Book Review / "A Pack of Wolves" by P.L. Stuart

A Pack of Wolves by P.L. Stuart

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


While I was reading the fifth instalment of the epic fantasy masterpiece of a series – The Drowned Kingdom Saga by P.L. Stuart – the thought struck me that after this one, only two more books in Othrun’s story will be left. And even though I’m burning with impatience to find out how the author wraps up the life of one of my favourite characters in modern literature, this thought scared me. What will I be looking forward to after Othrun’s destiny is told in full? So far, following the fate of an arrogant, stubborn, suffering from world-saviour syndrome royal bastard has been a riveting, totally engrossing literary adventure. And I’m not ready to say goodbye to it.

Well, enough with the lyrical – Othrun would not have appreciated it anyway. I’d better share my impressions about the book.

In “A Pack of Wolves” Othrun’s pack becomes smaller. When he arrived in Acremia, he was very young, almost a boy. But the people, the kings who have become his friends and allies, were much older. So, the time has come for Othrun to part with those who had seen and also facilitated his ascension to the throne of his new kingdom Eastrealm. Although not an old man yet, Othrun feels his age. He has fought many a battle. Most of those battles he has won, thus having deserved the fame of the great warlord of Eltnia. He knows about war and isn’t afraid of it. Yet, he isn’t ready for the battle that awaits him, for he’ll have to fight against the foe he doesn’t want to destroy.

In book five of the saga, more secrets are revealed, and the readers find the answers to the questions they have been asking themselves since reading book one. I appreciate how the author unravels the knots he has been masterfully tying throughout the story from the beginning.
My favourite part of the book is the audacious mission Othrun undertakes to save someone important to him. It reminded me of Othrun’s self-discovery quest in book two “The Last of the Atalanteans”, where he had to test himself through humiliation and humility. In my opinion, that quest had been a sort of salvation for him. And although what he did – saved King Wely and helped to restore him on the throne – didn’t make him a good man, it did make him a better one. A better version of himself, if you will.

After leaving his great home kingdom behind, buried forever under the waves of the merciless ocean, he never stopped perfecting his battle skills. Othrun has fought and killed, and the need to kill his enemy was never an obstacle but rather a sacred duty. Yet, the day has come when if he kills the one who challenged him, he will lose. But defeat is not an option since the people he has sworn to protect would suffer. It is probably the toughest dilemma Othrun has ever faced in his turbulent life full of seemingly lost cases which led him to glory.

In “A Pack of Wolves”, Othrun’s sons – legitimate ones – are around the same age their father had been when he had fought his first battles. His oldest son, named Othrun after him, is a good man. One might say the kind Othrun himself has never been. He is decent, honest, and kind. He respects his duty towards his legacy and his kingdom. Yet, I was surprised having realised that I don’t like him. In a dialogue about his future, he is asked: “What’s the point of being a king, if you can’t make the choices you desire?” That question didn’t make me think about Othrun the younger. Instead, it helped me understand his father better.

The reason why Othrun has risen to power and stayed at the top, against the odds which were various and plentiful, was that he has always made the choices he truly desired. His deepest, most sincere and all-encompassing wish has always been to become a great king, respected, feared, and admired. True, he had moments of doubts and moments of heartache, grief, and pain. He wasn’t always proud of the things he did. But he would have never been satisfied – ‘happy’ doesn’t seem a fitting word in this context – had he made different choices which wouldn’t have led him to the position of a great king.

“A Pack of Wolves” inevitably takes the readers closer to the finale of the Drowned Kingdom Saga. The author’s skill in building a battle scene is unparalleled. On the pages of his books, war isn’t solely about bloodshed. It isn’t even only about tactics and strategies. Wars are initiated, planned, and fought by people. And when something is about people, a human factor always plays a huge role both in the process and in the outcome.

Othrun knows that wars begin much earlier than a battle begins and the first blood gets spilled. A war starts with two people disagreeing with each other, and soon, they pull others into their dispute. First, advisors and, in Othrun and his enemy’s case, their families, then those who will lead people to battle, and finally, the soldiers who will die and those who will remain at home waiting for the news, devastating or otherwise.

For the first time in his life, before leading his army into battle, Othrun is forced to think as a man and not as a war general. Is he capable of such a fundamental change? And is he ready to face the consequences if he isn’t?

After finishing “A Pack of Wolves”, I’m back to the state I’ve gotten used to since I read book one of the saga – waiting impatiently for the author to share the next book with us.



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A Pack of Wolves