Wolfbreed
by S. A. Swann
Published by Ballantine Books
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Reviewed by C. l. Rossman
Fantasy and horror seem to work best when they are grounded in realistic everyday surroundings. For Wolfbreed, author Swann has recreated the historical period of Prussia in the 1200s. Invading Christian Germanic knights are sweeping across the land, putting villages to the torch and villagers through torture and death if they will not convert to the Christian faith.
Following one such battle, a German knight of the Hospital of St. Mary’s happens to make an unusual discovery–a litter of quasi-human, partly-wolf schildren–who have deadly powers, speed and healing, and are immune to everything except silver. He captures them and raises them as weapons to be used against the pagan Prussians. Only one survives their “training,’” Lilly, a girl who knows nothing of humankind except the brutal discipline her master subjects her to.
As she grows, the Vatican decides that the use of such creatures is not in the best interests of God, and orders her destroyed. She escapes, bearing a near-mortal wound, and is found by a young peasant, Uldolph, and taken into his home and family to heal. There Lilly learns for the first time that life may also include love, and this changes her profoundly. Yet, psychologically, she is still tied to her old master, and he is looking for her, bent on saving her for his own plans.
The story is warmly and richly developed. From a horrific beginning, it changes into something like a romance, which seems doomed under the savage temper of the times. It also suggests that even werewolves are capable of self-sacrifice and love, and it changes our perception of such beings into something more akin to sympathy.
I liked this book. I found the historical setting a new one for me and the characters are well-written and sympathetic, especially in the case of Uldolph and his family. The bad guys of course have their usual obsessions with power and control, but they too, differ as individuals. The author promises this is only the first of his new breed of werewolf, and already has a second book in the works, called Wolf Cross. He is also the author of the Moreau series, a sci-fi series of genetically-altered animals who have been given human traits.
Armchair Interviews says: This new look at the werewolf myth is intriguing and well worth your attention.