Read as part of SPFBO10

So, here’s the thing. I daresay a lot of reviews for this book will include a sentence that goes something like: it could have been shorter. And, yes, there would certainly have been ways to condense the story without it losing direction in plot… BUT… I also daresay that Baldwin would absolutely not have it any other way. The world he has created for this saga is vast. Most importantly, a lot of the elements he has created for this story are amazing – the new money, the new language, measurements, time, all possible metric conversions have been converted into something new. The illustrations are sublime. There are pages upon pages of exploration of locations, characters, the legends.

All that and yet the direction of the plot was the steady, stable focus point in the centre. I would like to say that Baldwin has every right to be uber proud of the work he has done. It’s no small feat. Plus, if you didn’t know this, all of the books in the saga are written, waiting for their turn to be published. The fans of this saga can be happy – they won’t be left hanging.

Personally, whilst I mostly enjoyed this book for its uniqueness and it’s ambitious size and for the sheer amount of work that has gone into it, I did get a little impatient at times and found myself skimming. There was one more thing that was just too much based on personal taste, or distaste, that stopped me from becoming a diehard fan. I will refrain from revealing it because 1. it would be a spoiler, and 2. each to their own. I can reveal that it had to do with some sexual choices.

Whilst at the start of the book I found it a bit hard to get used to the fact that very young characters spoke in such crude terms (yeah, I am naive like that), then the end of the book introduced a character that quickly became a favourite. So, in essence Wolf of Withervale was a book of opposites for me. Give it a try, you never know, it might be your favourite read this year!