The author of the highly regarded The White Puma once again blends superb storytelling, science, and genuine love of all living creatures to craft a novel of adventure and survival. Told through the eyes of timber wolf Silverfeet, as he grows from a pup to a mature animal, this gripping tale evokes the spirit of Dances with Wolves and White Fang.
R.D. Lawrence was a Canadian naturalist and wildlife author. Born aboard ship in the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Spain on September 12, 1921, he moved to Canada in 1954. RD Lawrence died of Alzheimer's on November 27, 2003 in Haliburton County, Ontario, Canada.
RD Lawrence's many books are published in 26 countries and 15 languages and take us to animal habitats far from humans; to the boreal forests of North America alive with puma, beaver, bear, timber wolves and eagles, to the frigid waters of the Pacific Northwest where orcas thrive, and to the sharks of the Red Sea.
In this wonderful story we see the Canadian northland through the eyes of a pack of Timberwolves. We follow an experienced she-wolf through hunts, famine, and danger, as she leads her pack seeking food and safety, as hunter and prey. After losing her pack in a dangerous hunt, we go with her back to safety and loneliness, until she finds another mate, and breeds a new pack. Then we enjoy the puppyhood and harsh lessons of the new generation, as they face predators and joyous tumbles, learning to hunt for themselves. Only dire straits, hunger and fire, drive them far enough south to encounter their most dangerous enemy, man.
The novel reads much like Jack London, demonstrating the strength and intelligence of the wolf, as we see the world from his point of view, and root for him through all his trials just as we side with people we meet in other novels. Lawrence shows natural life as it is, with all its dangers, without romanticizing or magically escaping them.
Guess I have read too many stories similar to this and seen TV programs on such; seem more a young person's read, my opinion. I do love nature and the descriptions in that area were good.
This wasn't the first novel I read by R.D. Lawrence, this man did however pull me in to reading novels about animals, the reader taken in to the written world, through the eyes of the animal, no humans or very few.
Coming to this book, that what I say above is exactly what happens when you start reading, you can almost smell the world that is displayed in words, the author knows this place like it's his own backyard. And there you have it, look him up on google (let me help you a bit: http://www.crywild.com/ ) and you will see that it's exactly that, his backyard. Or better said was, may he rest in peace.
Read his books and be astonished how much passion for nature and especially the animals Ronald Douglas Lawrence puts in his writings.
Told in a dry, impersonal tone, this book seems to be trying to imitate Jack London’s works, but is nowhere near as good. The author seems very keen to lecture readers, but is not quite as knowledgeable as he thinks he is. It particularly annoyed me that the animals can somehow magically tell which humans are friendly and which mean them harm. Life for wild animals would be an awful lot easier if this were possible!
"...man does not yet know enough about the ways of the wolf. What we do know, however, proclaims clearly that the wolf is more sinned against than sinner."
This preface by Lawrence clearly sets the tone of this book. What starts off as a general survival tale of a mother wolf transforms into a struggle for freedom for one of her pups, Silverfeet. Silverfeet is trapped by a man named Morgan early on in his life. Fueled by pure ignorance and false tales, Morgan and the men of the surrounding community peg Silverfeet as a menace after he acts out of instinct. This was a fast paced read. I enjoyed the interludes about the daily lives of the other animals of the northern forest that were interspersed in the story as well.
Lawrence definitely has an anti-trapping agenda in this book, I think. His descriptions of animals in the hands of man and his tools are sad and kinda macabre. Overall an excellent book.
Naturalist Lawrence writes about the life of a timber wolf cub named Silverfeet who lives in the wilds of Canada. The playful antics of youth and pack life are soon threatened by man.