aus-lit

Sue Bursztynski has crafted an action-filled, modern take on the courtly romances that manages to marry Arthurian-style mythology with aspects of sci fi, werewolf lore and a thoroughly modern view of gender roles in a proto-medieval world (Go Sue!). I enjoyed this a lot and recommend it highly to fans of chivalric literature. Werewolf YA has never looked like this.

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Mar 22, 2012 Wendy Orr rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: australian-fiction, ya-fiction, young-adult-fiction

Drawing on a medieval folktale and infused with well-researched historical background, this is an enjoyably different take on the werewolf genre.

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Apr 30, 2012 Jemima Puddle Duck rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, fey, favourites, werewolves

This was a beautiful story that has captured a piece of my heart, which it has taken with it back to the library.

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Mar 27, 2011 Belinda. Hamilton rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-fiction

Review at Burn Bright.com.au

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Oct 28, 2012 Candice M (tinylibrarian) added it

Shelves: paranormal, historical, booklist-reviews

Reviewed for Booklist

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May 20, 2013 Becky Chan added it

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About Sue Bursztynski

Sue Bursztynski grew up in Melbourne’s beachside suburbs, where she still lives. As a child, she used to sit on the beach to write, but later learned to write anywhere she could sit down with a pen and paper. She was thrilled to get her first computer, which meant she could make changes without having to re-write or re-type the whole story. She was even more thrilled when the Internet came along a...more

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