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Changeling #3
Blood Wolf
Blood Wolf [Paperback] Feasey, Steve
288 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2010
13 people are currently reading
565 people want to read
About the author
Steve Feasey
17 books157 followersSteve Feasey was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, UK in 1968. From a modest background, he found escape in books, and spent much of his time in his local library. Always an avid reader, he only began writing in his late thirties, but was fortunate to land a publishing deal for his very first book, Changeling.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 16, 2024
jak byłam młodsza to mnie ta książka wkurwiala(głównie przez to że Trey jest łatwowiernym debilem)
czytając to teraz doceniłam kilka rzeczy: fabuła jest całkiem składna, LUCIEN MA SWÓJ WĄTEK, YASSSS (kocham Luciena)
i Alexa czemu ty tracisz resztki mózgu akurat na samym końcu dnjssksj
czytając to teraz doceniłam kilka rzeczy: fabuła jest całkiem składna, LUCIEN MA SWÓJ WĄTEK, YASSSS (kocham Luciena)
i Alexa czemu ty tracisz resztki mózgu akurat na samym końcu dnjssksj
January 13, 2020
Jeg forstår simpelthen ikke, hvordan Steve Feasey har formået at holde tempoet i denne serie. Selvom efterskriftet fra forfatteren dog antyder, at det da heller ikke har været uden vanskeligheder, er der ikke noget at mærke på hverken plot, karakterudviklingen eller sproget undervejs; det lader ved første øjekast til at køre på skinner. Og det er vel netop magien ved, at vi som læsere som oftest kun ser det færdige produkt, og er forskånet for meget af processen bag den endelige bog.
Trey har brug for at finde svar om sin familie og sit biologiske ophav, og eftersom hans onkel er hans eneste tilbageværende familiemedlem, er det naturligt at opsøge ham, trods advarslerne fra Lucien og det faktum, at onkel Frank ikke er guds bedste barn - eller videre charmerende selskab, for den sags skyld.
I kraft af mit eget ophav som adopteret, har Treys længsel efter nogle konkrete svar været til at tage at føle på. Det er en længsel, som kan være vanskelig at sætte sig ind i, hvis ikke man selv har gennemlevet det, og alligevel kan jeg blive imponeret over, hvor realistisk, denne følelse skildres i visse værker. Det er aldrig helt det samme hver eneste gang, men overraskende ofte kommer det faktisk uhyggeligt tæt på min egen oplevelse af følelsen. Trods man egentlig lever under ordentlige forhold, hvor man udadtil ikke lader til at mangle noget, hverken materialistisk eller i forhold til relationer til sine medmennesker, kan man godt være efterladt med følelsen af, at der mangler noget, - som om der er nogle puslespilsbrikker, der er forsvundet, og som man absolut MÅ finde.
Derfor rør Treys rejse i denne bog mig måske også særligt dybt. Han får ikke alle de svar, han nok havde regnet med, han ville få, da han rejste hjemmefra, men han vender alligevel tilbage som et andet, og sandsynligvis mere fuldt menneske end han var i starten af fortællingen.
Dog er rejsen endnu ikke slut for Trey og hans venner. Hvad hans videre færd har at byde på, ser jeg frem til at opleve og læse..
Trey har brug for at finde svar om sin familie og sit biologiske ophav, og eftersom hans onkel er hans eneste tilbageværende familiemedlem, er det naturligt at opsøge ham, trods advarslerne fra Lucien og det faktum, at onkel Frank ikke er guds bedste barn - eller videre charmerende selskab, for den sags skyld.
I kraft af mit eget ophav som adopteret, har Treys længsel efter nogle konkrete svar været til at tage at føle på. Det er en længsel, som kan være vanskelig at sætte sig ind i, hvis ikke man selv har gennemlevet det, og alligevel kan jeg blive imponeret over, hvor realistisk, denne følelse skildres i visse værker. Det er aldrig helt det samme hver eneste gang, men overraskende ofte kommer det faktisk uhyggeligt tæt på min egen oplevelse af følelsen. Trods man egentlig lever under ordentlige forhold, hvor man udadtil ikke lader til at mangle noget, hverken materialistisk eller i forhold til relationer til sine medmennesker, kan man godt være efterladt med følelsen af, at der mangler noget, - som om der er nogle puslespilsbrikker, der er forsvundet, og som man absolut MÅ finde.
Derfor rør Treys rejse i denne bog mig måske også særligt dybt. Han får ikke alle de svar, han nok havde regnet med, han ville få, da han rejste hjemmefra, men han vender alligevel tilbage som et andet, og sandsynligvis mere fuldt menneske end han var i starten af fortællingen.
Dog er rejsen endnu ikke slut for Trey og hans venner. Hvad hans videre færd har at byde på, ser jeg frem til at opleve og læse..
June 25, 2024
yeah cool etc but I LOVE TREY AND TOM’S RELATIONSHIP
YOU HAVE MY WORD ON IT
YOU HAVE MY WORD ON IT
May 10, 2011
*This review contains spoilers from the second book in the series*
At the end of the second book in the Changeling series Trey discovered that he has an uncle who’s still alive. In this third installment, which basically takes place in the span of only a few days, Trey travels unannounced to Canada to meet his uncle, against the wishes of his friends Lucien, Tom and Alexa. Unfortunately, Trey’s uncle, Frank, isn’t what he thought or hoped he would be. He lives alone with his dog on land that’s supposed to be protected from vampires due to a deal he made with a demon long ago. Because of this, members of the new LG78 pack (the old one disbanded years before), led by an alpha werewolf named Jurgen, live in lakeside cabins on Frank’s property. Trey learns a bit more about his family from Frank, which leads him to make some life changing decisions. Jurgen, however, feels threatened by Trey’s sudden arrival and has different plans for him.
Meanwhile, back in England, Lucien, Alexa and Tom are trying to help Philippa, who had been taken over by a Necrotroph demon, recover from her experience and from the death of her father. It also seems that her ordeal may have resulted in an ability that could help the trio with the latest problem they’re faced with. Unfortunately, Lucien is having difficulties of his own, which could have disastrous results.
I liked this book quite a bit. As with the second book in the series (Dark Moon), it alternates between what’s happening in England with what’s going on in Canada. We’re introduced to several new characters, and Philippa, who’s not the brat she was in the last book, has an expanded role. The stories being told are completely different; there’s a good amount of cat and mouse with the group in London as they try and stay one step ahead of the demon that’s determined to kill one of them, while Trey is still dealing with being a werewolf and finding others like him. The book concludes with not one, but several loose ends and I look forward to seeing how things play out in book four, Demon Games.
At the end of the second book in the Changeling series Trey discovered that he has an uncle who’s still alive. In this third installment, which basically takes place in the span of only a few days, Trey travels unannounced to Canada to meet his uncle, against the wishes of his friends Lucien, Tom and Alexa. Unfortunately, Trey’s uncle, Frank, isn’t what he thought or hoped he would be. He lives alone with his dog on land that’s supposed to be protected from vampires due to a deal he made with a demon long ago. Because of this, members of the new LG78 pack (the old one disbanded years before), led by an alpha werewolf named Jurgen, live in lakeside cabins on Frank’s property. Trey learns a bit more about his family from Frank, which leads him to make some life changing decisions. Jurgen, however, feels threatened by Trey’s sudden arrival and has different plans for him.
Meanwhile, back in England, Lucien, Alexa and Tom are trying to help Philippa, who had been taken over by a Necrotroph demon, recover from her experience and from the death of her father. It also seems that her ordeal may have resulted in an ability that could help the trio with the latest problem they’re faced with. Unfortunately, Lucien is having difficulties of his own, which could have disastrous results.
I liked this book quite a bit. As with the second book in the series (Dark Moon), it alternates between what’s happening in England with what’s going on in Canada. We’re introduced to several new characters, and Philippa, who’s not the brat she was in the last book, has an expanded role. The stories being told are completely different; there’s a good amount of cat and mouse with the group in London as they try and stay one step ahead of the demon that’s determined to kill one of them, while Trey is still dealing with being a werewolf and finding others like him. The book concludes with not one, but several loose ends and I look forward to seeing how things play out in book four, Demon Games.
August 23, 2010
2 minutes of happy, can't we get 2 freaking minutes Steve? I mean COME ON! :)
This book much like the first and the 2nd was full of action, from the minute I picked it up, the story is moving, at a pace that's comfortable yet, fast!
It had me rocking in my shoes, I loved this 3rd book just as much as the first...Trey is still the same old Trey...but on his own to find out more about who his family is, or was.
I love how this is a series, and while the main "bad guy" stays the same, the stories are all VERY differnt, each book has a different feel, to go with the differences in the story.
Full review to come soon.
This book much like the first and the 2nd was full of action, from the minute I picked it up, the story is moving, at a pace that's comfortable yet, fast!
It had me rocking in my shoes, I loved this 3rd book just as much as the first...Trey is still the same old Trey...but on his own to find out more about who his family is, or was.
I love how this is a series, and while the main "bad guy" stays the same, the stories are all VERY differnt, each book has a different feel, to go with the differences in the story.
Full review to come soon.
December 17, 2022
1.5 stars. One for all the potential this had to be good, and half for some good descriptions (when Feasey is trying to be creepy and not purple).
I'm gonna break this down by its two-and-a-half subplots.
The Werewolf Part
(I was going to put "Trey's subplot" or something, but as you'll see, it ain't about him.)
I want to begin by complaining about the werewolf lore in these books, which is hopelessly confusing and self-contradictory when Feasey bothers to explain it at all. Werewolves change into giant wolves called "Wolfans" on the full moon. They run wild and will retain no memories of what happens when they turn back into humans. Okay. But if you have the amulet you can change whenever you want into a bipedal "lycanthrope," retain your human intelligence and remember what happened afterwards. But then you can also change with a pack, during which time you're the wild Wolfan, but will retain your memory? And also maybe you can lose control with the amulet? Trey is a "hereditary werewolf," which means that he's better and the Chosen One, but other werewolves also inherit lycanthropy from their fathers, but aren't a big deal for some reason. (Maybe because their moms weren't werewolves too?) Lycanthropy passes from father to son, so female werewolves aren't a thing, except it also passes by bite so you can literally make as many female werewolves as you want, but there's still only one and she's treated like a rare, irreplaceable commodity.
This is all confusing enough laid out together; now imagine getting it in random bits and pieces spread across three books. You definitely get the feeling that Feasey is making things up as he goes along.
But that's not the main problem. The main problem is Trey, who manages to stop being a generic protagonist by becoming a unbelievably stupid one.
In the last book, Trey was mad at Lucien for not telling him about his uncle, whom he intended to meet, despite Lucien's vague objections. The conflict seemed forced, but whatever. When we open, Trey doesn't seem to be mad at Lucien anymore, and realizes that his uncle is probably a jackass, but also wants to go see him, and refuses to have anyone accompany him for his own vague reasons. Again, it feels like we're kind of railroading the plot here.
Trey's relationship with his uncle, Frank, actually starts off as this book's highlight. Frank is an alcoholic wreck and a general asshole, but he's also very pitiable: blind, suffering because of his lycanthropy, and still smarting that his dad liked Trey's father better than him. In a series of two-dimensional heroes and one-dimensional villains, he stands out as an actual complex character. I didn't know if he was gonna be a bad guy or not, nor how their story would develop.
(Not well, it turns out.)
So Frank tells Trey that Trey's father, Dan, may have done a bad thing once as a werewolf. I remind you that a.) Frank is an asshole, b.) he really has a grudge against Trey's father, and c.) by his own account, he doesn't actually know if Dan did the bad thing, it's just a possibility. But as soon as Trey hears this, it's like he has an instant lobotomy. He is 10,000,000,000,000% sure that this is true, and that his father was a MONSTER, and that means that he is also a MONSTER, he laments as he falls to his knees and pounds at the ground (no, seriously, he does this). And you know that magical amulet that lets him control his lycanthropy? He melodramatically throws it away into the trees, because why pretend that he isn't a MONSTER, and this goes on and on for more than half of the book. He even acknowledges that Frank told him this to hurt him, but he never considers that, y'know, that might mean that it's not actually true?
There's even a stupid scene that's like:
Trey: You've convinced me that I am a BEAST, Uncle Frank! A horrible creature unfit for human society!
Frank: Okay, Trey, about what I said—
Trey: I am going to stay here, on your isolated land forever, so that I can't hurt any of my loved ones. Even though I guess I still hate you and have not asked your permission to do this.
Frank: If you hate me, why are you sitting down to have breakfast with me?
Trey: ANGST! ANGST!
Frank: Look, I was lying. Your father didn't actually—
Trey: Um, could you stop interrupting? So rude. Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. AAAAANGST! ANGST AND MELODRAMA! BLAAGGHH!
Spoiler: Frank did the bad thing and blamed it on Trey's dad. Which is kind of disappointing, actually. It seems like the easiest answer, compared to "Dan did it but that didn't make him an irredeemable monster," or "we'll never know who did it," or some other answer that Trey would have to make peace with.
Side note: When Frank turns into a werewolf, he locks himself in a cage, which he hates doing. The thing is, he owns a big piece of land, which is fenced off specifically so that werewolves can run around there without hurting anybody. A bunch of other werewolves live on his land and do just that, but the book just...doesn't bother trying to explain why Frank doesn't join them.
Speaking of the other werewolves...we hear about them early on, but the only one we meet during the first half of this subplot is Ella, the one female werewolf who is super special even though, as previously mentioned, they shouldn't be as rare as we're led to believe. (Kind of like Trey, now that I think about it.) When we meet the rest of the pack, their leader/Ella's boyfriend Jurgen is the only one to initially get any focus. To summarize: he's the villain. But then the pack suddenly takes over the story, and we're introduced to Marcus, and Luke, and Lawrence, and we're supposed to care about them and their interpersonal dynamics and actions despite the fact that we've spent no time setting these characters up before now.
Also, another side note: When Trey meets the pack, the narrations says that there are six of them, and from the context, it seems to be excluding Ella, who would make seven. By the end of the story, there are five members total, which includes Ella. These books are edited about as well as they're written.
Once the pack takes over the story and people start killing each other, what is Trey doing? He...is on a walk through the forest. Then has a brief and pointless conversation with Lawrence, the least important member of the pack. Then he breaks into Ella's cabin and reads a book. He doesn't affect the action at all, except to the degree that Jurgen's paranoid delusions center on him, and Frank and the others want to protect him. Near the end he does , but he doesn't even fight the villain himself, so our protagonist's grand contribution is basically "hands the weapon to the actual hero."
I'm not opposed to characters other than the protagonist solving the plot; actually, having Frank and Ella fight Jurgen works better for their character arcs. But what was Trey's arc? Being an idiot? Why is he the main character when he didn't do anything, grow as a person or even offer an interesting perspective on what's going on?
This was supposed to be about Trey grappling with his more violent werewolf instincts. Instead, he spends the whole book throwing a tantrum and imagines that that's the same thing.
Yet another side-note: Trey's conversation with Lawrence makes him look like an asshole. He knows that Lawrence is scared of Jurgen, and he plays on that just so that Lawrence will let him sneak into Ella's cabin like a creep. Also, the narration keeps calling Lawrence "(the) ginger" even when Trey deigns to remember his name.
Even if this whole thing had been written better, it has a lot of my personal pet peeves. I don't like stories about "werewolf packs," with their alpha/beta/omega ranks that actual wolves don't even really have. Are the werewolves in this series bloodthirsty monsters or semi-realistic wolves? Because those aren't the same thing. I also don't find living that way appealing at all, and since Trey isn't really tempted by it either, I can't even vicariously understand why the characters choose to do it.
I actually spent a good while wondering why anyone would join Jurgen's pack, given how awful he is. The thing is, when we get the backstory, way too late in the book, it actually makes sense. And I think it would have made a better story than this one! This should have been a book about a bunch of persecuted werewolves banding together, only to slowly realize that the guy who arranged this setup is a dangerous psycho. We don't need Trey for that. If we're going to include him and make it a part of this series, he should have at least met the other characters earlier, heard their backstory from them instead of the narration just randomly info-dumping it at an awkward place later. Even the parts of this story that could have been good are ruined by how badly it's structured.
The Tipsbury Subplot (is Still Going on for Some Reason)
It turns out that being possessed gave Philippa the power to sense supernatural creatures, and specifically gave her a mind-link with the Necrotroph. Thus they want to use her to find and stop it once and for all.
In the last book, Philippa's story was a waste of time, so on the one hand, I appreciate the chance for it to actually lead somewhere. Heck, with Trey's stuff disconnected from Caliban, one could argue that this is really the A-plot. And it's better written than the werewolf stuff, to the point where I actually found myself hoping to come back to it more.
But...I still don't care? Part of this might be leftover annoyance from the last book, but more than that, the Necrotroph just doesn't seem very threatening. On a small scale, yes, its description and the subtle way that it manipulates its hosts' minds is very creepy. But we're supposed to see it as a threat to Lucien's whole organization, and it never feels like one. It spent the whole last book failing to get some information that wouldn't have mattered anyway, and while it has a good plan here, the heroes are onto it the whole time; as a result, it never feels very dangerous.
I guess the Necrotroph managed to kidnap Alexa in the first book, but we don't know how, so...wait. Why did it kidnap Alexa? Why didn't it possess her? That would have been the perfect plan! She's OP, in the top echelon of the whole organization, and this would have hurt Lucien more than anything else that Caliban could do! WTF?
It doesn't help that this storyline violates the Unspoken Plan Guarantee: we know how the good guys are going to stop the Necrotroph, so when it succeeds, it's not very engaging. It would have worked better if they had set up the Ashnon in a way that didn't telegraph what was going to happen.
I will say that the Ashnon's whole setup is interesting. I'm not sure if it makes sense, but unlike the overly-complicated werewolf stuff, I'm willing to overlook all that in favor of "magic," as a weirdly benevolent version of the whole Deal with the Devil trope. The description of the Netherworld hotel are also creepy...though unintentionally silly, so I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Anyway, Philippa gets kidnapped by the end, and Alexa, probably desperate to out-idiot Trey, immediately runs off to the Netherworld to save her, rather than wait five minutes for when she could have gotten backup and a plan. So we'll get more of this story next time! Yay.
Lucien's Half-Subplot
Lucien is losing control of his vampire instincts because of Caliban's bite. This is mostly setup for the next book.
On the one hand, it's still kind of weird that a vampire got affected by another vampire biting him. On the other, this "grappling with his inner beast" thing could have been a good parallel to Trey doing the same thing. Back on the first hand, however...well, just reread the part about Trey's subplot.
Other Notes
Tom was barely in this book. Tom is the only one with a real personality. And now we're setting up for the next book to be similarly Tom-less? Actually, none of these books have all of the main characters together. Alexa was kidnapped in the first book, Lucien was comatose in the second, and here Trey is off doing his own, very dumb thing. Now everyone is off in their own stories, and we're gonna dedicate a whole book just for Trey to bring them all back together.
I touched upon this earlier, but Feasey has an annoying tendency of telling things in long, past-perfect tangents. Like when Jurgen and co. broke into Frank's house: we start with them torturing Frank, then spend a page and a half with "they had broken in. They had attacked Frank. They had tied him to a chair." If you wanted to start there, start there. The werewolf backstory was told the same way.
I'm honestly tempted to give up this series, but I'll probably read the last two.
I'm gonna break this down by its two-and-a-half subplots.
The Werewolf Part
(I was going to put "Trey's subplot" or something, but as you'll see, it ain't about him.)
I want to begin by complaining about the werewolf lore in these books, which is hopelessly confusing and self-contradictory when Feasey bothers to explain it at all. Werewolves change into giant wolves called "Wolfans" on the full moon. They run wild and will retain no memories of what happens when they turn back into humans. Okay. But if you have the amulet you can change whenever you want into a bipedal "lycanthrope," retain your human intelligence and remember what happened afterwards. But then you can also change with a pack, during which time you're the wild Wolfan, but will retain your memory? And also maybe you can lose control with the amulet? Trey is a "hereditary werewolf," which means that he's better and the Chosen One, but other werewolves also inherit lycanthropy from their fathers, but aren't a big deal for some reason. (Maybe because their moms weren't werewolves too?) Lycanthropy passes from father to son, so female werewolves aren't a thing, except it also passes by bite so you can literally make as many female werewolves as you want, but there's still only one and she's treated like a rare, irreplaceable commodity.
This is all confusing enough laid out together; now imagine getting it in random bits and pieces spread across three books. You definitely get the feeling that Feasey is making things up as he goes along.
But that's not the main problem. The main problem is Trey, who manages to stop being a generic protagonist by becoming a unbelievably stupid one.
In the last book, Trey was mad at Lucien for not telling him about his uncle, whom he intended to meet, despite Lucien's vague objections. The conflict seemed forced, but whatever. When we open, Trey doesn't seem to be mad at Lucien anymore, and realizes that his uncle is probably a jackass, but also wants to go see him, and refuses to have anyone accompany him for his own vague reasons. Again, it feels like we're kind of railroading the plot here.
Trey's relationship with his uncle, Frank, actually starts off as this book's highlight. Frank is an alcoholic wreck and a general asshole, but he's also very pitiable: blind, suffering because of his lycanthropy, and still smarting that his dad liked Trey's father better than him. In a series of two-dimensional heroes and one-dimensional villains, he stands out as an actual complex character. I didn't know if he was gonna be a bad guy or not, nor how their story would develop.
(Not well, it turns out.)
So Frank tells Trey that Trey's father, Dan, may have done a bad thing once as a werewolf. I remind you that a.) Frank is an asshole, b.) he really has a grudge against Trey's father, and c.) by his own account, he doesn't actually know if Dan did the bad thing, it's just a possibility. But as soon as Trey hears this, it's like he has an instant lobotomy. He is 10,000,000,000,000% sure that this is true, and that his father was a MONSTER, and that means that he is also a MONSTER, he laments as he falls to his knees and pounds at the ground (no, seriously, he does this). And you know that magical amulet that lets him control his lycanthropy? He melodramatically throws it away into the trees, because why pretend that he isn't a MONSTER, and this goes on and on for more than half of the book. He even acknowledges that Frank told him this to hurt him, but he never considers that, y'know, that might mean that it's not actually true?
There's even a stupid scene that's like:
Trey: You've convinced me that I am a BEAST, Uncle Frank! A horrible creature unfit for human society!
Frank: Okay, Trey, about what I said—
Trey: I am going to stay here, on your isolated land forever, so that I can't hurt any of my loved ones. Even though I guess I still hate you and have not asked your permission to do this.
Frank: If you hate me, why are you sitting down to have breakfast with me?
Trey: ANGST! ANGST!
Frank: Look, I was lying. Your father didn't actually—
Trey: Um, could you stop interrupting? So rude. Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. AAAAANGST! ANGST AND MELODRAMA! BLAAGGHH!
Spoiler: Frank did the bad thing and blamed it on Trey's dad. Which is kind of disappointing, actually. It seems like the easiest answer, compared to "Dan did it but that didn't make him an irredeemable monster," or "we'll never know who did it," or some other answer that Trey would have to make peace with.
Side note: When Frank turns into a werewolf, he locks himself in a cage, which he hates doing. The thing is, he owns a big piece of land, which is fenced off specifically so that werewolves can run around there without hurting anybody. A bunch of other werewolves live on his land and do just that, but the book just...doesn't bother trying to explain why Frank doesn't join them.
Speaking of the other werewolves...we hear about them early on, but the only one we meet during the first half of this subplot is Ella, the one female werewolf who is super special even though, as previously mentioned, they shouldn't be as rare as we're led to believe. (Kind of like Trey, now that I think about it.) When we meet the rest of the pack, their leader/Ella's boyfriend Jurgen is the only one to initially get any focus. To summarize: he's the villain. But then the pack suddenly takes over the story, and we're introduced to Marcus, and Luke, and Lawrence, and we're supposed to care about them and their interpersonal dynamics and actions despite the fact that we've spent no time setting these characters up before now.
Also, another side note: When Trey meets the pack, the narrations says that there are six of them, and from the context, it seems to be excluding Ella, who would make seven. By the end of the story, there are five members total, which includes Ella. These books are edited about as well as they're written.
Once the pack takes over the story and people start killing each other, what is Trey doing? He...is on a walk through the forest. Then has a brief and pointless conversation with Lawrence, the least important member of the pack. Then he breaks into Ella's cabin and reads a book. He doesn't affect the action at all, except to the degree that Jurgen's paranoid delusions center on him, and Frank and the others want to protect him. Near the end he does , but he doesn't even fight the villain himself, so our protagonist's grand contribution is basically "hands the weapon to the actual hero."
I'm not opposed to characters other than the protagonist solving the plot; actually, having Frank and Ella fight Jurgen works better for their character arcs. But what was Trey's arc? Being an idiot? Why is he the main character when he didn't do anything, grow as a person or even offer an interesting perspective on what's going on?
This was supposed to be about Trey grappling with his more violent werewolf instincts. Instead, he spends the whole book throwing a tantrum and imagines that that's the same thing.
Yet another side-note: Trey's conversation with Lawrence makes him look like an asshole. He knows that Lawrence is scared of Jurgen, and he plays on that just so that Lawrence will let him sneak into Ella's cabin like a creep. Also, the narration keeps calling Lawrence "(the) ginger" even when Trey deigns to remember his name.
Even if this whole thing had been written better, it has a lot of my personal pet peeves. I don't like stories about "werewolf packs," with their alpha/beta/omega ranks that actual wolves don't even really have. Are the werewolves in this series bloodthirsty monsters or semi-realistic wolves? Because those aren't the same thing. I also don't find living that way appealing at all, and since Trey isn't really tempted by it either, I can't even vicariously understand why the characters choose to do it.
I actually spent a good while wondering why anyone would join Jurgen's pack, given how awful he is. The thing is, when we get the backstory, way too late in the book, it actually makes sense. And I think it would have made a better story than this one! This should have been a book about a bunch of persecuted werewolves banding together, only to slowly realize that the guy who arranged this setup is a dangerous psycho. We don't need Trey for that. If we're going to include him and make it a part of this series, he should have at least met the other characters earlier, heard their backstory from them instead of the narration just randomly info-dumping it at an awkward place later. Even the parts of this story that could have been good are ruined by how badly it's structured.
The Tipsbury Subplot (is Still Going on for Some Reason)
It turns out that being possessed gave Philippa the power to sense supernatural creatures, and specifically gave her a mind-link with the Necrotroph. Thus they want to use her to find and stop it once and for all.
In the last book, Philippa's story was a waste of time, so on the one hand, I appreciate the chance for it to actually lead somewhere. Heck, with Trey's stuff disconnected from Caliban, one could argue that this is really the A-plot. And it's better written than the werewolf stuff, to the point where I actually found myself hoping to come back to it more.
But...I still don't care? Part of this might be leftover annoyance from the last book, but more than that, the Necrotroph just doesn't seem very threatening. On a small scale, yes, its description and the subtle way that it manipulates its hosts' minds is very creepy. But we're supposed to see it as a threat to Lucien's whole organization, and it never feels like one. It spent the whole last book failing to get some information that wouldn't have mattered anyway, and while it has a good plan here, the heroes are onto it the whole time; as a result, it never feels very dangerous.
I guess the Necrotroph managed to kidnap Alexa in the first book, but we don't know how, so...wait. Why did it kidnap Alexa? Why didn't it possess her? That would have been the perfect plan! She's OP, in the top echelon of the whole organization, and this would have hurt Lucien more than anything else that Caliban could do! WTF?
It doesn't help that this storyline violates the Unspoken Plan Guarantee: we know how the good guys are going to stop the Necrotroph, so when it succeeds, it's not very engaging. It would have worked better if they had set up the Ashnon in a way that didn't telegraph what was going to happen.
I will say that the Ashnon's whole setup is interesting. I'm not sure if it makes sense, but unlike the overly-complicated werewolf stuff, I'm willing to overlook all that in favor of "magic," as a weirdly benevolent version of the whole Deal with the Devil trope. The description of the Netherworld hotel are also creepy...though unintentionally silly, so I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Anyway, Philippa gets kidnapped by the end, and Alexa, probably desperate to out-idiot Trey, immediately runs off to the Netherworld to save her, rather than wait five minutes for when she could have gotten backup and a plan. So we'll get more of this story next time! Yay.
Lucien's Half-Subplot
Lucien is losing control of his vampire instincts because of Caliban's bite. This is mostly setup for the next book.
On the one hand, it's still kind of weird that a vampire got affected by another vampire biting him. On the other, this "grappling with his inner beast" thing could have been a good parallel to Trey doing the same thing. Back on the first hand, however...well, just reread the part about Trey's subplot.
Other Notes
Tom was barely in this book. Tom is the only one with a real personality. And now we're setting up for the next book to be similarly Tom-less? Actually, none of these books have all of the main characters together. Alexa was kidnapped in the first book, Lucien was comatose in the second, and here Trey is off doing his own, very dumb thing. Now everyone is off in their own stories, and we're gonna dedicate a whole book just for Trey to bring them all back together.
I touched upon this earlier, but Feasey has an annoying tendency of telling things in long, past-perfect tangents. Like when Jurgen and co. broke into Frank's house: we start with them torturing Frank, then spend a page and a half with "they had broken in. They had attacked Frank. They had tied him to a chair." If you wanted to start there, start there. The werewolf backstory was told the same way.
I'm honestly tempted to give up this series, but I'll probably read the last two.
December 4, 2018
Jy weet, ek gaan nou die handrem optrek. Ek is klaar met my wilde fantasieë saam met weerwolwe (Halloween is buitendien nou verby). Weerwolwe in groepe is niks anders as werklike wolwe wat wil saamtrek in 'n trop nie. Ek kon netsowel The Complete Wolf deur Liz Bomford gelees het. Want stomme Trey met sy idealisme moes mos geweet het 'n nuweling word nie sommer in 'n wolftrop opgeneem nie. Die nuweling moet 'n klomp rituele en vertrouetoetse deurmaak voordat hy uiteindelik aanvaar word. En, jammer om nou oor voortplanting te praat, maar: wil jy werklik in 'n trop bly waar slegs die Alfamannetjie paarregte het om sy gene oor te dra? Die sogenaamde reg van die sterkere? Onder 'n trop weerwolwe (halfmense) kon mens darem 'n bietjie 17de eeuse Franse rasionaliteit verwag het. Maar nee. 100% verdierliking.
Ek sou graag eendag 'n roman wou skryf oor die verskil tussen 'n sogenaamde Honde- en Kattesamelewing. Die Hondesamelewings is sterk kollektiewe samelewings (tradisionele Afrika, Asië, Suid-Amerika, miskien selfs nasionalisme?), en Kattesamelewings is sterk individualisties (soos Noord-Amerika, Wes-Europa, ens.). Die hondesamelewings het die wonderlike stamgeoriënteerdheid, met elke stratifikasie van Alfa tot Omega wat sy plek ken, en elkeen wat mekaar in lief en leed bystaan (terwyl in die Kattesamelewing jy solo staan en elkeen selfsugtig is en verdeeldheid onder die volk saai). Maar ai. Kollektiewe samelewings het nou eenmaal die swakte van diktatorskap of megalomanie. Jurgen, die Alfamannetjie, se kop sou die een of ander tyd uitgehaak het - of Trey nou as "bedreiging" vir sy baasskap opgedaag het of nie. Daar sou steeds drie weerwolwe sterf. Daar sou later nie meer 'n enkele weerwolfmannetjie behalwe Jurgen en sy liefie, Ella, oorgebly het nie.
Ek dink ek moet eerder bevriend raak met 'n vermenslikte luiperd.
Nou goed. Ek weet steeds nie wat Trey se gunstelingkleur is nie, maar ek gee die boek vier sterre:
1. Omdat ek nou sien hoe die skrywer die boekreeks beplan het. Waar die een intrige binne die vorige boek doodloop (bv. Boek #2), skep dit 'n beginpunt of deurloop na die volgende (Boek #4). Soos Lucien wat in boek #1 gebyt word deur sy bose vampierbroer, en nou eers in Boek #3 skielik weer luskry vir oordadige hoeveelheid mensebloed. Dit beteken egter jy kan nie die boeke afsonderlik lees nie. Jy moet vanaf #1 begin. Jy sal die hele pakket moet koop. Dit is uitgeslape ("ausgefuchst").
2. Trey het begin ontdek. Ons word weer in 'n ander "primitiewe" samelewing geplaas iewers tussen die ruie woude van Kanada. So idillies soos die ongerepte natuur in sy paradyslike lyk, so... wreed is hy ook. Hy het sy Wanderlust bevredig en sy stamboomnavorsing afgesluit. Katarsis, my skat. Dit is een dwaalspoor (Irreweg) minder op sy pad. Dis reg, Trey - jy is 'n alleenloper. Fokus nou op jou raison d'être en bestemming. Het ga je goed!
Ek sou graag eendag 'n roman wou skryf oor die verskil tussen 'n sogenaamde Honde- en Kattesamelewing. Die Hondesamelewings is sterk kollektiewe samelewings (tradisionele Afrika, Asië, Suid-Amerika, miskien selfs nasionalisme?), en Kattesamelewings is sterk individualisties (soos Noord-Amerika, Wes-Europa, ens.). Die hondesamelewings het die wonderlike stamgeoriënteerdheid, met elke stratifikasie van Alfa tot Omega wat sy plek ken, en elkeen wat mekaar in lief en leed bystaan (terwyl in die Kattesamelewing jy solo staan en elkeen selfsugtig is en verdeeldheid onder die volk saai). Maar ai. Kollektiewe samelewings het nou eenmaal die swakte van diktatorskap of megalomanie. Jurgen, die Alfamannetjie, se kop sou die een of ander tyd uitgehaak het - of Trey nou as "bedreiging" vir sy baasskap opgedaag het of nie. Daar sou steeds drie weerwolwe sterf. Daar sou later nie meer 'n enkele weerwolfmannetjie behalwe Jurgen en sy liefie, Ella, oorgebly het nie.
Ek dink ek moet eerder bevriend raak met 'n vermenslikte luiperd.
Nou goed. Ek weet steeds nie wat Trey se gunstelingkleur is nie, maar ek gee die boek vier sterre:
1. Omdat ek nou sien hoe die skrywer die boekreeks beplan het. Waar die een intrige binne die vorige boek doodloop (bv. Boek #2), skep dit 'n beginpunt of deurloop na die volgende (Boek #4). Soos Lucien wat in boek #1 gebyt word deur sy bose vampierbroer, en nou eers in Boek #3 skielik weer luskry vir oordadige hoeveelheid mensebloed. Dit beteken egter jy kan nie die boeke afsonderlik lees nie. Jy moet vanaf #1 begin. Jy sal die hele pakket moet koop. Dit is uitgeslape ("ausgefuchst").
2. Trey het begin ontdek. Ons word weer in 'n ander "primitiewe" samelewing geplaas iewers tussen die ruie woude van Kanada. So idillies soos die ongerepte natuur in sy paradyslike lyk, so... wreed is hy ook. Hy het sy Wanderlust bevredig en sy stamboomnavorsing afgesluit. Katarsis, my skat. Dit is een dwaalspoor (Irreweg) minder op sy pad. Dis reg, Trey - jy is 'n alleenloper. Fokus nou op jou raison d'être en bestemming. Het ga je goed!
January 26, 2023
changeling discover the beast within was so mysterious and horrific and im so excited to finish all the series of changeling
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2017
The book could have used more character detail, backgrounds, and some more involvement. Aside from this it was a terrific book with the right amount of gore and action.
April 29, 2010
A lovely concept, overall, which I think would have broad appeal to both youngsters and us oldies who would read young YA literature. I certainly kept turning the pages because Feasey succeeds in keeping me engaged. However... my inner editor cringed at the somewhat nebulous omniscient third-person PoV that sort of edged to being a deep-third but didn't quite settle either way. Added to that the fact that I thought the book could have used a tighter edit overall: simple things like "he shrugged his shoulders" when we all know shoulders are the only body part we would be shrugging (can't see myself shrugging hands or knees, now can I?)
Dunno, perhaps it's because I edit fiction and already have a certain style that these little things jumped out at me and ruined my simple enjoyment of the story but ja... that's just the way I roll.
For those who don't care about nit-picking, I'd happily recommend this to anyone who has a 12-16-yo who's looking for a rollicking fun series involving demons, werewolves and vampires... It gets a bit violent and sometimes characters' motivations are a bit murky for my liking but it's still a fun read.
Dunno, perhaps it's because I edit fiction and already have a certain style that these little things jumped out at me and ruined my simple enjoyment of the story but ja... that's just the way I roll.
For those who don't care about nit-picking, I'd happily recommend this to anyone who has a 12-16-yo who's looking for a rollicking fun series involving demons, werewolves and vampires... It gets a bit violent and sometimes characters' motivations are a bit murky for my liking but it's still a fun read.
September 10, 2016
The third installment of the Wereling series. Lucien and Alexa are trying to track down the Necrotroph who has invaded their organization with the help of the recently possessed Phillippa Tipsbury. Trey travels to Canada to meet his uncle and learn more about his family. What he learns might very well destroy him. This book sets the stage for the next installment very well. A series boys will thoroughly enjoy.
April 22, 2010
A great story. I hope Trey finds his friends I'm looking forward to reading the next book.
December 17, 2011
Although it starts slow, this thrilling story soon grips the reader. I loved the characters and was with them on their journey from start to finish!
September 14, 2012
It was good, not bad.
June 16, 2014
It was nice to learn about some new werewolves
September 12, 2016
I was spooked a bit, and felt sorry for Franks dog Billy
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 1, 2010
loved this book just finished reading it recently. recommended read.
January 19, 2014
I found the start very slow but the rest was very good
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