Review of the Wolves of the Beyond Shadow Wolf

April 19, 2022 Post a Comment

Credits

Readability Age Range

8 to 14

Publisher

Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.

Awards

Unknown

Year Published

2011

Book Review

Shadow Wolf by Kathryn Lasky has been reviewed by Focus on the Family's union and parenting magazine. It is the 2d book in the "Wolves of the Beyond" series.

Plot Summary

In Solitary Wolf, a young, pack-less wolf named Faolan became a member of the MacDuncan clan. As a malcadh, or a wolf built-in with an imperfection, Faolan is now relegated to the lowly position of gnaw wolf. Gnaw wolves gnaw (sculpt) tribal stories into bones. They also must perform submissive tasks for other association members and rarely go anything but scraps after the rest of the tribe has eaten.

The strict patterns and rules of pack life are difficult for Faolan to accept and remember. When the wolves keep a chase, Faolan chases the herd the way he might have equally a lone wolf, without because the pack'south hierarchy. His rogue behavior angers the pack and makes them lose the animals they were tracking. A young she-wolf named Mhairie is specially angry. She had hoped this hunt would be her opportunity to shine.

Faolan is forced to apologize to all of the clans for his rebellious behavior. This penalization includes whining submissively, itch on his belly and listening as each clan reads the story bone about his insubordination. He gains a bit of hope when the dying association leader, Duncan MacDuncan, orders a gaddergnaw.

This is a contest in which champ wolves compete to be Watchers at the Ring of the Sacred Volcano. Watchers guard the precious Ember of Hoole, which is embedded in one of the craters. Duncan believes Faolan possesses the necessary skills to win. He dies, and the wolves howl him upwards the star ladder to the Cave of Souls.

Faolan watches the common ritual of an Obea wolf taking a malcadh pup from the campsite and leaving her to die. He thinks about trying to rescue the pup, but he doesn't. He knows this practice ensures the association will remain strong. He recalls how an Obea left him to die considering of his splayed paw, and how the great bear Thunderheart nursed him dorsum to health.

He begins to wonder again about his birth mother and how she must have felt when he was taken from her. Faolan visits a wolf witch called the Sark of the Slough to run across if she knows annihilation about his female parent. The Sark makes potions to help grieving she-wolves forget their malcadh pups. The mother of the pup Faolan was watching is recovering in the Sark'southward cave. The Sark doesn't give Faolan whatever information, but seeing the grieving she-wolf makes him even more anxious to find his mother.

An owl named Gwynneth, who helped Faolan rejoin the wolves in the first volume, also sees the abandoned pup. As she gets closer, she senses a wolf. It is brutally killing the pup, causing peachy agony. By the fourth dimension Gwynneth arrives, the pup is dead. While she knows these pups are supposed to dice, compassionate animals wish to see malcadhs die chop-chop and painlessly. Only an evil creature kills like this.

A she-wolf named Morag is Faolan's mother. She now has a new mate and pups. She has tried to forget the silver malcadh who was taken from her. However, the memories of him have started to return. She is also growing weaker, and her sight is declining. She tells her new mate about her malcadh pup and the painful memories.

He agrees to go with her to visit the Sark, hoping the witch can heal Morag. Even though the Sark knows Faolan, she makes no endeavour to reunite him with Morag. She feels it is meliorate for each of them not to know about the other.

Faolan returns to the place he'd seen the pup and finds prove of a horrific decease. He begins to gnaw on ane of the pup's basic, hoping to record the story of the young life cut short. He stops when he realizes he can't tell the whole story yet. He starts to behave the pup's bones to put them safely with Thunderheart'due south mitt bone. When he returns, the bone on which he had begun gnawing the story is gone.

Gwynneth goes to the Sark to tell her well-nigh the murdered pup. Together, they strive to solve the criminal offence. The Gaddergnaw Games brainstorm. Faolan and the other contestants participate in competitions — hunting and gnawing stories on basic. A falsely humble wolf named Heep is adamant to destroy Faolan'due south chances of joining the Watch. When Heep discovers a gnawing sound he makes with his teeth drives Faolan crazy, he uses it to throw Faolan off in competitions. Mhairie and her sis, Dearlea, become Faolan's allies as he progresses in the contest.

Heep strives to secure his position and destroy Faolan by accusing Faolan of killing the malcadh pup. He even produces the story os Faolan had begun to gnaw for the pup. Faolan begins his rebuttal, but the angry wolves are prepared to tear him autonomously for such an evil deed. The Sark arrives and proves Faolan's innocence. She also shows that Heep himself was the murderer.

Heep escapes. As the tribal leaders are awarding Faolan and another wolf positions on the Watch, Gwynneth sees Heep and two other wolves sniffing most where Faolan has buried Thunderheart's hand os. She knows how much the os means to Faolan and hurries back to allow him know. The wolves organize to capture Heep, only Faolan runs ahead.

He exchanges words with Heep. Then the spirits of important wolves from long agone appear to support him. Terrified, Heep and the other two wolves run to the far land known as the Outermost.

Christian Beliefs

Other Belief Systems

The superstitious wolves believe in many prophecies and omens. One prophecy mentions an upshot that would completely restore the bodies of all malcadhs. Wolf clans honor and worship the Great Wolf of the spirit globe, Lupus, who has set an order for them to follow on globe. They believe time and space are space, and in that location are many universes in the endless cycle.

As Faolan recalls Thunderheart, he thinks of the bear god, Ursus, and the bear heaven, Ursulana. When wolves die, they take the starry path of the spirit trail to the Cave of Souls. This is mentioned oftentimes in reference to the deaths of Duncan MacDuncan and the murdered pup.

Gnaw wolves take an opportunity to guard the Ring of the Sacred Volcanoes if they are skilled at their craft. A wolf witch called Sark of the Slough makes potions to help mothers of malcadhs forget their lost children and prepare their wombs for more pups.

She and Faolan each pray to the Great Lupus. Some wolves initially wonder if Faolan is from the Dim World, or Wolf hell, considering he gnaws then artfully. The spirits of wolf ancestors appear to Faolan and others. Duncan MacDuncan believes Faolan may have powers that allow him to meet the future by staring into fire.

Authority Roles

Association leader Duncan MacDuncan sees Faolan'south potential and encourages the young wolf. He sees across Faolan's propensity to get into trouble. The Sark uses her healing potions to help the she-wolves of the tribes, though she doesn't belong to a tribe herself. Morag finds herself longing for her lost malcadh and goes to the Sark for assist.

Profanity & Violence

Wolf curses, such as "frinking" appear occasionally. The animals use the names of their spirit animals in the same manner a man might take the Lord's name in vain or in assertion.

A malcadh pup is brutally murdered, her body ripped apart by a predator. Characters repeatedly note how the pup would have died slowly, in unimaginable desperation. Faolan kills a buck, embedding his claws, tearing at the life-giving artery and producing claret.

Sexual Content

Discussion Topics

Additional Comments

Central behavior: While the animals in the story display unique personality and character traits found in humans, they also human action on instinct. They kill other animals for food. They mate. They abandon malformed pups. They oftentimes talk nigh scat and urine, as that is how they runway other animals. They bite one another. College-ranking animals in a pack sometimes treat their underlings with less respect or dignity to maintain the natural social club. When Faolan defies the natural lodge, information technology is considered a blasphemous deed. Ane tribe is known to maim immature pups on purpose in hopes of gaining a identify for their clan in the Watch of the Sacred Volcanoes.

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