Rating: 
Summary: Distinctive Style meets A Ripping Good Time
Review: Paula Volsky cannot write a bad novel.I'm pretty sure she tried to with Gates of
Twilight, but her distinctive writing style won't allow it. This novel, in a class of its own, details the inexorible deterioration of a man too smart for his country. Unable to cope with the society he's born into, he is drawn into the temptation of necromancy -- a practice that actually has some basis in being a taboo, as we find over the course of the novel. From hero to anti-hero, Prince Varis remains one
of the more interesting protagonists today. Not often are we allowed to view a change from potential good to evil over the course of a novel. The rationalisation, the need to cover up, everything is covered with an uncanny detail
Rating:
Summary: Why does a villian become a villian?
Review: The reason this book absolutely fascinated me was that Varis, the villian, was originally depicted as the sympathetic character. The book opens with Varis, the intelligent, sensitive younger brother of the king, being beaten out for an important government post by a moron whose sole qualifaction for the job was being a drinking buddy of the king. Scholarly and physically frail, Varis isn't popular at his brother's court. After giving the reader a chance to see just how miserably Varis is treated by the court, the author has him retire to his country estate in humiliation for a much-needed rest. While there, he encounters an insane old hermit, from whom he learns the forbidden practice of necromancy, and from whom he obtains a supply of drugs which work a substantial improvement on his health. Too bad about those side effects... Varis returns to court, having gained some confidence, and triumphantly wins the government post he'd been denied before. And so far the reader is cheering for him all the way. It's a classic triumph of the underdog tale. But then funny things begin happening. Whispers of strange crimes run through the city. Varis begins having blackouts, and will wake up hours later unable to remember where he had been or what he'd been doing. And he starts to develop a cruel streak as he sets out to pay back all of the people who had ill-treated him before. But hey, they'd made his life miserable, and they deserved what they had coming, right? Varis eventually decides that he can rule the kingdom better than his amiable fool of a brother, and stages a palace coup. And would he be a better ruler? Yes, probably. Too bad he's become a ruthless, drug-addicted homicidal tyrant in the meantime. What is marvelous about this book is the way in which Varis very gradually edges closer and closer to the role of villian. He doesn't just wake up one morning and say, "Gee, I don't have anything better to do today, I think I'll usurp the throne." Because he did start out as the sympathetic character, the reader is willing to overlook his increasingly disturbing actions for much longer than would have been the case if he had been portrayed as the villian from the beginning of the book. Because we like Varis, we're able to accept his rationalizations for his actions, many of which do make sense. Far too often in fiction are we presented with a cardboard cutout villian, whose actions are never fully explained. By this fascinating look at the situation from the other side of the fence, the reader is brought to consider that situations are never black and white. The second half of the book focuses on the children of the previous king. Smuggled out of the palace by their mother during the coup, the children are sent to a neighboring country for asylum, where they are eventually used as the figureheads in a movement to overthrow Varis. This half of the book is a bit of a disappointment after the first half, detailing Varis' rise to power. The viewpoint character switches from Varis to his niece, who isn't nearly as compelling a character. The plot becomes a fairly standard oust-the-evil-usurper. The emotional intensity drops off severely. In short, these people aren't nearly as interesting as Varis. But despite the slight let-down of the second half of the book, this still rates five stars for the masterly look at what causes one villian to become a villian.
Rating:
Summary: Why does a villian become a villian?
Review: The reason this book absolutely fascinated me was that Varis, the villian, was originally depicted as the sympathetic character. The book opens with Varis, the intelligent, sensitive younger brother of the king, being beaten out for an important government post by a moron whose sole qualifaction for the job was being a drinking buddy of the king. Scholarly and physically frail, Varis isn't popular at his brother's court. After giving the reader a chance to see just how miserably Varis is treated by the court, the author has him retire to his country estate in humiliation for a much-needed rest. While there, he encounters an insane old hermit, from whom he learns the forbidden practice of necromancy, and from whom he obtains a supply of drugs which work a substantial improvement on his health. Too bad about those side effects... Varis returns to court, having gained some confidence, and triumphantly wins the government post he'd been denied before. And so far the reader is cheering for him all the way. It's a classic triumph of the underdog tale. But then funny things begin happening. Whispers of strange crimes run through the city. Varis begins having blackouts, and will wake up hours later unable to remember where he had been or what he'd been doing. And he starts to develop a cruel streak as he sets out to pay back all of the people who had ill-treated him before. But hey, they'd made his life miserable, and they deserved what they had coming, right? Varis eventually decides that he can rule the kingdom better than his amiable fool of a brother, and stages a palace coup. And would he be a better ruler? Yes, probably. Too bad he's become a ruthless, drug-addicted homicidal tyrant in the meantime. What is marvelous about this book is the way in which Varis very gradually edges closer and closer to the role of villian. He doesn't just wake up one morning and say, "Gee, I don't have anything better to do today, I think I'll usurp the throne." Because he did start out as the sympathetic character, the reader is willing to overlook his increasingly disturbing actions for much longer than would have been the case if he had been portrayed as the villian from the beginning of the book. Because we like Varis, we're able to accept his rationalizations for his actions, many of which do make sense. Far too often in fiction are we presented with a cardboard cutout villian, whose actions are never fully explained. By this fascinating look at the situation from the other side of the fence, the reader is brought to consider that situations are never black and white. The second half of the book focuses on the children of the previous king. Smuggled out of the palace by their mother during the coup, the children are sent to a neighboring country for asylum, where they are eventually used as the figureheads in a movement to overthrow Varis. This half of the book is a bit of a disappointment after the first half, detailing Varis' rise to power. The viewpoint character switches from Varis to his niece, who isn't nearly as compelling a character. The plot becomes a fairly standard oust-the-evil-usurper. The emotional intensity drops off severely. In short, these people aren't nearly as interesting as Varis. But despite the slight let-down of the second half of the book, this still rates five stars for the masterly look at what causes one villian to become a villian.
Rating: 
Summary: A Gripping Book Meets an Immediate Deadline
Review: The Wolf of Winter begins in classic Volsky form: high society, interesting characters, shocking scenes, wonderful wordplay and, of course, an (almost) fully realized sense of World. However, Ms. Volsky must have been writing under an imminent deadline for her to have ever conceived of presenting such an ending! The ardent fan will grant Ms. Volsky the awkward splitting of the novel into two parts, and the jump in time, the creulty of Vanion and the gruesomeness of necromancy--but no one can grant the Huckleberry Finnish conclusion, which sums up the defeat of an undefeatable hero/foe, the sudden termination of the interesting if incestuous relationship between uncle and neice, and the inconclusive, non-enlightening last two scenes of a wind-swept woman on a battlement and a gibbering idiot in a cave. Ms. Volsky, PLEASE do not let fame numb your craft!--Emily C. A. Snyder
Rating:
Summary: Good writing but lacks transcendance
Review: This is the second novel I have read by Paula Volsky (the first being Illusions). This story is made up of two narratives which eventually merge into one. One is the story of an outcast prince, Varis, who through the use of magical powers gained by necromancy, takes over a kingdom and sets out to abolish any potential rivals one by one. The other is the story of Shalindra, Varis's niece and sister to Varis's main rival and the rightful ruler of the kingdom. The thing that really grabs you and pulls you into the story is the sympathetic character of Varis. Varis is an underdog who has been unfairly treated and this makes you want to see him succeed and get revenge on those who have wronged him, even though his methods are evil. I enjoyed the story, though, in retrospect, there was something about it that seemed a little hollow to me. Upon reflection I realized that the story seems to lack a strong transcendant moral or spiritual element which for me detracts from its overall value unlike, say, Lord of the Rings. There doesn't seem to be any real heros here and often there doesn't seem to be a lot of noticable difference between the two factions in the story. This is probably because the story is more heavily rooted in historical narrative than in mythical narrative. That said, Volsky is an excellent writer, excelling in detailed description, sympathetic characters, and a good plot hook that immediately grabs your interest and keeps you reading.
Rating:
Summary: Don't we all want to be Varis some days? <g>
Review: Truly a very fun book. The overlooked son of a king is really quite a pathtic little creature...weak, slight of frame, uncoordinated and not at all athletic. What does he have going for him that his robust and stronger brothers do not? A keen mind, an iron will and ambition, something his peers in the pseudo Czech setting of this novel fail to notice to their detriment and doom. Granted, the skinny kid goes a bit overboard in his pursuit for vindication, but you can't help but like the guy in a dark, sinister and scheming part of your soul. The mixture of necromancy and heavy drug useage is interesting and makes plausible reading. The romantic involvement, contrary to being Varis' Waterloo as one might conclude at the end of the book, actually results in the salvation of his very terrible and tainted soul. It's a classic analogy of man's descent into darkness, only to be redeemed by the love of another. In this case, the price Varis pays is that highly keen mind which served him so well in his pursuit of power and revenge.
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