Hello Fellow Journeyers,
Next on the quest is a story by Duncan M. Hamilton, who is fairly popular on Amazon, with The Wolf of the North. After having wanted a good Viking inspired story and thoroughly enjoying The Witcher books, this seemed like it could be about perfect as comparable to both.
What's the story about: The Wolf of the North is a tale told in retrospect of how a warrior becomes someone of great renown from humble origins as an outcast. A very typical fantasy coming of age story that is told in the vein of The Name of the Wind but with a lot of heroic fantasy influences of vengeance, responsibility, and audacious deeds.
Something that I immediately liked about this story when I first started reading was how accessible it was without having to invest much. Much like Michael J. Sullivan's writing, the story gets going and is told in a simple and yet intriguing enough way that maintains interest. Having read many reviews of this book, it seems like the story is either praised highly for its simply storytelling or mocked for its underdevelopedness. As someone who enjoys a simple story and haven't had great experiences finding it (see The King's Ranger review), I thought this fit the mold pretty well. The writing isn't incredible or anything, but it did maintain my interest and I found the main character likeable enough. Alongside are two main villainous characters who are just as interesting to read about. While they scheme and conduct nefarious schemes, the main character becomes more skilled and trained. It strikes a good balance early on and keeps this tension throughout.
Secondly, the premise is most of the reason I read this story. I wanted something similar to The Witcher, which this has some similar aspects, while also being a much cleaner story overall. It has innocence initially, which I appreciated. And if nothing else, the take on a warrior with roots in Viking culture is a bit of a treat. But mostly, this story is just plain, simple, and fun for most of it. It knows what it is, the tale it needs to tell, and does it with enough competence that is enjoyable. When a story doesn't try to be overwhelming, I can appreciate it for being simply what it needs to be. While this did leave some room for intrigue or interest to be left hanging a little bit, there was always enough to keep my mild interest on what was to come next.
The last thing I'll mention is that there are moments where the believability of the story wane from time to time, but it is a story and a self-published one at that, so for some reason it didn't bother me for most of the book. I usually take these types of stories with a grain of salt so when there were consistencies that seemed to falter, I let it slide and didn't let it affect my enjoyment of what was going on. For the most part though this story keeps true to what it's stated and doesn't falter over itself like so many other self-published tales. That being said, the last 15% or so runs into this problem more than the rest of the book. Characters make decisions that seem odd and very dramatic for the sake of plot events that lost my interest when they occurred seemingly out of nowhere. While this only occurs for a small section of the book, it drastically effects how it ends, making the story finish in a worse way than I was hoping.
★★★★ 3.5 Stars - The Wolf of the North is not a complicated story, nor is it overly trite or without purpose. The author's voice narrates the tale with no flowery language, but does the job well enough. It's a simple premise, with likeable characters, and reads easy, like a comfort book should. The third act does spoil a little of the journey taken, but the book is still likeable enough to get through. Don't expect to be blown away by anything, but when you just sit back and enjoy, there is enough here to appreciate.
Let me hear from you! If you like what you read, want to hear more thoughts on this book, other reviews, or talk book recommendations and Essential Reading, leave a comment below.
Rating system:
★★★★★ 5 Stars: It was amazing; I loved it. Read this book; it is definitely Essential Reading!
★★★★★* 4.5 Stars: It was nearly perfect. I really loved almost every aspect of it, but a few things kept it from being amazing.
★★★★ 4 Stars: It was very worth reading and satisfying; highly recommend.
★★★★* 3.5 Stars: I thoroughly enjoyed this story, but it was lacking in certain crucial areas.
★★★ 3 Stars: It was good, but could've been better or improved upon significantly.
★★★* 2.5 Stars: I wanted to enjoy it. Certain aspects were good, it was worth finishing, but many issues.
★★ 2 Stars: It was okay, I didn't feel strongly about it.
★ 1 Star: I did not like it. It was not worth finishing or I did not finish it.
*I round up based on the system on Goodreads. Also, there is no 1.5 Stars because it does not seem to have enough differentiation.