Wolf at the door

As discussed in a previous post, there are certain disadvantages to reading the second book in a series before the first one. As anybody reading this mindless rambling is probably smarter than I am, I won't bother spelling them out. Usually it wouldn't be so bad as I consume books at a pretty high rate and my memory for them (and possibly other things) is often not what I'd like it to be. However, a mere couple of books later and the temptation of the new came in.

I justified buying it because an insane Amazon price of £1.99 simply could not be turned down. I'm trying to avoid using it because our book shops, both chain and independent need the support of the likes of me. I'm also trying to cut down on my addiction and not buy quite so many books because our libraries need the support of the likes of me. But anyway, I sold out and shelled out some pennies to the man. As for the justification for reading it, that's a) because I wanted to and b) because it neatly fits into one of the categories I've not started yet (colours in the title). Not that I'm repeating myself or anything.

So anyway, The Red Wolf Conspiracy. First of, I liked it. I'd probably have liked it more had I read it first, as I did know some things were coming. Equally, I took it as a good sign that I did not know certain things were coming and certainly had little idea how. This strikes me as the mark of a good storyteller.

Whilst it was good in its own right and certainly had an end to the book in itself, at the same time it was also clearly the start of something bigger, very much the opening thrusts to test the defences. The second was more epic (and not just because it was 200 pages longer), but the scale had moved up a level. That said, I like both, epic is grand when it's done well, but equally, smaller scale affairs with well-defined and interesting characters are just as good. This is definitely the former, yet in terms of the setting, the whole thing is pretty much onboard a ship, albeit a pretty darn big one. This gives it the feel of something a little more intimate, the intrigues and secrets and carefully spun threads are all very nicely placed, giving it layers. The ship itself is something I perhaps overlooked in the first one, but the sense of being at sea, of the close quarters and the everyday living I think rings true.

The characters I'd largely met before and perhaps there was little I didn't already know about them, but it was interesting viewing it in more of a prequel way and finding out how they met and became involved. Again, they start off smaller but are clearly being set up and gaining the skills or the fate to determine something bigger as the series moves on. Roll on the third.

Book number: 10
Title: The Red Wolf Conspiracy
Author: Robert V.S. Redick
Category: Books with colours in the title