A Wolf in Space

by Alex Valdiers

Gunslinger. Skyhorse rider. Lone Wolf. Malvius is a veteran gunslinger in Larragon, a six-planet solar system with two rivers: two train lines linking each planet together. The two rivers are a beehive for opportunistic merchants and feisty gunslingers.

All you need to survive in Larragon is a skyhorse to roam the open space and a gunblaster to protect your hide and earn your keep. Wild moons and saloons are aplenty, money is easily made and lost, but life for Malvius isn’t about money, it is about helping who needs helping, shooting who needs shooting.

Along comes the Raoke Gang, shattered, their leader wounded, half of the gang incarcerated. Malvius feels compelled to help. Little did he know that simply relaying a message from their leader to the survivors of the Raoke Gang will send him on a wild course of events that will see him facing off a space wizard, assisting a space train heist, and become Larragon’s most wanted man.

Genres: Fantasy

400 pages, Paperback

Published January 23, 2024

Reviews

[Charles Cavendish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went into A Wolf in Space expecting a quirky sci-fi / western mash up and it does deliver that in spades. What I didn’t expect was the depth and heart of the story, centring on the adventures of lonesome gunslinger Malvius and his space horse Rhiann.

This is a rollicking tale with marauding gangs, saloon brawls, space train heists and even space mafia. But its also a story of being on the edges of society by virtue of your origins and not letting that prevent you living the life you chose.

This a great adventure of a book with a unique French flavour that runs through out the story and gives it a heartfelt depth.

I would highly recommend checking this out and I’m eagerly awaiting the chance to jump into further Raoke Gang tales.

[Jamedi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review originally on JamReads

A Wolf in Space is a novel that blends together science-fiction, western and some touches of the noir genre, being the first full novel in the Raoke Gang series, written by Alex Valdiers. A story that is a recount of the adventures our main character, Malvius, is living in the Larragon system; mixing his own memories with some soliloquies that helps us to connect better with him (in a style that is similar to the Saevus Corax trilogy).

Talking about A Wolf in Space is talking about Malvius, a gunslinger in the space; a lone wolf, with the sole company of his loyal space horse Rhiann, traveling from planet to planet in this sort of spatial system living adventures. From the start of the book, we can clearly see how Malvius governs his life by staying loyal to his philosophy, not accepting bullying and in many cases, taking decisions that might cause harm to himself, but always in the spirit of living adventures in that inhospit space.
In some points, especially when exploring Malvius' past and his dream of being a writer, you can feel how much Valdiers has put of himself into the book, transmiting that passion for the genre and the freedom, as well as his origins and how that can be a barrier sometimes, but always balancing well with the own existence of the character.

Malvius is the angular piece that ties together all the episodes related in this novel, which encapsulates several adventures, reinforcing that sensation of that frontier where freedom exists; from mafias and casinos that can feel closer to those noir elements previously mentioned to those iconic gun duels in the dessert that screams western. Each planet/location in the system is unique and well differentiated, sometimes including certain easter eggs to Earth locations. Outside of those locations, Valdiers has also made an excellent job at transmiting the inmensity and the danger of the outer space, a desert between planets.

The cast of secondary characters is well developed, especially those that are part of the Raoke Gang, who incidentally end gaining a big narrative weight when the plot advance; most of them hid more than you can see at first sight. Despite this is a story about Malvius, those secondaries are the spices that season this dish.

Pacing might suffer at some points, partly due to the mix between Malvius' philosophical moments and the adventures, but it is really enjoyable, especially because this mix allows you to recover your breath after intense moments.

A Wolf in Space is a great debut novel, a book that combines sci-fi with the freedom and adventures of the western genre; Valdiers is an author to watch in the space, and hopefully, we will have multiple Raoke Gang novels after this one.

[The Reading Ruru (Kerry)]

Disclaimer. Read as a judge for Space Girls in SPSFC4. This is my personal opinion only

25% read. I do enjoy the Western genre and the idea of SF setting was appealing. The plot seemed to follow standard Western tropes and whilst the concept of Space Horses was cool I unfortunately didn't click with the characters or plot.

[Nancy Foster]

I am one of the judges of team Space Girls for the SPSFC4 contest. This review is my personal opinion. Officially, it is still in the running for the contest, pending any official team announcements.

Status: Cut
Read: 32%

I am truly on the fence with this book. On one hand, it's a fun read and the pages flew super fast. I am trying to maintain my goal of reaching 30% with strict vehemence due to the quarterfinalist time limit. However, once I finish sampling the last remaining books in my group (which are now very few), I would like to finish this one and give the full score because I am certain I could finish it real fast.

The blurb and cover deliver what is promised: Wild space western gunslingers with horses. You get a (barely law abiding) gunslinger protagonist, a space horse, and random adventures in outer space. Horse lovers will certainly like the added realism where this book goes the extra mile and grants each space horse personalities and quirks.

Distances seems kind of unusual here. Even though horses travel very fast, they don't need to encircle planets for slingshots, survive perfectly fine in space without freezing, and their speed is somehow slow enough the rider can check a stranded human floating without blowing them up from cinetic energy. Even though the Sci Fi rules supreme, I suppose adding the Fantasy tag allows the author plenty of freedom in telling the story without needing further explanations about how the physics actually work.

Given I am a sucker for anything related to biological spaceships, this is cool with me.

I am indeed liking the story and writing style makes the read so easy on the eyes, I would have ended up reading it all in one go by sheer accident. However, I do feel some aspects of the book could have been better. Some text repeats itself or feels like a darling that could have been cut without losing readability. I also felt the story... well, there isn't exactly a one per se.

It's more like a perpetual roadtrip where the protagonist is constantly suckered into doing a free job for someone as in, hey, you look like an honest chap and won't steal my goods. Can you do this for free? And halfway to the destination, bumps into another random person who asks for help, and now he has two charity tasks. We do get intermissions where he visits a stingy saloon to drink space whiskey and hefty sums on hookers. Once he finishes one task, somehow he ends up accepting yet another one.

Space in the frontier is dangerous, where death duels are somewhat legal, and cops don't care about domestic violence, which might be a worthy trigger warning.

While there is certainly some hints of character growth creeping into the protagonist as he has second thoughts about old acquaintances, I was hurting a bit for a fleshed story at the 1/3 cutoff point. Some readers looking for books that are cozy with tons of bad boys having fun scenes will love the frequent saloon escapades.

I enjoyed the addition of French sentences peppered everywhere in the book and sort of understood most of the words. No idea if they are gramatically correct. As for the peppered Spanish, I would heavily suggest revision because while I could understand the words (most of the time), a lot of the words are missing diacritics, making me scratch my head and wonder which of 2 potential meanings are being said.

For example, I spent almost 10 minutes wondering what was Montez referring to when he said como se. The sentence is cut off with a question mark at the end. I could not determine if Montez was saying the phrase 'how is it... (called)...?' or 'how would I know... (about something)?' Either possibility given the full sentence intermingled with English could have been possible and I can't determine which was the correct intention of the phrase due to missing diactritics. There are several other instances where the Spanish is clearly Mexican instead of South American. Montez also says some phrases in English that seemed off to me.

I do hope this review doesn't seem too harsh because I am having fun reading this book. I think if the plot had been a bit clearer by the 1/3 point, I would have certainly voted yes.

[Jeremy Schwab · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was sent an ARC for "A Wolf in Space" in return for an honest review from author Alex Valdiers.

When Alex reached out and asked me if I'd be interested in reading his space western style Sci-fi adventure, I was intrigued to say the least. Not a style I usually read, but sounded like a Han Solo style romp through space...and who would turn that down?!

This story follows the MC Malvius and his recounting of the journey and crazy experiences he made, that ultimately lead him to a group of gunslingers he will become very close with and you guessed it, share their name with the title of this adventure..."The Raoke Gang" 🔥

The writing style in telling this story is also different from what I usually read (and I enjoy experiencing different writing styles), it reads as Malvius retelling his experiences as if reading from a journal entry to us readers. This is a interesting and at times cool way to lay out the events being told, but at times seemed to me to be either short on details that would give it a better view to the reader, or just sporadic and choppy recounts of events that just...don't flow smoothly from one to the next. Could this be cleaned up and improved upon ... absolutely, and towards the final third of the book, I feel like Valdiers starts to find his writing groove. The pacing of the final events leading to the finale of this story had good detail, emotion, pacing, flow and a rewarding finish. I hope to see more from this series in the future with Alex clearly expanding his craft, we could be in for quite a gravity defying adventure through the cosmos!

Never lacking in creativity, Valdiers paints a wild new take on space, space travel and wild West style gun-slinging! Vividly expressed backdrops leave very little to imagine while riding through space on the back of your Skyhorse or wandering in and out of Saloon's, shantytowns and cities on each planet and outpost. Dueling gunslingers, train heist, Mafia and gang turf wars grab your attention through this wild ride...make sure you check your skin suits and supplies, you never know where Valdiers and his wild imagination will have you going next! 😈🍻

3.5⭐ very creative

[Nastia · Rating 4 out of 5]

『I guess we’ve all done things we’re not proud of.』

3.5/5
I have never read space western, and i was intrigued and excited about the story and adventures.

In this story we are following our man who decided to make a good thing and help damsel in distress which led him into new adventures, joining the gang and meeting new people across the world. And best part of the journey was flying horse who was our rock, silent companion and loyal friend.
Unfortunately i had hard time connecting with our main male character, he is kinda space pirate, mercenary and criminal; at the same time he often makes strange and slightly uncharacteristic decisions and accept or even volunteer jobs. He was such a naive contradiction of a man. His moral compass is also unclear for me, cause he is not entirely evil or cruel, but he is not grey or even nice, as i said contradiction.

I really wanted to love this story and i liked world, space and flying space horses but (maybe because i read an ARC) I didn’t have a map, so story confused me with all the places our man visited or planned to visit or even simply mentioned.
Also the way story was told reminded me stories near the fire,fast paced, action driven a little bit hectic and messy; reminded me collection of memories and not a whole fluid story. For sure, this general idea and main quest connected all small parts of the story, but I expected more…simply more. Additionally some side characters and parts of the story were strange, cruel and slightly disturbing for me (i would even said that some of the themes should be mentioned in TW section).

Overall i think it’s a fine debut, especially if you love western, dark themes and want to see how it can be mixed with space adventures, and if it’s something you are interested in, please check this book! It will be release in couple of hours January 23rd.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars
Malvius is riding his skyhorse back with his friend Josephine when he first encounters the Raoke gang and saves their leader, Raoke herself. Having put his life on the line for strangers, his impulsive behaviour begets a world of trouble for him. He is asked to perform a task, that leads to another and, along the way, he gets side-tracked from what he is meant to be doing. This leads to him meeting/rescuing Herriot, a young merchant/farmer, with whom he embarks on an odyssey as she seeks to sell her goods. And it's all downhill from there onwards for Malvius.
For all this is a "Raoke Gang" novel, the gang is in the story remarkably little all told. The Wolf, Malvius himself, is the main driving force here and he is often overly wordy as a character, not to mention distinctly irrational at times. This is, more or less, a space western with a strong French influence - the author is, like his main character, a Laotian with strong French roots - and, as is quite typical of the French (particularly French cinema), there is a tendency to ramble about random ideas a bit too much, e.g. about the etymology of certain words, and to over-philosophise. However, in general "A Wolf in Space" is a worthy first effort in an ongoing series (there is a preceding novella knocking about, but this is the first full-length novel in the series) and, hopefully, the next book will prove to be even better.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Janneke Beer · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot of creativity and love in the world of "A Wolf in Space." I really enjoyed the sheer imagination of it. However, the writing and story didn't fulfil the promises the world made.

Structurally, the book feels very similar to "The Name of the Wind," in that a narrator recounts their adventures. This means there's a lot of the narrator explaining or describing without the reader being able to be truly absorbed in the world. Writing has a maxim - "show, don't tell" - and this book blithely strides past that, pausing only to tell the maxim how meaningless it is before narrating its way to the next plot point.

If that sort of "narrator after the fact" style works for you, you may enjoy this book more than I did. Beyond the structural choice, though, I found the sentence construction and general choice of language throughout a bit clunky. None of it is particularly bad writing, but neither does it do its world, characters, or story any favours. This is especially true of the dialogue descriptors, which bounce from mood to mood without any real rhyme or reason.

There's a lot here to enjoy, and there is a lot of potential. This book would benefit, though, from another pass by an editor, and a bit more of a sense of what it wants to be and a focus on crafting that particular story.

[Tom Bookbeard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Synopsis

Malvius is a lone wandering gunslinger in the Larragon system, a frontier of six planets linked by two space railways (or “rivers”). With nothing but his skyhorse, Rhiann, his blasters, and a bounty on his head, he roams the stars helping the unfortunate.

That is until he becomes involved with the Raoke gang, a bunch of ragtag outlaws making a name for themselves. Malvius soon finds himself facing space wizards, train heists and space mafias.

Review

What happens when you take a spaghetti western, Deadwood, and Mass Effect and blend that into a book? A Wolf in Space, that’s what. This indie debut already feels like the start of an unmissable series.

Jolie Compote

A myriad of different scenes is in store for readers of A Wolf in Space. Valdiers shoots for the moon. Saloon brawls, a posse out for blood, a space mafia with a vendetta are just a taster of a jam packed novel. So, does the book work or is there too much to digest? Well, as Mal says, just believing in the impossible is reaching for the extraordinary.

The versatility is the book’s greatest strength. I liked Mal’s nomadic canter from planet to planet and moon to moon. It explores a space frontier where something interesting is under every space stone overturned. 

And while it threatens to be a lonely life for a gunslinger in space, Mal’s relationship with his space horse, Rhiann, is charming and heartfelt like a throwback to Atreyu and Artax from Neverending Story. Mal’s other relationships with friends and former comrades also make their sporadic appearances and lead the story to break up into a series of vignettes. Couple this with Valdiers’ well-rounded character development and it reminds me of one of my favourite authors in Sci Fi - R.W.W. Greene. Maybe I just like this insular space western theme - when characters appear in such a lonesome setting they simply must matter more.

Most satisfying of all though, it's a goddam Space Western! Sex, violence, saloon brawls, shootouts, and duels. What more could you ask for? A Wolf in Space is set to be one of the most badass titles of the year.

C’est ma vie

Let's put all badassery aside. As it transpires, Wolf is also an immensely personal journey for the author. And not just because he wears iconic mutton chops like Mal (and presumably rides a space horse when he's not writing). There are times where the book seems to stray into the pseudo-autobiographical. For example, Mal was dead set on becoming a writer before giving up and taking up gunslinging. His writing life long behind him yet still a sore wound, I wonder if Valdiers considers Mal to be himself in a different universe.

Mal’s mixed heritage too (born in New Orleans and of Laotian descent) serves up some further hurdles for him to overcome. That sense of belonging feels like a difficult burden for Mal to bear and makes for a road into our lone wolf’s mind. The duty of looking out for one's own blood also becomes a key component of the late stages of the book.

There’s always a risk when an author puts so much into a book that it could become self-serving. Thankfully A Wolf in Space is nothing of the sort and its intimacy with the reader is what makes it a book full of heart.

The Raoke Gang’s All Here

There’s some serious firepower and potential on display with The Raoke Gang series. Whilst A Wolf in Space certainly works well as a standalone, there’s some curious gang members to explore and a chance for vastly different stories to be told. If A Wolf in Space is any indicator then Valdiers is a Science Fiction writer worth keeping TBR tabs on.

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Malvius is a gunslinger of some repute in Larragon, a solar system of six planets.
Where the rivers are a haven for greedy merchants and gunslingers like him.
Life is tough and to survive you need a Skyhorse and gunblaster.
Life is cheap and money is earned the hard way.
But Malvius is unique in the respect he doesn't just want the money side of things, his nature is to help those who need it and shoot those who deserve it.
When he meets the Raoke Gang their leader is wounded so of course he lends aid.
This in turn leads him on an epic adventure involving a space wizard, duels, train heists and danger turning Malvius into a highly wanted man on Larragon.
Never read anything like this before, a Western space adventure, a really fresh take on the Sci fi / fantasy genre.
Malvius was a brilliant character, loyal to friends and with a high moral sense justice and right and wrong in a lawless world
Definitely going to read the other short story in the series and looking forward to the next wild west adventure coming later this year.
Received an ARC of this from the author and am very grateful to have been given the chance to read it.

[A Night Bird]

A Wolf in Space is a very character-focused, character-driven novel that takes a deep dive into who Malvius and what his experiences are. It's basically fantasy set in space in the future. I really liked the character-driven narrative, the main character himself, and several of the other characters - they all felt human and real - but I found there were a few elements that didn't agree with me. The first person narrative was really boring for the first third or so in a way that reminded me of Terry Pratchett (who in my opinion has THE MOST BORING fiction I've ever tried to read), and there was a bit more detail on disgusting things that I felt necessary.

Full review here: https://enthralledbylove.com/2024/01/...

[Sarah Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a huge fan of the TV show Firefly, and this book gives me those vibes—space cowboys, wild West but flying from moon to moon instead of riding from town to town. The main character is well-rounded, and all the secondary and side characters are rich and alive. The author has a great way with writing characters that seem like you could go down to any seedy motel or back alley and find them hanging out.

The world-building is superb! I really understood this world that the author created. I could easily see it in my mind as I was reading.

If you love space cowboys or space operas, definitely pick this one up.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buckle up and let the Raoke gang take you on a wild ride! Think Wild West with a space faring twist.
The fleshing out of the main characters is such that I feel invested, I want to know how their individual stories are going to unfold. Even the more unsavoury characters! The good, the bad and the ugly, provide a rich and interesting cast.
Malvius is a strong lead and gives a real sense of the lone wolf, relying on his wits, humour and gunsling skills as he makes his way through life and space. A highly recommended read.

[Alex Valdiers]

Thank you to everyone who's read and will read A Wolf in Space. Please be advised the text has been revised since publication to alter some scenes I did not feel comfortable with. These particular scenes no longer align with the vision I have for this series going forward.

The next novel will be released in June / July 2024. It's also a stand alone, titled Death of a Mad Dragon. The third novel should be the first novel of a sub-series of 4 books within the Raoke Gang. More infos will follow.

[Di · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this story was rather interesting and a bit of a different take then the typical military story. While there is action and duels , there is also enough world building introduced that makes me interested in reading more to see how it does. I can’t wait to read the complete story of these complex characters.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Laurie Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

For something completely different this has to be the series of choice. Think of a western but in space and you're pretty much there. Strong characters abound and there is a nice mix of the good, the bad and the ugly. Lots of twists and a sense of honour throughout give this compelling novel teeth. I was totally engrossed and read it in one long session.

[Christinaraven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story that mixed a space opera with the wild west to get an unique and fun story with space horses, gangs, outlaws, trouble, danger, and some very interesting characters. Loved the smash up of genre that actually works and kept me entertained to see what craziness was going to happen next.

[Destiny Imperati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wild West meets Space✨
This is a book full of creativity and so much action! Alex displayed a bunch of imagination in his writing and it really captured my attention the whole time reading! A wolf in space is full of Sci-fi mixed with Western. The Raoke Gang is a fantastic journey and definitely makes me want to read more of the western genre.

[Charles Hirst · Rating 5 out of 5]

The phrase "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do! sprang to mind when I read this book.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting, compelling read—quality writing and storytelling from burgeoning talent. I look forward to seeing what Alex writes next!