S. Andrew Swann

Wolfbreed is a different genre of paranormal for me to read. Set in 13th-century Prussia, it introduces us to Lilly, one of a group of young werewolves trained by the Teutonic Order to be brutal killing machines for the Church. They’re treated as animals, albeit highly skilled and useful animals that do the Church’s dirty business of wiping out pagan heretics.

This is by no means a “light” novel. Violence, brutality, and some of the worst aspects of humankind are frequently described. The training that Lilly and her packmates endure is only part of it; the Order’s duty to eradicate heathens, or make them see enlightenment (through Christianity) is perhaps the worse part of things. There is a constant debate of whether the creatures are intelligent animals or abominations of Satan, but in the end it matters little. Brother Seymon believes they are the perfect way to get heretics to come to heel.

Lilly’s escape offers her a chance to experience the world outside of the Order and training. The warmth and care that Uldolf–a survivor of an attack 8 years prior who is one arm short–and his family provide her gradually convinces Lilly there is a different way. Lilly in the beginning is very simple, relying almost purely on instinct and understanding very little of what is happening around her. I liked that even though Lilly was used as a killing machine, she wasn’t just that. Even as conditioned as she was, she understood kindness and safety, what it meant to “care” for someone.

The Crusades, as well as other atrocities that were performed in the Church’s name, are nothing new to me. I grew up on the stories because my father thought it was important to understand the difference between a believer and a zealot. Brother Seymon, the monk who found Lilly’s litter originally and began the training program, is firmly in the zealot camp. There is no middle ground for him; you either are a Christian and thereby a “good” person, or you a heathen and thereby a “bad” person. As Lilly grows as a human, she struggles with the knowledge of the past atrocities she’s committed against “bad” people. The crushing guilt she feels is a palpable and heart-wrenching thing, and she strives to atone for those past deeds.

The relationship that develops between Lilly and Uldolf at first confused me. Lilly became attached to him for saving her, then because of his kindness towards her. In many ways it felt like a pet towards its master, because Lilly didn’t understand her feelings at all, and Uldolf was a confused person to begin with. He was a mass of bitter regret, fear, fierce protectiveness, and ultimately loyalty. The shocking revelation about Lilly makes his world even murkier, and it’s a hard time for him to come to terms with things.

The ending is almost poetic in both its savagery and justice. Loose ends are tied up, and Lilly’s fate is revealed. Despite the darkness of the book, I always felt there was an underlying hope, and the ending provides that hope quite well.… (meer)

In Swann’s first book in this series, Wolfbreed, we were introduced to a young girl who had grown up treated like a monster, but who found a way to reconcile who she was with who she could be. In this second book, set a hundred years later in 14th century Poland, it’s the exact opposite set up. Maria grew up human, unaware of who she was or what she could become. Upon learning of her heritage, she has to reconcile the monster she sees herself becoming to the human she wants to remain.

I enjoyed Wolf’s Cross more than its predecessor. I found myself empathizing more with Maria’s problems than I had with Lilly’s. Maria’s problems, though similar to Lilly’s (just from the opposite spectrum), felt more developed. Whereas Lilly struggled with the notion of being a human, Maria struggled with being herself; for Maria it was a question of whether she could retain herself while lost in the power of being the wolf.

A lot has happened since Lilly’s time, as well; her kind are no longer servants of the Order, but feared enemies hunted mercilessly (and brutally, I might add) by “wolfjagers.” Darien, a survivor of a massacre twenty years previously by the wolfjagers, is our only clue to what happened to other wolfbreeds. As his community had survived for nearly 150 years before the wolfjagers, it opens up tantalizing possibilities for other stories.

I was a little at odds with the Darien-Maria-Josef triangle. It was an unbalanced triangle, but not in the usual female has no idea who she really wants to be with. After finding out her true heritage, but only having Darien as an example, Maria is a confused tangle of emotions. On the one hand, she thrills at the power she feels as a wolf, but as a human she feels guilt and she is uncertain whether that’s her true path. Then again, with Josef she feels nothing but guilt for being everything he hates. I wish there had been more time for her to explore being with Darien vs. being with Josef. As it was, the entire Darien aspect was given an abrupt ending.

A personal nitpick I had was that in Wolfbreed I spent a lot of time looking facts up. Which isn’t a bad thing–I have a whole new subject to obsess over now–but it took me out of the novel itself too frequently. It helped this time that due to a different interest altogether, I knew more about 14th century Poland. The pacing and flow of the plot felt better, more fluid and involving. I was able to concentrate more on the politics of both the Order and the Polish.

I read that the author hopes to write more stories about the Wolfbreed universe, set across more countries and times. I sincerely hope he is able to, as this is a fascinating series that I think has a lot of potential.… (meer)

It’s 1353 in the dark woods of Eastern Europe, and things have changed since the events of Wolfbeed more than 114 years ago.

The Teutonic Knights have given up their use of werewolves as assassins and special soldiers. Indeed, this information is only available in manuscripts closely guarded by the Order. Now a special group of the knights, the Wolfjägers, hunt down the few remaining werwolves to kill them. The only clue to their mission is their wolfhead’s banners and silver edged weapons. Nor do the knights move with impunity across the land. The Kingdom of Poland and the buffer state of Masovia came into existence through a peace treaty with the Order ten years ago.

Brother Josef is a probationary member of the Order, and he doesn’t quite believe what he’s been told about the beasts they seek. But all that changes when, following the trail of the killers who stacked a church with the bodies of dead Christians, his group is ambushed by just a single werewolf. He is wounded, and many of his colleagues are killed.

The battered group goes into Moravia where they are given permission to rest and tend to their wounds – if they hand in their weapons. And the Duke of Masovia, away at the time, will have the ultimate say in the matter.

At the castle, Josef’s wounds will be tended to by a servant girl, Maria.

Maria is of the age where she is undergoing a sexual awakening. Indeed, we first meet her on the walk through the two miles of woods between her house and the castle as she sings a bawdy ballad. An affection for Josef begins to develop, and he begins to doubt his decision to take a vow of chastity to join the Order. He did so out of despair after the love of his life and his family died in the plague. Maria reminds him of that dead love.

But there are odd things about Maria. Her father is absolutely firm that she must wear a silver cross about her neck all the time. When he finds out about the death of the Teutonic Knights, he accusses her of taking it off.

Maria is attractive enough to receive some unwanted attention from a local aristocrat. And when he tries to rape her in the woods one night, she fends him off with incredible strength. But it’s not Maria who ends the struggle, but a man who suddenly emerges from the woods and beats the aristocrat senseless. He only introduces himself as Darien and asks for her silence about his presence.

And thus our love triangle is formed: Maria the innocent peasant girl, Josef the Teutonic Knight, and Darien the werewolf.

Darien is the one who killed the knights at the beginning, and he’s been conducting a 20 year vendetta against them after his community of werewolves, living in secret in the woods, was wiped out by the Knights with him as the only survivor.

And he knows right away Maria is a werewolf, the mate he has sought all these years.

Josef is a kind man who is the first to pay attention to Maria. But Darien initiates her into shapeshifting and sex. Darien wants her to join him, but she’s not sure she wants to leave her family and Josef.

But Josef begins to notice odd things about Maria. Why is her cross made of silver? Why do her wounds heal so fast? It all reminds him of the beasts the Wolfjägers seek. But Maria seems far from the soulless beasts he was told werewolves were.

Meanwhile, the locals have learned the Order’s secret past with the werewolves, and the leader of the Knights still wants to kill the werewolf he knows is out there.

And Darien isn’t going to leave until he’s done with the Order.

Even though the love triangle can be one of the most tedious of plot cliches, this is a suspenseful and pleasing story with characters easy to empathize with, even the implacable enemies of Darin and the leader of the Teutonic Knights. Like it’s predecessor, I found this a surprisingly enthralling read.

Torn limbs and tender feelings await the reader.… (meer)