The Silver Wolf

Rating:
Summary: A Book To Die For!
Review: "The Silver Wolf" is a highly enjoyable novel. It gives us special insight into the Rite of Passage for one young woman. Being a werewolf is no easy thing, especially in an age where anything remotely supernatural or unusual is considered taboo. Imagine trying to control your werewolf self, living with an unloving uncle who beats and starves you while wishing to marry you off to the highest bidder, and imagine being a woman in a time when men held the reins of power. It is a time of war and a time of chaos. And then imagine meeting someone like yourself, a werewolf, a creature of the night. Imagine not being alone anymore. All this and more must a brave soul go through in order to understand who and what she is. Alice Borchardt is a talented writer who pays close attention to detail. She can weave a web as well as any spider, a web of words which take you back in time to the Roman Empire. A time of danger and of secrecy. I reccomend this story to history buffs, fantasy freaks, and anyone else who enjoys curling up with a good book and sending yourself to a time of long ago.

And just wait for the sequel!

Rating:
Summary: slow but steady
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. I did not view it so much a novel about a werewolf as a unique hybrid: two creatures, human and wolf, cohabitating the same physical space. I found myself vicariously experiencing the decaying decadence of Rome, the "underworld" and the freedom of the wolf. Truly an unusual romp through history and fantasy.

Rating:
Summary: Good Book Gets Me Going
Review: This book was the best book I have ever read. I really enjoyed it to the fullest degree. I never put the book down once. The suspence kept me going so I kept at it. It bothered me though at the beginning of the book that Maeniel was barely mentioned but all was good in the end. I am glad that there is a sequel to this book. I hope others found this book as intriguing as I did.

Rating:
Summary: The Silver Wolf
Review: A gripping, suspenseful work which caught me early and held me until the very end. I read this book in one sitting - - I was so intrigued by the characters and their interaction.

The heroine is quite believable and and the supporting cast mixes well. Enough historical information was intertwined in the storyline to make this very enjoyable.. I can't wait for the next book, Night of the Wolf..

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating book
Review: I've never read anything by Anne Rice and so the hype about Alice Borchardt being Rice's sister was lost on me. An avid fantasy reader all my life, I read this book less as a "werewolf" book and more as a fantasy novel. I thought the characters were very well-developed, though Regeane's uncle Gundabald having such high connections to the nobility of Rome was kind of unbeliveable for me, especially as unappealing and poor as the author made him. I thought the best character in the book was Lucilla's son Antonius and indeed I'd have liked the book to have focused on him more. One of the things that bothered me was that Ms. Borchardt introduced Regeane to us saying that she was about to marry Maenial, then turned the subplot to Antonius and left Maenial except for a few scenes, then married Regeane to him in the end. If she had focused more on Maenial rather than Antonius or left out the husband-to-be all together and let Regeane marry Antonius, I thought it would have made a lot more sense. But overall I thought the plot was excellent, the characters well developed, and the action was good.

Rating:
Summary: The most boring book that I have ever read
Review: In my search for interesting werewolf books, I came across The Silver Wolf. I tried very hard to continue reading this book, but it became arduous and seemed more like a task than something that I was doing for enjoyment. The lead character of Regeane was so boring and weak in human form that it became impossible to believe that she was a werewolf. I'm sure it was written that way on purpose. This is the first werewolf book I read that NEVER described the form change. It was written as if it just happened, like changing clothes. I had to throw it away about half way through to move onto something else that didn't put me to sleep.

Rating:
Summary: Unusually lyrical story of werewolves
Review: I read this book before I realized that Alice was Anne Rice's sister. Therefore, I developed a much less biased opinion than I might have. I think The Silver Wolf's style shares a lot in common with Rice's vampire novels, but this only became obvious to me after I made the connection. However, there's enough difference between these two authors that I think the constant comparisons going on are really unfair to them both. The Silver Wolf explores the werewolf legend from a fresh angle. There is no hint of any compulsive murdering on the part of the werewolves, or bloodlust for human flesh. Indeed, they are portrayed as more human and humane than anyone else in the plot. The imagery is rich and takes on the quality of a dream from time to time. The romantic subplot between Regeanne and Maniel (werewolf main characters)is convincing but I felt that it came too late and was hastily explored.

Overall, this was one of my favorite werewolf novels. The criticisms I've heard about it, such as the plot dragging in the first half and being a bit fragmented, are true enough in my opinion, which is why I rated only four stars.

PS-the official book review states that Lucilla was Maniel's mother--I don't know where that came from, unless that particular reviewer was just confused by the fragmented storyline and numerous flashback scenes.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining fantasy
Review: I don't know why there is so much hype about this author beingAnne Rice's sister. So what? The story has its own merit; in fact,its quite good--even better than Rice's last few endeavors. The heroine is strong and admirable; the hero dark and mysterious, the secondary players all have their functions and eccentricities and the greedy stepfather puts the "V" in villian. This is an actual story with a plot--not some mindless minimalist's idea of a self-expression. Regeane has a horrible secret that she must learn to live with; she lives in a society where marriage and alliance are one and the same. What will her new husband do when he finds out that Regeane is a shape-changer? Will she have to kill him to survive? Instead of comparing this author to her sister, sit back and enjoy the world she has created--the fallen Roman Empire--experience Regeane's fears and the joy she has when discovering herself. Its well worth the reading hours spent.

Rating:
Summary: a fasenating story
Review: this book is very good for young adults. it id=s a look at life form a view of a special gilr. she is wolf and a girl and tha puts here in a tough spot. she must marry but not let her lover know about the wolf or her past. it is a story abot this and many other wonder things, in the end it all works out. i would hightly recomen it for all young adults.

Rating:
Summary: Still looking for a good werewolf novel
Review: I didn't buy this book because of the author or who she was related to, but because I resently bought another werewolf book, Moon Dance, and it was a bummer. I was hopeing this would be good, since I am really into werewolves, but at last I found it wasn't. I don't which was worse, Moon Dance or The Silver Wolf. I just hope someone writes a great werewolf book someday.