Book Log #49: Cry Wolf, by Patricia Briggs

[annathepiper]

I've always rather liked most of Patricia Briggs' books in general and the first two Mercy Thompsons in particular, so I was intrigued when Cry Wolf was announced. This novel's set in the same universe as the Mercy Thompsons, and in fact focuses more on the wolf pack that raised Mercy--and Charles, the son of the Marrok, who has taken a new mate. But Anna's not an ordinary werewolf; she's an Omega, which gives her a special place outside pack structure, and lets her have all the protective instincts of an Alpha without any of the violent impulses.

The beginning of the book is my major problem with it. It kicks in actually just after the meeting of Charles and Anna--a very violent meeting, in fact, that left Charles suffering from several wounds after he tore through the pack that had been abusing Anna. We only see the aftermath of this, and by then Charles and Anna have already met, and the beginnings of their mating bond have already been established. This felt very weird to me, as I was all "wait, what just happened here?" and felt like I was starting the story about three chapters too late.

I'm all for starting the story with a bang and all; here, however, we actually started just after the bang. It was I think an interesting editorial decision to start the story where it does, mind you; if I think about it I can actually see an argument that the story being told here is actually not the story of Anna's rescue from her previous pack. However, for me as a reader, it just felt weird. So.

Other than that, I was pretty happy with the story overall. Anna is a good example of how you can do a strong female character without necessarily having her have to be an attitudinal bitch. She's got her issues, oh my yes, but at no point do they ever really get in the way of her responding to the bigger plot situation. Mind you, she does come a bit close to Mary Sue land--she is after all the Special Werewolf, the Omega, and all the big nasty dominant boy wolves just go all puppy-mode around her. The part where this is most effective is where an old Vietnam vet--who's been hiding out in the woods for thirty years because of the war and who's recently been turned into a werewolf himself--quietly and prayerfully murmurs that in her presence, he thinks he might actually be able to sleep. I did however wince a bit at how she defused the big climax, though.

Anna's relationship with Charles is interesting, and I liked that even though she was very skittish around him, she was actually quite confident about having sex with him. Also, points for the one sex scene being not particularly over the top, and for it not magically cementing the mating bond between them.

All in all, a pretty solid read. Three stars.

Comments

[desperance.livejournal.com]

It was I think an interesting editorial decision to start the story where it does

Perhaps she's a devotee of Kurt Vonnegut's rules for writing, among which please find, "Start as close to the end as possible."

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

I'm all for starting the story with a bang and all; here, however, we actually started just after the bang.

That's actually sort of how I felt about the depiction of Mulder & Scully's relationship in "I Want To Believe". :)

[annathepiper]

Hah! Or hell, even back in the actual show, when we find out only after the fact that they've slept together. I'm still vaguely cranky about that. ;)

Just saw the movie myself. Oh my, that was silly. But at least the Mulder & Scully bits were the best bits of it.

[tvaddictgurl.livejournal.com]

Do you think the beginning wouldn't have felt that way if you'd previously read the anthology with the short story that introduces the Charles/Anna relationship?

I just wonder because I think it's interesting when an author starts a new series with a short in an anthology (which readers may or may not know about) and then if they haven't read it, feel lost when they start the "first" in the series.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

When /did/ they? I stopped watching before that, apparently, because I was all like WHAT WAIT WHAT HEY WHAT? when they were in bed together in the movie. o.O

[annathepiper]

As I recall, it was towards the end of Season 8. They had a big ol' OH NOEZ SCULLY IS PREGNANT IS SHE HAVING AN ALIEN BABY?! plot, and then we get it confirmed that Mulder was the father, and I'm all "WAIT WHAT WHEN DID THEY HAVE SEX?!"

Hrmph. Seven seasons they spent building up that relationship and we don't even get the progression into actual romance on camera. Hrmph!

[annathepiper]

OH! Y'know, I think I'd heard in vague passing that there was a short story, but I hadn't realized that it was actually the very encounter that came before the very beginning of this novel. And I hadn't realized before buying the novel that there was a story out there. Yeah--if I'd read that, I would have been quite a bit less lost. (Though I think my general objection still remains; the way the beginning of the novel was put down, it still can leave a reader going 'wait, am I actually reading Book 2? What did I miss?')

What's the anthology title?

[annathepiper]

Ha!

I am informed further down the thread, though, that the encounter that takes place right before the beginning of this novel actually was covered in a short story in an anthology I hadn't known about.

[tvaddictgurl.livejournal.com]

On The Prowl

I haven't read it, but I've seen lots of discussion about it. I stopped after the first Mercy book and haven't had any interest in going back.

No, I totally agree with your objection. I personally think it's a bad idea to start that way because it does throw off your readers. If someone were trying her for the first time it might give them a negative view because they feel like they were thrown in the middle without appropriate knowledge.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Aha! Something that people have recently been complaining about, in my blog and elsewhere...

[annathepiper]

*nodnod* I'm of two minds about it. I can see not wanting to repeat the same bit of story if you've already covered that in a previously released short, and I can also see not wanting to make anybody who's seen the short already have to re-read the same scenes...

But it IS also disconcerting if you're coming in without having seen the previous short.

I'll say this though: I will give this particular book credit for doing a decent job of sketching in what any reader who hadn't read the short missed.

[annathepiper]

Thanks for the title pointer!

I'm of two minds about it, I think. With my writer hat on, I can see not wanting to repeat scenes in a novel that you've already covered in a short story. But with my reader hat on, having come in without seeing the story first, I was a little jarred.

For me, I will say, the book did do a decent enough job sketching in what I'd missed, enough detail to get the gist without really harming the flow of the current action. But it might not have played as well for another reader.

I'll have to think about whether to get that anthology now!

[chrysoula.livejournal.com]

The library has it.

[annathepiper]

Cool, thanks. :)