Kirkus says:
Lasky, Kathryn WOLVES OF THE BEYOND: Lone Wolf Lasky spins off her popular Guardians of Ga’Hoole series into this enchanting first installment of a new series starring wolves, introducing a wolf pup raised by a grizzly bear. The pack casts Faolan, born with a defect in one paw, out to die, but a brokenhearted bear that has just lost her own cub finds him and can’t resist nursing him. Lasky merges anthropomorphic fantasy with realistic details about wolves and bears to produce an almost plausible emotional narrative, complete with dialogue and personalities. Thunderheart, Faolan’s “milk mother,” teaches him to dig and to hunt and explains the bear aspects of the spirit world. Eventually Faolan begins a journey taking him to a cave where he learns the history of the wolves, to a metal-working owl and finally to the wolf clan he will join, although not, perhaps, in the manner those wolves expect. The author builds a captivating world of forest, snow and volcanoes populated by intelligent animals and weaves a compelling story sure to bring readers back for the second installment. (Fantasy. 8-12)
Booklist says:
The literary grandchildren of Richard Adams’ Watership Down (1974) proliferate in this complex and nuanced talking-animal adventure. Lasky’s descriptions of a newborn wolf pup’s craving for light, milk, and meat are wonders of sensory economy—immediately you’re invested in his struggle. But wolf custom decrees that he be abandoned to die because of a deformed paw. A childless bear named Thunderheart finds the pup, names him Faolan, and under her guidance he grows to be unusually strong and savvy. Then a tragic event compels him to seek out his own kind. This is a soulful, searching read consumed with the spiritual journeys of animals and the ethereal connection between slayer and slain. At times it becomes mired in mythos, but when the story lets loose, it pays off, as when Faolan encounters a metalsmithing owl (with connections to Lasky’s Guardians of Ga’hoole series), who rights the wolf’s crooked path. A sedate start to the Wolves of the Beyond series, perhaps, but with an invigorating ending that bodes well for the next volume. — Daniel Kraus
