Promise of the Wolves
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Born of a forbidden, mixed-blood litter and an outcast after her mother is exiled, spirited young she-wolf Kaala is grudgingly permitted to join the Swift River wolf pack where she must fight to prove herself and survive against the odds. But when Kaala rescues a human child from drowning, she breaks the first and oldest tenet of the promise of the wolves -- never consort with humans -- and sets in train a series of events that threatens the very survival of her species. As war looms between wolf and humankind, Kaala discovers the truth behind the promise of the wolves: a discovery which could lead to her death and the destruction of all she holds dear. Set 14,000 years ago in what is now southern Europe, Promise of the Wolves is the first in a spellbinding trilogy which takes readers on an epic journey into the rich and fascinating world of the wolf.
About the Author
Previously an editor at a leading American publishing house, Dorothy Hearst now lives and writes in San Francisco. PROMISE OF THE WOLVES is her first novel. Visit www.dorothyhearst.com
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Wolves are beautiful creatures and you could easily spend hours admiring its grace, form and skills. But of course a wolf, no matter how skillful, will only survive if it has a good place in the pack heirarchy. In a challenging environment the runt of the litter will often not make it. And that is the problem for this book - it is born into a large pack of stone age human/animal books, all hunting for attention in a very competitive children's book market. This book really pales in comparison to the current leader of the pack - Michelle Paver's excellently researched "Wolf Brother" etc (Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series). And then there are also the other older series of books on similar themes such as Clan of the Cave Bear.
The story here is about an engaging young female wolf, Kaala, and her struggle with the "Promise" made by her ancestors never to consort with humans. Is it time for the promise to be broken? What will happen if the promise is broken? Will it be worse if the promise is not broken? Is a human/wolf relationship good or is it bad? This all has to do with wolves being wild and humans abandoning their wild "natural" roots in order to "take over" and control the "nature" around them, rather than be a part of it. An interesting question and one that is explored with the background of a well-paced story of struggling and growing up for the feisty young wolf and her friends. However, the question is asked as of 6,000 years ago but it is surely irrelevant in 2008. Although this book is only the first part of a trilogy and the other two have not been written yet, I think I can guess the ending - wolves and humans decide that they can't get along and the humans kill almost all the wolves and end up losing their link to nature and then end up destroying most of the natural world by the 21st century.
So, the book is in one sense a "new age spiritual" type analysis of the root of man's current conflict with Mother Earth, but it is a very simplistic one and ultimately unconvincing. Re-connecting with nature is very important, but I don't think that anyone after reading this book is going to agree that the wolf is (or was) our one and only source to environmental redemption.
If you like wolves and you like this sort of book then this is an enjoyable enough read, but I wouldn't put it high on my list of recommendations. Also there are a few things that might not appeal to you. Firstly, talking wolves is not everyone's cup of tea (Wolf Brother manages a fantastic narrative without a word of speech from its wolf). Secondly, the lack of research and level of detail stands out when compared to other similar books. Thirdly, it is a bit "female" - there are male parts, but the girls get most of the best parts/lines and make the best spiritual connections.
The story here is about an engaging young female wolf, Kaala, and her struggle with the "Promise" made by her ancestors never to consort with humans. Is it time for the promise to be broken? What will happen if the promise is broken? Will it be worse if the promise is not broken? Is a human/wolf relationship good or is it bad? This all has to do with wolves being wild and humans abandoning their wild "natural" roots in order to "take over" and control the "nature" around them, rather than be a part of it. An interesting question and one that is explored with the background of a well-paced story of struggling and growing up for the feisty young wolf and her friends. However, the question is asked as of 6,000 years ago but it is surely irrelevant in 2008. Although this book is only the first part of a trilogy and the other two have not been written yet, I think I can guess the ending - wolves and humans decide that they can't get along and the humans kill almost all the wolves and end up losing their link to nature and then end up destroying most of the natural world by the 21st century.
So, the book is in one sense a "new age spiritual" type analysis of the root of man's current conflict with Mother Earth, but it is a very simplistic one and ultimately unconvincing. Re-connecting with nature is very important, but I don't think that anyone after reading this book is going to agree that the wolf is (or was) our one and only source to environmental redemption.
If you like wolves and you like this sort of book then this is an enjoyable enough read, but I wouldn't put it high on my list of recommendations. Also there are a few things that might not appeal to you. Firstly, talking wolves is not everyone's cup of tea (Wolf Brother manages a fantastic narrative without a word of speech from its wolf). Secondly, the lack of research and level of detail stands out when compared to other similar books. Thirdly, it is a bit "female" - there are male parts, but the girls get most of the best parts/lines and make the best spiritual connections.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'Promise of the Wolves' tells the story of Kaala, a wolf cub born in an interesting time and place. It is 14,000 years ago in Europe, and the beginning of the association between wolves and humans that will eventually lead to the development of man's best friend, the domestic dog. The wolves are forbidden from consorting with humans, but Kaala rescues a young girl from drowning and finds that she cannot stay away from her new friend. She soon leads some of the other wolves into friendships with humans, with consequences that, legend says, could either save or destroy wolfkind.
Unusually for this type of book, 'Promise of the Wolves' is written in the first person. This is a clear attempt to pull the reader more firmly into the story, but it has to be said that it doesn't quite work - Kaala often uses human terms and ideas of which a wolf would have no knowledge. The wolves can also understand human speech, and some of the humans can understand them in turn, which is a little too fantastical for my taste, though it may appeal to younger readers.
The book also contains some factual errors. It is obvious that the author has observed wolves, but she has misinterpreted some of their behaviour, either from lack of understanding or as a deliberate plot device. For example, the wolves in the book are drawn to humans instead of being afraid of them as real wolves are, but of course this is necessary given the story. Worse, at least in my opinion, is the cruel way they often treat each other in this book. Wolves are strongly bonded to the other members of their pack and take care of their weak and sick - in 'Promise of the Wolves', however, weakness is not tolerated, and even cubs are routinely denied food, left vulnerable to predation, or even killed. This would never happen in reality - offspring are simply too valuable to risk, and are protected at all costs. Something else that particularly irritated me was the fact that, though the book is set in Europe, it features animals that only ever lived in the Americas, such as dire wolves and Smilodon.
I am very surprised to see so many people mentioning Jean M. Auel's 'Clan of the Cave Bear' and its sequels in reference to this book. Aside from both being set during the Stone Age, the two have nothing in common. Auel's books are generally well-researched tales of ancient humans, aimed clearly at adults - these books can be quite explicit and are not suitable for children. The heroine, Ayla, does begin to domesticate animals in the second book, but this is by no means the focus of the story. At no point to do animals and humans speak to each other and everything is from a human viewpoint. 'Promise of the Wolves' is a children's story of talking animals, in which the entire plot deals with wolf-human interaction.
In conclusion, younger readers or fans of wolves who are after fiction and fantasy rather than fact may well enjoy this book. However, older readers and those with a good knowledge of wolves and/or their domestication will find 'Promise of the Wolves' a little too far-fetched, and may be put off by the factual errors and eco-friendly message, which, whilst commendable, is laid on a little too thick.
Unusually for this type of book, 'Promise of the Wolves' is written in the first person. This is a clear attempt to pull the reader more firmly into the story, but it has to be said that it doesn't quite work - Kaala often uses human terms and ideas of which a wolf would have no knowledge. The wolves can also understand human speech, and some of the humans can understand them in turn, which is a little too fantastical for my taste, though it may appeal to younger readers.
The book also contains some factual errors. It is obvious that the author has observed wolves, but she has misinterpreted some of their behaviour, either from lack of understanding or as a deliberate plot device. For example, the wolves in the book are drawn to humans instead of being afraid of them as real wolves are, but of course this is necessary given the story. Worse, at least in my opinion, is the cruel way they often treat each other in this book. Wolves are strongly bonded to the other members of their pack and take care of their weak and sick - in 'Promise of the Wolves', however, weakness is not tolerated, and even cubs are routinely denied food, left vulnerable to predation, or even killed. This would never happen in reality - offspring are simply too valuable to risk, and are protected at all costs. Something else that particularly irritated me was the fact that, though the book is set in Europe, it features animals that only ever lived in the Americas, such as dire wolves and Smilodon.
I am very surprised to see so many people mentioning Jean M. Auel's 'Clan of the Cave Bear' and its sequels in reference to this book. Aside from both being set during the Stone Age, the two have nothing in common. Auel's books are generally well-researched tales of ancient humans, aimed clearly at adults - these books can be quite explicit and are not suitable for children. The heroine, Ayla, does begin to domesticate animals in the second book, but this is by no means the focus of the story. At no point to do animals and humans speak to each other and everything is from a human viewpoint. 'Promise of the Wolves' is a children's story of talking animals, in which the entire plot deals with wolf-human interaction.
In conclusion, younger readers or fans of wolves who are after fiction and fantasy rather than fact may well enjoy this book. However, older readers and those with a good knowledge of wolves and/or their domestication will find 'Promise of the Wolves' a little too far-fetched, and may be put off by the factual errors and eco-friendly message, which, whilst commendable, is laid on a little too thick.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This debut novel has an intriguing story line - but is reminiscent in parts of Clan of the Cave Bears.
The story line was intriguing - one wanted to know what would happen to Kaala; however, it was easy to put down and put on one side - indeed it even found itself 'forgotten' for nearly three weeks, which is very unusual for books in my house. It seemed a bit drawn out in places, and (although this is anticipating the rest of the series somewhat) i feel that the whole trilogy would probably have made one good book - rather than what promises to be three mediocre ones.
What I DID enjoy about the book was the personification of the wolves - and this is what made the book intriguing; however, I fear that is not a series that I will be following.
The story line was intriguing - one wanted to know what would happen to Kaala; however, it was easy to put down and put on one side - indeed it even found itself 'forgotten' for nearly three weeks, which is very unusual for books in my house. It seemed a bit drawn out in places, and (although this is anticipating the rest of the series somewhat) i feel that the whole trilogy would probably have made one good book - rather than what promises to be three mediocre ones.
What I DID enjoy about the book was the personification of the wolves - and this is what made the book intriguing; however, I fear that is not a series that I will be following.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
a promising start
PROMISE OF THE WOLVES is the first of a trilogy following a story through the p.o.v of a wolf called Kaala who is desprate to prove herself to her pack. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Enchantika
Nice idea...
...which doesn't (quite) live up to the promise.
In all honesty, I found the idea intriguing, but the exectution patchy. Read more
In all honesty, I found the idea intriguing, but the exectution patchy. Read more
Published on 19 Oct 2009 by S. Lindgren
A howling failure
This is quite a tedious book, very repetitive with a transparent "eco-message". The Amazon blurb says - reader age: Young Adult - but I think I'd question the educational... Read more
Published on 27 Dec 2008 by Kevin Roche
Follow stone age wolves as they break the rules laid down by age-old...
I loved the idea of this book, set in the days of hunter gatherer human populations, and told from a wolf's point of view. Read more
Published on 1 Nov 2008 by ELH Browning
Entertaining debut
If you're a fan of Jean Auel this new author will appeal to you. With a tale that brings the world of the wild through the wolves into a world where mankind is just finding its... Read more
Published on 16 Oct 2008 by Gareth Wilson - Falcata Times Blog
A promising debut
I remember hearing, a while back, about a series of books called something like The Cave Bear Clan Series or the Cave Bears Fight Back in Clan-like Formation Series, or something... Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2008 by Christopher Halo
Sounds VERY familiar
mmmm...I do recall a VERY similar story from a decade or so ago, Willam Horwood's Wolves of Time series, that was about Wolves who had human thoughts and feelings saving the world... Read more
Published on 18 July 2008 by S. Hacker
Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Kaala was born with Outsiders blood. She watched her siblings die and her mother exiled by the leaderwolf, all because of the blood and the rules broken by it. Read more
Published on 29 May 2008 by TeensReadToo
Pleasant but a bit slow
I enjoyed this book somewhat, and it was pleasant enough to pick it up from time to time and read another couple of chapters, however, it was all too easy to put down again; so not... Read more
Published on 20 April 2008 by G. Horsham
Enjoyable book with eco feel
I enjoyed this book. Its not groundbreaking or highily original but still an enjoyable read.The feel of the book is obviousily infulenced by our world, our part in it and... Read more
Published on 18 April 2008 by pepemia
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
