Sonderbooks Book Review of Wolf Queen

***Wolf Queen

The Claidi Journals, Book III

by Tanith Lee

Reviewed July 8, 2002.
Dutton Children’s Books, 2002. 216 pages. Available at Sembach Library (JF LEE).

I felt a little cheated with this book. It is the third book of a series. I liked the first book, Wolf Tower, quite a bit. I grew to care about the characters and what would happen to them, so I had to read the next two books, Wolf Star and Wolf Queen, even though they weren’t nearly as good.

Tanith Lee mainly writes adult books, though I haven’t read very many of them. I hope that it wasn’t that she thought that teens would not notice if she put in a large number of coincidences and unbelievable “science.” The plot in the second book becomes very convoluted, relying heavily on coincidence. This third book does tie it up, but again it didn’t seem to be in a believable way. There is a character in the books who is said to be an amazing scientist, doing things that would probably be called magic in most fantasy books. When it came to the point of making a ring that can fulfill your every wish, it seemed pretty silly to me. Science? When no one else on that whole world can do anything like that? Sorry, I don’t quite believe it.

I was glad that she got back to Claidi’s love story, and I kept reading mainly to find out how that would turn out. Claidi was to get married at the start of Book Two, but the wedding was interrupted, and she’s had a terrible time getting back to her beloved. At the start of Book Three, she finds his people and learns that he thinks she left him intentionally. She must find him and convince him otherwise.

I did enjoy this book. It was much better than Book Two, but not as good as Book One. Still, for those who are already interested in what happens to Claidi, you will be glad to learn that the next installment is now available, and all of our questions are answered.

Reader comment: A reader rated this book at no stars--not worth the time to read it.
Another reader rated Wolf Tower at five stars--an all-time favorite.

Review of the fourth and final book:
Wolf Wing

Review of a novella by Tanith Lee:
The Dragon Quintet

Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

***Wolf Queen

The Claidi Journals, Book III

by Tanith Lee