Through Wolf’s Eyes by Jane Lindskold is the first book in her Firekeeper Saga. My ever constant need to search for awesome adult fantasy novels and series that deals with political drama and scheming led me to this series. I think this was a good start to a series although I swear the author was holding something back because that gut feeling I had told me it could have been much better. With almost eight books in the series with this first having been published in the year 2001, I can almost forgive her for saving the better part for future books. The good news? I was still somehow captivated and finished it in a breeze.

“I felt it in my bones.”

Firekeeper

Story wise, there is a lot of potential. Firekeeper being completely unused to human civilization suddenly finds herself being able to one day be the heir to the crown and throne. What evil schemes will be plotted against her by her rivalries? How much can she rely on her few friends to keep her safe? Although the twist here isn’t all that new, Firekeeper’s ability to see things so differently can sometimes give her an edge in certain situations, which keeps the reading relatively fresh and exciting. However, it is here that I find the potential to captivate on this point to be sorely lacking. Firekeeper just doesn’t interact with enough people and vice versa to make anything interesting happen in court. It’s likely that the others are ignoring her as they view her as a country bumpkin with no manners and knowledge of how politics actually work but this is where I feel that future books of the series will correct this once the other players stop underestimating her.

“Is there any way to make the war end without many battles?” “Never start”

Derian Carter

My one hope is that the author will lessen the amount of details of trying to explain and go over all the family history of every single major house present and past. The problem is that it’s just too confusing to keep up, especially if the story isn’t told through multiple character’s POV of those houses, which could give it more depth. Here, the author just regurgitates the names of aunties and uncles and nephew and nieces of the various families that it will make your head spin. Her style of doing this just didn’t work for me.

I will likely read the next book in the series simply to see if my gut feeling is correct or not. Court politics could play a much heavier role now that Firekeeper is more adverse and learned in the ways of the two-legged’s. This will make her an even bigger target which hopefully will come more evil scheming and backstabbing!