Night of the Wolf - Softcover

Borchardt, Alice

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345423631 ISBN 13: 9780345423634

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 2000

Synopsis

The fearsome legions of Julius Caesar have crushed resistance to Roman rule. Watching the tragic aftermath through yellow eyes afire with curiosity and intelligence is Maeniel, a gray wolf . . . and a shapeshifter unaware of his preternatural duality. But a new Maeniel is about to be born from the ruins.

The sight of the beautiful Imona fills Maeniel with unfamiliar feelings and desires, triggering his transformation from wolf to man. In her arms he learns what it means to love. It is a knowledge that will change him forever. When Imona vanishes, Maeniel follows her trail--unaware that he is being pursued by a warrior-woman sworn to kill him. But the hunt upon which the two adversaries embark will lead them farther than they can imagine: to the gates of Rome itself--to the gates of their very souls . . .

About this title

Review:

Like Alice Borchardt's debut werewolf fantasy The Silver Wolf, Night of the Wolf comes with rave recommendations from Anne Rice--perhaps not entirely unbiased, since Rice and Borchardt are sisters. The story begins in ancient Gaul amid druid-led Celts now brutally subdued by Julius Caesar. Shape-shifting man-wolf Mananiel, leader of a wolf pack, discovers human love in powerfully sensual scenes that emphasise the wolf's piercing animal awareness, especially of smells. When something bad happens to his lady, Mananiel becomes a vengeful manhunter until the Caledonian woman warrior Dryas imposes a terrible, magical bondage on him. Imperial Rome is the ultimate source of their troubles, Rome and Caesar ... so the action shifts there, with much sophistication, banter, decadence, political intrigue, and rapid-action arena scenes with Dryas unwillingly fighting deadly beasts to amuse Caesar, Cleopatra, Antony and others, while Mananiel finds a most unexpected lover. Meanwhile we have mystical glimpses of a realm outside time, a wood beyond the world which each major character briefly visits. In a prophecy unrecorded by history, the Goddess herself speaks through Dryas to tell Caesar his options in this year of 44 BC, and there's considerable irony in his choice. Night of the Wolf is enjoyable both as dark fantasy and as a historical novel: Borchardt deserves to outsell her more famous sister. --David Langford

Review:

"A writer with the vision and scope to conjure up her own thrilling mythos and the craftsmanship to render it in breathtaking, shimmering prose."
--ANNE RICE

About this edition

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0345423631
• ISBN 13: 9780345423634
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 502