Review: The Wolf by Leo Carew

Title: The Wolf

Author: Leo Carew

Series: Under the Northern Sky #1

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Orbit

Publication Date: April 3rd, 2018

Edition: Kindle Edition, 512 pages

Source: Library

Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

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Synopsis:

  Violence and death have come to the land under the Northern Sky.

The Anakim dwell in the desolate forests and mountains beyond the black river, the land under the Northern Sky. Their ancient ways are forged in Unthank silver and carved in the grey stone of their heartland, their lives measured out in the turning of centuries, not years.

By contrast, the Sutherners live in the moment, their vitality much more immediate and ephemeral than their Anakim neighbors. Fragile is the peace that has existed between these very different races - and that peace is shattered when the Suthern armies flood the lands to the north. These two races revive their age-old hatred and fear of each other. Within the maelstrom of war, two leaders will rise to lead their people to victory.

Only one will succeed.

   I first read this book back in 2018, from NetGalley. And honestly, I don't remember it very well. What I can say about it now, is while I find the plot and most of the characters very interesting and unlike back in 2018 when I apparently didn't like political espionage, I enjoyed that in this book.

   However, the pacing wasn't for me. Everything moved really slow, and there were two things going on at once the main character, Roper, was dealing with. A threat from a member of his own people, and the other being a threat from an invading army. My attention was always split and I didn't feel like either was given a good balance of attention. 

  I didn't really care for the formatting of the book either. There are multiple third-person POVs, and the switch didn't always happen at the start of a chapter, sometimes it was mid-page with not much of a break between the switch. It would have liked a more clear break, a line break or something.

  This book also had a lot of characters. With it being told from third-person, I didn't always feel like I was able to really understand and know any of the characters. I liked them well enough to keep reading, but I didn't feel any particular connection to any of them either. There are a lot of POV, not really chapters, but parts from characters of the Sutherner army, and they were all pretty forgettable, for me. The Anakim were far more interesting for me.

The worldbuilding was also a little minimalistic for me. I knew what the land looked like, but I couldn't really envision the characters, The Anakim are very often mentioned as being "tall" compared to the Sutherners, but I don't really know exactly what that means. I don't know if they are giants or if the Sutherners are really short.

  I liked this book enough, but I don't think I will continue the series. The writing style isn't really for me.